As I write about anime daily, we cover a lot of announcements of new projects that are coming up. The majority, as one would expect, are adapted from light novels, manga, or video games. And there are tons and tons of great ones from there. But the ones that I always find myself taking extra special attention to are when we get the original series announcements.
These are ones where a lot of work is done to put together everything from the ground up in order to get it made, which is a huge investment since you don’t practically have it storyboarded like a manga can be viewed as or with a complete and full story from a light novel series.
There are so many that come to mind quickly for me but the one that I really get drawn to and discover new things about each time I watch it is the Princess Tutu project. This one came from Ikuku Itoh with its obvious inspiration from ballet and fairy tales. It’s incredibly open to interpretation and is the ideal kind of show that you can introduce to younger audiences – to a degree – while also thoroughly entertaining the adults that come along for the ride as they see the greater depths to it. Itoh’s time as a director on various Sailor Moon properties over the years definitely shows here with the magical girl elements but it’s the subversive elements of Magic User’s Club that shine through the most for me.
