Princess Tutu

Princess Tutu was a magical girl anime series that aired during the Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 seasons. It is often referred to as the thematic successor to Revolutionary Girl Utena,R1 Shoujo Anime: Shoujo Controversies "I think of it as the spiritual successor to Utena, especially with regards to its dark and twisty plot." Accessed Nov. 17, 2012. archived linkPrincess Tutu, Anime Planet "I've seen Revolutionary Girl Utena described as a ‘postmodern fairy tale', Princess Tutu as a 'meta-fairy tale', and after watching both series, I'd say those descriptions are about as close as you're going to get in trying to describe either series. Both have a certain surreal/fantastic quality to their stories, and continuously take and invert fairy tale archetypes. Even aspects of the presentation of the story are similar- the ‘once upon a time' segments present at the beginning of several Utena episodes and every Princess Tutu episode, or the role of the shadow play girls (in Utena), which is comparable to the role of Edel or Drosselmeyer (in Tutu)." ~Antic. Accessed Nov. 17, 2012. in that both stories deal heavily with complex, mature, and existential themes in a deliberate inversion of specific shoujo tropes.
The story surrounds a ballet student named Ahiru (duck), who is particularly clumsy. She attends school with the princess-like Rue (or Ruu), Rue's prince-like boyfriend Mytho who seems to have no feelings of his own, and Mytho's best friend, the enigmatic Fakir. At the beginning of the story, Ahiru is given the power to transform into a magical ballerina who can return pieces of Mytho's feelings to him.
Though the show was well-received among English-speaking fans,Princess Tutu (TV) - Anime News Network showing a median fan-rating of "Excellent", two means of "Very Good+", 309 of 1167 votes for "Masterpiece", and an overall series rank of 402 out of 5383, putting it in the top 8% of all of Anime News Network's ranked series. Accessed Nov. 17, 2012.Princess Tutu Review (Anime Planet) Official review from Vivisqueen. Accessed Nov. 17, 2012. fanwork volume has varied widely depending on medium.
==Anime Music Videos==
There are over 500 Anime Music Videos at Animemusicvideos.org that include source material from Princess Tutu.Animemusicvideos.org Super Search listing 504 AMVs in category "Anime: Princess Tutu". Accessed Nov. 17, 2012.
Several well-known AMVs have been made using Princess Tutu:
*Hold Me Now by alkampfer81 of Tidirium Studio. Probably the most famous AMV in the fandom. Spoilers ahoy!
*Danse de Raven by Chiikaboom of Reversed Studios. Another good one to show potential viewers showcasing the dark side of the series.
*Cinderella by Maddison Hughes. Feminist take on Duck|Ahiru's role in the story.
In addition, dozens of popular crossover AMVs have included footage from the series.
==Fanart==
DeviantArt has two clubs for Princess Tutu:
*Princess-Tutu-Club archived link
*#Club-Tutu archived link
Livejournal hosts an icon community, Tutu Icons. archived link
==Fanfiction==
Princess Tutu fanfiction exists, but in relatively small quantities for a series officially released in English several years ago. Fanfiction.net listed 1,151 non-crossover works in Princess Tutu fandom on Nov. 17, 2012.Princess Tutu at Fanfiction.net.. At the Archive of Our Own, the number is 181, including crossovers. Fanfic can also be found on Livejournal at The Princess Tutu Fanfic Community, among others.
However, only 398 of the ff.net works and 71 of those at AO3 met the Yuletide qualifying requirements as of October, 2012, allowing the series to be nominated and requested for Yuletide once again, its 7th straight year in that exchange.Princess Tutu at Yuletidetreasure.org. Accessed Nov. 17, 2012.Yuletide - Works on AO3. Accessed Nov. 17, 2012. 28 Princess Tutu works have been created for Yuletide since 2006.
==Communities==
Livejournal communities not already mentioned include:
*Princess Tutu Community! (a general comm) archived link
*Princess Tutu Femslash archived link
*Princess Tutu Kink Meme (no longer active) archived link 
*Princess Tutu Dressing Room: The Enchanted Castle (a dressing room rp) archived link
Dreamwidth communities:
*Tutu Fans (general comm) archived link
==Relationships==
With four main characters and a large number of secondary characters, there are several relationships available to shippers. In particular, the series has a large cast of female characters, more than male, and has been noted to have strong yuri and shoujo ai potential between the two female leads, Rue and Ahiru, but also beyond them.Princess Tutu Femslash at Tutu-yuri. Accessed Nov. 16, 2012. archived link The early episodes have also inspired yaoi and shounen ai works surrounding the close relationship between Fakir and Mytho. The series implies or states heterosexual relationships between Ruu and Mytho, Ahiru and Mytho, and Ahiru and Fakir, all of which also have followings. In addition, a large number of less common relationships have received fanworks, including threesomes and moresomes.
Sometimes characters take on alternate forms, physically and/or mentally, when interacting with each other. Common forms include:
*Characters in relationships being specified as "Raven!", meaning they are in their Raven-possessed forms (or Raven-possessed forms are invented for them, if they don't exist in canon). 
*Kraehe and Tutu being treated as separate characters from Rue and Ahiru. 
*Ahiru taking duck form, usually with Fakir. 
*All four main characters either during their past lives inside the story or after remembering them.
==Example Fanworks==
===Anime Music Videos===
*Fairytale by Arefadedaway (crossover with Revolutionary Girl Utena)
*Beyond by *inverse* of .:Reversed Studios:.
*Raven Witch by DrPenguin (2016). Dark Rue-centric video.
===Fanfiction===
* Epilogue by canis_m Years later, in a bookshop. Spoilers for series end.
===Fanart===
* Untitled Ahiru in Human and Duck Form by strawbanna guess what i just finished watching today~
===Other===
* Ahiru from Princess Tutu commission, I went down a nostalgia rabbit-hole while making this: a plushie of Duck/Ahiru in duck form by Ashinthepan
* LetsMagicalCooking, 2023. A multifandom magical girl cookbook zine.
* Magical Meeting Zine, 2019. A multifandom art zine.
* Pas de Deux, 2024. Princess Tutu zine.
==References==
Category:Princess Tutu