This week on The Hook, we're looking at shows of a slightly more "royal" variety... specifically the rude princes of The Royal Tutor and the mistaken queen of Sakura Quest. What's to love about these two spring anime? We take a glimpse at the first episodes of each to find out what will keep you coming back for more!
Sakura Quest
All Yoshino Koharu wants is to find a job before she leaves college. Well, technically all she wants is to be a queen like in one of her recurring childhood memories, but she'll take what she can get. Unfortunately, she's been rejected from 30 jobs and counting.
But she gets a hit from an old modeling resume: the tiny village of Manoyama is looking for an image girl to be their queen. It seems like an odd choice... and it turns out it was a mistake on behalf of the town's grouchy "king." But between the ink on the contract already being try and the person they actually wanted being dead, Yoshino has no choice but to begin her year-long reign of the "kingdom"... and all the promotional work that entails.
The Hook: All things considered, Yoshino looks to be at the end of a bum deal. She's got a job in the country after trying to make her way in Tokyo, she's stuck pretending to be queen of a village with some frankly bizarre inhabitants, and she's just slammed the king in the face with her handbag. But a find in the town hall shows her that she has a deeper connection to this town than any of them knew.
Who is it for: Fans of the new trend of anime focusing on prefectural pride and small town antics will enjoy this. Also, if you're a college grad struggling in the business world... well, if nothing else, you'll sympathize.
Sakura Quest airs Wednesdays at 9 AM PDT.
The Royal Tutor
Heine Wittgenstein has been called to the palace to become the Royal Tutor. Normally this refers to the teacher assigned to the heir to the throne. However, the prince has four younger brothers, and the current king wants all of them to be prepared should anything happen to the heir.
Unfortunately for Heine, he's got his work cut out for him. His charges are a the broody and barely verbal Kai, the coldly intellectual Bruno, the childish and tantrum-prone Leonhard, and the flirty and carefree Licht. Apparently, they've run off all their previous tutors. But despite his childlike stature, Heine is not so easily bullied.
The Hook: There's more to these four princes than meets the eye. We first see Heine take on the bullheaded Leonhard in a one-on-one interview, and it seems that his methods manage to break through the prince's stubborn exterior. Heine is also extremely reticent about revealing his own background... which could lead to interesting repercussions if people start snooping.
Who is it for: Fans of Ouran High School Host Club will find a lot familiar tonally about The Royal Tutor. It's a primarily male-case comedy with characters that subvert your typical anime tropes. So if you've been lonely without it for the past eight years, this might be just what you need.
The Royal Tutor airs Tuesdays at 11:35 AM PDT.
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Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, blogs and runs interviews for (Re)Generation Who and PotterVerse, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.
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