Prime Video’s New ‘The Rings of Power’ Replacement Scores Big on Streaming

Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power might not have won over the J.R.R. Tolkien fan base, but it earned the approval of casual fantasy fans, becoming one of the streamer’s biggest original shows. Set thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, during Middle-Earth’s Second Age, The Rings of Power was supposed to be The Lord of the Rings‘ first big foray into TV, with several other spin-offs set to follow. But a barrage of criticism killed those chances, even if the viewership figures were incredibly high. Prime Video then tried to kickstart a new fantasy franchise, adapting Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time… which was promptly canceled after three progressively worse seasons. That left a fantasy-sized gap in Prime Video’s roster, and the streamer’s most underrated fantasy series has returned with a second season to fill that gap. What’s more, it’s currently racing up the streaming charts.

After a very successful first season back in 2025, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman is back with its second season, and it’s already a hit on Prime Video. Season 2 debuted in Japan on Jul 8, and was quickly simulcast to Crunchyroll and Prime Video. Despite not having the same franchise recognition and history as The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, the show is one of the biggest fantasy series on Prime Video right now. Ride or Die is currently the number one series on the platform. But, From Old Country Bumpkin is slashing its way up the top 10 charts, currently sitting in seventh place.

Given that it’s an anime, From Old Country Bumpkin was never going to completely dominate the Prime Video streaming chart. However, the series has overtaken major Prime Video players, like The Boys and The Summer I Turned Pretty. Only two episodes of the new season are available to stream right now, with new episodes releasing weekly.

What Is ‘From Old Country Bumpkin’ About?

If the title didn’t give it away, the series follows Beryl Gardinant, the titular country bumpkin who runs a fencing school in the middle of nowhere. One day, one of his former students returns to recruit him as the special fencing instructor for the Knights’ Order. As he begins the new chapter in his life, he encounters several of his former pupils, all while a dark evil grows in the background. It’s mostly light-hearted fantasy fun with an anime veneer. But the true magic of From Old Country Bumpkin is its action. The fencing is far from hyperrealistic, but it’s also not the incredibly over-the-top fighting you often see in action. It blends real techniques with anime eccentricities to create something that toes the line between both.

Prime Video Is Taking On Another Fantasy IP

After the death of The Wheel of Time and The Rings of Power‘s gradual decline, Prime Video needed something big to fill the fantasy void. Enter, God of War. Based on the hit video game franchise of the same name, Prime Video’s God of War series will adapt the two newest games in the franchise, which pull from Norse mythology, as Kratos takes on Odin and the Asgardians (not a bad name for a band). Ryan Hurst was cast as Kratos in the show. But, due to a bad injury, the actor is being recast. The new Kratos hasn’t been announced yet.

Release Date

April 5, 2025

Network

tv asahi, ABC TV, Nagoya TV, HTB, Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting, NCC, Niigata Television Network 21, khb, KFB, HOME, KSB, Kagoshima Broadcasting, Oita Asahi Broadcasting, Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Iwate Asahi TV, Akita Asahi Broadcasting, Yamagata Television System, Shizuoka Asahi TV, Asahi Broadcasting Nagano, Hokuriku Asahi Broadcasting, Ehime Asahi TV, Yamaguchi Asahi Broadcasting, Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting, Ryu-Q Asahi Broadcasting

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