The Royal Tutor Anime Film's Trailer Previews Added Live-Action Footage

Avex began streaming a trailer for the upcoming The Royal Tutor anime film on Wednesday. The trailer previews the film's cast in costume as their respective characters (the voice actors also play the characters in the franchise's stage plays), and reveals special live-action footage that will run before screenings of the film on certain dates. Avex also revealed a new visual for the film.

There will be a total of three different sets of live-action footage screening before the film, each telling the story on the day of the arrival of the Romano brothers before the film's story begins. Screenings from February 16 to 20 will have footage focusing on Heine. Screenings from February 21 to 24 will have footage focusing on Kai and Bruno. Screenings from February 25 to March 1 will have footage focusing on Leonhard and Licht.

Keisuke Ueda, Yūya Asato, Yūto Adachi, Daisuke Hirose, and Shouta Aoi all return from the anime to reprise their roles as Heine, Kai, Bruno, Leonhard, and Licht, respectively, for both the anime film and the upcoming Ōshitsu Kyōshi Heine -The Musical II- (The Royal Tutor -The Musical II-) stage musical. Shōhei Hashimoto and Shōgo Sakamoto are joining the cast of both as Ivan Aleksandrovich Romano (pictured right in image below) and Eugene Aleksandrovich Romano (left), respectively.

"P4 with T" — the group composed of the voice actors for Heine and the four main princes — are returning to perform the film's ending theme song "Tomodachi Ijō x Teki Miman" (More Than Friends x Less Than Enemies). Aside from voicing Eugene, Sakamoto is also returning to perform the film's theme song "Parallel na Kankei" (Parallel Connection).

The film will open in Japan on February 16. Katsuya Kikuchi returns to direct the film, and Kimiko Ueno is returning for the script. Rena Okuyama is still credited with the animation character design, and is also taking on the role of chief animation director. Hozumi Gōda and Keiji Inai are returning as sound director and music composer, respectively.

The new musical will run in Tokyo and Kobe in April. The Tokyo run will be at the Tokyo Dome City Hall from April 11-14, and the Kobe run will be at the Kobe International House Kokusai Hall on April 27-28.

The anime adapting Higasa Akai's manga premiered in Japan in April 2017, and Crunchyroll is streaming the series with English subtitles.

The first musical (pictured at right) ran in Tokyo and Osaka in September 2017. Kōtarō Yoshitani directed the musical.

Yen Press began releasing Higasa Akai's original manga as e-books in English in 2015, and it describes the story:

Accepting the post of Royal Tutor at the court of the king of Grannzreich, Heine Wittgenstein is a little professor with a big job ahead! Each of the kingdom's four princes has a rather distinct personality. Does their diminutive new instructor have what it takes to lay down some learning? It's a comedy of educational proportions!

Akai launched the manga in Monthly G Fantasy in November 2013, and Square Enix published the 12th compiled book volume on January 26.

Sources: Press release, Avex Pictures' YouTube channel