The best anime everrrrrrr

[blackruzsa]

 You're probably wondering why I'm doing this (again).

I didn't quite catch enough attention the last time, so let's try this once more. 

Let me present to you the queen of all fairy tale deconstructions in non-comic media. 

Princess Tutu. No, I'm not kidding. You know how ballet always has dark themes and nightmares only fairy tales could give you? 

This anime milks those dark themes for all they're worth, hidden under a coating of lighthearted fun and a klutzy duck main character. I'd post manga scans, but honestly, the comic's pretty bad, and I want to stay as far away from it as possible. 



So instead, I present to you.... screenshots!






And to clarify, yes, those are ballet dancing skeletons. 















The anime is basically about a town that's trapped in a story book world by a dead storyteller, Herr Drosselmeyer (as seen in the insane orange-eyed guy above) 

This is a town where everything but the language is in German and talking animals are common. Not so common is a duck who turns into a girl who turns into a princess who is fated to die. 

Go figure. 

And this isn't for kids, either. Though it comes off as a lovely, sweet magical girl anime, the prevailing themes include death by raven swarms, cutting off arms, evil charms and lots and lots of getting chopped to pieces. 

But enough of that. Let's move on to what was dubbed the best AMV as of 2006. 

Assuming you pick up the anime, survive the first season and the second one will blow your mind. 

Also, for legality, one page from one of the TPBs lining my bookshelves about the value of stories. 

Lucifer, written by Mike Carrey.


 

Comments

[mullon]

This looks like every anime in existence ever.

[blackruzsa]

Good/bad?

[salinea]

You're confusing with Code Geass.

[ravenous_raven]

Trust me, it's not. The 2nd season in particular deals with destiny, fate, agency, good/evil, the definition of a monster, abusive relationships, loyalty, friendship, and faith. Not to mention that each episode interprets either a fairy tale or classic ballet.


One of my favorite quotes from the anime pretty much sums up the theme of the story: "To those who accept their fate, happiness. To those who defy it, glory."

[espanolbot]

Huh, Black Lagoon looks like Yu Gi Oh? Ghost in the Shell looks like Hellsing?

Aw, I wasted so much money. :(

[icon_uk]

Your scan reminds me of the Xena episode where Gabrielle tries to get a place in the "Athens City Academy for the Performing Bards". Whenever Gabrielle tells an audtion story, it's a flashback to a Xena episode, when the over-testosteroned Stallonus tells a tale, it's a clip from a Steve Reeves Italian Hercules flick. Of course, when this small, unimportant looking blind guy shows up and starts telling a rivetting tale we get the climax of the original "Spartacus", and the new guy, who decides to use the scroll-name "Homer", gets the place. :)

[blackruzsa]

Heheh.
You never find out who won that contest, but the boy's story was chilling.

[drakyndra]

You know, I really did not expect to see Princess Tutu here of all places online.

But I second the recommendation, it's amazing. Though the first few episodes are a bit generic anime, stick with it.

[jelly_ace]

Somebody recommended this to me here a while back; I was interested in Badass Dancing, and I was told this anime embodies it and more.

It was shown in Animax though, but their dubbing it so crappy I don't watch anything there that is dubbed.

[salinea]

If you're interested into Badass Dancing you might also check out RideBack. It has dancing mecha/racing bikes.

[janegray]

Then watch it subbed, duh :P

[manicferret]

Being fluent in Swedish and living here, makes me crack up a bit about that video, I keep on seeing little Nanne Grönvall... and then my brain starts singing Avundsjuk by here.

[icon_uk]

Catchy little tune though, nice beat to it.

[salinea]

Princess Tutu is definitly on my top 20 favourite anime list ♥

[salinea]

Let me present to you the queen of all fairy tale deconstructions in non-comic media.
OTOH, and while that doesn't make Princess Tutu any less awesome; the queen of all fairy tale deconstruction (period) would be Revolutionary Girl Utena.

[twigcollins]

Agreed. Did you hear they're doing a re-release of the anime DVD's?

[punishermax]

Dear Arrnofsky,

Remake Black Swan using these characters and using the same animators.


Keep Mila Kunis.

Thank You

[twigcollins]

Sitting there in the theatre during the dramatic climax where Portman's going all feathery and I'm thinking "god, this seems really familiar..."

[leorising]

Certainly looks like very appealing crack. I'm kind of picky about my anime, which is why I've only indulged in one of the magical girl genre (CardCaptor Sakura.) I dunno, Princess Tutu might have to be my next obsession...we'll see. Time to look and see if the public library carries it!

Thanks a bunch for the rec. :D

[neev]

If you like Card Captor Sakura, you will probably enjoy Princess Tutu. They share the trait of being /technically/ a magical girl show without being constrained by the genre the way a lot of shows are.

[janegray]

Princess Tutu is great, but the extreme mood whiplash between Season one and two makes it kind of a hard sell.

Season one is uber sweet and saccharine and happy-go-lucky, it's obviously a (very well-made) sugar-coated children cartoon (on crack).

Season two is very creepy and most definitely not child-friendly (a special mention goes to Drosselmeyer continuing to write his tragedies after the psychos cut his hands off, by using his stump as a pen and his blood as ink; the fact that we only get a vague description and are shown nothing only adds to the creepiness imo), and has a very unconventional ending. Somebody once described Season two as "darkfic of Season one," and I think the description is spot-on.

People who enjoy the first Season may find themselves upset by the second Season (especially the ending), whereas people who enjoy Season two may hate having to watch the "childish" Season one for backstory.

[neev]

I dunno, the show starts in right away with themes of jealousy and revenge and the surreal aspect of people randomly being animals definitely gives the whole thing a slightly creepy undertone. I mean, there's a heaping helping of cute to go along with it - and I've not seen the second season, so I can't say for sure - but I feel like it leads up to taking a dark turn pretty well.

Planning on watching the whole thing now because it keeps coming up and GDI I want to finish this show, so we shall see how I feel later. I feel like if I can deal with the mood whiplash in Trigun, I'm prepared for this as well.

[punishermax]

Everyone who wants a happy, fun little anime should go and rent School Days.



(hehehehe)

[darkblade]

Nice boat....nice boat...

[ravenous_raven]

I didn't quite catch enough attention the last time, so let's try this once more.

Caught my attention. I read all the great comments, ended up getting sick a few days later, and watched the whole thing in one day straight. Thanks for introducing me to it!

[turtlefu]

So...what's so appealing about it?
Is it the contrast between the cute magical girl anime and the gory subject matter?
I'm just really curious, because when it comes to anime, where it takes around 25 hours to tell a story, I like to know exactly what I'm getting into before I make such a huge investment (you have no idea how many anime I've started but never finished, or bought but NEVER STARTED)

[darkblade]

I wouldn't really call the subject matter gory. Over all I'd say the series never gets beyond 14A content.

The biggest draw is how it manages to take a rather simplisitc story concept and weave it into a complex metaphysical story that looks at both the nature of the Magical Girl and Fairy Tale genres and look at the darker aspects of both that sit just under the surface.

I have previously summed up the series as Grant Morrisson's Animal Man as ballet with Magical Girl and Fairy Tale elements replacing the Superhero aspects.

[darkblade]

For those still on the fence I'd suggest taking a look at these internet reviewers on the series. It shows you a bit more of the series and gives you some unique perspectives beyond raving fangirl. (Sorry blackruzsa)

http://www.d2brigade.net/shows/arksmain/glass-reflection/202-glass-reflection-princess-tutu

http://www.d2brigade.net/shows/josmain/jo-anime-review/112-jo-anime-review-princess-tutu

[khamelea]

Goldekrone
They give us those nice bright colours
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's
A sunny day

[blackruzsa]

And then they fade to red and black
and take the joy away.

[ninjapeps]

since we're on magical girl anime... have you watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica?

[blackruzsa]

I'm not big on anime anymore, sadly.

Some things just stay with you after years and years, though.

[silverzeo]

Thanks for posting this... WHILE I AM OVER MY HEAD WITH PAPERS!!!!

[blackruzsa]

Aw.
*pat*

[arilou_skiff]

That music video was... Amazing. Even more fun when you know what it's about.

And yeah, Tutu is one of my favourite anime shows (for reference: Planetes, RahXephon, Infinite Ryvius, Princess Tutu, Revolutionary Girl Utena)