Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life — Episode 1

Content warning: Mild fan service; fantastical age-gap relationship

What’s it about? Formerly known as the Demon King, now known as unemployed and unsociable, Ryusei Narukami’s second life is anything but desirable. That’s because Meteor Hanaori, the Hero that caused his downfall, was reincarnated too, living life as a high school girl. Now, Ryusei is determined to get back at her as a school teacher. Only love seems to be on syllabus instead of revenge!

Ryusei Narukami used to be a somebody: the Demon King of another world where he lives as a shut-in at ease with his upsetting life. That is until Meteor Hanaori, his former nemesis and the Hero who felled him, barges into his home and announces herself. 

What ensues is two former foes clashing not as super-powerful beings, but as two humans living in Japan who have to face their vicious past, but also, the memories that haunt them in their current lives. One is fine doing nothing, the other is a high school girl deadset on unloading her emotional baggage onto the Demon King. Both end up clashing when, unintentionally, Meteor convinces Ryusei to get a job—as a teacher at an all-girls’ school. And you know that when these two former enemies clash, antics are sure to ensue!

Immediately, this reminded me of We Swore to Meet in the Next Life and That’s When Things Got Weird! because this is an age-gap romance where the couple knows one another. Of course that series is very different in tone because the couple in that narrative don’t have a malevolent history. 

In this case, Ryusei, now an adult, is a twentysomething whereas Meteor is a high school girl, but once was a grown woman. The romance that blooms between them thus feels less icky than a teacher-student relationship because it’s so incredibly organic and different than two people in our world falling in love with the same dynamic. Plus, Meteor and Ryusei are extremely and refreshingly aware of their situation, ranging from Meteor biting back about the former Demon King mocking her flashy, high cut armor as the hero to Ryusei wanting to live his second chance as a layabout.

It’s also nice that this awareness of their previous relationship—and the nature of them being teacher and student—is never handwaved or dismissed. It’s just that Meteor and Ryusei don’t fully think of each other as teacher and student, but as lifelong foes, flavoring the fact they’re endgame with a lot of layers that, once again, make this less icky and more realistic. Well, as realistic as a former Hero and Demon King can be. Plus, right now, they’re still in the enemies phase: there’s no friends-to-lovers tropes in sight, and when there inevitably is, I trust Hanaori-san to do things right without being leering.

And I’ll admit, all of this immediately charmed me and made me invested in Hanaori-san enough that I’m already preordering the manga well in advance of its October 2026 release date. I’m already invested in what we know about Ryusei and Meteor and who they were, especially since both wake up and choose violence every single encounter. It makes for genuinely hilarious encounters as Meteor navigates her trauma and being a high schooler while Ryuesei tries to figure out his own shit.

I freakin’ loved this premiere. It’s one of my favorites I’ve watched and is an easy addition to my watchlist. The dub is deeply satisfying, as are the foundations laid for Ryuesei and Meteor’s characterization. Each appeals as individuals with complex pasts carried into a world where the world is at peace. Japan, as a setting, thus functions to add to the comedy: Ryusei wants a quiet life where he’s not the Demon King, but Meteor isn’t quite ready to let go of her own legacy and the deep chip on her shoulder. But both have the power of god and anime on their side, which means that while romance is Point Z, there’s plenty of self-aware characterization to occur between.

Very happy to say that I’m sat for one of the funniest shows I’ve seen all season, and I think you should be too. Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life is extremely enjoyable, and I think even if age gap romance isn’t your thing (which fair, it’s not usually mine) you can appreciate the awareness of Meteor and Ryusei’s interactions as they try to meet one another as people in a non-magical world.