Episode 5 – From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman

Episode 5 of From Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman is a solid enough entry that doesn’t stumble nor excel.

This week’s episode was perfectly fine despite any minor qualms I have with the execution. Beryl is acting consistently with the values he has espoused, and we would also expect from him. He is an actual mentor/teacher who has selflessly guided dozens of cohorts of young people to success beyond his expectations. As such, we would expect him to be protective of children/young people, and he does everything he can to help Mewi in the short and long term. Even though in some ways he is growing and changing as a person by getting involved in active combat and dangerous situations, he is still fulfilling his typical role of teacher to young people because Mewi ends up in the Order’s care by the end.

The particular fiendishness of Twilight is the right kind of sinister, I feel. It’s somewhat low-key key all things considered, being the use of cheap magic tricks to con people out of money. Still, even in our world, we see how often evil is not some grand act but the callous and repeated everyday villainy of taking advantage of others. So it’s good to see Beryl take this seriously and put a stop to it. Lucy also got a pretty cool magic duel with Twilight, and I liked her disregard for his use of tricks rather than true arcane skill.

I do have some (admittedly very minor) issues with the episode. Mewi is not much of a character yet, so it is hard to root for her beyond her current plight, but that is to be expected with a new character. That said, I wish her design reflected her background a bit more. Mewi is supposed to be a hardscrabble street urchin forced to pick people’s pockets so she can scrape together the money to revive her sister, but her outfit marks her as a main cast member and looks… well, not at all like a down-on-her-luck youngster. I think having her dress like an understudy to Dizzy from Guilty Gear would be fine once she gets to the order, but she stands out so obviously compared to, say, the bandits and average townfolk it’s a bit jarring (cue memes about “the enemy stand user could be anywhere” and so on). It’s a minor gripe, but it did take me out of the moment more than once.

Rating:

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman is currently streaming on
Amazon Prime Videos on Saturdays.