The Summer 2025 Anime Preview Guide - Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter

After failing the final exam for his dream job at the royal court, promising young sorcerer Allen wants nothing more than to retreat to a simple life in the countryside. Unfortunately for him, he can't even afford the train fare. His only solution is to get a job, but his one lead is anything but modest—Duke Howard, one of the kingdom's most powerful nobles, needs a private tutor for his daughter Tina. Despite her academic brilliance, Tina is incapable of casting even a single spell. To make matters worse, entrance exams for the prestigious Royal Academy are fast approaching, and magical aptitude is mandatory.

Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter is based on the light novel series by author Riku Nanano and illustrator cura. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.

I've always hated the old saw that “those who can't do, teach,” which perhaps hasn't disposed me to look kindly upon Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter. Allen has failed to graduate from the prestigious national magic school, but despite that, he's sent by his professor to tutor the daughter of Duke Howard, one of the premier mages in the kingdom. Of course, what Allen's not told is that his job is to ensure that the magically-talentless Tina doesn't go to the academy, but as this first episode demonstrates, it isn't likely to happen. That's because both Allen and Tina are undoubtedly special in that way that only protagonists are…even if, at this point, we're only being told that repeatedly rather than shown it.

While it is the job of a first episode to set up the story to come, this one takes that job a bit too literally. Much of this is simply an introduction to Allen and his job, as well as his two students, along with some background information about the kingdom and its magic system. A large part of the problem is that none of these are exciting. Allen has the personality of an ear of corn, her jealousy and lack of magic define Tina, and Ellie (the maid Allen is also supposed to teach, in a surprise announcement) is characterized by an entirely squeaky voice and preternatural clumsiness.. There's no reason to be interested in them at all, and the world, while it has a few interesting bits and pieces, such as the four dukes and their role, isn't much better.

Still, credit where it's due, there are some very nice uses of speaking glances and other nonverbal communication. The look Allen exchanges with Tina's father when she tells him to call her by her first name is well done, and it shows that Allen is taking his job seriously. He seems to have come by it honestly, as he spent a lot of time with another ducal heir, Lydia, as the only person who could handle her. That's decent enough worldbuilding, even if Lydia's appearance at the end of the episode makes me worry that she'll bring us up to a trifecta of annoying girls to fawn over Allen.

And really, that's the problem here. When it's not dull, it's irritating, and that's not a great combination. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than my reaction to both manga and light novel (which was just that they were interminably boring), but the result is the same. This isn't entirely without promise, but that potential is deeply buried to the point where my main takeaway from the episode was, “But how do those books in Tina's greenhouse library withstand the damp heat?”