Princess Tutu

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Princess Tutu

Princess Tutu Japanese anime logo
プリンセスチュチュ
(Purinsesu Chuchu)
Genre Ballet, Comedy, Drama, Romance
TV anime
Director Junichi Sato
Shogo Koumoto
Studio Hal Film Maker
Network Flag of Japan NHK, Kids Station
Original run August 16, 2002 – May 23, 2003
Episodes 38
Manga
Author Mizuo Shinonome
Publisher Flag of Japan Akita Shoten
Flag of the United States ADV Manga
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Champion Red
Volumes 2

Princess Tutu (プリンセスチュチュ?) is a 26 episode magical girl anime created by Ito Ikuko in 2002 for animation studio Hal Film Maker. It was adapted as a 2-volume manga illustrated by Shinonome Mizuo. Both series are licensed in North America by ADV Films.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Once there was a man named Drosselmeyer, a writer, whose stories became reality. The people, fearing his powers, cut off his hands and took his life. In vengeance, he locked a prince and a raven in an eternal battle. The raven broke from the story and the prince soon followed to seal him away - but to do so, he sacrificed his own heart by shattering it with his sword. Drosselmeyer, however, had written of himself, and managed to continue writing as a character in his own stories. When he sees a duck watching this sad heartless prince dancing on the water, he decides to let the story unfold on its own and grants the duck's wish to help the prince. To do so, he transforms the duck into a girl named Ahiru (Japanese for "duck").

To be able to help the prince, Drosselmeyer makes Ahiru into a student at the ballet school the prince attends. Ahiru remembers seeing a handsome prince dance on the water. Often, Ahiru sadly reminds herself that she is not the graceful Princess Tutu, only a clumsy duck. Ahiru reverts back to her original duck form whenever she says, "Quack," but she is able to become human when in contact with water.

Ahiru wears an egg-shaped necklace that glows red and cues her transformation into Princess Tutu when one of the pieces of the prince's shattered heart is near. The prince's heart pieces seem to flock to those who are beginning to feel the feeling that they represent and prove to heighten it to a dangerous level.

Unlike most magical girl heroines, Princess Tutu does not physically fight her adversaries. Instead, she chooses to dance with them, in an attempt to help them better understand their feelings and show them how to overcome it. Since these heightened emotions are a result of the heart piece that resides within them, they are freed of this artificial intensity when Princess Tutu removes the heart piece and returns them to the prince.

Anthropomorphic characters are featured prominently. Unlike other anime, animal characters are not limited to catgirls, featuring crocodiles, ducks and anteaters. Every episode features a different ballet interwoven into the storyline. For example, the first episode uses Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker", and both Tutu and Kraehe's outfits are based on Swan Lake's Odette and Odile.

[edit] Differences in manga adaptation

The manga shares similarities with the anime. However, the over arching fairy-tales theme is lost, and the use of anthropomorphism and animals is not present.[citation needed]

[edit] Characters

  • Duck (あひる Ahiru?) is a friendly, kind-hearted duck who was turned into a pre-teen girl by Drosselmeyer, using a magical pendant. Due to her true nature, she tends to act very duck-like, talking loudly and excessively, easily excitable and clumsy. She is also friendly with other birds around campus, feeding them each morning. If Duck removes the pendant, or quacks while talking, she transforms back into a duck and must touch water while wearing the pendant to return to her human form. The pendant also allows Duck to transform into Princess Tutu (プリンセスチュチュ Purinsesu Chuchu?). As Princess Tutu, Duck is wise, graceful, elegant, and excellent ballet dancer. Duck/Tutu is initially in love with the prince, but if she confesses her love she will turn into a speck of light and vanish. Because she loves him unselfishly, she fulfills her duty in collecting the prince's scattered heart shards in the hope that when Mytho's heart was returned, he would find happiness and she would see his true smile again. Towards the end of the series, Duck is happy for Mytho and Rue's relationship, and appears to have developed some feelings for Fakir. Duck's name comes from "Ahiru", which is the Japanese word for "duck". In the English adaptation of the anime, Duck is called "Duck" in the subtitles and in the dubbed version. In the manga, Duck's name is Ahiru Arima and this name is retained in the English adaptation of the manga. Voiced by: Nanae Katou (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
  • Mytho (みゅうと Myūto?) is the prince of the story. He was once noble and kind, sacrificing himself to protect the weak and the needy. However, when he was battling the monster raven, he shattered his own heart in order to seal the raven away. Now as a talented and popular senior at Gold Crown Academy (or "Kinkan" Academy, the Japanese pronunciation of the town's name), he possesses no emotions, and is largely dependent on Fakir for his well-being and survival. Over the course of the series, particularly the first season, Mytho associates his new emotions with Princess Tutu, making him both drawn to her and afraid of her. In the second half of the series, Mytho changes because Kraehe soaked the piece of his heart that contained his feelings of love in the Raven's blood. As the Raven's blood starts to consume him, he tries to steal girls' hearts to sacrifice to the raven and begins verbally abusing Rue. Rue's true love for him and willingness to sacrifice herself for his sake helps him to overcome the raven's blood when the last heart shard is returned. He then rescues Rue and makes her his princess. At the end of the anime, Mytho's real name is revealed to be Siegfried, the name prince in the ballet Swan Lake from which Princess Tutu borrows plot elements.[citation needed] Voiced by: Naoki Yanagi (Japanese), Jay Hickman (English)
  • Fakir (ふぁきあ Fakia?) is Mytho's roommate and a talented ballet dancer. At the start of the series, Fakir appears to be very cruel - he's rude and forceful, especially to Mytho, as well as possessive. Fakir tries to prevent Princess Tutu from restoring the prince's heart shards and discourages Mytho's initial experiences with emotions. Eventually, it's revealed that Fakir only wanted to protect him from repeating the tragic events of the past. As the series progresses, Fakir's loses his possessiveness and becomes friendly, primarily through Duck's antics and realizing that Mytho himself wants his heart back. In the anime, Drosselmeyer's story The Prince and The Raven includes a knight who is to protect the prince, and ends up dying by the claws of the raven. Fakir took on the role of the knight when, long ago, he found Mytho. By joining Princess Tutu on her quest and allowing the story of The Prince and the Raven to start again, he both accepted and attempted to defy the fate of the knight. In the second part of the story, Fakir's role changes when he accepts his real power, passed down to him from Drosselmeyer, in that what he writes can become true. However, his power does not always work. When he was a child, he attempted to use it once to save the town from ravens but instead his parents were killed by the ravens protecting him, leaving him traumatized and afraid to use his power. Duck helps him accept his power and begin writing again. During the second part of the series, Fakir grows increasingly fond of Duck while they work together to aid Mytho. He comes to realize that while he is unable to write for Mytho or himself, he can write for her. When Drosselmeyer drives Duck into the Lake of Despair, Fakir goes after her and they dance a pas de deux, often used in ballet to indicate a love relationship, while agreeing that it is okay of them to be their true selves instead of being lead by the story.Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)
  • Rue (るう Rū?) is an advanced ballet student and greatly admired. She remains aloof from her peers, however, and appears to have no friends until Duck brazenly approaches her without fear and they become friendly. She is proud, but has a good heart and struggles with what she must do as Princess Kraehe. She has loved Mytho since she was a child and uses his lack of emotions to pretend they are a couple. When Rue was younger, she was getting a attacked by ravens. Mytho shows up and defends her. Like Duck, she also has a magical princess alter ego, Princess Kraehe (プリンセスクレール Purinsesu Kurēru?), the daughter of the Raven. Her father is verbally and emotionally abusive towards her, tearing her down to keep control of her. At first, she tries to prevent the prince from retaining his heart shards out of fear she will lose him to someone else. Towards the end of the series, she learns that she is not a raven, but a human girl who was stolen from her parents as a baby during the Raven's attack on the town. She realizes her father has been using her, and begs Princess Tutu not to return the last shard, now fearing Mytho will be consumed by the Raven. Princess Tutu obeys the prince's request, however, and when it appears Mytho will give himself to the Raven, Rue sacrifices herself to her father instead, stating that she had always loved Mytho. Touched by her act, Mytho regains his heart and rescues her, asking her to be his only princess. In the manga, Rue's name is Rue Kuroha, and she is a much colder and crueler character. Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Jessica Boone (English)
  • The Raven (大鴉 Ōgarasu?) is the monster enemy of Drosselmeyer's story The Prince and The Raven. Mytho shattered his heart to seal up the raven, and he now requires the sacrifice of young, beautiful hearts in order to eat them and regain his form. He stole Rue from her parents as a child, raising her as his daughter, Princess Kraehe. When Kraehe obtained the shard of love, he advised her to soak it in raven's blood, causing the shard to corrupt the prince. The Raven constantly criticizes and verbally abuses Kraehe calling her human form ugly and telling her that the only ones that will love her are himself and the prince of the story. Eventually, when Rue's love for him enables him to break free from the tainted heart shard, Mytho rescues Rue and together defeat the Raven. The Raven does not appear in the manga, but is briefly mentioned by Edel. Voiced by: Takayuki Sugou (Japanese), Mike Kleinhenz (English)
  • Drosselmeyer (ドロッセルマイヤー Dorosserumaiyā?) has a sadistic and tragedy-loving personality that makes him an opponent for Duck and Fakir to fight when they try to escape their tragic destinies. He is the one who first wrote the story The Prince and The Raven, and continues to watch and deliberately influence the events in Gold Crown Town from the "loop hole in time" after his death. He is the one who gives Duck her magic pendant in the beginning of the series, turning her from duck to girl to Princess Tutu. His name comes from the man in The Nutcracker who first hands the wooden doll to his niece. He is not present in the manga.Voiced by: Noboru Mitani (Japanese), Marty Fleck (English)
  • Edel (エデル Ederu?) is a puppet-like adviser to Duck - with blank eyes, an organ grinder, and a collection of creatively named jewels, she gives vague advice and tells stories to Duck. Drosselmeyer created her to aide the story and plot in his place. Her interactions with Duck caused Edel to begin developing her own emotions which Drosselmeyer had not intended to happen. At the end of the first season, she carries Fakir from the dungeon and burns herself in a fire to warm him, as well as to light the way for Mytho and Princess Tutu. When the pair returned, she asked Mytho and Princess Tutu to dance a pas de deux as Duck had often dreamed of. In the manga, Edel is drastically changed, becoming the human owner of a shop where Duck sees a tutu that she admires. As a gift, Edel gives her an egg-shaped necklace and makes her promise to come back again. She seems to take the place of Drosselmeyer, encouraging not only Princess Tutu but Princess Kraehe as well. In the second volume, she is revealed to be plotting to revive the Raven within herself. Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese), Christine Auten (English)
  • Uzura (うずら Uzura?) is a toddler-like doll created by Karon from Edel's ashes. She plays a drum and semi-inadvertently helps Duck. However, her tendency to help turn Duck back into a girl with a splash of water often create awkward moments for herself and Fakir. Uzura often adds the extension 'zura' to the end of her sentences. She is very curious, and is fixated throughout the series on figuring out what love is. Uzura is absent in the manga.Voiced by: Erino Hazuki (Japanese), Christine Auten (English)
  • Autor (あおとあ Aotoa?) is a music student at the Academy who is obsessed with Drosselmeyer and his powers. After realizing Fakir is a descendant of Drosselmeyer, he becomes very interested in Fakir and encourages him to use the writing abilities Drosselmeyer once used to control the world. At one point in the anime, Rue seduces Autor in order to feed his heart to her father. However, Autor professes his love for her, which casts doubt on her father's words that no one but he and the prince could love her. Conflicted, Rue lets Autor go. Autor does not appear in the manga. Voiced by: Yuu Urata (Japanese), Adam Conlon (English)
  • Pike (ぴけ Pike?) is an outspoken tomboyish character and one of Duck's two best friends from her class. In the second season of the anime, she is the first victim of Mytho after the raven's blood in his heart possesses him and almost loses her heart, but Tutu is able to dance with her and save her from that fate. In the manga, her name is changed to Mai. Voiced by: Sachi Matsumoto (Japanese), Cynthia Martinez (English)
  • Lilie (りりえ Ririe?), Duck's other best friend from dance class who is constantly trying to push Duck into a doomed relationship with Mytho, and later Fakir. She romanticizes star-crossed lovers, happily waiting for the relationships to fail. In the manga, her name is changed to Yuma. Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (Japanese), Sasha Paysinger (English)
  • Mr. Cat (猫先生 Neko-sensei?) is the dance teacher at the academy that all of the main characters attend. He is quite literally a cat, and he likes to threaten marriage to the girls if they do not do something right. His demeanor appears to come from a Japanese fairy tale about a cat that similarly threatens marriage to beautiful, young girls. He also appears to be the only animal in the manga. In the anime, Mr. Cat constantly threatens to force Duck into marriage for her lateness to class and lack of concentration and practice. However, as it is in his nature to propose to most females (save for goats and sloths) for marriage, it can't really be said he singles her out. In fact, in one part of the anime, Mr. Cat even counsels Duck when she is unsure of her abilities to help Mytho (without knowing the actual situation), so it can't be said Mr. Cat picks on Duck due to dislike. He is one of the only anthropomorphized characters in the manga, and plays a similar role as in the anime.Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), TJP (English)
  • Narrator, an unnamed female voice that presents a short tale in the prologue before each episode, often one related to the theme in the episode's title. Her voice also narrates in a few other situations, such as the closing of the Chapter of the Fledgling and in the split-episode previews in the Chapter of the Fledgling (only in the TV version, but also in the extras on the DVDs). Voiced by: Kyoko Kishida (Japanese) Jennie Welch (English 1st) Marcy Bannor (English 2nd)

[edit] Media

[edit] Anime

Princess Tutu was originally broadcast in two seasons. The first season, "Kapitel des Eies" ("Chapter of the Egg"), consisted of 13 half-hour episodes. The second season was broadcast as 26 quarter-hour episodes, to conform to the format of the time slot, so that each episode was split into two parts. These were brought back together in the DVD release as 13 complete episodes. The second season is called "Kapitel des Junges" ("Chapter of the Chick") in R2 DVDs, and "Kapital (sic) des Küken" ("Chapter of the Fledgling") in R1 DVDs.

[edit] List of episodes

Below are the titles of 26 episodes from the anime. The first name is the English name of the episode in the R1 official translation; the second line is the German name of the musical piece or collection that is featured as the main theme of the episode; last is the translation of the name of the musical piece or collection in English.

[edit] Season One: Chapter of the Egg

Act 1: The Duck and the Prince ~Der Nußknacker: Blumenwalzer~ (The Nutcracker: Waltz of the Flowers)

Act 2: Heart Shard ~Schwanensee: Scène finale~ (Swan Lake: Final Scene)

Act 3: The Princess's Vow ~Dornröschen: Panorama~ (Sleeping Beauty: Panorama)

Act 4: Giselle ~Giselle~

Act 5: On the Night of the Fire Festival ~Bilder einer Ausstellung: Die Katakomben~ (Pictures at an Exhibition: The Catacombs)

Act 6: Dreaming Aurora ~Dornröschen: Prolog~ (Sleeping Beauty: Prologue)

Act 7: Crow Princess ~An der schönen blauen Donau~ (On the Beautiful Blue Danube)

Act 8: The Warrior's Fountain ~Fantasie-Ouvertüre zu "Romeo und Julia"~ (Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture)

Act 9: Black Shoes ~Bilder einer Ausstellung: Alten Schloß~ (Pictures at an Exhibition: The Old Castle)

Act 10: Cinderella ~Aschenbrödel: Walzer-Coda~ (Cinderella: Waltz-Coda)

Act 11: La Sylphide ~La Sylphide~

Act 12: Banquet of Darkness ~Scheherazade~

Act 13: Swan Lake ~Schwanensee~ (Swan Lake)

[edit] Season Two: Chapter of the Fledgling

Act 14: The Raven ~Blumenwalzer~ (Waltz of the Flowers)

Act 15: Coppélia ~Coppélia~

Act 16: The Maiden's Prayer ~Gebet einer Jungfrau~ (The Maiden's Prayer)

Act 17: Crime and Punishment ~Carmen Aragonaise~

Act 18: The Wandering Knight ~Egmont Ouvertüre~ (Egmont Overture)

Act 19: A Midsummer Night's Dream ~Ein Sommernachtstraum~ (A Midsummer Night's Dream)

Act 20: The Forgotten Story ~Die verkaufte Braut~ (The Bartered Bride)

Act 21: The Spinners ~Lieder ohne Worte~ (Songs without Words)

Act 22: Crown of Stone ~Das große Tor von Kiew~ (The Great Gate of Kiev)

Act 23: Marionette ~Ruslan und Ludmilla~ (Ruslan and Ludmilla)

Act 24: The Prince and the Raven ~Danse Macabre~

Act 25: The Dying Swan ~Romeo und Julia~ (Romeo and Juliet)

Act 26: Finale ~Der Nußknacker: Finale~ (The Nutcracker: Final Scene)

[edit] Manga

A manga adaptation of the series was written by Mizuo Shinonome. It was published in Japan by Akita Shoten in the shōnen manga magazine Champion Red and collected in two tankobon volumes in 2003. It was released in North America by ADV Manga in late 2004 and early 2005.[1]

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Princess Tutu (manga). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.

[edit] External links