Princess Tutu Recaps

Ahiru (which translates to duck in Japanese) is in all reality, a duck herself; however, in the beginning of the series she was turned into a human girl by Drosselmeyer. He also bestowed upon her a pendent which causes Ahiru to transform into her other-self, Princess Tutu. This was all caused by her desire to see Myuuto, the Prince of the story, smile. It turns out her role as Princess Tutu is to gather Myuuto's missing heart so he can gain back the many feelings of sadness and happiness.   It is apparent from the start that Ahiru, as a human, duck, and princess, is feverishly in love with the Prince. Regardless, if she confesses her feelings to him she will vanish (or so the story goes). As such, she is stuck in this awful predicament, but she always willingly goes to fetch Myuuto's heart to aid her beloved, lifeless Prince.   In the manga: Ahiru Arima is human girl that was given a pendant to transform into Princess Tutu. As told by Edel, she gather shards for the Prince to help restore his heart.  In the end of the manga, she does not die or turn into a duck. She forms a friendship with Rue, Fakir, and Myuuto - who she still loves.

Ahiru Arima

Fakir is the Knight of the story, and works through life watching over Myuuto to protect the Prince as planned. He is purposely cold and rude near the beginning of the series in an effort to focus solely on Myuuto, and also tries to sabotage Princess Tutu to give back the Prince's heart pieces. While this was all an intention to protect his friend from the normal course of the story, by Myuuto's wish to gain back his heart, his attitude is renewed.   His role is very clear in the tale, the Knight is supposed to face the terrible Raven in an effort to guard the Prince; however, he is meant to die without laying a hand upon the monster. Fakir goes out to prove himself that the ending doesn't have to be as so, and as such, is at a loss of what his purpose is afterwards.

Fakir

Rue is a very difficult character to read. When the tale begins, she is in a relationship with Myuuto more 'just because' than anything else, yet once Myuuto is threatened from being taken away from her by gaining his heart, she finds that she does indeed care. As her feelings are revealed to herself, and Myuuto is pulled farther and farther away from her into Princess Tutu's arms another side of her appears.   In all actuality, her other side is Princess Kraehe who is the Raven's daughter. Constantly, she is told that the only people who can love her is her father and the Prince. So, in an effort to gain love and self-worth, she acts out against Princess Tutu. Many times, she makes it more challenging for Ahiru to give back the pieces of Myuuto's heart. Other times, she kidnaps the Prince to lure Ahiru into traps. Her motives are only to gain a sense of worth; regardless, she is not a weak villain and is very much a threat to the rest of the cast.  In the manga:  Rue Kuroha is not the daughter of the Raven. She is just a normal school girl was given a pendant to transform into Princess Kraehe. However, like in the anime, Rue loves Myuuto very much. In the end of the manga, she and Ahiru became friends (and rivals for gaining Myuuto's love).

Rue Kuroha

Myuuto was once a heroic and kind Prince who protected the helpless, yet in one of his many battles he encountered a raven. The only way to defeat the monster was to shatter his heart to seal it away. In doing so, he lost all emotions and was left rather lifeless.  During the beginning of the series, Myuuto is dependent on Fakir for his well-being and care---the two have been friends since youth. He is also Rue's boyfriend, but whether by command or because he bluntly doesn't know better is never quite understood. When Princess Tutu first appears to him he finds that gaining back his heart is terribly painful. However, before long he is gracious to the Princess for aiding him and falls in love with her grace.

Myuuto

This is probably one of the most indirectly involved characters of the show. In all actuality, he is the cause of every event that happens. It seems that Drosselmeyer was the one who wrote the story, The Prince And The Raven. In a sense, he is the creator of the Prince, Knight, Princess Tutu, and Princess Kraehe.   He is the person who originally gives Ahiru the ability to be a human girl, and afterwards, the pendent which changes her into Princess Tutu. Drosselmeyer watches every event that unfolds in their world, and interferes when his puppet, Edel, cannot so things follow the flow of the story accordingly.

Drosselmeyer

Edel is a puppet made by Drosselmeyer, she acts as a guide to make sure all characters go through the set story as intended. She is merely a doll that cannot feel; however, in an act of kindness to portray human emotions, she acts as a martyr by burning her body to keep Fakir warm &amp; light the way to the surface for Princess Tutu and Prince Myuuto. In the end, what's left of her are put back together and Uzura is born as a reincarnation. The song Edel plays on her organ grinder is "Musique des Automates" from the ballet "Coppélia". In the ballet, dolls and puppets created by an old toy maker dance to this song, reminiscent of the fact Edel is a puppet.   In the manga: Edel is not a puppet, but is the owner of a shop that sells tutus. She was the one who gave Ahiru the pendant to transfer into Princess Tutu. Sometimes, Ahiru goes to visit the shop to ask Edel questions. She is a follower of the Raven. She gave Ahiru and Rue their pendants so that they can collect Myuuto's heart shards for her (unbeknownst to them).

Edel

Lilie (also known as Yuma in the English translation) is one of Ahiru's friends at the ballet school they attend. She has a habit of constantly saying how cute Ahiru is, and also seems to wish bad luck upon her just for a chance to do so but, in all truth she does wish the best for her friend.

Lilie

Neko-sensei is a teacher at the ballet school that the main characters attend. He has an odd obsession with being married, and even threatens his students that they will have to marry him if they keep making mistakes in class. Quite often, Ahiru is the one who gets tossed this warning throughout the series.

Neko-sensei

Princess Tutu

In a fairy tale come to life, the clumsy, sweet, and gentle Ahiru (Japanese for "duck") seems like an unlikely protagonist. In reality, Ahiru is just as magical as the talking cats and crocodiles that inhabit her town—for Ahiru really is a duck! Transformed by the mysterious Drosselmeyer into a human girl, Ahiru soon learns the reason for her existence. Using her magical egg-shaped pendant, Ahiru can transform into Princess Tutu—a beautiful and talented ballet dancer whose dances relieve people of the turmoil in their hearts. With her newfound ability, Ahiru accepts the challenge of collecting the lost shards of her prince's heart, for long ago he had shattered it in order to seal an evil raven away for all eternity.
Princess Tutu is a tale of heroes and their struggle against fate. Their beliefs, their feelings, and ultimately their actions will determine whether this fairy tale can reach its "happily ever after."

Note: Princess Tutu aired in two parts. The first part included 13 25-minute episodes, while the second part consisted of 24 12-minute episodes with a 25-minute final episode.

Princess Tutu Recaps

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