Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life Premiere Finds Charm in a Tricky Premise
The premiere successfully navigates a potentially problematic premise by leaning into the characters' history and self-awareness, making the romance feel organic rather than exploitative.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime Feminist.
Anime Feminist reviews the first episode of Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life, where former Demon King Ryusei and Hero Meteor are reincarnated as a teacher and high school student. The review praises the show for handling the age-gap romance with self-awareness, avoiding ickiness by having the characters view each other as former enemies rather than teacher-student. The reviewer found it charming and hilarious, already preordering the manga.
The review notes that the show never handwaves or dismisses the teacher-student dynamic; instead, Meteor and Ryusei see each other as lifelong foes, which flavors their relationship with layers that make it less icky and more realistic. The reviewer draws a comparison to We Swore to Meet in the Next Life and That's When Things Got Weird!, but notes the key difference: here the couple has a malevolent history. The premiere is described as genuinely hilarious, with both characters choosing violence in every encounter. The reviewer was so charmed they preordered the manga ahead of its October 2026 release.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.