Meet Noor, the well-beloved local strongman of a big medieval town. He has been digging all night to clean the sewer of a small street. Noor is big and frank, with scars all over his face and arms and a smile always on his face—the product of fourteen years of fruitless training, cultivating the minor skills he acquired in various academies and schools around the capital before they all decided that he was wasting his time there. Parrying attacks, healing minor scrapes, lighting a small flame with his finger, and using magic to become a bit swifter or a bit stronger are not the most impressive abilities in the world, and he does not fit the requirements to become a real adventurer. Nevertheless, inspired by the adventure stories his father told him and by the encouragement his mother gave him before they both passed away, Noor’s dream is joining the adventurer’s guild. Despite his shortcomings, this year he is technically a member, if of extremely low rank: his job is to perform menial tasks, and he devotes himself to it. He is forbidden from taking quests that might involve killing any beast. But a cry for help leads him to a magic cavern, where he finds the young Lady Lynne, whose bodyguards are being exterminated by a minotaur. Can Noor save the girl, or will his lack of talent get in the way?

Well, this was a welcome surprise! From Noor’s first appearance, as he works to a catchy medieval tune, I Parry Anything is perfectly on point, and captured my attention down to the last second. The story of the underdog with an underestimated yet effective skill has been told a million times, but this one feels focused, with every scene achieving something for the global story and everything coming together in the end. It reminds me a little of the effectiveness of Grimgar, though it isn’t quite as dark (or as fanservicey). I Parry Anything solidly establishes the traits of its protagonist, a Superman/Midoriya type who keeps his kindness and his enthusiasm in the face of many hardships, both as a boy and as a man. The story shows you hope after hope disappearing from his life, but at 27, he is unassuming, happy to help, and well-integrated. The medieval town where he lives feels more grounded than I’m accustomed to in these medieval-ish fantasy stories: you get single-room farms with beds of hay, dug sewers on the street, public baths, and construction workers at the wall. The loss of Noor’s parents is conveyed effectively, as is his love of adventure, focused on the book his father used to read to him (by the way, that book is marked with a cross). With a beautiful OP and a beautiful ending, effective art and interesting character designs, everything comes together during the final fight, which is tense, bloody, and high-stakes, just as it should be. For now, I’m fully invested in Noor’s story, and I can’t wait for episode two.

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I Parry Anything can be streamed at HiDIVE.