Princess Tutu Complete Collection

Shipping for this item came very quickly. I was expecting a slightly different styling with the package--this is the kind of style that Bandai likes to use, with just one big box and the dvd "page" system inside. (Normally, ADV releases them in slim-pack with seperate tiny dvd cases for each inside the bigger one.) The dvds all play well, aside from the occasional minor glitch on the subtitles, but they're still definitely readable.
Concerning the story itself, Princess Tutu is darling series with memorable and surprisingly complex characters. A fairy tale with a more tragic twist than the like that Disney would proffer, I think that this series embodies the tone of old fairytales before people starting softening them up for children. The animation sometimes leaves something to be desired; the dancing could have been better animated in certain places in particular (Ballet is definitely slower, more graceful and not a wild dancing style, but it's more than some of the sequences can make it feel like.) I really enjoyed the music in the series: well-known classical pieces find themselves subtly imposing over the standard background, creating an appropriate mood for the series.
For the price you're getting this at--and you really can't get it cheaper anywhere else, I checked around--I would say definitely go for it.

When I was first asked to watch Princess Tutu, I was more than unenthusiastic. I am not really one for the sparkles and the cutesy-cutesy that most female-demographic-aimed anime seem to carry over from one to another. So I sat, reluctantly, before my best friend's television late one Sunday night and began what I thought was going to be an entirely-uphill foray into the world of Princess Tutu, with only a glass of cold darjeeling tea and the reassurance that this was not my conventional fairy tale.

Two episodes in, I was positively enthralled. This, ladies and gentlemen, is NOT your conventional fairy tale. What I expected to be a lighthearted children's tale was masking deeper, darker things the color of crow's wings and the consistency of old blood. The story of love, and fate, and making both your own.

As the story goes, there was a prince who took out his own heart, sick of playing his role in the story of Prince vs The Crow. His heart splintered into many tiny pieces and he was lost. It is the duty of Princess Tutu to find these pieces of his heart, all the while fighting against the daughter of The Crow, Princess Kraehe, who merely wants to taint it.

I'm no good at summaries, but it's far darker than you would expect, while still somehow absolutely hysterical (when appropriate). I don't recommend it for small children, but somewhere above the age of 12, I think, would be fine. It isn't that it's terribly scary, but it is a tad dark and could be frightening for someone who cannot completely follow what's happening.

The packaging on this complete set is gorgeous. It is simple, modern and well-put-together. I love designs like this, and Rue looks gorgeous on the cover.

I highly recommend this series to any fan of fairy tales, gallantry, ballet, anime, or just good plain comedy with a twist. I promise, if I can love it this deeply this quickly, and love it enough to purchase it for my own, so can you -- and it will make a perfect addiction to your collection.