# From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman (2025)

> A middle-aged dojo master in the backwaters is dragged back into the spotlight when a former student rises to command the Royal Order of Knights.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/175063

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 24
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: animation, action, fantasy, comedy
- Network: HTB, tv asahi, Nagoya TV, KBC, ABC TV, NCC, OAB, ABA, Niigata Television Network 21, khb, KFB, HOME, KSB, Kagoshima Broadcasting, Iwate Asahi TV, Akita Asahi Broadcasting, Yamagata Television System, Shizuoka Asahi TV, Asahi Broadcasting Nagano, Hokuriku Asahi Broadcasting, Ehime Asahi TV, Yamaguchi Asahi Broadcasting, Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting, Ryu-Q Asahi Broadcasting
- Cast: Hiroaki Hirata, Nao Toyama, Yuuki Hirose, Hinaki Yano, Hitomi Ueda, Chiwa Saito, Kaito Ishikawa, Ryota Osaka
- TMDB rating: 6.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35346717/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: breezy, self-deprecating, comedic, warm, lighthearted

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series as mixed-to-positive, with the second season rated somewhat higher than the first.

## Synopsis

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman (2025-2026) is a Japanese anime series adapted from a light novel and produced by Passione, Hayabusa Film and Square Enix, broadcast on TV Asahi and its affiliated stations. The story follows Beryl Gardenant (voiced by Hiroaki Hirata), a middle-aged swordsman who runs a quiet dojo in the countryside and has long since stopped expecting anything to happen to him. His peace ends when Allucia Citrus (voiced by Nao Toyama), a former student who now commands the Royal Order of Knights, reappears and pulls him toward the capital. Beryl's engine is simple and comic: he keeps trying to return to his modest life while old students, new allies and formidable rivals treat him as a legendary figure, the backwater swordmaster. Each episode mixes sword duels, fantasy magic and light domestic comedy as he navigates city politics and an expanding circle of companions, including Curuni Crueciel (Yuuki Hirose) and Ficelle Harbeller (Hinaki Yano). Across two seasons of twelve episodes each, the series remains an episodic, lighthearted seinen fantasy set in an invented medieval kingdom. Its tone is breezy and self-deprecating, with warm banter and crowd-pleasing battles. Fans of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Slime Taoshite 300-nen and Restaurant to Another World will find similar appeal in its mix of isekai-style fantasy, comedic underdog heroism and sword and sorcery spectacle.

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