The essential episodes of Princess Tutu
Watch these 15 in order and you've got Princess Tutu — each pick states its reason.
- 01
Act 1 - Chapter of the Egg: The Duck and the Prince ~ Der Nußknacker: Blumenwalzer
Duck awakes from a dream in which she is a duckling, watching a handsome prince dance ballet. Later, she walks early into class and discovers Mytho, an advanced class student, dancing alone. When she trips, he dives to catch her, twisting his ankle in the process. Duck wants to apologize to him but is prevented from doing so by Mytho's controlling roommate, Fakir. The next morning, Duck resolves to apologize to Mytho, and spies canary chicks beginning to fly. One of the hatchlings hesitates and is forced to jump when a crow tries to attack it. Mytho leaps to catch it and falls as well. To save him, Duck transforms into Princess Tutu. Mytho asks who she is. Tutu/Duck remembers that she is a duck, and runs away.
- 02
Act 2 - Chapter of the Egg: Pieces of the Heart ~ Schwanensee: Scène finale
The next day, Duck wakes up to realize that she is just a duck. Drosselmeyer appears to tell her that she is also the legendary Princess Tutu; her task is to return the pieces of heart to the Prince, Mytho. Longing to one day see Mytho smile, she decides to take up the challenge. Drosselmeyer gives back the pendant that changes her into a girl, as well as Princess Tutu.\n\nAn Anteater-girl, who is bitter and jealous of Rue for her superior dancing skills, sets her eyes on Mytho. She and Mytho have a dance-off with Rue. Rue chooses Duck as her partner and they win. Duck discovers that the anteater is being influenced by a shard of Mytho's heart—the feeling of bitterness. She transforms into Princess Tutu and convinces the heart shard to return to him. Mytho regains a feeling, which worries Fakir.
- 03
Act 3 - Chapter of the Egg: A Princess's Oath ~ Dornröschen: Panorama
Duck learns about the book The Prince and the Raven. She discovers that its author is Drosselmeyer, and that he died a long time ago. She bumps into Mytho, who is retrieving water for Rue, while he and Rue were on a picnic. Duck uses up the water to clean a cut Mytho got, and while on a search for more water, the two stumble upon a restaurant. Inside, a woman, Ebine, serves them cold food and Duck discovers that she has another piece of Mytho’s heart: the feeling of loneliness. She retrieves it and afterwards Rue (and Fakir, who had been looking for him) discuss Princess Tutu, and her fate. The audience learns that if Princess Tutu confesses her love to the Prince, she will turn into a speck of light.
- 04
Duck learns about the Fire Festival. Duck, punished again, is charged with cleaning the room of the advanced class. She arrives at the classroom and finds Mytho, dressed in Festival garb, awaiting Rue to practice dancing together. Since she is absent, he decides to dance with Duck instead, to her joy. As punishment for not listening to him, Fakir locks Mytho up in a closet. He follows a light under the floor, and Duck follows him into the catacombs. She goes in search of Mytho, and a voice begins telling her riddles. She gets them all wrong, but finds the room Mytho is in, regardless, and gets locked in the room. She transforms into Princess Tutu and finally gets the answer to the riddles, revealing the voice is a lamp with a piece of heart.
- 05
Act 6 - Chapter of the Egg: Aurora Dreaming ~ Dornröschen: Prolog
A traveling ballet troupe comes into town and Duck's whole class gets time off to go and see the troupe practice. Duck sees that a heart shard has taken possession of the lead in the upcoming Sleeping Beauty show, but it leaves when the void in her heart is filled when the lead's husband encourages and supports her. Duck chases after the shard and asks it to return to Mytho, but it instead attacks her with a sword. Despite its obvious reluctance, Duck catches it and returns it to Mytho. The shard turns out to be the feeling of fear and uncertainty, and once it is returned Mytho becomes afraid of Princess Tutu. Duck is shocked and dismayed that her attempt to help Mytho has ended with him in pain.
- 06
Act 8 - Chapter of the Egg: The Fountain of Warriors ~ Fantasie-Overtüre zu "Romeo und Julia"
Rue wakes up and cannot remember what happened the night before. She finds Mytho's heart shard in one of her drawers. It questions her and asks her who she really is, but she is unable to answer. Duck ponders whether or not to tell Mytho she is Princess Tutu. Mytho defies Fakir, who, realizing he can no longer control Mytho, retrieves the sword of the prince to break Mytho's heart into pieces again. Kraehe (an unwitting Rue) appears and tries to steal Mytho from Princess Tutu, and then Fakir appears and tries to break Mytho's heart. Princess Tutu is able to stop him, and she also returns the heart shard of curiosity. However, she despairs of Mytho finding out she is in reality just a duck.
- 07
Act 10 - Chapter of the Egg: Cinderella ~ Aschenbrödel: Walzer-Coda
Kraehe retreats for the moment, and Fakir lunges at Princess Tutu with a shard of glass, missing but cutting the chain of her pendant. Princess Tutu turns into a duck, and by the time she realizes the pendant is missing, it is gone. She searches for it all night and finds that Fakir is keeping it. She spends the next day trying to get it back, finally succeeding at dusk. Meanwhile the audience learns that Fakir is an orphan, and his adoptive father a swordsmith. Fakir tells his father that he has realized he is the reincarnation of the knight from the story the Prince and the Raven, but is afraid because it is the knight's fate to die, torn in half by the raven. Duck sees that Fakir's father is possessed by the heart shard of regret, and goes to recover it. Now free of regret, Fakir's father gives the knight's sword to Fakir and tells him to follow his heart. When returning to the school, Fakir sees Duck and notices the pendant she is wearing, and realizes that she is Princess Tutu.
- 08
Act 12 - Chapter of the Egg: Banquet of Darkness ~ Scheherazade
Kraehe and Mytho have vanished. Princess Tutu helps Fakir back to his dorm and binds his wounds, and when he wakes up they decide to search together for Mytho, though Fakir still refuses to team up with Duck. They search everywhere but find nothing, until they happen upon Edel, who shows them the way. In the passage, Duck is so clumsy that Fakir wonders if she and Tutu can even be the same person. She trips and he moves to save her, and they both ending up falling down a deep hole. Duck reveals to him that she is actually a duck and transforms to find a way to get out. Together, Duck and Fakir go to where the final stage has been set.
- 09
Act 13 - Chapter of the Egg: Swan Lake ~ Schwanensee
Duck and Fakir arrive at the stage where Kraehe is keeping Mytho, and Kraehe says she will give the shard of love back if Tutu confesses her feelings, knowing full well that if Tutu does she will turn into a speck of light and vanish. Tutu is prepared to sacrifice herself but Fakir stops her. He fights his way through the ravens in order to break the sword of the prince so Mytho's heart can never be shattered again. Tutu resolves to go on, and she decides to express her feelings through dance. Mytho is moved by Tutu's dance and he and the heart shard go to her, and his heart is repaired. The stage vanishes and they are lost in darkness, but a flame appears to show them the way out. The flame is Edel, who has set herself on fire to guide them back to safety. Edel makes a last request to Tutu and Mytho, that she might see them dance together. Princess Tutu and the Prince dance a duet, while Drosselmeyer muses on how they were able to overcome their tragic fate through much pain.
- 10
Act 22 - Chapter of the Chick: Crown of Stone ~ Das große Tor von Kiew
Duck sets out in search of the rest of the heart shards, but becomes trapped in Drosselmeyer's world. Aotoa is jealous that Fakir is the chosen one.
- 11
Act 23 - Chapter of the Chick: Marionettes ~ Ruslan und Ludmilla
Fakir sits down to write the order in which to save everyone from Drosselmeyer's clutches. Tutu is at Drosselmeyer's mercy in the world of gears. Kraehe begins to doubt whether Mytho will truly be hers and contemplates shattering his heart once again.
- 12
Act 25 - Chapter of the Chick: The Dying Swan ~ Romeo und Julia
The Raven consumes Rue, but she is still alive inside him. Mytho asks Tutu to restore the final piece of his heart so that he can go save her.
- 13
Act 26 - Chapter of the Chick: Finale ~ Der Nußknacker
The Raven attacks Mytho. Duck tries to help, but she's helpless. Fakir seems only capable of writing what is happening. Mytho resolves to shatter his heart once more.
- 14
Act 22 - Chapter of the Chick: Crown of Stone ~ Das große Tor von Kiew (Part 2)
(During the original airing, each season 2 episode aired as a half-episode that premiered weekly. This archives the original air-date of part 2)
- 15
Act 19- Chapter of the Chick: A Midsummer Night's Dream ~ Ein Sommernachtstraum (Part 2)
(During the original airing, each season 2 episode aired as a half-episode that premiered weekly. This archives the original air-date of part 2)
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