Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Princess Tutu Recommendations

Shoujo Kakumei Utena
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Shoujo Kakumei Utena
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Princess Tutu
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Princess Tutu
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It's no surprise that Princess Tutu has been called Utena-lite. Both series look like they're made for young girls and have, to some degree, fairly typical shoujo plots in the beginning. Soon, though, they become much more complex, twisting the definitions of friend and foe; of what it means to be yourself or to grow up. In addition, they're both heavily influenced by traditional fairy tales yet eventually change the norms of those tales to be something completely different.
report Recommended by Anomalous
Both Utena and Tutu contain a strong fairy tale motif and themes of accepting or defying one's fairy tale role. In a way, Utena feels like a more sophisticated/jaded exploration of the same themes touched upon in Tutu. They also both have a little bit of that surreal/reality-bending element, though Tutu never gets quite as surreal or symbolic as Utena. Basically, they're both really great series that you should watch, period.
report Recommended by andrael
Princess Tutu and Revolutionary Girl Utena have quite a bit in common. Both have the feel of a "modern fairy tale" and start off feeling like your typical, light-hearted shojo or magical girl series. However, both eventually obtain a darker atmosphere, become something new, and make themselves stand out in certain ways. Tutu is more family friendly and has more of a "magical girl" feel to it, while Utena is more intense and has more of a "girl warrior" feel to it. The heroines of both stories mature quite a bit throughout the story and learn concepts such as love, romance, friendship, self-sacrifice, and selflessness.   read more
report Recommended by mysngoeshere56
Both series have the feel of a modern fairytale. Despite being a more family friendly anime, Princess Tutu is not afraid to have stories as rich in symbolism as Utena.
report Recommended by FrozenLilith
The first recomender pretty much got it spot-on. Both are dark magical girl shows that, rather than focusing on the magical girl theme, focus more on the fairy-tale prince-princess theme. Utena is quite a bit more adult, however, and is a direct deconstruction of the Prince- Princess fairy tale genre, whereas Princess TuTu is just more of a darker 'Grimm' version of a fairy tale. Utena is more psychological and explores more themes and has a more drastic use of metaphors.
report Recommended by Amberleh
Both series deal with the archetypes present in most fairy tales. While Princess Tutu explores the way the pure archetypes would interact in the real world, Utena looks at how these same archetypes would be either muddled or destroyed by the many shades of grey that exist around us, as compared to the black and white heroes and villains of a storybook.
report Recommended by Nonyflah
Both of these series are shoujo based on fairy tales which invert the classic relationship between men and women in them. In each of these anime, the protagonist is a girl who takes on the role of the hero traditionally designated to the prince, a man. Both anime also ask if the heroic actions we see in fairy tales are really genuine and are really the right thing to do.
report Recommended by Asbestos_In_Cans
Two anime, heavily influenced by fairy tale stories, which turn into complex and twisted shows later on, revolving around similar themes, such as finding yourself or growing up.
report Recommended by AnimeXHunter
Utena and Princess Tutu both rely heavily on allegory, fairy tale imagery, and abstract visuals to convey their messages, and both stories are centered around the idea of the roles people are expected to play in the narratives they have been thrust into. Princess Tutu portrays these concepts in a much more literal way, with characters actively discussing the stories they come from, the characters they represent, or the endings they are supposed to have, and largely avoids the more mature and adult themes that Utena dives right into, but the two series often feel as though they are in conversation with one another and   read more
report Recommended by tentacleteapot
born, like utena, out of work on sailor moon, i've seen princess tutu described as "revolutionary girl utena for kids" - which i think is an apt, if simplistic, description. thematically, both aim to examine and ultimately deconstruct shoujo tropes of the time, through the specific lens of fairytales (with princess tutu elaborating on the criticism of fairytales as perpetuators of misogynistic propaganda). if you're looking for a spiritual and thematic successor to utena that's also a more lighthearted, more "traditional" magical girl anime - look no further than princess tutu!
report Recommended by revuestarlight
Both series follow a magical girl through a fairy-tale like story, trying to fight for her "Prince". Their episodes follow a formula where a person becomes a victim of the antagonist and must "battle" the antagonist to change their heart. In Utena, it's a sword fight. In Tutu, it's ballet. The art styles are both similar, though, Utena (1997) is older than Tutu (2002).
report Recommended by MoonPhos
Both of these shows are technically magical girl shows but they tackle serious and rather unexpected themes for the genre. Utena is more surrealistic and more difficult to unpack and often feels dark and heavy. It is very unique and an interesting experience nonetheless.
report Recommended by gw12dk4
Both are magical girl stories that fairy tale stylizations to it and both share dark undertones as well too and both feature girls saving the day in contrast to where its usually the dude that saves the day in fairytales and also both have a heavy use of symbolism too and things can get quite surreal as time goes by too and its defo a huge must watch imo if you like either series.
report Recommended by Disapeared_Ghost
Princess Tutu like RGU famously broke down and criticized the black-and-white roles of the shojo genre both at the time (late 90s to early 00s) and decades before (70s and 80s) and examine how they not only on an individual level restrict and regress people but also enforce problematic gender roles that contribute to the oppression of the female sex as a whole and the struggles men who do not have traits associated with typical masculinity are ostracized as well as can still despite that oppress women.
report Recommended by Osumare
Shows about fairy tales, but not actually. The fairy tale motif is used in both shows as a means to tell a complicated, often psychological story, freely subverting the genre and the things one would expect from it. They are both very deep and really say a lot about human emotions are relatoinships. On a side note, Edel and the Shadow Girls are really cool and unique characters, that serve the similar role of tellin short stories that end up having some interesting meaning. They are really fun to watch, and a nice aspect of their respective series.
report Recommended by Kww_121
Similar dark fantasy themes, symbolism, subversion, and surreal battle sequences.
report Recommended by Atsugaruru
Both kind of sad/dark animes concerning a young woman who is tied to princes- Utena is a prince who wants to save her princess, Ahiru is a princess who wants to save her prince- and the magic that surrounds them. Both shoujo animes
report Recommended by akavish
Princess Tutu is another shoujo genre dark magical girl, with somewhat deconstructed fantasy themes. The character Mytho is pretty similar to Anthy, and slowly (literally) builds character over time, like how Anthy does.
report Recommended by crystalcage
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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