(CR) Sousou no Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End)

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Decel

Ubel really shined at how strategic she was giving the bottle to pull Land, and the fighting itself was nicely detailed, not some whirlwindy blurr many shonen fights would do.

I'm consistently amazed at the sheer quality of animation this show is getting when, at first sight, it's not really that flashy of a show. The animators were 100% going hard with that Ubel fight. That POV shot stood out to me, for example.

God I'm dreading the end of this season. I don't want my weekly Frieren fix to end

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Dextro

I'm consistently amazed at the sheer quality of animation this show is getting when, at first sight, it's not really that flashy of a show. The animators were 100% going hard with that Ubel fight. That POV shot stood out to me, for example.

God I'm dreading the end of this season. I don't want my weekly Frieren fix to end

And it's basically just Madhouse flexing on stuff that wasn't even all that detailed in the manga .

[Shadow5YA]

The animation is not always consistently good. Most of the characters look off-model during a far distance talking scenes like this:


And this is far from the only example. However, when compared to the sweathouse that is working for Mappa, I'd rather have them know how to pace themselves and prioritize when it matters the most than be forced to crunch for every single scene in every episode.

[Mad Pierrot]

A mature woman. Sein must be killing himself.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

The animation is not always consistently good. Most of the characters look off-model during a far distance talking scenes like this:


And this is far from the only example. However, when compared to the sweathouse that is working for Mappa, I'd rather have them know how to pace themselves and prioritize when it matters the most than be forced to crunch for every single scene in every episode.

Wait, what do you mean? That shot looks perfectly fine. Character designs are recognizable even at a distance. You could complain that the compositing isn't great since they stand out a bit from the background, but it's more than fine for such a long distance shot. Don't take this the wrong way but I really don't think you used the best example here. I fully admit the show isn't a visual masterpiece but it doesn't have to be. It's been more than acceptable for most shots with flashes or brilliance (and the overall scene and sound direction have been outstanding).

[Frontier]

I'd say this is still one of the best looking shows of two seasons...

[Huh...?]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/cC5b0mDNshs

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Frontier]

I'm glad Kanne and Lawine are joining the group .

[nojay]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I'm glad Kanne and Lawine are joining the group .

And getting along with each other as usual (0.36 on the PV timeline, in the background on the right).

[Liddo-kun]

episode 25:

that's a perfect shot by Fern.

it's terrifying to know that a group of clones that can wipe an entire party is headed their way.
Fern and Frieren better move fast in defeating Spiegel.

[Frontier]

Good thing Dorsel arrived just in time to inform the group that mental manipulation magic won't work on the clones...Blei's sacrifice was worth it .

Methode has light healing magic? What are the odds, Sein has healing magic too! I'm sure they could totally bond over that (and Methode being a hot onee-san) .

Also good that Lawine and Kanne arrived just in time for Lawine to provide more context for what they're facing because her older brother was part of the expedition into the dungeon, so now they know they're facing Spiegel and also have to ward off the other clones encroaching into the bottom of the dungeon. And I love how Lawine and Richter still get along so well .

Strategy planning montage! Complete with Lawine and Kanne messing with each other the whole time and Frieren being reminded fondly of how she and Himmel's party would work together to clear dungeons...even when Heiter was hungover and couldn't do anything but sleep around everywhere .

So Frieren's weakness is...she can't detect mana after she casts a spell, which is actually a pretty basic thing but seemingly the one thing she could never master. But good to know for future reference and for their current situation .

It's Frieren and Fern vs clone Frieren while everyone else holds off the other clones! Frieren and her mimic are even matches but it's all to setup Fern dishing out her favorite Zoltaraak on the clone .

When was the last time Frieren saw Serie? When she delivered Flamme's last will and testament to Serie, letting her know how she managed to legitimatize and popularize magic with humanity, and hoping her master could carry on that effort...but Serie says Flamme basically meant nothing to her and she has no interest in helping allow common people, rather than those more worthy, to learn magic (which shows a lot in how she basically runs the magic bureau) .

Though on a walk with Frieren Serie reminisces about a young Flamme and their time together, and in doing so sounds less like a dispassionate mentor and more like a mother (and young Flamme was so cute). And it is through Flamme that Serie learned how much humans are capable of because of their shorter lifespan than elves, so every decision they make must matter, and that makes it all the more meaningful...and it's that frame of mind that will let them surpass elves. Something that doesn't bother Frieren one bit !

[GDB]

Frieren vs Copy Frieren was so freaking cool.

[ChronoReverse]

Originally Posted by GDB

Frieren vs Copy Frieren was so freaking cool.

Literally my exact same thought.

[Liddo-kun]

the past few weeks, every episode feels like 5 minutes.. this show is so good.

also did not expect Himmel to be moving fast like that. He is indeed a hero.

[magnuskn]

Loved that wizard fight. Makes me look forward to getting my Sorcerer in a current Pathfinder campaign I'm in to higher levels even more. And some cool poses with staffs as well. ^^

I giggled at Lawine and Kanne having almost a full blown WWE wrestling match in the background during the planning session.

And, yeah, young Flamme was cute as heck.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

I giggled at Lawine and Kanne having almost a full blown WWE wrestling match in the background during the planning session.

Complete with a pre-match massage by Lawine before the bout started (11:20).

Originally Posted by magnuskn

And, yeah, young Flamme was cute as heck.

They grow up so fast, sniff. Especially if you're an elf.

[Ragashingo]

The true magic of this show is that it can cut away from its most interesting fight to two nearly emotionless characters talking what will happen 1,000 years in the distant future and I'm perfectly fine with it. The wizard duel was freakin' cool, with lighting and stone erupting into lava... and yet it was Frieren being happy that magic would be for everyone that made the episode.

And it's because we've had so many episodes of her living this way. If she'd just said it here near the end without context it would have seemed trite. But we've seen her spend months looking for a flower, or a season cleaning a beach to view a sunrise.

Absolutely love it.

[ryllharu]

I'll open as the voice of dissent this time.

The fights are very cool, it's all wonderful visually.

But this part of the exam has just been badly written. It contradicts a great deal of earlier events (like Flamme insta-killing three demons but now zoltraak is faster all of a sudden?), and is stuffed full of the right person arriving at the precise correct moment to deliver important knowledge before the main team makes a strategic mistake (which happened twice in this episode alone!).

Then it rounds it out with giving Frieren a comically stupid weakness just because without one she wouldn't be defeatable given the previous arcs. Sure, they've said that human mages have beaten her before, but that would have been better established by the flashback instead of manufacturing a weakness that really had zero foreshadowing. It didn't have to be Fern. It didn't have to be an existing spell like zoltraak. They established that Serie and Frieren agreed that Frieren could be killed by innovative human magic. Zoltraak is something that Frieren handed to humans, where "modern magic" is something human mages have been deriving all along and more thematically appropriate for this arc.

And don't get me started on Methode. She apparently is capable of whatever the story needs at the moment, when Frieren can also do triage healing.

This entire test is one series of deus ex machina moments after another.

It's such a backslide from the first exam and the rest of the series as a whole.

[magnuskn]

None of those things are even near a Deux Ex Machina. If you don't know what the term means, don't use it.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by ryllharu

I'll open as the voice of dissent this time.

The fights are very cool, it's all wonderful visually.

But this part of the exam has just been badly written. It contradicts a great deal of earlier events (like Flamme insta-killing three demons but now zoltraak is faster all of a sudden?)

Flamme was raised and taught by Serie and she was a very powerful mage in her day. Her attack on the three demons was very powerful magic a thousand years ago, just as the charge of a mounted armoured knight would have been devastating on a battlefield in our world a thousand years ago. Today an armoured knight on a horse would be a peculiar oddity on a battlefield and no threat to anyone with even basic modern weapons.

Zoltraak was the genius demon mage Qual's ace in the hole and he developed it only eighty years ago, a long time after Flamme saved Frieren. Flamme never faced Zoltraak and even Frieren couldn't cope with Zoltraak when she and the rest of the Hero party faced Qual the first time around. I can easily accept that Zoltraak is faster and probably more powerful than anything Flamme could have cast in her day. I could also accept that demons were easier to destroy back then too.