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ghostdriveNormally I don't really go for "Magical Girl" anime genre. I've been disappointed before by the magical girl type (i.e. Nurse Witch Komugi) anime and am very wary of any new titles that are released here. The only ones of this type that I've liked in the past have been Sailor Moon and Pretear. So when I saw Princess Tutu on Anime News Network I didn't think much of it. Until I read some reviews and other LJ users thoughts on this series, and then I thought it sounded pretty good. I ended up picking up volume 1 at Best Buy afterwards, and I just finished watching it today. And let's just say it would be an understatement for me to say I loved it. IT IS AWESOME.
I decided to keep a log of the episodes (which is what I tend to do in order to keep up with details on different series) but,....I'll let you see what I happened to write in the log later on in this post. First I'll type up the summary written on the back of the first volume, and then what I wrote in the "Princess Tutu Log Book" of doom.
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Once Upon A Time... A girl named Duck-- or rather, a duck who wanted to become a girl-- fell in love with a prince. As she paddled around her pond one day, a bizarre old man emerged from the early morning mist and gave her a magical pendent with the power to transform the waddling Duck into the waltzing Princess Tutu.
Cackling, the man faded into the fog making clear the demands of Duck's destiny. Her lonely prince had lost the pieces of his heart, and only Tutu could unravel their mystery. But however she should chose to step, for better or for worse, would shape her tangled story. For those who ccept their fate find happiness, those who defy it, glory.
-------------
The following are the random thoughts and/or details written down in my little red notebook regarding Princess Tutu volume 1.
Episode 1: The Duck and The Prince
The episode starts with Duck (btw, what kind of name is Duck for a human? I know I have a cat named Duck, but come on, its ridiculously hilarious either way) who apparently attends some sort of Ballet Academy. Duck appears to be obsessed with a boy name Mytho (which seems to be pronounced Muto) who is rather emotionless and stoic, but Mytho has a girlfriend named Rue (who is also at the Academy). Also Duck is special friends with the birds that live around the dormitories. Thinking she's late for class, she rushes off to the school only to find that she is in fact not late but early. So early that the only other person there is none other than Mytho himself. Duck gets rather spastic and clumsly around Mytho so she ends up tripping over herself in her haste to explain to him why she's there. At this point he leaps across the room (is that a Grand Jeté ?) and catches Duck and then proceeds to dance around with her. WTF? Afterwards, Duck breaks away from him and is babbling on in her head that she can't believe Mytho touched her let alone dance ballet with her (Steam even comes from her head, haha). Fakir, who seems to Mytho's roommate appears, and complains to Mytho (after discovering he injured his ankle saving her) that it was a waste of time to save Duck from falling (What a Jerk!). He drags Mytho off before Duck can apologize.
Fakir has an odd relationship with Mytho. He's obsessive to the point where you think he likes Mytho. Fakir tells him what to do, and if Mytho doesn't obey or does something else he gets incredibly angry.
Later on in Duck's ballet class her teacher is revealed to be none other than....A CAT. His name is.....Mr. Cat (wow, how original, haha).(I'd like to state that I LOVE MR. CAT.♥) In order to make his students perform better he threatens that they will be forced to marry (or as he pronounced it at one point, "Meow-rry me") him, so of course they all do better. After class is over, Duck goes off to the Boys Dormitory in order to sneak in and apologize to Mytho for injuring him. Fakir prevents her from entering and even shuts the door on her. What a Mega-Jerkwad! The next morning Duck decides to apologize to Mytho when everyone else is off at class. While waiting for the opportunity to enter the dorm, she spots him in his window; he's watching a canary's (was its name Canary-san?) two young birdies prepare to take flight. One manages to fly off properly while the other one is having trouble trying to fly. As the canary is fumbling about Mytho steps onto the windowsill, and just watches the bird. I should mention that based on the longness of his button up shirt it looks like he's wearing no pants or underwear. At this point I'm laughing so hard I have to pause to catch my breathe. A raven attacks the baby canary and its plummets to the ground, Mytho jumps out the window to save the canary (What? Is he on auto-pilot for saving people from falling?) and starts to fall as well. Duck rushes up to save him, and through the voice of Drosselmeyer it is revealed that she is Princess Tutu. (Briefly here's the backstory for PT: Mytho is a prince from the book The Prince and the Raven and he has somehow escaped the book. He's lost his heart [the shards were used to seal up the evil Raven] and is up to Princess Tutu to return them. Oh, did I mention Princess Tutu is a duck? Yup, a duck who's been transformed into a human though the power of a magic pendent.) Tutu saves both Mytho and the baby canary and so ends episode 1.
Phew, summaries wear me out, but this is what I actually wrote in my notebook regarding Ducks backstory: "And then Duck is revealed to really be a ...duck turned into a human! ...She's a duck that does ballet!!! WTF?! afjeifjefnefelfejflefwtffiejowjrennel(At this point my brain broke. Its only the first episode and already the cuteness and craziness has gotten to me).
Episode 2: Heart Shard
I'd like to note that Duck is very cute in duck form. If Duck portrays any duck qualities (such as her habit for making a quack sound when startled/excited/etc.) she turns back into her duck form. The only way to reverse it is to touch water (and its good to have her clothes nearby, since like in Fruits Basket, when she transforms back she's naked.). Of course, this makes for much hilarity.
There is a female anteater student at the school (WTF!) whose name is Anteaterina (WTF! x 2). She asks Mytho if he would mind being hers, to which he replies, "Not really". (WTF! x 3) Which is strange since he's Rue's boyfriend. (at this point I'm wondering does he say much more than "Not Really", "I don't know", or "probably"? So emotionless, yet so cute. Mytho just sucks with understanding people's feelings.) Though it is hilarious to see Anteaterina pick up Mytho and carry him to class like he's her bride. In class, Anteaterina challenges Rue to a pas de deux where she partners up with Mytho while Rue chooses Duck as her partner. The Anteaterina/Mytho combo dances well, but there's no joy in it. Duck is very nervous that Rue's chosen her as a partner, so she's a bit terrible at first, but Rue's greatness at ballet in turn makes Duck look like she's dancing well. Mr. Cat demotes Duck to the probationary class though, haha. (I ♥ Mr. Cat so much).
At this point I grew lazy in my notes, so the rest will be very brief (and most likely not particulary interesting). Blah Blah, Anteaterina has darkness in her heart (due to jealousy over Rue's dancing) is partly caused by one of Mytho's missing heart shards (this one is loneliness). Princess Tutu appears, saves Anteaterina, and returns the heart shard to Mytho.
Episode 3: The Princess's Vow
Story resembles Hansel and Gretel. I love the classical music used as this series background music* (see below for songs used) Mytho gains back the emotion "sorrow" in this episode.
Episode 4: Giselle
Haha, a Penguin is the piano/organ playing. I LOVE PENGUINS! Almost as much as I've fallen in love with Mr. Cat. Blah Blah, Fakir is still obsessive, Rue also seems to know Mytho's past. Mytho's gains back the emotion "affection".
Episode 5: On the Night of the Fire Festival
Nothing written. At this point I was a drooling mass of Kathy since the cuteness had slowly caused my brain to melt.
In Conclusion: I demand you watch it, you won't be disappointed. ITS FULL OF AWESOMENESS. ME WANT VOLUME 2! (<----Ah yes, great anime does have a tendency to turn me into a crazed lunatic.)
Brief character opinions/summaries:
Duck/Princess Tutu: Cute in a clumsy perky sort of way. As Princess Tutu she is an incredibly good ballet dancer. Likes Mythos. IS A DUCK! Saves people by dancing with them.(<----Ummm...that only a vague explanation of how she saves them, sorry)
Mytho: Stoic cutie slowly gaining back his lost emotions.
Fakir: Bitchy guy with an unusual possesive nature for Mytho. The one who took care of Mytho after he lost his emotions.
Rue: Supposedly Mytho's girlfriend though he doesn't act like she is. Very good ballet dancer and very cute, knows of Mythos past.
Mr. Cat: Best character ever! Threatens to marry his students in order to make them perform better. Seems to say this more to Duck than anyone else.
Pike and Lilie: Duck's close friends. Lilie clings to Duck more though. They are a very humorous team.
Drosselmeyer: Creepy (and possibly dead)
Classical music used in each episode of Princess Tutu.
Episode 1:
From The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Overture Miniature, March, Waltz of the Flowers, Small Prelude. From Swan Lake: Waltz, Scene 28. Also: Etude, The Wedding March.
Episode 2:
From The Nutcracker: March, Overture Miniature, Dance of the Reed-Flutes. From Swan Lake: Hungarian Dance, Waltz, Scene 28. Also: Music for Automata, Dance of the Hours, Samuel Godenberg and Schmuyle, Ballet Of The Chickens In Their Shells, Panorama.
Episode 3:
Previously stated songs from "The Nutcracker" Also: Aquarium, Music for Automata, Arabesque, Habanera, Polovtsian Dances, Panorama, Hilarion and Wilis.
Episode 4:
From Giselle: Giselle's Entrace, Act 2: Albrecht Approaches Giselle's Grave, Act Two: Hilarion and Wilis, Act 2: Wilis' Fugue. Also: Dance of the Hours, The Wedding March, Overture Miniature, On Wings of Song, Catacombs, March, Aquarium, Music for Automata, Etude.
Episode 5:
Waltz, Siegfried Idyll, Overture (Op. 62 Coriolan), March, Music for Automata, Catacombs, With the Dead in a Dead Language, Aquarium, Enry-Guide.
The list of songs was taken from here, so if you want more info go there.
EDIT: Damn, I forgot to mention Drosselmeyer in there (beside in the brief character summaries part) Apparently he's the writer of "The Prince and the Raven" and is the one that turned Duck into a human (and later showed her how to become Princess Tutu). He's watching what Duck does from the shadows, especially when she's transformed into PT. It seems he watches merely for his own amusement. He's very creepy.
EDIT X 2: Another good reason for buying Princess Tutu volume 1 are the fabulous extras included. The highlight for me was the "Voice Actor Commentary for Episode 1" extra. Luci Christian (the voice of Duck) and Chris Patton (voice of Fakir) were the two voice actors who gave commentary this time. They are two hilarious individuals and all the comments and stories they told were both very interesting and funny. It was just great to hear them joke around with each other (they had worked together on previous anime series, so they were comfortable together). Luci imitating Chris doing his Orphen character had me cracking up. Their love for the show is obvious in the way they talk about it, and for some reason it makes me happy just to know the dedication they put into their characters. I was laughing so much at what they had to say that my cat Captain was staring at me like I had gone crazy. If my beloved cousin Gina (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
grod8404) ever gets around to coming back to my house, I will make her watch this show. So Beware! ^__^
EDIT X 3: HOLY CRAP! This post was full of glaring spelling mistakes. Hopefully most of them have been fixed by now.
I decided to keep a log of the episodes (which is what I tend to do in order to keep up with details on different series) but,....I'll let you see what I happened to write in the log later on in this post. First I'll type up the summary written on the back of the first volume, and then what I wrote in the "Princess Tutu Log Book" of doom.
-------------
Once Upon A Time... A girl named Duck-- or rather, a duck who wanted to become a girl-- fell in love with a prince. As she paddled around her pond one day, a bizarre old man emerged from the early morning mist and gave her a magical pendent with the power to transform the waddling Duck into the waltzing Princess Tutu.
Cackling, the man faded into the fog making clear the demands of Duck's destiny. Her lonely prince had lost the pieces of his heart, and only Tutu could unravel their mystery. But however she should chose to step, for better or for worse, would shape her tangled story. For those who ccept their fate find happiness, those who defy it, glory.
-------------
The following are the random thoughts and/or details written down in my little red notebook regarding Princess Tutu volume 1.
Episode 1: The Duck and The Prince
The episode starts with Duck (btw, what kind of name is Duck for a human? I know I have a cat named Duck, but come on, its ridiculously hilarious either way) who apparently attends some sort of Ballet Academy. Duck appears to be obsessed with a boy name Mytho (which seems to be pronounced Muto) who is rather emotionless and stoic, but Mytho has a girlfriend named Rue (who is also at the Academy). Also Duck is special friends with the birds that live around the dormitories. Thinking she's late for class, she rushes off to the school only to find that she is in fact not late but early. So early that the only other person there is none other than Mytho himself. Duck gets rather spastic and clumsly around Mytho so she ends up tripping over herself in her haste to explain to him why she's there. At this point he leaps across the room (is that a Grand Jeté ?) and catches Duck and then proceeds to dance around with her. WTF? Afterwards, Duck breaks away from him and is babbling on in her head that she can't believe Mytho touched her let alone dance ballet with her (Steam even comes from her head, haha). Fakir, who seems to Mytho's roommate appears, and complains to Mytho (after discovering he injured his ankle saving her) that it was a waste of time to save Duck from falling (What a Jerk!). He drags Mytho off before Duck can apologize.
Fakir has an odd relationship with Mytho. He's obsessive to the point where you think he likes Mytho. Fakir tells him what to do, and if Mytho doesn't obey or does something else he gets incredibly angry.
Later on in Duck's ballet class her teacher is revealed to be none other than....A CAT. His name is.....Mr. Cat (wow, how original, haha).(I'd like to state that I LOVE MR. CAT.♥) In order to make his students perform better he threatens that they will be forced to marry (or as he pronounced it at one point, "Meow-rry me") him, so of course they all do better. After class is over, Duck goes off to the Boys Dormitory in order to sneak in and apologize to Mytho for injuring him. Fakir prevents her from entering and even shuts the door on her. What a Mega-Jerkwad! The next morning Duck decides to apologize to Mytho when everyone else is off at class. While waiting for the opportunity to enter the dorm, she spots him in his window; he's watching a canary's (was its name Canary-san?) two young birdies prepare to take flight. One manages to fly off properly while the other one is having trouble trying to fly. As the canary is fumbling about Mytho steps onto the windowsill, and just watches the bird. I should mention that based on the longness of his button up shirt it looks like he's wearing no pants or underwear. At this point I'm laughing so hard I have to pause to catch my breathe. A raven attacks the baby canary and its plummets to the ground, Mytho jumps out the window to save the canary (What? Is he on auto-pilot for saving people from falling?) and starts to fall as well. Duck rushes up to save him, and through the voice of Drosselmeyer it is revealed that she is Princess Tutu. (Briefly here's the backstory for PT: Mytho is a prince from the book The Prince and the Raven and he has somehow escaped the book. He's lost his heart [the shards were used to seal up the evil Raven] and is up to Princess Tutu to return them. Oh, did I mention Princess Tutu is a duck? Yup, a duck who's been transformed into a human though the power of a magic pendent.) Tutu saves both Mytho and the baby canary and so ends episode 1.
Phew, summaries wear me out, but this is what I actually wrote in my notebook regarding Ducks backstory: "And then Duck is revealed to really be a ...duck turned into a human! ...She's a duck that does ballet!!! WTF?! afjeifjefnefelfejflefwtffiejowjrennel(At this point my brain broke. Its only the first episode and already the cuteness and craziness has gotten to me).
Episode 2: Heart Shard
I'd like to note that Duck is very cute in duck form. If Duck portrays any duck qualities (such as her habit for making a quack sound when startled/excited/etc.) she turns back into her duck form. The only way to reverse it is to touch water (and its good to have her clothes nearby, since like in Fruits Basket, when she transforms back she's naked.). Of course, this makes for much hilarity.
There is a female anteater student at the school (WTF!) whose name is Anteaterina (WTF! x 2). She asks Mytho if he would mind being hers, to which he replies, "Not really". (WTF! x 3) Which is strange since he's Rue's boyfriend. (at this point I'm wondering does he say much more than "Not Really", "I don't know", or "probably"? So emotionless, yet so cute. Mytho just sucks with understanding people's feelings.) Though it is hilarious to see Anteaterina pick up Mytho and carry him to class like he's her bride. In class, Anteaterina challenges Rue to a pas de deux where she partners up with Mytho while Rue chooses Duck as her partner. The Anteaterina/Mytho combo dances well, but there's no joy in it. Duck is very nervous that Rue's chosen her as a partner, so she's a bit terrible at first, but Rue's greatness at ballet in turn makes Duck look like she's dancing well. Mr. Cat demotes Duck to the probationary class though, haha. (I ♥ Mr. Cat so much).
At this point I grew lazy in my notes, so the rest will be very brief (and most likely not particulary interesting). Blah Blah, Anteaterina has darkness in her heart (due to jealousy over Rue's dancing) is partly caused by one of Mytho's missing heart shards (this one is loneliness). Princess Tutu appears, saves Anteaterina, and returns the heart shard to Mytho.
Episode 3: The Princess's Vow
Story resembles Hansel and Gretel. I love the classical music used as this series background music* (see below for songs used) Mytho gains back the emotion "sorrow" in this episode.
Episode 4: Giselle
Haha, a Penguin is the piano/organ playing. I LOVE PENGUINS! Almost as much as I've fallen in love with Mr. Cat. Blah Blah, Fakir is still obsessive, Rue also seems to know Mytho's past. Mytho's gains back the emotion "affection".
Episode 5: On the Night of the Fire Festival
Nothing written. At this point I was a drooling mass of Kathy since the cuteness had slowly caused my brain to melt.
In Conclusion: I demand you watch it, you won't be disappointed. ITS FULL OF AWESOMENESS. ME WANT VOLUME 2! (<----Ah yes, great anime does have a tendency to turn me into a crazed lunatic.)
Brief character opinions/summaries:
Duck/Princess Tutu: Cute in a clumsy perky sort of way. As Princess Tutu she is an incredibly good ballet dancer. Likes Mythos. IS A DUCK! Saves people by dancing with them.(<----Ummm...that only a vague explanation of how she saves them, sorry)
Mytho: Stoic cutie slowly gaining back his lost emotions.
Fakir: Bitchy guy with an unusual possesive nature for Mytho. The one who took care of Mytho after he lost his emotions.
Rue: Supposedly Mytho's girlfriend though he doesn't act like she is. Very good ballet dancer and very cute, knows of Mythos past.
Mr. Cat: Best character ever! Threatens to marry his students in order to make them perform better. Seems to say this more to Duck than anyone else.
Pike and Lilie: Duck's close friends. Lilie clings to Duck more though. They are a very humorous team.
Drosselmeyer: Creepy (and possibly dead)
Classical music used in each episode of Princess Tutu.
Episode 1:
From The Nutcracker: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Overture Miniature, March, Waltz of the Flowers, Small Prelude. From Swan Lake: Waltz, Scene 28. Also: Etude, The Wedding March.
Episode 2:
From The Nutcracker: March, Overture Miniature, Dance of the Reed-Flutes. From Swan Lake: Hungarian Dance, Waltz, Scene 28. Also: Music for Automata, Dance of the Hours, Samuel Godenberg and Schmuyle, Ballet Of The Chickens In Their Shells, Panorama.
Episode 3:
Previously stated songs from "The Nutcracker" Also: Aquarium, Music for Automata, Arabesque, Habanera, Polovtsian Dances, Panorama, Hilarion and Wilis.
Episode 4:
From Giselle: Giselle's Entrace, Act 2: Albrecht Approaches Giselle's Grave, Act Two: Hilarion and Wilis, Act 2: Wilis' Fugue. Also: Dance of the Hours, The Wedding March, Overture Miniature, On Wings of Song, Catacombs, March, Aquarium, Music for Automata, Etude.
Episode 5:
Waltz, Siegfried Idyll, Overture (Op. 62 Coriolan), March, Music for Automata, Catacombs, With the Dead in a Dead Language, Aquarium, Enry-Guide.
The list of songs was taken from here, so if you want more info go there.
EDIT: Damn, I forgot to mention Drosselmeyer in there (beside in the brief character summaries part) Apparently he's the writer of "The Prince and the Raven" and is the one that turned Duck into a human (and later showed her how to become Princess Tutu). He's watching what Duck does from the shadows, especially when she's transformed into PT. It seems he watches merely for his own amusement. He's very creepy.
EDIT X 2: Another good reason for buying Princess Tutu volume 1 are the fabulous extras included. The highlight for me was the "Voice Actor Commentary for Episode 1" extra. Luci Christian (the voice of Duck) and Chris Patton (voice of Fakir) were the two voice actors who gave commentary this time. They are two hilarious individuals and all the comments and stories they told were both very interesting and funny. It was just great to hear them joke around with each other (they had worked together on previous anime series, so they were comfortable together). Luci imitating Chris doing his Orphen character had me cracking up. Their love for the show is obvious in the way they talk about it, and for some reason it makes me happy just to know the dedication they put into their characters. I was laughing so much at what they had to say that my cat Captain was staring at me like I had gone crazy. If my beloved cousin Gina (
grod8404) ever gets around to coming back to my house, I will make her watch this show. So Beware! ^__^EDIT X 3: HOLY CRAP! This post was full of glaring spelling mistakes. Hopefully most of them have been fixed by now.