is a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series written by Shigeru Sagazaki and illustrated by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. It initially began serialization on the user-generated novel publishing website

Shōsetsuka ni Narō is a Japanese novel self-publishing website created by . It was launched on April 2, 2004. Users can upload their novels free of charge and the novels are also free to read. As of December 2022, the site hosts close to 1,000,000 novels, has over ...

in November 2020. It was later acquired by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...

, who began publishing it under their SQEX Novel imprint in April 2021. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation illustrated by Kazuki Satō began serialization in

Akita Shoten is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita in 1948. As of May 2023, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. The company is known for publishing the manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Champ ...

's ''

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word means "youth", but the term " manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Manga Times'' and '' Weekly Man ...

'' manga web magazine ''Dokodemo Young Champion'' in August 2021. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation produced by Passione and Hayabusa Film aired from April to June 2025. A second season is set to premiere in 2026.

Plot

Beryl Gardinant is a swordsman in his mid-forties who teaches at a small dojo in a countryside village. Though viewing himself as thoroughly unimpressive, one day, he is visited by one of his former pupils and invited to become an instructor for the knights of the Liberion Order in the capital. Reluctantly accepting the offer, this leads to Beryl reuniting with many other former disciples and discovering that they have all become highly accomplished individuals using the "backwater" skills he taught them.

Characters

; : :A middle aged sword trainer who operates a rural dojo. Despite his insistence that there is nothing special about him, he has ended up training some of the most powerful and influential fighters and adventurers in the entire kingdom. ; : :The leader of the knights of the Liberion Order, she was one of Beryl's students and recommends him to be a special trainer for the Liberion Order so that the kingdom can recognize his skills. She also has a crush on Beryl and views Surena as her rival. ; : :A black-ranked adventurer and one of Beryl's students. She was orphaned as a child and rescued by Beryl, who taught her how to use a sword. She also has a crush on Beryl and views Allucia as her rival. ; : :A knight of the Liberion Order who trained under Beryl. ; : :Allucia's second-in-command in the Liberion Order. He is initially skeptical of Beryl's skill, but after being defeated in a duel by him, becomes one of his most enthusiastic students. ; : :A mage of the Magic Corps and one of Beryl's students. Due to her training under Beryl, Ficelle specializes in sword magic where she uses a sword to cast her spells. ; : :The leader of the Magic Corps who takes an interest in Beryl after hearing Ficelle's stories of him. She is a highly skilled mage, and reportedly uses magic to make herself look younger than she actually is, making her true age unknown. ; : :A young girl who is Beryl's adoptive daughter. She was previously a pickpocket who was told that she could use the money she stole to resurrect her sister. ; : :A knight who serves as the bodyguard of Reveos Sarleon, a bishop of the Church of Sphene. He has extraordinary swordsmanship. ; : :The lieutenant of the Holy Order of the Church of Sphene. She is another one of Beryl's former students. ; : :The Knight Commander of the Holy Order of the Church of Sphene.

Media

Light novel

Written by Shigeru Sagazaki, ''From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now and They Won't Leave Me Alone'' began serialization on the user-generated novel publishing website

on November 17, 2020. It was later acquired by

who began publishing it as a light novel with illustrations by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima under their SQEX Novel imprint on April 7, 2021. Nine volumes have been released as of March 2025. The light novel is licensed in English by

J-Novel Club J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese light novels into English. It streams light novels and manga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has licens ...

Volumes

Manga

adaptation illustrated by Kazuki Satō began serialization in

's ''

'' manga web magazine ''Dokodemo Young Champion'' on August 24, 2021. The manga's chapters have been collected into seven volumes as of March 2025. During their panel at

Sakura-Con Sakura-Con is an annual three-day anime convention held during March or April at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. The convention, which is traditionally held over Easter weekend, is the largest anime convention in the Northw ...

2024,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

announced that they licensed the manga adaptation. A spin-off manga series written by Itsuki Watanabe and illustrated by Megumu Soramichi, titled ''Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru Gaiden: Hajimari no Mahō Kenshi'', began serialization on

's ''

Manga Up! is a Japanese manga service. Originally launched in January 2017, the service hosts manga series published by Square Enix. The service also serializes original works, many of which are derived from other media. In July 2022, the website launch ...

'' manga service on November 29, 2024. The spin-off's chapters have been collected into a single volume as of March 2025. Another spin-off manga series, titled ''Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru Gaiden: Ryūsōken no Kiseki'', began serialization in Square Enix's ''

Young Gangan is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company merged with Square to form Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in t ...

'' magazine on February 7, 2025. The series is written by Zenji Yotsuya and illustrated by Sasami Hazama and is centered around the character Surena Lysandra. The spin-off's chapters have been collected into a single volume as of March 2025.

Volumes

=''From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman''

=''Gaiden: Hajimari no Mahō Kenshi''

=''Gaiden: Ryūsōken no Kiseki''

Anime

television series adaptation was announced on August 1, 2024. It was produced by Passione and Hayabusa Film and directed by Akio Kazumi, with series composition by Kunihiko Okada, characters designed by Satsuki Hayasaka, who also served as chief animation director, and music composed by

Yasuharu Takanashi is a prolific Japanese composer and arranger for anime and video game series. His anime composition credits include ''Naruto Shippuden'', ''Fairy Tail'', '' Log Horizon'', '' Shiki'', '' Hell Girl'', and '' Record of Ragnarok''. Biography Tak ...

. The series aired from April 5 to June 22, 2025, on the programming block on all

ANN Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

affiliates, including

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

. The opening theme song is "Heroes" performed by

Takanori Nishikawa is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, voice actor, radio personality, and businessman. He performs under the stage name T.M.Revolution (T.M.R.), which stands for , stemming from the famous 1980s pop electronic band T ...

, while the ending theme song is "Alright!!!" performed by

Flow Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (mathematics), a group action of the real numbers on a set * Flow (psyc ...

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

is streaming the series worldwide. A second season was announced after the conclusion of the first, and is set to premiere in 2026.

Episodes

Reception

By January 2024, the series had over 4 million copies in circulation. By August 2024, the series had over 5.5 million copies in circulation. The manga adaptation was ranked third in the "I Want to Read it Now!" category at

Rakuten Kobo Rakuten Kobo Inc., or simply Kobo, is a Canadian company that sells ebooks, audiobooks, e-readers and formerly tablet computers. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a subsidiary of the Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten. ...

's 1st E-book Manga Awards in 2023. The manga, alongside ''

When Marriages Fracture is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Kiduki and illustrated by Nanki Satō. It began serialization in Futabasha's seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Action'' in December 2021. After the disbandment of the magazine in Feb ...

'' and ''

The Great Snake's Bride is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fushiashikumo. It began serialization on the ''Comic Marche'' section of the ''Pixiv Comic'' website in February 2021. Characters ; : ; : Media Manga Written and illustrated by Fushiashik ...

'', won the 2023

Piccoma is a Japanese digital comic app that is available on smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. It was developed and released by Kakao Piccoma Corp., the Japanese subsidiary of Kakao. Service When the service was first launched, it offere ...

Award in the manga category. The manga was also ranked thirteenth at the 9th

Next Manga Award The is an annual award for manga series presented by Kadokawa Corporation's '' Da Vinci'' magazine and Niconico streaming website. It is divided into two categories: one for print manga, and one for web manga. Overview The award was originally ...

s in the web category in 2023. The manga was also ranked second in the 2023

Tsutaya Comic Award is a manga award sponsored by Tsutaya, a major chain of rental and sales stores for books, music software, and video software. Overview The first award was held in 2017 as a celebration of Tsutaya stores, until 2018 the awards were divided i ...

s. The manga was also ranked thirteenth in Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics list of 2024.

Notes

References

External links

* at

* * * * {{Passione 2021 Japanese novels 2025 anime television series debuts Akita Shoten manga Amazon Prime Video original programming Anime and manga based on light novels Fantasy anime and manga Gangan Comics manga IMAnimation J-Novel Club books Japanese fantasy novels Japanese webcomics Light novels Light novels first published online NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Passione (company) Seinen manga Shōsetsuka ni Narō Square Enix franchises TV Asahi original programming Upcoming anime television series Webcomics in print Yen Press titles

Plot

Characters

Media

Light novel

Volumes

Manga

Volumes

=''From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman''

=''Gaiden: Hajimari no Mahō Kenshi''

=''Gaiden: Ryūsōken no Kiseki''

Anime

Episodes

Reception

See also

Notes

References

External links