English Dub Review: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman “The Old Country Bumpkin Goes to the Capital”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Beryl Gardenant lives a quiet life running a dojo in the backwaters until Allucia, his former student, appears with a new job for him – special instructor to the knights she commands!  Beryl accepts the job, but Vice-Commander Henblitz doesn’t think he’s up to the task and challenges him to a duel.

Our Take:

It’s funny that there have been so many anime shows on streaming services like Crunchyroll and Netflix that I didn’t realize that Amazon Prime was also carrying these types of shows. Usually, I’ve seen Amazon Prime as the go-to source of adult animation, giving us such acclaimed titles as Invincible and The Legend of Vox Machina.  However, I neglected my awareness that it also provided viewers with a slew of anime content, both old and new, until recently.  This week, Amazon Prime is drawing up the latest fantasy anime that puts a protagonist’s tranquil life upside down thanks to the arrival of their former students.

Reading that last sentence aloud, it sounds like this anime takes several cues from I Left My A-Rank Party, especially the master reuniting with their pupils.  Well, it does.  In this case, the show’s protagonist, Beryl Gardenant, reunites with Allucia Citrus, a commander who informs him that the Capital hired him to become an instructor for its Royal Order of Knights.  However, it does result in him staying in the city permanently instead of living in a tranquil village with his parents.  During his stay, Beryl also comes across his other students: Curuni, who also became one of the Order’s knights, and Surena, who happens to have a beef with Allucia.  Based on Allucia’s inner feelings toward Beryl and the title sequences, I won’t be surprised if other elements from specific fantasy harem anime show up in the remaining episodes, especially when Beryl’s father wants him to start a family with one of them.

From the first episode alone, it’s evident that From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman would be another anime that utilizes its genre blueprint to convey its plot.  But, to its credit, it does offer a few differences to garner its watchable appeal.  One is the show’s decision to have a middle-aged swordsman as its protagonist instead of the usual kid, teen, or young man from other anime.  This refreshing direction offered more of a struggle to Beryl, who sees himself as past his prime despite his impressive swordsman skills.  Unfortunately, it may take me a bit to adapt to the show’s English voice cast, which was okay at best so far but not groundbreaking, except for the actor who voiced Beryl’s father.  He’s much too young to be voicing someone who’s much older than Beryl.  At the very least, the animation by Passione and Hayabusa Film was suitable for its lighting and visuals. However, the CGI renders for the duel between Beryl and Vice Commander Henblitz looked rusty compared to the 2D sequences.  In other words, it’s not a bad start, but I couldn’t see it being as noteworthy as Prime’s other adult animated contenders.