The Royal Tutor: Episode 1 The Royal Tutor Arrives (Review)

Reviewed by Justin D Williams

The "Royal Tutor" is a special tutor carefully selected for the task of teaching the prince, and a title given only to the best teacher in the nation. Heine Wittgenstein has been called to the kingdom of Grannzreich to take on the role of the Royal Tutor. He's been ordered to raise a worthy candidate for the throne, but he's greeted with four princes of completely different, unique personalities... all brothers, no less! How will Heine handle these four brothers who were too much for all the previous Royal Tutors, prompting them all to run away from the job.

Kicking off our coverage for new anime for the Spring season is “The Royal Tutor.” Episode 1 introduces us to our main character Heine Wittgenstein. He is the true meaning of don’t judge a book by its cover. He is a full-grown man but his appearance can easily be mistaken for a child. One of my favorite scenes is the opening scene where we’re first introduce to Heine. The royal guards stop him from enterting the castle because they don’t believe him to be the royal tutor. The guards make fun of his appearance and even joke about not letting him in until his parents arrive. It’s not till one of the members of the royal family greets him that the guards change their act. Even for its comedic approach to introduce Heine I felt that this theme of judging a book by its cover will be one of the key components in this episode. I’m happy to say that my thoughts were spot on. Judging a book by its cover is heavy in this episode and greatly showed when Heine encounters his students. His students are the four princes of the kingdom of Grannzreich. Each prince has a certain unique personality trait. Leonhard Van Grannzreich is the arrogant one who immediately resents Heine. Licht Van Grannzreich is the lighthearted, quirky one but really is a playboy at heart. Bruno Van Grannzreich is the know it all. The well-educated prince who is also arrogant and feels that there is nothing that Heine can teach him.

Finally there is Kai Van Grannzreich who we know nothing about because he didn’t utter a word. Episode 1 does well to introduce the princes and Heine, however it smartly focuses on one prince for the rest of the episode. The focus in this episode is on prince Leonhard and his relationship with Heine. As the episode progresses the theme of judging a book by its cover is more prevalent. Leonhard continues to be resistant to Heine and you start to see why as he begins to open up. Through the core of Leonhard is a prince misunderstood who is very insecure with himself. I was very satisfied when the reveal of Leonhard problems came to surface, and based on how he was first introduced I didn’t expect that type of insecurity from him. You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Overall the first episode of The Royal Tutor is a good start for the series. The world is immersive and the characters are fun to watch. The chemistry and the characterization between Heine and the other princes are being established. While the pacing might drag in these next few episodes to give time to each prince I’ am definitely intrigue. The animation is good and has the Ouran High School Host Club in terms of tone and look. Anime fans this might be a show you might want to give a shot this spring.

Final Rating 4.0/5