Prime Video is slowly increasing its anime offerings each season, and this Spring came with one of the best action anime of the season. From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman is Prime Video’s newest big anime, and the series is already extremely successful on the streamer. The series follows the good old-fashioned weekly release schedule, and with each new episode, the Old Country Bumpkin climbs higher and higher up Prime Video’s streaming chart, beating other tremendously popular new shows.
At the time of publication, Old Country Bumpkin is ninth on Prime Video’s weekly Top 10 chart. It sits ahead of Overcompensating in 10th, and just behind Prime Video’s mega-fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, in eighth. The new anime is based on the light novel series by Shigeru Sagazaki, which, in keeping with the tradition of light novels, has a very long full-title: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now and They Won’t Leave Me Alone. Thankfully, Studio Passione chose the concise version for the anime.
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If you haven’t already deduced the plot from the title, the series follows Beryl Gardenant, an aging fencing master who lives in a rural village. Having trained many students, his graduates have gone on to achieve great acclaim throughout the world. Some years later, one of his students returns with an offer to become the special instructor to the prestigious Knights’ Order. This leads Beryl on a journey to the Knights’ Order, where he reunites with several of his past students, who have all used their sword-fighting skills to achieve great feats. The official synopsis reads:
“A modest country Dojo master is called by his legendary student to be special instructor for the Knights’ order. This starts his reluctant journey, marked by choreographed duels, to win over his and others’ doubts.”
‘Old Country Bumpkin’ Is an Incredible Action Anime
Passione
If you haven’t watched From Old Country Bumpkin, we urge you to look past its whimsical name because, earning its sword-fighting namesake, the series features incredible action. The series blends real fencing techniques with the over-the-top action and physicality that the anime genre is renowned for. Studio Passione has animated the adaptation, and the studio has done justice to the exciting and adrenaline-filled fights from the light novels.
Old Country Bumpkin is an anomaly among other action anime for another weird reason: it has an adult protagonist. Anime, especially the shōnen demographic, is infamous for always following insanely strong high school students. It’s surprisingly rare for a protagonist to be in their late 30s. Beryl is approaching 50, and his age plays a role in the overall plot, as he faces pressure from his parents to get married, and he has to adapt his fighting style to rely less on sheer physicality and to use his younger opponents’ strength against them.
Nine episodes of Old Country Bumpkin have been released so far. Season 1 will run for a total of 12 episodes, with new episodes releasing weekly.
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman
Release Date
April 5, 2025
Network
tv asahi, ABC TV, Nagoya TV, HTB, Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting, NCC, Niigata Television Network 21, khb, KFB, HOME, KSB, Kagoshima Broadcasting, Oita Asahi Broadcasting, Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, 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
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Hiroaki Hirata
Beryl Gardenant (voice)
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Nao Toyama
Allucia Citrus (voice)
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Yuuki Hirose
Curuni Crueciel (voice)
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Hinaki Yano
Ficelle Harbeller (voice)
You can view the original article HERE.
