Once an orphan, carrying out his parents’ wishes for him to help others by caring for other orphans, Dias became part of a war effort for the kingdom that lasted 20 years. He was good at warfare—so good, in fact, that the king granted him a domain for his heroics. But as Dias surveys his land, he wonders how in the world he’ll be able to help others in a vast grassland with seemingly few resources and no people living there. Or are there people there, after all? The appearance of a young horned lady named Alna will help him learn how to live on the land—and may change her destiny too.

Every season in recent memory features average fantasy anime—shows that make very little impression on the viewers. The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects is one of those shows this season. The animation is fine, the hero is the kind but strong type (like virtually all fantasy heroes this side of edgelord-leaning ones), and the story is comfy. If there’s anything unique here, it’s the idea of Dias representing the dominating, winning side of a war, and Alna and her people an aboriginal side that lost in the conflict. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’ll get much depth with those analogies, as the show would rather focus on a quickly growing romance between Dias and Alna, and I won’t spoil it, but what seems to be the actual focus of the series, as seen in the final minute of this episode and the ED. It’s all about comfort with a dash of fantasy intrigue and action (and I admit, it was fun seeing Dias doze through those beasts); there’s an audience for that type of show, and I’m often in that audience, but this anime is too mid even for someone who likes a cozy type of fantasy anime.

The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects can be streamed on Crunchyroll.