Now Streaming: FROM OLD COUNTRY BUMPKIN TO MASTER SWORDSMAN, THE DINNER TABLE DETECTIVE, LUDWIG

I only wish it was my life story.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman
The first four episodes are now streaming on Prime Video.

Although Crunchyroll should be the first stop for any dedicated anime fan, casual viewers and inveterate samplers like me may be surprised to realize that anime is washing up on other streaming services, beyond a dedicated service like Crunchroll or the premiere general interest service, Netflix.

In this case, we're talking Prime Video, on which I found a quartet of new series. My personal favorite is From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman, which happily fits into a recent trend: "Readership of manga titles featuring middle-aged male protagonists have more than doubled compared to five years ago, according to sales data shared by Tokyo-based digital manga and e-book store BookLive," as reported by very fine, highly informative newsletter Animenomics.

Animenomics further reported: "Manga serials with titles containing the word ojisan (meaning uncle or old man) or ossan (old man) are most popular with male readers in their 40s, who are more likely to have disposable income." And of current such titles, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman is the most popular manga overall.

The anime adaptation began airing early in April, and the first four episodes are now available on Prime Video. Middle-aged swordsman Beryl Gardenant runs a dojo in a peaceful rural area, and is quite content to while away his years. One day a former student, Allucia, visits. She is now Commander of the Royal Order of Knights and invites him to become an instructor for all their brash young knights.

Modest to a fault, Beryl doubts his ability to teach, and wonders why a former student would even remember him. Soon, though, his many skills are put on display for all to see, and be impressed.

Told with wry humor and an abundance of action, the comic series puts the emphasis on the action, with a good variety of fighting implements employed, and various techniques trotted out, all to show that even middle-aged men have something to offer to the younger generation. As a middle-aged man pushing older age, this is filled with flattering thoughts, though I'm not quite ready to pull out my sword to defend myself yet.

The Dinner Table Detective
The first four episodes are now streaming on Prime Video.

I'm naturally drawn to murder mysteries, so The Dinner Table Detective immediately appealed to me. Its 'murder of the week' premise also appealed, since Prime Video follows the Japanese television rhythm of one week per week, as opposed to Netflix's 'drop them all at once' formula.

As it turns out, the show is even sillier than I thought during the first two episodes, so one episode per week feels like the better way to go. I like the basic setup, in which "rich heiress Haro lives a double life as a novice detective." She endeavors to keep her wealthy background a secret, but that lifestyle allows her to have a mysterious butler who helps her solve cases and keeps her out of serious trouble, unlike her highly egoistic homicide investigator partner, a fool as foolish as any foolish detective ever portrayed.

The relationship between the secretly wealthy homicide detective and her mysterious butler is what keeps me watching, that and the secondary pleasure of figuring out the identity of each week's killer.

Ludwig
The six-episode series is now streaming on BritBox.

From the silly comedy of a Japanese anime adaptation to a more serious British mystery, Ludwig does not get too dark, though it follows the 'murder of the week' premise, making it easy to watch one per week.

Debuting last fall on BBC, the series began streaming earlier this year on BritBox and has now completed its first season, but already I'm itching for more. David Mitchell stars as John Taylor, whose pen name is 'Ludwig' for the puzzle books he's created and published. His identical twin brother, James, disappears one day, prompting James' wife Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) to press the reluctant John into service to retrieve potentially valuable evidence from James' office.

Created and written by Mark Brotherhood, the series follows the shy and withdrawn John as he steps into his brother's shoes and immediately begins solving murders with clues that have eluded his colleagues. It's all puzzle-based and extremely clever, which helps to make it very easy to watch.

Ludwig is a classic case of a comfort-food mystery series, with a good overall mystery that nudges things along each week, even as individual cases are intriguing each week. It's very satisfying.

North of North
All eight episodes of Season 1 are now streaming on Netflix. I've seen the first four episodes.

Because our site is based in Canada, I feel it is my obligation to tell you to watch the first season of this Canadian series, which has just been renewed for Season 2 by Netflix.

I've watched the first four episodes of the comedy-drama series, which is quite enjoyable and likable; you know, like all Canadians. (?!) Set in the Arctic community of Ice Cove, Nunavut, where Siaja (Anna Lambe) comes of age by realizing that she needs to divorce her controlling husband.

Her husband is not evil; he just hews to traditional masculine roles, which are constantly reinforced by the patriarchal society that dominates the community. Siaja has had enough, though, and the breakup of her marriage is the lynchpin that the town needs to evaluate how they think about everything.

In effect, the community, as well as Siaja, is now experiencing growing pains, and the comedy comes from the characters in the frozen north who are dealing with something that is entirely new to them. That helps to set the series apart from run-of-the-mill broadcast or cable or streaming narrative series.

Conclave
The film is now streaming on Prime Video.

And the #1 movie on Prime Video is a drama about how a pope gets picked, which is very timely, even if the movie came out last year and it ends with a dark-horse pick and an ending that will leave you cheering and/or shaking your head in disbelief.

Our own Ankit Jhunjhunwala reviewed the film last year, calling it "a drolly entertaining papal drama, cast with big names, bursting with portent, and smart, worldly politicking that will please underserved adult audiences.

"Viewers hoping for a devastating takedown of the Catholic Church or its scandals and practices will likely walk away disappointed. Conclave paints a rather progressive portrait of this often patriarchal, inflexible and opaque institution. The events during the finale that resolve the crisis are also too on-the-nose, pat and pandering. A major climatic speech is like a bingo card of liberal pieties.

"Even so, this is well-judged, well-made adult entertainment, and not without a sense of humor. A breathtaking coda will leave viewers cackling, though also a bit disappointed that it doesn't take its gambit all the way."

Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.