The Royal Tutor
Miriam Herrera
Recap
A mysterious tutor comes into the lives of four princes, all candidates to take the throne should anything happen to the first Prince, Eins. When we first meet the four Princes, Kai, Bruno, Leonhard, and Licht, Leonhard taking up in making sure that the others know that they do not need a new tutor. After countless times on them running off their old tutors. But, this one tutor seems to spark their interest as Heine Wittgenstein comes into their lives with an invitation from the King himself. While they are adamant about running the tutor off just as they did the others. Yet, Heine shows that he is one to not just chase away as he helps open the Princes up not just their minds but their hearts.
Review
Heine Wittgenstein enters Weiss Burg Palace, the resident of the Grants Reich royal family, under the invitation to be the Royal Tutor from King Viktor. The Princes introduced themselves, but the kindness that they displayed is soon morphed into hostility, especially from Prince Leonhard. He has put his foot down completely on wanting a tutor and while it does take some time for Leonhard to finally see that Heine is only there to help. It is a tedious first visit for them both, while Bruno does cause a ruckus during their first visit as well. However, Bruno only wants someone to look up to, someone to follow and to learn even more from. And while he does have a complex about his older brother, Eins, and unable to ascend the throne so easily as he did. Bruno sees that Heine is there to guide him in becoming his own person. Kai seeming as one of the few that are more accepting of the tutor as he only wants everyone to get along. While Kai is deemed as a person that is unapproachable and hostile, but once Heine speaks with him, it is shown that he is actually a kind soul that enjoys animes and softness. It’s a very hilarious display when he finally meets with Kai. For the last Prince, Licht is rebellious, the one that runs wild and sneaking around to not only have a part-time job but a playboy as well.
All these along with a tutor that is instructed to teach them all, it ends up being such a twist when we do end up learning that Heine and King Viktor have known each other since they were younger. While they do keep this a secret from the other Princes, we do get to see the insight of how their friendship truly is. Heine’s past is shrouded in mystery, while the manga hasn’t shed light on Heine’s backstory yet, all that is known is that he worked at a church before coming to the palace and that he once had a violent past.
While the manga has not touched base on Heine’s past, the anime took matters into their own hands and created that past for Heine. While most would complain that the anime has skewed away from the original work, we can’t help but actually enjoy the story that was created for Heine’s past. Even the mangaka, Higasa Akai, approved of the ending of the anime.
Final Thoughts
The anime is enjoyable and very sweet once you get to know each character of the story. While as cute as it is, it does tend to have a lack of something more. Yes, while the Princes learn to accept that they are all individual people and do not need to seek out others for approval. And they have wonderful character development, there is something lacking in the ending of this story. This may steam from the fact that the story is incomplete and we may never see it progress further as there is no indication that there will be a second season for The Royal Tutor. However, the one thing that we do know is that they do have a movie, The Royal Tutor: The Movie is out on Crunchyroll. While Crunchyroll has the sub version for those that enjoy dub you can head over to Funimation to watch.
The Royal Tutor: You Need A Lesson
- Writing - 7/107/10
- Plot - 6/106/10
- Character Development - 10/1010/10
- Production - 8/108/10
- Music - 10/1010/10
