cokesque

Synopsis

Ahiru—Japanese for “duck”—is a clumsy ballet student in the castle-walled town of Kinkan-chou. She has a huge crush on Mytho-sama, an upperclassman and star dancer. When she sees Mytho fall from a window while trying to rescue some baby birds, Ahiru is transformed into Princess Tutu and saves him with her magical dance of the flowers. Can she recover the scattered pieces of Mytho’s heart and make him whole again? Will she confess her love to Mytho, knowing that doing so will cause her own story to end?

Impressions

What could be more shoujo than a ballet-themed magical girl anime? I mean, the heroine saves people by strapping on pointe shoes and performing pirouettes or grand jetés. There is no way this premise should be anything but ridiculous and campy. What it turns out to be is beautiful. From the hazy, etherial lighting to the familiar classical music, Princess Tutu is a dreamy extended fairy tale. The opening theme has its roots in Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and the series often employs themes and music from the other of his big three ballets (Swan Lake & Sleeping Beauty).

As should be expected from the genre, a few early episodes are dangerously close to the monster-of-the-week format. The series quickly leaves this behind, though, and moves on to more important character and plot development, which procedes wonderfully, mixing fairy tales and music into something at once familiar and exceptional.

Ahiru herself is a fun character with a bit of a Ranma Complex¹ happening. Her seiyuu, Kato Nanae, is perfect for the role. She can manage both Ahiru’s nasal, quackish vocalizations and Tutu’s sweeter voice.

In this fairy tale world, names are important. Ahiru encounters a girl named Anteater

The main cast is pretty small: Ahiru and Mytho; Fakir, Mytho’s protective older-brother figure; Rue, Mytho’s girlfriend and amazing dancer in her own right; Ahiru’s shallow friends Pique and Lillie; and dance instructor Neko-sensei.

(remember, people named “Neko” aren’t just named “Neko;” he’s an actual anthropomorphic cat who threatens to marry students as punishment for their mistakes).

Fans of the magical girl genre should slap themselves silly if they don’t watch Princess Tutu. It’s one of the very best.

Random Thoughts

The series format is a bit odd. There are 13 normal-length (25-minutes or so) episodes comprising the Story of Egg arc. The next arc, Story of Chick, is told in 24 half-length episodes and a final full-length episode.

The manga is less playful than the anime. Obviously, there is no music. Neither are there random anthropomorphic animals in the citizenry of Kinkan, and most of the fairy tale imagery is lost.

Notes

¹ Ranma transforms into a girl when splashed with cold water. Can you imagine what a girl named Duck becomes?

Neko Factor

Neko Sensei! Neko Sensei! Neko Sensei!

- 2003-10-06 19:09 -