From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman
The Humble Rise of Underrated Heroes
Anime loves a good transformation, not just the kind with glowing eyes and screaming power-ups, but the quiet kind too. The kind that begins in backwater villages, with dirt under fingernails and hearts too soft for the world. From awkward nobodies to blade-wielding legends, these characters remind us that greatness isn’t born, it’s forged through fire, pain, and persistence. “From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman” embodies this.
Whether it’s a clueless farm boy becoming a sword saint or a seemingly talentless kid outshining prodigies through sheer willpower, this trope hits us right in the gut. Because we’ve all felt underestimated. We’ve all started somewhere small. And anime? Anime makes us believe that even country bumpkins can become kings of the battlefield.
Today we explore From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now and They Won’t Leave Me Alone (Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken) .
"We accept the love we think we deserve." – Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
In From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now and They Won’t Leave Me Alone we meet Beryl Gardinant, a middle-aged sword trainer operating from a rural dojo. He sees himself as just a normal man, who teaches the way of the sword to eager students. He does not think that he is someone special, just someone who loves the sword, an average swordsman in his own eyes.
But even if he thinks that, he has ended up training some of the most powerful and influential adventurers and fighters in the kingdom. One day Allucia Citrus, the leader of the knights of the Liberion Order, visits Beryl and invited him to be an instructor for the knights of the Order in the capital. He accepts this reluctantly, feeling he is not worthy of this task since he is just a normal teacher.
Accepting this leads to him reuniting with many of his formal disciples, and he discovers that they all have become highly accomplished individuals, shining in their own fields, whether mage, adventurer or knight using his ‘backwater’ sword skills that he taught them.
Find out more about Stephen Chbosky.
"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are." – Malcolm S. Forbes
Beryl has low self-worth, something we all suffer with. We think we are not enough, we think we are imposters because of our lack of confidence. I myself relate to Beryl.
Whenever someone compliments me on something I did that inspires them or make them happy, I feel like an imposter. I think of people that did the same thing I did, only better, because I cannot fathom that I may be good at something.
Why do we do that? Was it because we were bullied as a kid, and those wounds never closed up, those wounds that say we are never enough? The people around Beryl see him for who he really is, a skilled swordsman, top of his field, an excellent teacher. We also have people seeing us in a good light, as we do not see ourselves. Beryl’s life in the anime teaches us that maybe we are too hard on ourselves.
Find out more about Malcolm S. Forbes.
"Power comes in response to a need, not a desire." – Goku, Dragon Ball Z
We must stop desiring that we could be better. We have the power to fill the needs our friends and acquaintances need, we must just recognise it, accept it. Likewise, we don’t need to desire the power to help those around us, we have it.
See what the people need and just do it, without thinking, ‘We are not good enough’. Beryl teaches that in the anime in a profound way. A valuable lesson. Of course, what we do with it is up to us. We are all heroes. Let us rise up, take up our swords and slay the dragon called doubt. Let us stop to underrate ourselves. We’ve got this.
Please give ‘From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now and They Won’t Leave Me Alone’ a watch and may it inspire you too. It is a great story where you learn some great life lessons while having fun.
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