The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter

What's It About? 

Exams can be life-changing. Failing one just ended Allen's promising career at the royal court before it began. Now, to make ends meet, the lowborn sorcerer must help one of the kingdom's highest-born young ladies pass hers. Duke Howard's daughter Tina has a brilliant mind, but the prestigious Royal Academy demands magic. Try as she might, she can't cast a single spell, and her impairment has baffled the kingdom's finest minds for years. With the all-important entrance exams just three months away, Allen and his unorthodox brand of spellcasting seem like her last hope to realize her dream of learning sorcery in the capital. So why does her father, the duke, want the young tutor to dash her dreams instead?

Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter is a manga by Tamura Mutō, adapted from a light novel series by Riku Nanano (author) and cura (illustrator). Translated into English by William Varteresian. This volume was lettered by Richmond T. Published by J-Novel Club; PublishDrive edition (October 23, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

This is boring. I hate fantasy stories about aristocratic people spending their time establishing how magical and aristocratic everything is. I understand that when you're writing a story with deep lore and history, there will be moments needed to deliver exposition. Still, this entire story is nothing but exposition with a few cute moments sprinkled to break up the monotony. Those cute moments include the main character's weird habit of petting girls' heads like they're all his sisters, and the running gag of the grandparents of said younger girls threatening to kill him being funny. But that's only about ten percent of this manga.

The rest of this just feels like a story that's never telling me what is going on. The story starts in the wake of a situation told to us in pieces throughout the book, but even by the end, it never felt like we were given the full context. I can't relate to what the main character is going through because it feels like the story has trouble deciding on what his character is about. He's charismatic and very observant, but I also feel like there isn't much to him. What's interesting is that the book seems to play around with a few potential plot points, but it doesn't go anywhere. The main issue of teaching a girl how to use magic when she's never displayed the ability before is pretty standard and low-stakes. The writing just isn't sharp or engaging enough to get me invested. There are better fantasy stories with similar setups that are much more worth your time.