Title: Princess Tutu on Blu-ray

Director: Junichi Sato (Chief), Shogo Koumoto

Studio: Hal Film Maker

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Dec. 11th, 2018

Format: Blu-ray/ 26 Episodes / 650 Minutes

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Magical Girl

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: B

Synopsis:

Princess Tutu contains episodes 1-26 of the anime directed by Junichi Sato and Shougo Kawamoto.

Once there was a writer, a creator of tales, who was blessed with the ability to bring his stories to life. But when the writer dies before his story is finished, what becomes of the characters left behind? For the girl known as Duck, the world changed when an old man gave her a pendant that transformed the duck that she was into a young girl. Now she must gather the shards of a shattered Prince’s heart and finish the story of the Prince and the Raven. But will that require Duck to make a sacrifice of her own? Enter a world of dance and wonder as ballet, myth and romance come together in the anime hailed as a modern classic, at least by some.

Commentary:

In a world of strange anime it may be possible that Princess Tutu manages to reach its way up the list to a modest place of oddity. There is so much going on here that it is hard to put your finger on how Princess Tutu fits into any mold. Lets just say that Magical Girls and Ballet makes for an almost interesting concept. For me I found it to be a mix of Pinocchio, Cardcaptor Sakura and D Gray-man. Although, it is possible that D Gray-man pulled from Princess Tutu. I still felt the imagery was very familiar.

The thing about Princess Tutu that kept my attention was the sheer strangeness of the story. I wasn’t interested in the dance or the plot, but rather how very odd everything was.

Overall Grade: B

Princess Tutu does something that is often tried and failed at and that is pull off a truly absurd plot line. The weird overlay of genre and confusion at the begging of what is going on keeps you a bit off balance, but the art style manages to work for the concept. The only real failing I have is the weakness of writing. I found the plot lacking conviction and several of the characters were just a little too stiff.

I think that anime fans of the absurd anime genre should take the time to check this one out. It doesn’t matter if you are into ballet or not Princess Tutu is just weird. I am not ready to call it a modern classic, but it is fun to watch.