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I had thought that Tonde Buurin was one of the most bizarre magical girl shows out there. But then along came Princess Tutu! Princess Tutu is the story of a story. That is, it is about how old stories or fairytales have become reality in a small, European-like town. A long time ago, a man wrote a story about a brave Prince fighting a Raven. However, both characters eventually left the story and came to the real world. In order to defeat the Raven, the Prince used the power of his sword and shattered his own heart into countless pieces, unleashing a power that trapped the Raven, but left him pretty much a blank, heartless zombie.
Ahiru is not your average girl. In fact, she may not even be a girl at all. The name ‘Ahiru’ means ‘duck’ and it looks like Ahiru may have begun her life as a duck. But after seeing a beautiful boy with a sad expression, she wished very hard that she could help him. The Storyteller answered her plea, and Ahiru became a cute, average girl. Like many magical girls, she is honest, clumsy, and pure of heart. Ahiru is a
ballet student at a private school. Unfortunately she is not very good at ballet. One of her fellow students is the very popular ‘Mytho’ who is the same beautiful boy that Ahiru-duck saw. Mytho does have a sad expression, and does not speak much. He lacks a heart.
Mytho is suffering somehow, and Ahiru wants to help him. She realizes that Mytho is the Prince of the old story. How can an average duck-girl possibly help him? The Storyteller steps in then and grants Ahiru the power of Princess Tutu, a character in the old story of the Prince and the Raven. Princess Tutu is a ballerina who helps people through her dance. Now Ahiru has the power to find the pieces of Mytho’s heart and return them to him, one by one. However Ahiru faces some opposition in her mission. Always near Mytho is another student, Fakir, who seems very controlling and sinister around Mytho. Just who is Fakir, and why does he hover around Mytho so much? Then there is Rue, a fellow ballerina student, but one of great beauty and talent. It is said that she is Mytho’s girlfriend, but their relationship seems odd somehow. What is her role in this story?
Yes, Princess Tutu is about a magical ballerina duck girl. There is a surreal, fairy tale quality about it, and things are not always as they seem. Each episode takes the general theme of a ballet and uses that music in the episode. For example, there are episodes centered around the music of the Nutcracker, Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, the Red Shoes, etc. Ahiru doesn’t really have a talking pet because, well, being a duck, I guess she IS the talking pet ^_^ Her Magical Item is a red pendant given to her by the Storyteller that not only helps Ahiru become Princess Tutu, it pretty much keeps her human as well. Ahiru does have a transformation sequence, but it is fairly brief, and does not require her to shout any magical words to trigger it.
All the players in a classic story have been reunited in the real world of this town to play out their roles in the story and find their fates. However for some of them, their destinies are tragic. Ahiru must find some way to help her Prince, yet find a future. Ahh, this is such a great show! ^_^
