The Faraway Paladin
The Faraway Paladin is a Japanese light novel series written by Kanata Yanagino and illustrated by Kususaga Rin. It began serialization online in May 2015 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Overlap, who have published five volumes since March 2016 under their Overlap Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Mutsumi Okuhashi has been serialized online via Overlap's Comic Gardo website since September 2017 and has been collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by J-Novel Club. An anime television series adaptation by Children's Playground Entertainment aired from October 2021 to January 2022. A second season by OLM and Sunrise Beyond aired from in October to December 2023.
Plot
In a city of the dead, long since ruined and far from human civilization, lives a single human child. His name is Will, and he's being raised by three undead: the hearty skeletal warrior, Blood; the graceful mummified priestess, Mary; and the crotchety spectral sorcerer, Gus. The three pour love into the boy, and teach him all they know.But one day, Will starts to wonder: "Who am I?" Will must unravel the mysteries of this faraway dead man's land, and unearth the secret pasts of the undead. He must learn the love and mercy of the good gods, and the bigotry and madness of the bad. And when he knows it all, the boy will take his first step on the path to becoming a paladin.
"I promised you. It's gonna take a while, but I'll tell you everything. This is the story of the deaths of many heroes. It's the story of how we died, and it's the reason you grew up here."
Characters
;William G. Maryblood / Will;Blood
;Mary
;Augustus / Gus
;Meneldor / Menel
;Gracefeel
;Stagnate
;Tonio
;Robina Goodfellow / Bee
;Ethelbald Rex Southmark
;Bart Bagley
;Anna
;Reystov
;Vindalfr / Al
;Gelrays
Media
Light novels
The series is written by Kanata Yanagino and illustrated by Kususaga Rin. It began serialization online in May 2015 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Overlap, who has published five volumes since March 2016 under their Overlap Bunko imprint. J-Novel Club licensed the series for English publication.Manga
A manga adaptation with art by Mutsumi Okuhashi has been serialized online via Overlap's Comic Gardo website since September 25, 2017. It has been collected in fourteen tankōbon volumes. J-Novel Club is also publishing the manga in English.Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on April 17, 2021. The series is animated by Children's Playground Entertainment and directed by Yuu Nobuta, with Tatsuya Takahashi overseeing the series' scripts, Koji Haneda designing the characters, and Ryūichi Takada and Keigo Hoashi from MONACA composing the music. It aired on Tokyo MX, AT-X, and BS NTV from October 9, 2021, to January 3, 2022. The opening theme is "The Sacred Torch" performed by H-el-ical//, while the ending theme is "Shirushibi" performed by Nagi Yanagi. Crunchyroll streamed the series outside of Asia and Oceania, while Medialink licensed the series in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the rest of Oceania, and co-licensed with Disney+ through Star content hub in Taiwan, Hong Kong and selected Southeast Asia countries. On October 28, 2021, Crunchyroll announced the series will receive an English dub, which premiered on November 27, 2021.On December 25, 2021, a second season was announced to be in production. Titled The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of Rust Mountain, it will be produced by OLM and Sunrise Beyond, with Akira Iwanaga directing the season, and Tatsuya Arai designing the characters alongside Koji Haneda. It aired from October 7 to December 23, 2023. The opening theme is "Meika" performed by Nagi Yanagi, while the ending theme is "Puzzle" performed by Kotoko. On October 20, 2023, Crunchyroll announced that the second season will begin airing its dub the following day.