Reviewed by: James Zhang
Ratings:
Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Romance
Year: 2002
Series Length: 26 episodes

Once upon a time, a Prince who loved all and was loved by all used his own heart to seal away a monster raven, and in so doing, was left emotionless and expressionless, like a puppet out of the story he came from.

You see, a man who had the power to write stories that sculpted reality had died while writing the story of this Prince. Now the Prince and Raven exist in reality, twisting the bounds of what is real and what is fantasy. Both are stuck in a reality that, like the unfinished story, is lacking a conclusion.

A duck sees the Prince dance in her lake, and is enthralled by his grace, yet pities his emotionless eyes. Beautiful as his movements are, he lacks a heart and doesn't communicate any feelings in his dance.

She dreams of bringing his feelings back to him, and eventually, to dance with him and see him smile.

She is turned into a girl, and given the ability to transform into Princess Tutu, another character from the unfinished story. Princess Tutu has the power to find pieces of the Prince's heart, and to return them to their rightful owner.

However, there are people who don't want the Prince to change. One is a proud knight wanting to protect him from the suffering that feelings bring, the other a lonely princess who uses him as a doll to love, a love that cannot be genuine but a love she can control.

What will happen when the Prince's heart is full again? What will the Raven do once the seal containing him is thus broken?

Princess Tutu is a mix of fairytales, and follows the fairytale traditions of the perfect Prince, characters who treat (and fall in) love in an overly superficial manner, and well defined boundaries of good and bad, right and wrong.

However, Princess Tutu is an excellent fairytale, with simple characters thrust into complicated situations, a 'God' who is as much a spectator as a creator, and characters behaving as if they have wills of their own when concepts of fate and destiny are strongly intertwined with the story.

Will the puppets and marionettes inside Princess Tutu act out their roles as defined by the story, or will they triumph through the story's machinations and create a conclusion out of their own thoughts and feelings?

As each piece of the Prince's heart is returned to him, Princess Tutu demonstrates the fleeting emotions governing human behaviour, and the connotations we attach to those feelings to add meaning and a sense of purpose to our lives.

Are love and free will both illusions that guide people through a life of essentially selfish desires, or are they proof that while people dream big dreams and aspire towards ideals of purity and beauty, dreams of Heaven are not meant to be fulfilled on Earth?

Princess Tutu is a montage of wonderful artwork and delicate imagery, with beautifully choreographed dancing and appropriate classical music to match.

An exceptional series in every way, the sadness felt at its conclusion is atoned by the hope of finding other adventures like Princess Tutu.

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