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EP. REVIEW: Princess Tutu


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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 4:10 pm Reply with quote
The scene near the end of episode 1, where Duck first becomes Tutu and saves Mytho while Waltz of the Flowers plays, is one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen.

The dub is also great, with standout performances from; Luci Christian, Marty Fleck, Jay Hickman and Jessica Boone.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4563
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 4:38 pm Reply with quote
If you'd told me a decade ago that not only would I willingly watch a series called "Princess Tutu" with a ballerina girl on the cover, but that I would go on to absolutely fall in love with it, I would have laughed in your face. But here we are. Princess Tutu is a series that transcends its genre, because above all else it's a well-told story populated by wonderfully-realized characters. You get incredibly invested in their stories, you cheer at their triumphs, you're hurt by their tragedies, and you just want to see them get their happy ending. The soundtrack is timeless, for obvious reasons, and it gave me a new appreciation for Tchaikovsky's genius. And Luci Christian absolutely knocks it out of the park as Duck. This is another series I really want to revisit soon.
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 1617
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 5:25 pm Reply with quote
My favorite anime!!! This is one of those series that I find new things to love every time I rewatch it, but the first viewing is really special. I can't wait to see what the reviewer thinks of everything! And that's all I'll say because I'm afraid of spoiling stuff otherwise, haha.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3627
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2020 6:03 pm Reply with quote
I love the use of classical music in this series.

MarshalBanana wrote:
The scene near the end of episode 1, where Duck first becomes Tutu and saves Mytho while Waltz of the Flowers plays, is one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen.


I love this scene too! It's still one of my favorites.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 12:34 am Reply with quote
I adore Princess Tutu! I know it wasn't a huge seller at all back in the day, but I'm glad it found a place as a classic series of the 2000s over the years (even its a bit more on the niche side than many of its more popular peers), especially for the magical girl genre as a whole.
MarshalBanana wrote:
The scene near the end of episode 1, where Duck first becomes Tutu and saves Mytho while Waltz of the Flowers plays, is one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen.

Honestly, there's like at least five standout scenes in Princess Tutu I can think of off the top of my head where I'm like, "yeah this is probably one of the best scenes in anime."
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 717
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 2:55 am Reply with quote
Definitely one of my faves, though I do wish it had a different title still. It's so hard to convince someone to watch a show called "Princess Tutu," but I almost always get them converted to fans if I can get them to actually watch it. "Duck Lake" or the name of Drosselmeyer's story ("The Prince and the Raven") or something would have helped, but oh well. Reminds me of trying to get people to watch a little thing called "Bubblegum Crisis" for similar reasons.

ADV had some seriously awesome extras on their DVDs for Tutu. I really enjoyed the lessons about the language of ballet and breakdowns of famous productions that were key to the episodes on that disc. I legitimately learned quite a lot from them, so major thanks to the staff that assembled all of those features. Did any of those extras make it to the recent releases?
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corinthian



Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 264
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 6:20 am Reply with quote
Triltaison wrote:

ADV had some seriously awesome extras on their DVDs for Tutu. I really enjoyed the lessons about the language of ballet and breakdowns of famous productions that were key to the episodes on that disc. I legitimately learned quite a lot from them, so major thanks to the staff that assembled all of those features. Did any of those extras make it to the recent releases?


I got the recently blu-ray and it looks like everything is there
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Zeino



Joined: 19 May 2017
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 7:15 am Reply with quote
It's the 2nd best Magical Girl Series of all time in my book.
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mangaka-chan



Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 283
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 10:57 am Reply with quote
I'm really glad ANN is giving this series some love with a new set of reviews!
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 11:02 am Reply with quote
So how much ballet is there going forward? Watched the first episode and liked the non ballet part but I have 0 interest in ballet (the music is good, but I just find the dance utterly boring) and I obviously won't enjoy the show if its mostly ballet. But a the same time, this wouldn't be the first anime which discard element that seems central to its theme after the first few episode.
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mangaka-chan



Joined: 06 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 12:20 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
So how much ballet is there going forward? Watched the first episode and liked the non ballet part but I have 0 interest in ballet (the music is good, but I just find the dance utterly boring) and I obviously won't enjoy the show if its mostly ballet. But a the same time, this wouldn't be the first anime which discard element that seems central to its theme after the first few episode.


Dance is actually a very integral part of the show, both from a visual as well as from a thematic angle. IIRC, there is literately some amount of dancing in every single episode, and dance is at the emotional heart of this show.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 1:05 pm Reply with quote
mangaka-chan wrote:

Dance is actually a very integral part of the show, both from a visual as well as from a thematic angle. IIRC, there is literately some amount of dancing in every single episode, and dance is at the emotional heart of this show.


This is absolutely true, but the other major thematic elements - fairy tales and the stories the dances are telling - may balance it out for you if you have any interest in those aspects, because the idea of telling a story is equally integral to the overarching plot and magical girl genre.
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Coelodonta



Joined: 20 Dec 2017
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 3:01 pm Reply with quote
Rebecca Silverman wrote:
Quote:
Part of the reason it does such a good job of it is because the show itself is based on (in these episodes) several literary fairy tales itself: the obvious ones are E.T.A. Hoffman's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling, but we can also see clear allusions to The Red Shoes in Rue's ballet slippers, and a few folkloric tales like The White Swan and The White Cat.


The Red Shoes is actually written by Hans Christian Andersen as well.

If anyone wants to read Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, they are on the website of The Hans Christian Andersen Centre at the SDU (University of Southern Denmark)
The Ugly Duckling [1843] https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheUglyDuckling_e.html
The Red Shoes [1845] https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheRedShoes_e.html
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 3:33 pm Reply with quote
Coelodonta wrote:

The Red Shoes is actually written by Hans Christian Andersen as well.


Yes, I should have specified that. Andersen was one of the major writers of literary fairy tales in the 19th century (although Oscar Wilde's shouldn't be overlooked; The Happy Prince has enough similarities to The Giving Tree that it could be considered an influence), even if by modern standards many of them come off as especially cruel.

Out of curiosity, would people be interested in me linking to tales/tale types when I mention them in the reviews?
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3627
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 5:34 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
So how much ballet is there going forward? Watched the first episode and liked the non ballet part but I have 0 interest in ballet (the music is good, but I just find the dance utterly boring) and I obviously won't enjoy the show if its mostly ballet. But a the same time, this wouldn't be the first anime which discard element that seems central to its theme after the first few episode.


I don't care for ballet myself, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the show. I do love classical music though, so that probably played a part. I'd recommend trying a few more episodes and seeing how it goes.
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