The Fall 2023 Anime Preview Guide

The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of Rust Mountain

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Two years had passed since he left the City of the Dead, and Will was seventeen by count. As a lord, he developed "Torch Port, a river port of light," and gradually, the people's activities and smiles returned to "Beast Woods." However, out-of-season flowers bloom profusely, and an abnormality is discovered in the forest. Will and his friends head into the depths of the forest to solve this problem and receive an ominous prophecy from the king of the forest. "In the Iron Rust Mountains, the 'Fire of Black Calamity' will occur. The fire will spread, or it will burn everything in this land." What is the calamity that sleeps in the ruined dwarven city of Tetsusabi Sanmyaku...!?

The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of Rust Mountain is based on The Faraway Paladin light novel series by Kanata Yanagino. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays

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Richard Eisenbeis
Rating:

When it comes down to it, rather than continuing the main plot or reintroducing and reviewing all that came before in season one, this episode is a one-shot thematic exploration of sorts While the story of the episode is simply Will and Bee traveling to a nearby magic academy on a whim during some downtime, this is ultimately a vehicle to talk about how we remember people—how we honor them through our actions.

For Will, his vow to Gracefeel to be her paladin rules his actions in general. This causes him to somewhat overdo it. Luckily, Bee is around to remind Will that Gracefeel wouldn't want her champion run ragged for her sake—that she'd want him happy and healthy even if that means taking some time away from his singular focus. So he does so—honoring not only his vow but her feelings.

In both the magical woods and meeting with the academy “groundskeeper” we see how Will still shows respect to Gus. An overwhelming show of magic would have been the easiest way to reach his goal. However, Gus always taught him to use magic only when necessary—and only one of the tests in the forest requires it. His respecting his master's teachings is ultimately what gets him into the academy—which brings us to Bee.

Bee had a friend—a heroic wizard who died not long after their parting. Now, that young woman is all but forgotten. She greatly respected her friend and her determination to do the right thing—even though it ultimately cost her her life. Bee wants to honor her friend by making her life have meaning even after death through a song that can inspire future generations.

All in all, it's an interesting little side story of an episode. While it's not the best season premiere as it does little to draw viewers back in by reminding them of the story so far or events yet to come, it's certainly a worthwhile 30 minutes of television.

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Nicholas Dupree
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This is an odd way to start a new season. After two years away – and two years passed in-universe – you'd think this would be a big affair of catching us up on what Will and his companions have been up to since last season. We get a bit of that right at the beginning, but most of this premiere focuses on what amounts to a side story of Will and Bee going on a short adventure to a hidden sorcery school. While that's a strange decision for the much-awaited return of this series, it ends up being a good reminder of what made that first season so charming in the first place.

Let's be honest, the action was not the main attraction of season one – it just didn't have the production values to handle the spectacle. What made the first entry enjoyable was its characters and world, building up a fantasy universe with a distinct sense of history and internal logic and inhabiting that world with a likable cast to complement Will's humble isekai'd soul. That remains true here, even with a noticeable uptick in animation quality with the new studio, so leaning into a character-focused episode and using it to flesh out Bee's personality is the right move. It's supremely charming to see her and Will trouncing through the snowy forests, ferreting out the hidden path to the magic academy, and effortlessly passing the test of character set out by the disguised sorcerer they encounter. It's also a good reminder of Will's dutiful relationship to magic, never using spells to do what he can accomplish through regular effort and patience. Even as he's gotten older - and his voice has finally deepened - he's still carrying on the teachings of his undead foster family.

It's not the most thrilling avenue to start this new season, leaving many questions about what the story will entail. Heck, we don't even get a mention of any Rust Mountains or their lord, so even the subtitle for the season is still a mystery. I would have liked at least a bit more info on what we could expect going forward or even some more time hanging out with Will and his Purportedly Heterosexual Life Partner, Meneldor. Still, this was a very pleasant pit stop to get back into the swing of things with our cast, and I'm happier to have it than a more exposition-heavy return. Faraway Paladin is still as charming as ever, so I will wait until it figures out its new direction.