Ahiru (literal meaning is Duck) sits alone in the lake, observing a prince dancing alone. His dance was beautiful but his eyes showed loneliness. That day, Duck vowed to help the prince in any way possible. Lurking beneath the shadows was Drosselmeyer, who grants Duck's wish. Duck wakes up as a girl attending ballet school. Despite her lively and bubbly character, she is rather clumsy - especially in ballet. In human form, she is able to interact with Senior Mytho and perhaps give him the happiness he deserves. She soon finds out that Senior Mytho is the Prince in the story "The Prince and the Raven". The Prince in the story had sacrificed his heart to slay the Raven. If the Prince in the tale is the same as Senior Mytho, it does not look like he's going to live a happy life. As Duck senses Mytho's cry, she vows once again that she will give her life to save Mytho and Drosselmeyer returns to present her as "Princess Tutu". As Princess Tutu, she is now able to retain Mytho's heart. 'In this town where reality and stories intermingle', will Duck have an inevitable faith awaiting her?

Himitsu says:

Both the artwork and DVD are not finalized yet the DVD menu presented is very impressive with its beautiful organization . You get a taste of what is in store for you of this anime just from the animated menu in its full glory. The continuous changing pictures in the background and selections, the music playing along, all give an effective feel for the theme of the anime. The options are laid out in a simple but creative fashion, not too complex and ostentatious, which makes it easy for the viewer for fluent control.

The design of the menu hints of mysticism in its use of vibrant and soft colours blending seamlessly with each other. The background glows and is animated with falling feathers and glitter. (feathers are moving but the glitter is just twinkling)

Unfortunately, the title of the show, character designs and animation would be of no help in attracting the general male audience. The soft touches and feminine style would likely fool them into thinking this show is for little girls. However, the contents of this anime is far beyond its feminine appearance.

Kaiser says:

When I first saw the blank test disc labeled "Princess Tutu" my thoughts were 'oh god, I have to watch that?' But after menu first popped up I was treated to a nice pastel coloured menu with classical music. Intrigued, I kept exploring the DVD and that was when the opening animation hooked me on this anime.

Himitsu says:

The anime starts off mysteriously with a monotonous narrator. The story at this point seems relatively easy to follow. However, as the anime progresses along, the viewers would likely find themself finding questions raised by the story. The themes of cute love and mystery co-exist side-by-side without being a distraction from each other.

The finest element in Princess Tutu is the music. Inspiration and nostalgia are words that reflect the beautifully composed music. The wonderful famous melodies of Tchaikovsky's masterpieces are playing throughout this anime. However some of the music pieces here conveys a mood that is neither tranquil nor serene. Throughout the episode it will be like watching an opera with dramatic pauses followed by suspenseful music (excluding the fat lady singing).

The art and animation targeted towards the younger audience. The colour schemes are wonderfully presented. Some areas are dim but their vibrancy remains. As the anime progresses, darker overtones in the colour scheme reflects the changing nature of the theme from light fluff to dark nature. This could be an attraction to the more mature audience. This is an excellent use of colours by the anime to convey the atmosphere of its story . The use of colour reflects the overall theme of Princess Tutu.

The story cannot be followed easily with wandering thoughts. However, it is not extremely difficult to follow. One can philosophize deeply or simply enjoy the flow of this series. Characters are a blend of mystery and innocence. Each personality is unique. There is no difficulty in distinguishing one character from another. The storyline does not focus on one particular audience group, but can be enjoyed by both younger and older audiences.

Kaiser says:

After watching the opening animation, I was impressed with the way it ended. It was enough to make me decide to watch the series. The ballet sequence with the run-in to Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers was very impressive and caught my interest right away. Although this anime is geared towards a younger audience, the older crowd (both teens and adults) can enjoy this as well. The story itself is quite immersing, told uniquely as a fairytale within a fairytale. The setting and characters displayed are something you would expect out from a Studio Ghibli movie with talking and dancing cats and spirits. Lovely animation, an unique approach to fairytales and an outstanding soundtrack will keep audiences of all ages interested.

Himitsu says:

The special features never ceases to entertain . You have the standard but essential clean opening and closings. Without the credits interfering this enhances our appreciation for the animation and especially the music. The most amusing of the options were the outtakes. These showed the bloopers of the voice actors.

There are also voice commentaries. It's surprising that they didn't familiarize with the story or even the characters before dubbing. Despite this, they still did an excellent job with expressing the personalities of each character.

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