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

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I totally get Himmel was a very compassionate and caring person, but I don't think he told Heiter or Eisen that he wanted to show them the flower of his homeland (that carries a lot of romantic connotations).

This is where perspective comes into play, because we don't know what he did or didn't do privately with the others since they're Frieren's memories.

[MOD edit] [SNIP] [/MOD edit]

[FlareKnight]

I don't know if the show will reveal how Himmel felt. I suppose there's no way it could since he's dead. All we can do is speculate based on the memories we see and the first episode where hew as still alive.

For me, I think it's relatively possible. They traveled for a decade and that's plenty of time to build up some feelings. A bit easier too compared to individual meetings with people they would leave behind as they continued their journey.

That Himmel didn't appear to have any family certainly makes me think it's possible. With Heiter he was a priest so I'm not too surprised that he didn't have any family. But Himmel was a good looking, charismatic hero, who wasn't exactly blind to his own charms. I find it hard to believe that guy would just live an isolated life without getting involved with anyone unless the person he was interested in was simply out of reach.

But that's purely speculation. I don't think it hurts anything to believe it until/unless the show proves otherwise. And it doesn't really matter. What matters now is how Frieren feels and how Himmel's influence has spurred her forward. He gave her a reason to take an interest in things. And his death gave her a push to care much more about interacting with those around her. And I think that will be good for her overall.

Even if of course she will outlive Fern and any future comrades she makes here.

[frubam]

Ep 2 and 3 were both phenomenal. Ep 2 setup Fern very nicely. Heiter's last moment were very nice as well. Very crafty of him to get Frieren to train Fern by having her do something else I'm the meantime, but it seems bit much to have her translate a book for years just so she'll do it. I emphasize 'seems' cause he did it for a good cause, but it was still a lot of time wasted, even if time has little physical effect for Frieren.

Speaking of time thing I can really appreciate is how the passage of time tells its own story. Events don't occur in short periods of time and that really paints a sense of realism of the quest. It also shows Frieren's level of dedication and how important fulfilling the remnants of her old promises is to her; she wouldn't just waste several months, let alone years for people and things she doesn't care for, even if time is of little concern to her.

I'm really glad we get to see more snippets of Himmel's party, even if they are short-lived flashed memories. When I see them, it makes me all the more regrettable that the relationship between Frieren and Himmel never got the chance to bloom like I assume Himmel may have wanted. That being said, it does remind me of the elf character from Banished from the Hero's Party, so maybe Frieren's lack of true understanding of emotions might be what is saving her from what may be years of loneliness. She's already traveled with Fern for so long already, and her sense of recognizing the feelings and wanting to know Fern will undoubtedly make it more difficult to leave her behind, maybe even more than Himmel, whether that be because of time or otherwise.

The Qual fight was fantastic! You wouldn't think a battle between mages would be so flashy, yet it was marvelously animated. I like how they were able to show how formidable Qual was by both telling his backstory with Himmel's party, and the little bit of dialogue he had with Frieren. His ability to discern how evolved defensive magic worked by mere observation, and even prototype it on the spot makes it easy to see why he was so dangerous in his time. It was pretty smart to train Fern for that very purpose, and trust her enough to focus on dealing the killing blow. More than that, the mere concept that 80 yrs prior, the hero's party barely stood a chance, and now abilities have evolved so much in that time frame, reducing Qual's nigh invincible position to that of a regular threat is just wonderful writing. Really loving this show =03!

[Last Sinner]

I really hope dwelling on the relationships Freiren could have had isn't going to be a focus. I'd rather what she can do now. And it would be nice for a change for there to not be romance in this scenario. Freiren has plenty of relative time. I'd rather she find herself as a person and be at peace before she goes after a relationship, if at all.

[Guido]

Originally Posted by frubam

Ep 2 and 3 were both phenomenal. Ep 2 setup Fern very nicely. Heiter's last moment were very nice as well. Very crafty of him to get Frieren to train Fern by having her do something else I'm the meantime, but it seems bit much to have her translate a book for years just so she'll do it. I emphasize 'seems' cause he did it for a good cause, but it was still a lot of time wasted, even if time has little physical effect for Frieren.

Speaking of time thing I can really appreciate is how the passage of time tells its own story. Events don't occur in short periods of time and that really paints a sense of realism of the quest. It also shows Frieren's level of dedication and how important fulfilling the remnants of her old promises is to her; she wouldn't just waste several months, let alone years for people and things she doesn't care for, even if time is of little concern to her.

I'm really glad we get to see more snippets of Himmel's party, even if they are short-lived flashed memories. When I see them, it makes me all the more regrettable that the relationship between Frieren and Himmel never got the chance to bloom like I assume Himmel may have wanted. That being said, it does remind me of the elf character from Banished from the Hero's Party, so maybe Frieren's lack of true understanding of emotions might be what is saving her from what may be years of loneliness. She's already traveled with Fern for so long already, and her sense of recognizing the feelings and wanting to know Fern will undoubtedly make it more difficult to leave her behind, maybe even more than Himmel, whether that be because of time or otherwise.

The Qual fight was fantastic! You wouldn't think a battle between mages would be so flashy, yet it was marvelously animated. I like how they were able to show how formidable Qual was by both telling his backstory with Himmel's party, and the little bit of dialogue he had with Frieren. His ability to discern how evolved defensive magic worked by mere observation, and even prototype it on the spot makes it easy to see why he was so dangerous in his time. It was pretty smart to train Fern for that very purpose, and trust her enough to focus on dealing the killing blow. More than that, the mere concept that 80 yrs prior, the hero's party barely stood a chance, and now abilities have evolved so much in that time frame, reducing Qual's nigh invincible position to that of a regular threat is just wonderful writing. Really loving this show =03!

Frieren is not rushing through but taking her time to appreciate those little moments, indulging in the things she likes or taken an interest, although they may seem meaningless to Fern at first glance. As someone previously commented upon, her journey is not for a grandiose purpose, but simply to understand her emotions and other peoples' emotions in order to make the most out of new experiences so she can make beautiful memories.

In addition, the flashbacks with her party members will keep on shedding details connecting what she took for granted in the past for her to later revisiting those things in the current timeline in order to appreciate their value, as I believe Himmel intended for Freiren to eventually live the experience on her own to understand the meaning of said value.

Lastly, Qual, indeed, was a threat to be reckoned with and to be feared back in his era and given how he simply deduced through mere observation the weaknesses and limitations to the defensive magic that humans came up in order to counter his Zoltraak spell, I dreaded that grant him a few but fair amount of time to adapt then Qual would have had caught up with the magical knowledge and standards of the current era in a breeze and coming-up with an all brand-new frightening spell surpassing the knowledge of the current era standards.
Hence, for Freiren it was a two-fold affair to eliminate Qual's threat right on the spot since sealing him again would've been a futile enterprise, and she did not want to give Qual any room at erring from her part for him to exploit in order to slay her and moving on to learn about the knowledge of the current world out of fear he would have potentially evolved his magic to an even higher tier of power.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Guido

Frieren is not rushing through but taking her time to appreciate those little moments, indulging in the things she likes or taken an interest, although they may seem meaningless to Fern at first glance. As someone previously commented upon, her journey is not for a grandiose purpose, but simply to understand her emotions and other peoples' emotions in order to make the most out of new experiences so she can make beautiful memories.

Her journey's just a way to pass the time. It's her hobby.

Originally Posted by Twi

If they followed the same pacing before she went to Aureole afterward, then the next montage we got would be her attending Fern's funeral after she lived to a ripe old age.

I don't see how the "pacing" makes a difference. New episode, Frieren arrives in a new place, does whatever sidequest interests her, leaves. That's the format, and that she now has a destination doesn't really change it. If anything, you could say the addition of Fern changes things a bit... but only a bit.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Her journey's just a way to pass the time. It's her hobby.



I don't see how the "pacing" makes a difference. New episode, Frieren arrives in a new place, does whatever sidequest interests her, leaves. That's the format, and that she now has a destination doesn't really change it. If anything, you could say the addition of Fern changes things a bit... but only a bit.

Maybe the fear of catching up with the manga might make the pacing of the anime be a little slower

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Her journey's just a way to pass the time. It's her hobby.

It was a way to pass the time, but it's more than that now.
And the reason why magic became her hobby is because it gained sentimental value after Himmel showed appreciation for it, just like Fern's magic was her way of connecting to Heiter.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I don't see how the "pacing" makes a difference. New episode, Frieren arrives in a new place, does whatever sidequest interests her, leaves. That's the format, and that she now has a destination doesn't really change it. If anything, you could say the addition of Fern changes things a bit... but only a bit.

You are not wrong about the format, but you're underselling Frieren's character development.

She's not just doing this "to pass the time", she's doing it because Himmel and Heiter taught her to help people more.
She's also intentionally visiting places that have some sentimental connection to her past with Himmel.

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

Maybe the fear of catching up with the manga might make the pacing of the anime be a little slower

This will not be a problem. There are 12 volumes worth of material right now. They just covered the first volume.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Mad Pierrot

Maybe the fear of catching up with the manga might make the pacing of the anime be a little slower

If what we've seen so far is any indication, the pacing will slow down significantly now. The story was probably designed that way from the get go.

[Mad Pierrot]

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

I really hope dwelling on the relationships Freiren could have had isn't going to be a focus. I'd rather what she can do now. And it would be nice for a change for there to not be romance in this scenario. Freiren has plenty of relative time. I'd rather she find herself as a person and be at peace before she goes after a relationship, if at all.

That would be like Violet Evergarden. In this case, the closest guy that I can imagine as a love interest is dead so I don't see romance being a major theme in the story unless we have flashbacks. Still, if that Himmel guy actually liked her, I would be surprised by the themes it could focus since they are different races and I really doubt we will see this guy ever again until the finale in that place she wants to see.

[Frontier]

Frieren almost seems like she's happy to be re-tracing her 10-year journey to go to Aureole! And in that respect Eisen can see how she's changed and how her journey with Himmel's party has changed her despite how brief it was from her perspective. And Fern is in it for the longhaul with Frieren .

OP and ED subs! Both really convey Frieren's feelings and worldview on the journey and the experiences she's had, and understanding the emotions from said experience, but also her feelings for Himmel (especially the ED) .

That was a sweet flashback to Fern and Heiter. She'll be a good girl so he'll pay her a visit again! Maybe even in Aureole !

So...why did Frieren's master beg for her life on a consistent basis enough that Frieren was used to it ?

Ghosts haunting a village? Looks like it's time for Frieren and Fern to do a little ghost-busting! Except it's not really ghosts but a monster using the illusions of peoples' loved ones to trick them. Fern is confident she won't fall prey to it but even she isn't immune when she sees Heiter's ghost and it talks to her like he would. Even if intellectually she realizes it's not real, just seeing her cherished memories thrown in her face like that is enough to make her freeze .

Although it is rather sweet that now Himmel is so important to Frieren that he appears to her instead of her master, and she knows Himmel so well she knows that he would tell her to end the illusions .

Watch out for that 2D Solar Dragon! It's dangerous enough to put the fear of death into Fern !

I love how even Frieren can find a practical reason for wanting to know a spell that sees through clothes. She's not a degenerate (I think) .

Stark! Eisen's disciple who warded off the dragon and became the hero of the village! He seems like a very confident, capable, Hero...minus also being utterly terrified and having no real experience fighting monsters. He just lucked out that the dragon left when he showed up and now feels guilty that the village is treating him so well. And this is the guy Frieren wants to recruit .

Oh no! Fern gave him the look! Poor guy. Too bad he couldn't see Fern's pout .

But there's a reason Frieren wants to recruit him, because his cowardice is just what Eisen related to in him and he drilled in not only his skills but also an insatiable need to protect others, so despite himself Stark can't help but want to defeat the dragon for the sake of the village. And he has the power to back it up .

[Ragashingo]

Episode 5:

The pacing was so deliciously slow. It was nice to just breath in each moment. Each village. Each encounter. I'm really loving it.

I thought the show was just gonna leave Flamme's frequently begging for her life as a tease, but instead Fern asked the obvious questions and so we were left with a doubled down tease! Oh, show!

I like how Frieren recognized the fissure in the rock before I did. I knew something was important about it, but I guess since I hadn't really seen Eisen's full power I didn't expect Stark's physical attacks to be so powerful.

[Kanon]

The monster luring in people with illusions of their loved is really dangerous, especially since it can read people's mind. I liked that in this case, it turned out to be a weakness because the Himmel inside Frieren would have told her to shoot him. I thought Fern was going to need some rescuing but she managed on her own, though Frieren firing first helped. I'm really loving Fern, she has just the right amount of everything.

Originally Posted by Ragashingo

I like how Frieren recognized the fissure in the rock before I did. I knew something was important about it, but I guess since I hadn't really seen Eisen's full power I didn't expect Stark's physical attacks to be so powerful.

When Frieren examined the fissure, I figured Stark was the one who did it. I actually expected him to be stronger and to have done it in one blow, but I guess he's still plenty powerful. He should be a big help for the journey ahead, and I'm curious how adding him will spice up the character's dynamics. It's easy to imagine him falling for Fern or the other way around. Or both.

[grecefar]

for me the fissure was pretty obvious that it was him but I didn't expect that plot twist with him.

hilarious.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kanon

When Frieren examined the fissure, I figured Stark was the one who did it. I actually expected him to be stronger and to have done it in one blow, but I guess he's still plenty powerful.

It wouldn't have sense to have Stark do it in one blow time-wise since Stark is supposed to have been training near the village for years.

Had he done it in one shot then he would've been done with the cliff on day one, and Fern wouldn't have gotten a chance to catch him training.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Frontier

So...why did Frieren's master beg for her life on a consistent basis enough that Frieren was used to it ?

In the manga Frieren said she was used to her master begging. She didn't say begging for her life, just begging.

If I had to guess, she was probably begging Frieren to do her chores every fricking day, considering how lazy Frieren is when it comes to that kind of things.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

In the manga Frieren said she was used to her master begging. She didn't say begging for her life, just begging.

If I had to guess, she was probably begging Frieren to do her chores every fricking day, considering how lazy Frieren is when it comes to that kind of things.

Not sure if that would've worked for the monsters' illusion though maybe it gave Frieren some catharsis .

[Tenzen12]

I think her master might be actually needy type. Basically that Frieren was her masters Fern.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

In the manga Frieren said she was used to her master begging. She didn't say begging for her life, just begging.

If I had to guess, she was probably begging Frieren to do her chores every fricking day, considering how lazy Frieren is when it comes to that kind of things.

No, it was the same. She said that she saw the illusion of her master begging for her life, but she was used to her master begging in general.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

but she was used to her master begging in general.

That's what I said.