It has been revealed that voice actor Hiroaki Hirata will play the protagonist Beryl Gardenant, a "countryside sword saint known only to those in the know," in the TV anime "A Country Old Man Becomes a Sword Saint," which is based on a popular work that originated from the novel submission site "Let's Become a Novelist." A character PV for Beryl Gardenant has also been released on YouTube.
Hirata commented, "I'm Hirata, who plays the old man. Hello everyone. I remember saying, 'It'd be great if it was made into an anime!' when I did the voice for the promotional video for the publication of the second volume of the comics, but I never thought it would happen so soon. Every week, I'm surrounded by my cute former students and the recording feels like a dream. Kendo has been around in Japan for a long time, and recently fencing has also become world-class. If old men around the world watch this anime, awaken to the way of the sword, and are inspired to master it, even if their motives are impure, then as someone who was given the role of Beryl, I would be very happy. Old men, please become a sword saint and be popular!"
The work is a light novel written by Shigeru Sagazaki and illustrated by Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. It is a classic fantasy about an unrivaled swordsman in which the strongest old man is unconsciously unrivaled. The story goes that Beryl Gardenant, who runs a small sword-fighting dojo in a rural village, is visited by her former student, Alleucia, who rose to become the leader of the kingdom's knights at a young age, and ends up going to the royal capital as a special instructor for the knights. The comic adaptation by Kazuki Toda was selected for the Piccoma Award 2023 and has become popular, with the total number of copies of the series exceeding 5.5 million.
The anime will be directed by Akio Kazumi and produced by Passione and Hayabusa Films. It will air on TV Asahi's anime slot "IMAnimation" from April 2025.
