⬇Episode/Title⬇
⬇My Synopsis, Opinion, and Plot Points⬇
⬇My Rating⬇
The heroes' party: Eisen, Heiter, Himmel, and Frieren.
Quick Opinion: Heart-felt over Frieren crying.
My initial impression of this anime is as follows:
- It is a slow-paced anime. This may repulse avid anime fans, who are interested in action-filled fight scenes.
- This anime will attract fantasy & "slice of life" type of anime fans.
- It is story driven and has in depth character development.
- From the first episode, you may already have a heart-felt moment with Frieren when she was crying over Himmel's death.
- There are implied messages in the episode like regretting past mistakes, such as not getting to know someone that has passed away.
- The episode explains the difference between a human's life span and an elf's lifespan. Frieren is mostly emotionally detached(indifferent) of humans because they die quickly. On the other hand, Frieren has a long lifespan. This episode let's you empathize on the feelings of humans and Frieren.
- The animation is developed by Studio Madhouse. You can tell that the anime is masterfully done.
- The opening and closing OST is memorable; the other OST's in the anime is memorable as well.
- Voice actors fit well with the characters.
- Sound effects throughout the episode is superb.
- Background art is outstanding!
- The chemistry between characters are believable. It doesn't feel off at all.
Frieren teaching young Fern. Heiter just relaxing to the side.
Quick Opinion: A relaxing or "chill" episode.
- In his last days, Heiter managed to trick Frieren into teaching magic techniques to Fern and, eventually, have Fern as an apprentice.
- It was a sad episode because Heiter had passed away.
- Fern upset because it was taking too long to find blue moon weed flowers. Frieren not acknowledging Fern's time.
- Frieren mentions that Fern chose magic like she had.
Qual, Elder Sage of Corruption, sealed by Frieren 80 years ago. Frieren removed the seal from Qual. Now Frieren and Fern face Qual.
Quick Opinion: There's lots of magic factoids or lore in this episode.
- Frieren gives Fern a hair ornament on her 16th birthday.
- It is revealed that Frieren's favorite dessert is Merkur Pudding. Heiter loves alcohol. Eisen loves sour grapes. Himmel loves Ruf-omelettes.
- Frieren tells Fern about the purpose of the journey: to satisfy her desire to collect spells. While collecting spells, Frieren also wants to retrace adventures with Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter before all signs of it fades away.
- There's alot of facts about magic in this episode. Defensive spells rapidly depletes mana. If defensive spells are used over a large area, then the casters mana is exhausted. The best option is to cast spells in select locations at the moment of impact. Frieren says that magic is about theory as much as practice.
- 80 years ago, Qual was sealed by Frieren because the heroes' party could not defeat him. Qual was too powerful because he had developed a spell called "Zoltraak", which pierces through defensive spells and magic resistance of armor. Zoltraak was called killing magic because it killed 40% of adventurers and 70% mages. Killing magic was studied and analyzed by mages. For the past 80 years, mages developed new defensive spells and magic resistance on armor were improved because of studying Zoltraak.
- Frieren dispels Qual's seal. Frieren explains to Qual that Zoltraak is no longer killing magic and is considered as ordinary offensive magic. Fern uses ordinary defensive magic to block Qual's Zoltraak. Frieren flies and shoots a magic spell towards Qual. Qual is defeated.
- Frieren finally figures out who the old farmer is(the funniest part of episode).
Fern, Eisen, and Frieren eating sour grapes.
Quick Opinion: Frieren has alot of hilarious facial expressions.
- The first half of this episode was basically about Fern pampering Frieren. Although Frieren could be a thousand years old, she's acting like a child.
- Both Frieren and Fern completed a task, which took over 3 months, to clean up the shore of ship debris before the New Year's Festival.
- Fern was able to wake Frieren just in time to watch the sunrise(New Year's Festival). Frieren thought that the sunrise wasn't worth it, but she then reconsidered that sentiment after seeing Fern smile.
- The second half of the episode was Eisen informing Frieren of a lead on Flamme's notes, which was researched by Heiter. It is revealed that Flamme is Frieren's master. Eisen, Frieren, and Fern go on a quest to find Flamme's notes in Voll Basin. Fern discovers a giant tree withn ruins, which was protected by a powerful barrier. Frieren disables the powerful barrier and discovers Flamme's notes.
- Flamme's notes reveal that you can speak to the dead at Aureole, which is located at the northernmost part of the continent, Ende. This is where the Demon King's castle is now located.
- In order to talk to Himmel, Frieren and Fern will go on a 10 year journey to the Demon King's castle.
- Frieren shows alot of funny facial expressions in the first half of this episode. It was hilarious to see Frieren sleepy and cold.
Stark begging Frieren to defeat the solar dragon. Fern watches.
Quick Opinion: Somewhat of a boring episode.
- In this episode, the audience is introduced to a new monster called the Einsam, who are responsible for the missing people in the Wille Region, within the mountain pass. The Einsam lures humans with the phantoms of the dead. Both Frieren and Fern kill the Einsam, but Fern was a bit indecisive since the Einsam created an illusion that was identical to Heiter.
- In the Riegel Canyon, Frieren and Fern are unable to defeat the Solar Dragon; they are trying to defeat the solar dragon to get a grimoire, which contains a spell to see through clothing
- In order to defeat this solar dragon, they search for Stark, Eisen's apprentice. They are conveniently guided by an old lady right to Stark. Stark is the front-liner that they've been searching for, but he is as cowardly as Eisen. Stark has zero experience in fighting monsters; hence, why he hasn't defeated the solar dragon, which devastated the village. Frieren asks Stark to keep the solar dragon busy for 30 seconds. Stark has to make a choice whether or not he will participate in defeating the solar dragon by tomorrow.
Frieren hiding from the town guards.
Quick Opinion: Frieren displays alot of funny/expressive facial & body language. I'm curious of what the bond between Fern & Stark will be.
- Stark easily defeated the solar dragon without the help of Frieren.
- Frieren and Fern test the spell from the grimoire. Fern tested the spell on Stark(funny part of the episode).
- The guards at the fortress of Waal denied Frieren, Fern, and Stark checkpoint entry. The border is protected by a powerful magical barrier that extends to maximum flying altitude(no one can fly over it).
- Both Fern and Stark don't want to stay at the fortress of Waal for 2 years, so they consult with different guilds for solutions to exit to the northern lands. No one has provided them with a way out.
- Stark wants to repay his debt to his master Eisen by taking his place in the 10 year journey & to tell Eisen of all the stories.
- Fern discovers Frieren hiding from the town guards. Eventually, the town guard discovers Frieren and surprisingly bows apologetically to Frieren and the party. Apparently, the town's castellan granted Frieren, Fern, and Stark access to the northern lands. This particular part of the episode was funny because of all the expressive facial and body language that Frieren has displayed, especially when the town guard and the city castellan had confronted Frieren.
- The bond between Stark and Fern is initiating; I'm not entirely certain if this is a lover's relationship or a strong friendship forming, but it is a reason to keep watching this anime to see if anything happens between Stark and Fern. This episode also marks the start of their 10 year adventure towards the Demon King's castle, which should be exciting, action-packed, and hilarious moments of Frieren.
Graf & the Peace Envoy(Lord Lugner, Draht, and Linie).
Quick Opinion: Apparently, Frieren is a Demon racist. The lore is different from other modern fantasy lore.
- Episode 7 starts off with Frieren, Fern, and Stark clearing mountain debris for an old man. They are in Eng Road(within the northern lands).
- The old man mentions that the town has a celebration called "Liberation Festival" to commemorate Himmel and his party of heroes, who defeated demons who ruled this land.
- Frieren says that elves are going extinct because elves lack romantic feelings and reproductive instincts. She hasn't met another elf for more than 400 years.
- Frieren, Fern, and Stark are going to heaven, which is the main destination.
- In Graf Granat's domain(northern lands), Frieren is thrown into a dungeon for trying to kill the Peace Envoy. The Peace Envoy(Lord Lugner, Draht, and Linie) are demons!
- Frieren says that demons are man-eating monsters, who are capable of speech. Demons use words as a means of deceiving humans. Demons don't raise their young; after birth, demons live in solitude. They have no concept of what a family is.
- Aura the Guillotines, one of the seven sages of destruction, who served under the demon king, has regained her power 28 years ago.
- The Peace Envoy's ulterior motive is to persuade Graf to lower the barrier so that Aura's forces can destroy the town.
- Lugner emotionally manipulates Graf into not killing him by empathizing with Graf's sons death with his father's death.
- Draht, one of Aura the Guillotine's executioners, kills a guard, who was stationed before Frieren's. Draht wants to kill Frieren.
Fern, ready to blast Lord Lugner.
Lord Lugner remembers Frieren as a demon slayer.
Quick Opinion: Episode shows how overpowered Frieren is. Also, shows Fern as overpowered as well.
- Draht tried to kill Frieren with magical wire, but failed. Frieren blasted Draht's hands off and dealt a fatal blow to Draht's neck, which killed him.
- Lugner told Graf that Draht went to the privy, but Graf didn't believe him. Graf asked again where Draht went and Lugner decided to kill all the guards around him.
- It is revealed that Lugner has some type of blood magic. With his blood magic, Lugner stabs Graf. Lugner doesn't want to kill Graf because he wants Graf to lower the defensive barrier that's protecting the town.
- When demons die, they become mana particles and disappear.
- Frieren leaves Stark and Fern to defeat Lugner and Linie; Frieren is confident that they can handle the demons.
- Stark and Fern infiltrate Graf's mansion to kill the demons.
- Demons dedicate the entirety of their long lives to researching a single kind of magic.
- Flamme the Legendary Mage's defensive barrier has prevented demons from invading the town.
- Sometimes, a spell cast by a genius a thousand years ago outmatches spells of the present.
- The Granat family has been entrusted with maintaining the barrier for generations.
- Stark sneaks into a room, where Graf is held captive. He has a difficult time cutting the rope that binds Grafs hands together. Lugner and Linie discover Stark trying to free Graf. Stark slices Lord Lugner's arm off, but it didn't phase Lugner. The blood that leaked out of Lugner was turned into needles that went straight for Stark, but Stark dodged them. Stark blocked a blood claw attack from Lugner. This whole fight between Stark and Lugner was merely an opening for Fern. Fern blasts a hole into Lugner.
- Linie's specialty was mana detection, but Fern had bypassed it.
- Stark picks up injured Graf to make a retreat with Fern.
- Lugner has the ability to heal. The splattered blood on clothing can be tracked by Lugner; Fern and Stark have blood on their clothing!
- Lugner says that Zoltrack has been modified specifically in killing demons.
- Lugner reminisces on a past experience he had against a similar mage to Fern. He remembers being struck by the same magic once before and remembers that it was from Frieren. The mage who contributed significantly to humanity's analysis of Zoltraak. She was also the one who slew more demons than anyone else in history. Her known title: "Frieren the Slayer".
Lugner's blood magic attack "Balterie".
Linie does her final attack called Erfassen.
Aura the Guillotine
Quick Opinion: I'm loving the duels. Stark vs. Linie. Fern vs. Lugner. Frieren vs. Aura.
- Aura the Guillotine(one of the 7 sages of destruction) is confronted by Frieren.
- Graf was bandaged of his wounds at what looks like a church. Stark and Fern speak to Graf about how Frieren is innocent. Upon hearing the name Frieren, Graf realizes that he committed a discourtesy. Graf says that Frieren with her party had saved their town once before.
- Frieren faces Aura the Guillotine. It looks like Aura has a bunch of undead minions under her control. These undead warriors swing their giant weaponry at Frieren. Frieren dodges them all.
- Aura the Guillotine has a magical item called the Scales of Obedience. Graf explains that they tried beating Aura, but her magic forces others to obey her will. Aura places her own soul and that of her target on the scales and weighs the magnitude of their mana against each other. The one with greater mana gains control of the other, turning them into a puppet for all eternity, until their body withers to dust. It's a risky spell, but that's what makes it powerful. In the hands of someone with mana like Aura, it's unbeatable. If a soul with greater mana than Aura's were to be placed on the scales, aura could be defeated, but they say that hasn't happened once in the five hundred years since aura became a sage of destruction. Those with powerful wills could temporarily resist the spell. The greater the individual, the more iron their will. The strong-willed must have been an obstacle to Aura. Aura the Guillotine dealt with those with powerful wills in the most logical way after gaining control(Implying that she removes their head).
- Frieren dispelled the magic that Aura cast on some of the headless army(no one's ever done that before). Powerful dispelling magic expends a considerable amount of mana.
- Fern and Stark leave Graf in the church, which is protected by a barrier.
- Stark wants to get on his hands and knees and beg Frieren to return, so that she can defeat Lugner and Linie.(Funny Part)
- While Fern and Stark are discussing about how bloody both of them are, Fern realizes that there is mana in the blood on their clothing. It was a bit too late since Lugner had found them. Fern wasn't able to detect Lugner because he concealed his presence by controlling his mana, which demons can do as well.
- Fern gets stabbed with blood magic & is held suspended against a wall. Later, Fern escapes Lugner's submission. Lugner and Fern start their duel; Lugner sending a massive blood magic attack called Balterie. As time goes on in the battle, Lugner is being overwhelmed by the fast and sheer number of attacks Fern is sending.
- A flashback explains that Fern fires off spells faster than Frieren.
- Linie attacks Stark with his master's technique. Linie reveals she is skilled at reading mana. She memorizes the flow of mana inside a person when they move. She imitates their movements. A flashback shows a younger Linie imitating the movements of Eisen the Warrior
- Flashback: Eisen reveals to Stark the secret to defeating powerful opponents. He says to Stark to keep getting back up and hitting them. For warriors, whoever's still standing at the end is the winner.
- Stark realizes that Linie's attacks are imitations of Eisen's attacks, but aren't as heavy like his master, Eisen.
- Linie does her final attack called Erfassen, but it doesn't penetrate through Stark.
- Stark retaliates with a Lightning Strike, killing Linie.
- While Lugner was distracted by Stark and Linie's battle, Fern shoots a fatal Zoltraak at Lugner, which blasted a giant hole in Lugner's body.
- This episode is jammed packed with fight scenes and spectacular duels.
Flamme teaching Frieren about mana suppression.
Aura activates the Scales of Obedience, weighing Aura's soul and Frieren's soul.
Frieren commands Aura to off herself.
Quick Opinion: When Frieren said that she was over a thousand years old, I personally started shivering in happiness. Frieren is overpowered! Aura had no chance at all! One of my favorite episodes in all of anime so far!
- In his last moments, Lugner realizes that Fern was suppressing her mana. Fern finishes off Lugner.
- Flashback: Flamme went to an elf village with everyone dead, except for Frieren. Basalt the Throne, a general of the Demon King's army, was found lying dead. Frieren barely defeated Basalt the Throne. Flamme carries injured Frieren to safety. Flamme wants Frieren as an apprentice.
- Demons stronger than Basalt are pursuing Frieren by orders of the Demon King. The order is to "kill all the elves." Flamme gently places injured Frieren to the ground as Flamme faces the demons, who she claims as stupidly proud and overconfident. Flamme in an instant eliminates the demons.
- Flamme says to deceive and kill your enemies by allowing them to miscalculate your strength.
- Frieren says that she hates the demons who took everything away from her and wishes to exterminate every demon. Frieren says that she loves magic. Flamme agrees with Frieren's sentiments.
- Flamme trains Frieren on limiting the mana she releases to one-tenth of its normal volume. While she works on limiting mana, she will also be working on her fundamentals and raising her base mana level.
- Flamme says to Frieren to keep suppressing her mana for her entire life to fool demons.
- When two souls are placed on the scale, whichever has more mana forces the other to submit.
- A person's mana increases in proportion with the time spent training.
- Aura has lived for over 500 years & spent most of her life training.
- Demons don't conceal their mana--nor can they. Demons are individualists. They form the barest connections needed to fight against humankind.
- Flamme explains that for demons, might is right. You can tell who's strong just by looking at them. Mana is to them what status and wealth are for humans. It's equivalent to dignity. They may temporarily suppress their mana for the sake of stealth, but none are foolish enough to suppress their mana all the time. It's the difference between a noble sneaking out into town incognito and the same noble debasing themselves by abandoning their status and wealth entirely. Demons never grant any dignity to those with little mana. So the stronger they are, the more desperate they are to show off their mana. For them, there's no benefit to constantly suppressing their mana. It doesn't even occur to them to do it. Just as humans are bound by status and wealth, demons are bound by mana. Despite their pride in and unparalleled love for magic, they can't control their own mana.
- Flashback: 50 years passes after Frieren is being trained by Flamme. Flamme requests Frieren to plant flowers around her grave. Flamme's favorite spell is to create a field of beautiful flowers. Flamme's parents taught it to her when she was little. That's what made Flamme love magic.
- Frieren wants to learn the spell to create a field of flowers from Flamme.
- Flamme's last words to Frieren: You must never seek to leave your name in history. Live in obscurity. You won't leave your name in history until you defeat the Demon King.
- Frieren creates a bed of flowers for Flamme's grave.
- Flashback: Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen meet Frieren for the first time. Himmel has heard of a mage, who lived in the woods for a long time.
- Aura the Guillotine uses the Scale of Obedience on Frieren. Aura activates it with the word Auserlese. Aura puts her soul and Frieren's on the scale to measure their mana. It appears that Aura has more mana since the scale shows her weighs more. She is handed a sword from one of her undead minions. Aura grabs the sword and walks towards Frieren to sever her head. As she was walking towards Frieren, the scale started to tip in favor of Frieren. Frieren says that she has been suppressing her mana. Aura denies what Frieren says. Frieren says that she spent most of her life suppressing her mana. Frieren finally says that she has been a mage who has lived for over a thousand years. Frieren commands Aura to self-delete(since Frieren has more mana than Aura). Aura proceeds in slicing her head off.
Kraft the Monk
Quick Opinion: This episode has some funny moments, but it is fairly boring. OST is awesome though.
- After the defeat of Aura, Graf's men bury the dead, who were previously animated by Aura to do her bidding.
- Frieren requested a grimoire from Graf as a reward for defeating Aura and her minions; however, the grimoire was a fake.
- Graf pardons the party(This part was a must-watch because it was funny.).
- The town is in celebration and honoring the heroes for saving the town.
- The OST in this episode is soothing.
- Graf Granat explains that travel is restricted in the northern plateau; adventurers must be accompanied by a first-class mage. First-class mage is a certification awarded by the Continental Magic Association. Fern acquired her third-class mage certification in the holy capital when they left. Frieren is not certified because she doesn't know what it is; Frieren explains that organizations that regulate mages are constantly changing and that she can't be bothered obtaining a new certification every time. Although Frieren is not certified, she holds a holy emblem, which may not work as a certification. The largest magical city in the northern lands, Aurberst(far beyond the Schewer Mountains), is where you can take the first-class mage certification.
- It's the beginning of winter in the northern lands. Frieren explains that winter claimed most of the lives during the war against the Demon King.
- Stark collapses during their travels through the Decke region. What is worse is they are lost before entering the Schwer Mountains. Fern ends up carrying Stark through the winter storm.
- The party is now looking for an emergency shelter at the foot of the mountain. They find it, but someone is inside. Frieren opens the door to the emergency shelter and find another elf. Fern interrupts Frieren before entering the shelter because she assumes that the elf is a pervert. They are welcomed to stay with him in the shelter. The elf introduces himself as Kraft the Monk. Frieren sets up a fire to warm the shelter. The elf says that he hasn't met another elf for 300 years.
- Frieren and Kraft communicate. Kraft mentions that it is pious to visit Aureole(heaven). She responds by saying she doesn't believe in heaven.
- Stark is saved by a funny method(a must-watch).
- Kraft, Frieren, Fern, and Stark stay in the shelter for nearly six months, making it through the long winter.
- Kraft wittles an emblem for Fern because he claims that she is pious(being raised by a priest).
- Frieren doesn't believe in the Goddess because the Goddess of Creation hasn't shown herself once in the long history of this world. Kraft says that he used to think the way Frieren thought about the Goddess, but now he believes the Goddess from the bottom of his heart. Kraft needs the Goddess to exist. Everyone who knew of Kraft's righteous triumphs has died. Kraft believes that he will be praised by the Goddess after he has passed and gone to heaven. Kraft says to Frieren that it would be cruel to go through the path that you went through and not to be remembered by anyone. Frieren reponds that heave is just something we desire. Although Frieren doesn't believe in the Goddess, Kraft will praise Frieren.
- Flashback: Heiter funds the reconstruction of a village's orphanage. Heiter mentions that he was an orphan too. Heiter is certain that he will be praised by the Goddess for living a pure and proper life. Frieren says that she is not praise-worthy, but Heiter thinks she is because of her tremendous effort of suppressing her mana. Heiter mentions about having a a child, who will become a mage.
- Frieren says that she has already been praised, but he is in heaven. Kraft says that Frieren will see him someday.
- Since winter is over, Kraft goes his seperate way from Frieren, Stark, and Fern.
- Fern receives pendant from Kraft.
With a devious smile, Frieren showing off her potion that she is going to gift Stark.
With Eisen's recipe, Frieren baked large hamburg steak to celebrate Stark's birthday.
Quick Opinion: This episode was hilarious; particulary when frieren was about to gift Stark a questionable potion. The hamburg steak custom is a heartwarming tradition. Anyways, I don't think many people realize that there is fan service in this episode. I think the creator and the studio intentionally put feet fetishization in this episode. These scenes would go over people's head or generally be ignored by normal people(normies). On the other hand, there are many happy loyal fans for the fan service.
- During a blizzard, Frieren falls asleep while hiking through the Schwer Mountains.
- Stark insists in carrying Frieren. Fern denies his offer and calls Stark a pervert.
- Flashback: The king only gave the hero's party ten copper coins for eliminating the demon king.
- Himmel carries a replica of the hero's sword; a merchant gave Himmel the sword as a reward for saving him from a monster. Himmel reveals that he became a hero to prove Heiter wrong. Heiter said that Himmel was a fake hero because he carried around a fake sword.
- A young village chief greets Frieren, Fern, and Stark upon arrival. This young girl is the 49th chief of the Village of the Sword. The Village of the Sword protects the Hero's sword, which is placed in a sanctuary near the village. Throughout history and legend, many heroes tried to pull the sword from the stone, but it wouldn't budge. 80 years ago, Himmel allegedly pulled it out. The village chief says that it could only be pulled out by the hero who will drive off the great calamity bent on destroying this world.
- Frieren's duty to the village is to exterminate monsters since the sword attracts monsters, but she hasn't arrived for 80 years; there's a powerful barrier that prevents monsters from entering the sanctuary to destroy the sword. Apparently, there is a creature called Lord of the Mountains, who is rampaging in the town.
- Frieren, Fern, Stark, and the young chief go to the nearby sanctuary to defeat all the monsters and the Lord of the Mountain. Disappointed, Stark discovers that the sword is still stuck in the stone. Frieren finally mentions that Himmel failed to pull the sword from the stone. People hid the truth of this happening because it is an embarrassing story; future generations always romanticize heroes to the point that their original nature eventually disappears. Even without that sword, Himmel was able to save the world.
- As promised, Frieren did the duty of eliminating monsters. She will be back in 50 years.
- In Appetit Region, they finally reached a town to relax in. Untimely, Frieren announces Stark's eighteenth birthday to Fern. Fern is somewhat upset since she didn't get him anything. Frieren presents her gift to Stark. The gift is a potion that only dissolves clothing. Fern removes the cork from the potion and pours the contents on top of Frieren, which instantly dissolves her clothing. The reason Fern did this to Frieren because she demanded Frieren to return the vulgar potion back when she bought it.
- Fern searches for Stark and finds him identifying clouds.(Funny Part)
- As both Stark and Fern walk together through town, Fern mentions that she wants to buy him a birthday present. Stark has never received a birthday present before. Stark reveals that he lived in a village of warriors, weakness has no place there.
- Flashback: Stark's father heavily judges the warriors and recommends them to be just like his son Stoltz(Stark's older brother), who is seen as the strongest warrior. Stark's father also judges Stark as a failure. When their village was attack by monsters, Stark was forced to abandon Stoltz.
- Fern and Stark look for a birthday present together. Fern buys a bracelet for Stark.
- Back at the inn, Fern and Stark find Frieren had baked large hamburg steaks; Frieren used Eisen's recipe. Stark says to Fern that birthdays are celebrated with hamburg steaks. Under Eisen's apprenticeship, Stark was given birthday hamburg steaks. In Eisen's region, it is customary to gift Hamburg steaks to honor warriors who have worked hard. Everyone who works hard is a warrior.
- Flashback: Stoltz also gave Stark hamburg.
- At the end, Frieren presents another gift(funny part).
Frieren doing her technique that her master taught her.
Although Frieren is technically an older woman, Sein doesn't see her as the type that he desires.
Quick Opinion: Funny episode! What made this episode worthwhile was Frieren's technique.
- In the beginning of the episode, there is a man talking to Frieren about adventuring with a gorilla, but he had declined the invitation 10 years ago. Now, he regrets it. His brother asked him to go into the woods and pick wild herbs to use in cooking for their village harvest festival.
- Location: Alt Woods(northern lands)
- The field of view zooms out to only reveal that the man is sinking in a bottomless swamp.
- Patiently, Frieren is thinking about saving him, but she doesn't remember the right spell to lift him out of the bottomless swamp.
- After the man has sunken deeper into the bottomless swamp, Frieren finally remembers the right spell and is able to rescue the man.
- The man goes back to his village.
- Although the man warned the party that there are venomous creatures in the area, Stark tries to pick berries from a bush to only get bitten by a venomous creature. Stark's nose starts bleeding. Since Frieren is not a priest, she has a difficult time identifying and treating the poison. Their solution now is to go back to the village, so that Stark can be checked out at a church.
- The church's priest explain to the party that Stark's brain will melt, flowing out of his nose, and eventually cause Stark to die. The priest introduces his brother Sein(who was originally the one who was sinking in the bottomless swamp) to check out Stark's condition. With a simple healing spell, Sein heals Stark from his fate.
- The church's priest has a holy symbol around his neck, an award given to the most outstanding priest in a region by the holy capital. Heiter gave the priest that holy symbol. Frieren says that Sein instantly cured a poison a healing expert could only call as incurable and that he is a genius. The priest said that his healing ability doesn't compare to Sein's. The priest requests that the party take Sein out of the village because he always wanted to become an adventurer.
- The party discuss taking Sein as a member of their party. Frieren has an aversion to her own kind. Stark went to find Sein only to find him at a bar drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and gambling. Stark calls Sein a bit too corrupt. Stark asks Sein to join the party. He'll only join if Stark can beat him in gambling(the whole scene after gambling is hilarious).
- Although Sein refuses to join their party, Frieren wants him to join anyway. During their stay in the village, the party tried to recruit Sein everyday. As a kid, Sein wanted to become an adventurer because of older women. Frieren does the funniest technique, which was taught to her by her master) in order to persuade Sein to join the party(the technique was hilarious). The reason Sein has not gone on an adventure because his friend said that he'll be back in 3 years. It is now 10 years and Sein's friend has not returned. Sein says that his friend is obviously dead.
- In the past, Sein overheard his brother's conversation with Heiter. Heiter recognized his brother's talent and offered his brother to be a priest to serve in the holy capital. Heiter says that Sein can come along too. Sein's brother refused the offer because he didn't want to take Sein's hometown away. Since Heiter was already wasting time, he'll just talk to Sein about his adventures.
- Sein says that his brother stayed in this village for him. Upon hearing this from Sein, his brother slaps Sein's face. He says that he never regretted the choice that he made. On the other hand, Sein has regretted his choice.
- After this event, Sein joins the party temporarily to find his friend. The village sends Sein a farewell.
Himmel putting a ring on it.
Quick Opinion: If you are an emotional person, then this will make you either cry rivers or teary-eyed. This is a gem of an episode since it was elegantly constructed to strike you at your feelings. Unless, of course, you are a pyschopath with no empathy or sympathy, then you will simply feel nothing about it at all.
- They are in a town in the Raad region. It's Fern's birthday, but Stark didn't get her a present. Fern is furious. Sein also didn't buy Fern a present. Fern expresses her anger by kicking Sein. Sein tells Fern that the emotions of boys like Stark can swing wildly because of girls. Sein and Frieren ask Fern to go see Stark. Fern finds Stark sitting by himself, but is hesitant to confront him.
- Sein buys a pouch with a butterfly design on it for Fern.
- Sein and Fern discuss about Stark. Sein recommends that Fern apologize to Stark and pick out a gift with him because it is most likely that Stark doesn't know what Fern likes. Sein says that people won't know how you feel unless you tell them.
- Fern and Stark apologize to each other and pick out a gift together.
- Frieren and Sein are on the rooftop looking over Fern and Stark. Sein says to Frieren that when you get older that you start to understand relationships. Sein also says that conflict and arguments are the privilege of the young. Frieren, on the other hand, doesn't know what is meant about understanding relationships. Frieren says that Heiter is a corrupt priest, but Sein is even more depraved.
- Flashback: Frieren says Heiter changed/matured. Heiter says he is an old man, that's what happens naturally as people age. Heiter says that his mind hardly changed since he was a child. He simply was pretending to be an adult until he can make it as an ideal grown-up. Heiter says that children need grown-ups for emotional support. He mentions that Fern is the hardworking type, so she needs lots of praise and guidance.
- Frieren asks Heiter on who will praise him for pretending until the day you die. He says that he has to wait until he goes to heaven to receive his praise from the Goddess. Frieren then says that she will praise Heiter down here; she proceeds to give Heiter head pats. Heiter says that the Goddess will praise Frieren. Frieren looks forward to it.
- Frieren gives Sein head pats and tells Sein that he is a proper adult.
- As the party travels through Bande Woods on horse and carriage, an avian monster surprisingly picks up the carriage into the air. This type of monster hunts by slamming its prey into the ground, so Frieren quickly flew out of the carriage to kill the avian monster. Now that the avian monster is dead, there is nothing carrying the wagon, so the wagon starts to free fall with the merchant and party in it. They all land safely, yet awkwardly positioned. The wagon is wrecked.
- They repair the carriage.
- The bracelet that Stark bought has a design of a mirrored lotus. In the language of flowers, the mirrored lotus means eternal love. Usually, these ornaments are exchanged between lovers. Embarrassed, Stark admits he was ignorant of the meaning of the design and insists on replacing it. Fern doesn't want it replaced.
- Frieren looks for the ring with the mirrored lotus design, which was given to her by Himmel. Conveniently, the merchant gives Frieren a spell as a reward for her assistance; the spell is for finding lost accessories.
- Flashback: Himmel gifts a ring to Frieren as compensation for her hard work against the demon king. Without any thought, Frieren chooses a random ring, which has the design of a mirrored lotus. Himmel inspects it, but he doesn't reveal to Frieren what it symbolizes. The scene after this is romantic, so this is a must-watch.
I'm shipping Fern & Stark!
Quick Opinion: This episode shows that Frieren is trustworthy & an experienced mage against monsters. Stark and Fern dancing together at the soiree was quite romantic. I know that the audience of the anime have already shipped them(they both look good together as a couple).
- Fern embarked on a journey with Frieren for 4 years.
- Stark has been with the party for a year.
- The party reaches a village in Laub Hills. Everyone in the village is asleep. Sein identifies the village is under a curse. Among the spells cast by monsters and demons, curses put people to sleep or turn them into stone. Humanity's magic can't explain the principles behind them or how to remove them. Although humanity's magic can't do anything about curses, the magic of the Goddess, which priests use, can be used against curses.
- Sein examines a sleeping villager to determine the type and source of the curse.
- The difference between the magic of the Goddess and other magic is that it is recorded in holy scriptures and can only be used by the owners of said scriptures. Like demons' magic, no one understands the principles behind most of it. The magic of the Goddess is difficult to use unless you're born with the specific knack for it. Also, the magic of the Goddess bestows users with increased resistance to curses, which they call "The Blessing of the Goddess". Priests are strong against curses. Mages can't detect curses.
- Sein needs tools to conduct a specialized ritual to remove the curse. Sein says that it would be faster to defeat the source of the curse. He says that it is coming from a monster. Sein has already determined the monster's location.
- Stark succumbs to the curse and falls asleep.
- With Sein's current abilities, five seconds is the longest Sein can keep anyone awake.
- Fern succumbs to the curse and falls asleep.
- Frieren creates a magical barrier to protect Stark and Fern; both are nestled near trees while Sein and Frieren look for the monster.
- Before Frieren falls asleep by the curse, she tells Sein to wake her up when the monster shows up and to not fight it alone. She promises to defeat the monster once she wakes up.
- Sein carries sleeping Frieren closer to the monster, so she is battle ready.
- Sein identifies the monster as a subspecies of chaos flower, which is feeding off the sleeping villagers; it saps away people's mana until it eventually kills them. Chaos flowers merge with the local flora to create subspecies. Sein says that their weakness is always their core.
- Sein uses battle magic called "Three Spears of the Goddess" against the Chaos Flower Subspecie; however, the magic that he used is reflected.
- Flashback: Heiter trusted Frieren's words. Frieren swore that she would defeat the Demon King. Heiter chose to believe her.
- Sein does an awakening spell to wake up Frieren for 5 seconds. Instantly, upon waking up, Frieren shoots her magic and kills the Chaos Flower Subspecie.
- The town, including Stark and Fern, all wake up from the curse. The town thanked the party for dispelling the curse.
- Frieren gives Sein a head pat. Without Sein, the party would have perished.
- Before reaching the fortress city of Vorig, a relay point to Auberst, Lord Orden commands the party to go with him to the masion. He is extremely interested in Stark.
- The Orden family is known to Frieren as one of the Three Great Families of the northern lands. Frieren knew Lord Orden's grandfather as a high-handed man.
- Stark is from a warrior village in the Klee region of the central lands. The Orden family line is orignally from the same village. Lord Orden's eldest son Wirt looks identical to Stark. A month ago, the Orden family fought a large battle against demons; Wirt and the enemy commander killed each other. The only people who know of Wirt's death is Gabel and a few of Orden's most trusted men. The fortress city of Vorig is key to this region's defense. Lord Orden can't allow the morale to fall while they're rebuilding the forces that they lost. Lord Orden wants to cover up his son's death until the lost forces are rebuilt. Three months from now, the region's influential figures will meet at a soiree. Lord Orden wants to show the influential figures that Wirt is still alive and well. Lord Orden will pay Ten Strahl gold coins for Stark to play as Wirt. Fern says that Ten Strahl gold coins can get the party 3 meals a day plus snacks for a year. Frieren wants Lord Orden to throw a grimoire to seal the deal.
- Gabel(who may be a butler or servant) teaches Stark proper etiquette.
- Fern has to learn proper etiquette too since it is a soiree, which requires Stark to have a partner.
- Stark and Fern dance in the ballroom for the soiree.
- As promised for covering up Wirt's death, Lord Orden gives the party their reward.
- Lord Orden wanted Stark to stay, but Stark declined it saying that he can't replace his son, nor can Lord Orden replace Stark's father. It is revealed that Lord Orden and Wirt were in an argument before Wirt had died in battle.
Frieren & Old Man Voll chit chatting.
Quick Opinion: This was a boring episode; however, I did feel sympathy towards Voll. It kind of made me upset that Frieren didn't tell Voll that Himmel and the party killed the Demon King. If Voll knew this information, then he would have probably moved on out of the village and retired. On the other hand, I'm guessing Frieren acknowledged the fact that Voll is at his final days and it would be rather wrong to retire the dwarf from doing what he is comfortable in doing: protecting the village. On another note, Sein might be leaving the party since Gorilla Warrior's where-abouts may be at Tur. This is unfortunate because the party is now short of a healer; healers are helpful in tough situations.
- They are in Klar Region to visit Frieren's friend Voll. Old Man Voll is a dwarf who has protected the village for almost 400 years. Life expectancy of a dwarf is 300 years. Upon meeting Voll, suprisingly, he trips Stark with his sword scabbard. After tripping Stark, Voll says that most deaths in battle are due to carelessness. Carelessness is the greatest weakness of both demons and people. Voll continues by saying that even the most experienced warriors can easily suffer fatal injuries if they're not attempting to defend themselves. If Voll actually drew his sword, then Stark would of been short one leg. Whimpering, Stark tells everyone that he can't walk. Frieren tells Stark to train with Voll while they're in town. Frieren wants to stay in town for a decade, but Fern interrupts her and says that they'll be staying for a week.
- Voll has protected the village from monsters and demons for years, but nobody knows why. Frieren says that without Voll, she wouldn't have gotten to know Himmel and others. A flashback reveals that he has been defending the village because he made a promise to his dead human wife; Voll's wife loved the village. Voll no longer can adequately describe her face, voice, or eyes because it has been a long time since he last saw her.
- Voll has no idea that Himmel and the party defeated the Demon King. Frieren thought about telling Voll, but she kept it to herself.
- As the party was leaving the town, Voll announces to Frieren that he had dreamt of his wife and thanks Frieren since her presence might have brought those old memories back.
- On Rohr Road, Sein reminds the party why he is traveling with them. He is seeking out his friend "Gorilla Warrior", who had left on an adventure 10 years ago. Sein shows them a photo within a locket of Sein & Gorilla Warrior, which was magically created by a mage. Sein also had a nickname, which was Goatee Priest. Throughout their journey, Sein has been asking people if they've come across Gorilla Warrior and Sein has been getting information on Gorilla Warrior's where-abouts. On the plateau, the stubborn old woman seem close to Gorilla Warrior. The party meet the stubborn old woman; the stubborn old woman will only give information as long as the party completes several tasks or quests.
- The party is tasked with one last quest: to clean up two statues. One statue looked like Kraft the Monk and the human statue is unrecognizable. A flashback shows Heiter with a younger Sein and a younger Gorilla Warrior visiting the same pair of statues. Gorilla Warrior doesn't want to be forgotten like the statues before them. Heiter states that even the greatest heroes are forgotten; even Himmel, who defeated the Demon King, is no exception. Gorilla Warrior chose his name because he wants a memorable name that no one will forget. Heiter names Sein Goatee Priest.
- Sein finds out that Gorilla Warrior went to Tur, a trading city in the middle of the northern lands. The problem is that Tur is the opposite direction from Auberst, where the first-class mage exam is located.
Sein leaves the party to find Gorilla Warrior. Take care.
While Fern is sick, Frieren emotionally supports Fern by holding her hand.
While Frieren is sick, Himmel emotionally supports Frieren by holding her hand.
Quick Opinion: It is disappointing that Sein left the party. Now, there is no mediator and no healer. The emotional support message of this episode is absolutely true for most people. Emotional support is needed when you are going through tough times. It is about to get extreme when the First-Class Mage Exam happens.
- A blizzard has kept Frieren, Fern, Stark, and Sein stuck in a cabin for a month. Yet again, Stark and Fern are in argument because Stark touched Fern's face with his cold hand. In the beginning of their stay in the cabin, Fern is the one who initiated it by touching Stark's face with her cold hand first. As a priest, Sein is responsible for mediating conflicts between people. Sein tells Stark and Fern to apologize to each other. Stark and Fern say their apologies in the cabin.
- Back at the tavern, Sein asks Frieren on why she troubles herself with him. Frieren says that Sein reminds her of how she was before she left to defeat the Demon King. Frieren was angry seeing Sein just like how she was. Frieren wanted to give Sein a reason. Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen gave Frieren the courage to travel and taught her the joy of spending time with friends. Stark replies that he had fun in the journey.
- After the blizzard has ended, the party leaves the cabin. Sadly, Sein decides to leave the party to reach Tur. Sein's main objective is to find Gorilla Warrior. Sein says his final words to the party: "Take Care".
- In the Offen Mountain Range, Fern gets a fever. Frieren reads the notes about medicinal herbs, which was left behind by Sein. Frieren can use magic to identify Fern's illness and figure out witch herbs to use. Magic of the Goddess is used to identify illnesses; Magic of the Goddess requires holy scriptures to cast it. Carelessly, Frieren had used the holy scripture as a pot stand. Frieren can identify simple illnesses, but not complex illnesses. Frieren identifies Fern's fever as a simple cold. To reduce Fern's illness and keep her out of the cold, they move locations and end up staying at a cabin owned by an old lady.
- Frieren only holds Fern's hand during her sickness because it is the only way Frieren knows to relieve her pain; she did not hold her hand to embarrass her. People need emotional support; nobody dislikes receiving support.
- Frieren and Stark look for applicable herbs, specifically an icicle cherry blossom tree, which blooms in the winter. Although the tree is beautiful, the flowers that bloom from it are poisonous. At the base of the icicle cherry blossom tree, there are mushrooms that grow; those mushrooms are ingredients for Fern's medicine.
- They find the mushrooms and they are bigger than expected. Frieren mixes all the ingredients together in a cauldron. Stark gets frightened.
- After they've made the medicine, Frieren feeds the medicine to Fern.
- Time passes, Frieren heals Fern back to full health.
- They say their goodbyes to the cabin owner and leave to Auberst.
Fern meets her party members for the exam: Ubel & Land.
Frieren meets her party members for the exam: Kanne & Kawine.
Quick Opinion: This episode is to build your anticipation for the first test. Nothing much has happened in this episode. It is mainly an introduction to what will happen.
- The party is in the Kuhl Region(northern lands), where the largest magical city, Auberst, is located. Once they get their First-class mage certification from Auberst, then they'll be able to enter the Northern Plateau. A first-class mage is required to enter the Northern Plateau because it is a dangerous region inhabited with magic using monsters like Einsam.
- Frieren said she lost 11 times to mages who had less mana than her. 4 of them were demons, including Qual. One was an elf. 6 of them were humans.
- In the frontier of Graf Granat's domain, Ubel the Mage is walking on a trail to Auberst, so she can take the first-class mage exam. She takes a break and bandits confront her to take her belongings. The bandits are defeated by Kraft the Monk. Kraft the Monk spares the bandits because Ubel could have killed them. Before Kraft met Ubel, he found the torn-up bodies of bandits in the woods; Kraft believes Ubel killed them.
- In the Continental Magic Association(Northern Branch), it is announced that the exam will take place two months from now. The first-class mage exam is administered once every three years. A fifth-class mage or higher certification is required to take the exam.
- Fern is signed up to take the exam. Surprisingly, Frieren is able to sign up to the exam because her holy emblem was recognized by another mage.
- Frieren reads that there are 600 mages that are at least fifth class. Even when you include apprentices from sixth to ninth class, there are 2,000 mages total. There are only 45 first class mages. The exam will be held at the northern branch in Auberst and the headquarters in the holy city of Strahl. For many years, no one has passed the test. Some test-takers are expected to be injured or die. Frieren and Fern train and practice for the exam, which is in two months from now.
- The First Test Proctor is First-Class Mage Genau.
- There are notable mages that are taking the test: Wirbel, second-class mage and captain of the Northern Magic Corps that has fought against the remnants of the Demon King's forces for years. Denken, the crafty old second-class mage who won a bloody struggle for power to become an imperial mage. Fern, the youngest mage to ever receive a third-class certification with top marks. Ubel, the third-class mage who failed the second-class exam two years ago when she killed the first-class mage who proctored it.
- The 57 exam-takers will split into teams of three for the first test. The exam-takers are given bracelets with numbers on them. By imbuing the bracelets with mana, the exam-takers are able to locate the bracelets belonging to their party members.
- Frieren finds her two party members: Lawine(third-class mage) & Kanne(third-class mage). Lawine and Kanne keep fighting each other for some odd reason.
- Fern finds her two party members(Ubel & Land) for the exam.
- In Grobe Basin, they will take their first test. The First Test Proctor, First-Class Mage Genau, explains the specific rules for the first test. Small birds known as Stille live within the testing area. Each party has been given one cage. There are two conditions you must fulfill to pass the first test. First, by sunset tomorrow, have a cage containing a Stille, and second, have all of your party members present at that time. You are mostly free to do as you wish, but if anyone leaves the testing area, their entire party will fail the test. There's a barrier around the testing area.
- Frieren's party is observing the Stille. Frieren detects something in the sky, so she warns the party to observe the skies.
- Lawine finds a Stille. Kanne uses a water spell combined with Lawine's ice spell to capture the Stille; however, the Stille breaks out of the ice spell. The Stille's top speed is faster than the speed of sound.
- A giant bird attacks Kanne, but Frieren saves her.
- Frieren has an idea to capture the Stille.
Frieren captures a Stille using a binding spell.
Quick Opinion: This was a fun episode to watch, especially when Kawine, Kanne, & Frieren methodically did their well-laid plan. Fern, Ubel, & Land versus Wirbel, Scarf, & Ehre is a must-watch duel. I can't wait to watch the next episode!
- The 57 exam-takers split into teams of three for the first test.
- Fern's team caught the Stille right away at the beginning of the episode.
- Frieren's team is still discussing on what they've observed about the Stille. One, the Stilles fly faster than the speed of sound. Second, they're as tough as dragons and resistant to freezing; common attack spells have no effect, and they break free of most restraints. The Stille's are sensitive to mana. Stilles have no mana, so mana detection is useless to find them. Frieren has a plan to catch a Stille with a binding spell that specifically catches birds. The problem with the spell is that it could only be used at a range of 50 centimeters, you have to get close to the Stille to use it.
- Frieren and the party discuss a plan on capturing a Stille.
- Land(Second-Class Mage), Ubel(Third-Class Mage), and Fern(Third-Class Mage) are now in hiding until the test is over, but they go to the lake to fetch some water. Most of the water are collected in the lake, which in the middle of the valley. Land says that the physical barrier around the testing area can even keep out specks of dust. Ubel recognizes that the road is actually a dry riverbed. Fern questions whether the physical barrier also blocks water. Fern adds that the Stilles are living creatures who will gather around the lake. The test-takers that know of this will most likely gather around the lake to capture a Stille.
- While Fern, Land, and Ubel have a conversation, they are ambushed by 3 mages: Scarf(Third-Class Mage), Ehre(Second-Class Mage), and Wirbel(Second-Class Mage). This team of mages want to take the Stille away from Fern's team.
- A huge detonation happens at the lake. Kawine freezes the lake & runs away from the lake. A party at the lake try to defrost the lake using fire spells, but it is worthless since the Stille wouldn't want to set foot in a lake instilled with mana/magic. Other parties go looking for smaller ponds which Stille might gather.
- More mages are revealed: Denken(Second-Class Mage), Richter(Second-Class Mage), & Laufen(Third-Class Mage). This party recognizes that Frieren's party has a "well-laid plan", so they will go after their Stille. Denken, Richter, & Laufen discover dead test-takers, who were killed by monsters in the air. Laufen wanted to take them off the trees, but Denken says that the corpses are laced with magic. If they are tampered with, the monsters in the air will detect their party and take their party down. The name of these monsters are Geisel, who lure their prey with corpses.
- Denken discovers that each watering hole has faint signs of mana, which repluses the Stille. Each watering hole was tainted with faint amounts of mana from Frieren's party. The watering hole which doesn't have mana is where Frieren's party will be. Denken waits until Frieren's party makes a move.
- Frieren sits patiently by a pond waiting for a Stille. Frieren suppresses her mana to a point of being almost undetectable, unless she moves. A Stille lands on Frieren's shoulder. Frieren gently casts her binding spell on the Stille & stores the Stille into the cage.
- Denken detects Frieren's location. Frieren realizes someone detects them and that they should retreat from the area. Laufen instantly teleports to Frieren's location.
- Scarf casts an offensive spell called "Jubelade", which turn flower pettles into sharp needle-like nails on Land.
- Ehre casts an offensive spell called "Doragate" on Fern. "Doragate" looks like a bunch of stones being hurled at the target. Fern Defends herself.
A duel between Ubel & Wirbel.
Quick Opinion: This was a action-filled episode with interesting duels between mages. There was a ton of interesting spells introduced here and how each mage deals with their opponent. The interactions between characters were like a game of chess, one character taking the upper-hand on another character. Who will end up being the victor?
- Episode 20 starts off with Wirbel fighting Ubel. Ubel uses magic that cuts through physical objects, a simple type of magic, which has an invisible trajectory of 5 meters. Wirbel says that it is impossible to block all of her attacks(he is shown being cut by the magic). Wirbel uses a binding spell called "Sorganeil" on Ubel, which disables her movement & her capability of using her mana. Wirbel states that his spell can only binds those who he can see entirely. As soon as Wirbel had Ubel out of his sight, Ubel is able to use her attack against Wirbel; she was able to cut a tiny portion of his nose.
- Ehre is overwhelmed by Fern's saturation attack(machine gun-like magic spells).
- Wirbel is part of the Northern Magic Corps, mercenaries who specialize in fighting demons, but in times of need, they are mobilized to fight wars between nations. It was common for other nations to send women and children to war.
- Fern interrupts Wirbel's attack. Wirbel releases Ubel from the binding spell because Fern says that she killed Ehre. Wirbel leaves from the conflict because the conditions of passing the first test is to have all members present with a Stille. He states that he failed the test. Ubel was going to attack Wirbel from behind, but Fern suggests not to. Wirbel states that "you'll just be turning an unnecessary kill back into a necessary one." Wirbel leaves the premise to find that his party is just badly injured, not killed.
- Land gets injured by Scharf's spell, which he turns countless petals into metal. He controls these metal petals precisely. Surprisingly, it turns out that Scharf injured a replica of Land(Land was behind Scharf all along). Land incapacitates Scharf. It is revealed that Land creates clones of himself.
- Wirbel carries Ehre on his back. Scharf ends up being lifted by Wirbel's spell.
- FLASHBACK: When Wirbel was 4 or 5 years of age, 29 years ago, demon activity increased in the northern lands. Wirbel fell in love with a girl from his hometown; the girl and her entire family fled to the central lands because of the demon activity. Wirbel wanted to show off to her by telling her that he will kill all the demons. When he does, he wants her to come back to this village.
- Ehre notifies Wirbel that there is a Stille perched on the branch of a tree. Wirbel uses a binding spell to capture the Stille.
- Laufen teleports and steals Frieren's caged Stille.
- Genau states that no promising test-taker would die from his test. Sense argues that the test that Genau is proctoring is based on luck, not skill.
- Richter and Denken confront Frieren, Kawine, and Kanne. Frieren knows the skill Laufen used was Jilwer, a folk spell used by a mountain tribe in the southern lands; a spell that allows you to move at high speeds. All Denken and Richter have to do now is to keep Frieren's party busy before sunset to win since Laufen has run off with the Stille.
- Richter explains to Frieren that a first-class mage has privilege. More than fifty years ago, the great mage and founder of the Continental Magic Association, Serie, suddenly appeared to reign over humanity's magic. She's still searching for mages refined during the long war against the Demon King. Serie promises to grant a special privilege to anyone who achieved the rank of first-class mage; she will grant them any one spell that they desire. Serie knows nearly every spell in humanity's history. She's the closest mage in our world to the all-knowing and all-powerful Goddess. You could acquire wealth, cure diseases, or gain overwhelming power from Serie. For mages, to gain whatever spell they want is equivalent to having a wish granted.
- Although Denken wants to simply put Frieren, Kawine, & Kanne to sleep for 3 hours, Richter demands Denken to keep Frieren busy for a minute. Denken opposes Richter plan to kill Kawine and Kanne because they are just kids.
- Richter casts "Bargland", which erects a giant earth plateau, which seperates Kawine & Kanne from Frieren.
- Frieren and Denken are about to fight.
Frieren breaks the barrier!
Flamme and Frieren kneeling before Serie.
Frieren giving Kawine & Kanne headpats because they defeated Richter.
Quick Opinion: Frieren shows how godly her spells are in this episode. A number of social media discussions have cracked alot of jokes about Richter being defeated by Lesbians; there are also memes about this if you could find it. I had a good chuckle, but it is a well-deserved win for Kawine and Kanne. Denken's "put 'em up" scenes were awesome as well. This episode was entirely epic, a must-watch!
- Denken says that the greatest joy of magic lies in searching for it.
- Flamme's master is Serie. Serie taught Flamme on a whim. Flamme introduces her apprentice Frieren to Serie. Serie offers Frieren a spell, but Frieren declines. Frieren says that the greatest joy of magic lies in searching for it. Serie responds by saying to Flamme that Frieren is no good after all because she lacks a burning ambition. Flamme says to her master that Frieren will someday defeat the Demon King. Flamme believes that Frieren will clear the way to a peaceful era. Flamme says to Serie that both herself & Serie cannot kill the Demon King because they both seek battle.
- Kawine cast "Nephtear", a barrage of icicles on Richter; he blocks with earth shields. Kanne can't fight without water, so she uses defensive magic to block Richter's attacks.
- Richter gives a history lesson about magic. The defensive spell developed to combat Zoltraak is highly resistant to magic itself, but its effectiveness against physical objects has hardly changed since then. Defensive magic mustn't be over-engineered. If we aimed for perfection, the technique would become too complex, which would have a fatal effect on activation time. The history of magic is one of attacking and defending. It's the reason there's a trend for modern attack spells to involve controlling physical objects.
- Richter knocks down Kanne & Kawine with a high-volume physical attack of earth.
- Magic is a world of visual imagination. Spells can't produce effects that you can't picture.
- Richter's job is to put Kanne & Kawine to sleep, so he's been lecturing them about magic during the fight.
- Denken casts "Waldgose" on Frieren, which created a tornado around Frieren. His second spell that he cast is "Daosdorg", which surrounds the tornado in fire. The spell "Waldgose" & "Daosdorg" combined create some type of fire tornado, which engulfed Frieren. Frieren blocks Denken's combined spell with her defensive magic. Denken's spell was not effective. Denken casts "Catastravia" on Frieren; "Catastravia" is a volley of spears of light. "Catastravia" didn't do anything to Frieren, so Frieren does a close-up counter attack to Denken, which sends Denken flying back. Denken ran out of mana. Frieren won by just using basic combat spells until the end. Frieren holds Denken hostage to bring out Laufen; this is to ensure Laufen gives back their stolen Stille. Frieren pretends that she will Kill Denken if Laufen doesn't give back the stolen Stille. Laufen tries to rescue Denken with her high speed spell, Jilwer, but Frieren captures Laufen instantly; Laufen's spell didn't trick Frieren this time around. Frieren gets the Stille back. Laufen and Denken are now imprisoned, tied by a magical rope around a tree, which was created by Frieren.
- The barrier created by the great mage Serie was not effected by Denken's strong spell; the barrier cannot be destroyed by brute force.
- Denken tells Laufen the reason why he wants to be a First-Class Mage. His homeland is located deep in the Northern Plateau. By being a First-Class mage, he is able to visit a grave that he hasn't visited for a while.
- Sense says that someone has been analyzing the barrier since yesterday evening. It is revealed that Frieren was the one analyzing the barrier. She had finished analyzing it after Denken and Laufen had been captured. Sense is worried about the barrier breaking. Genau insists that it won't break. Frieren destroys the barrier with her spell. Serie detects that Frieren had destroyed her barrier. Frieren destroyed the barrier because she felt sorry for Kanne unable to use her water spell. Without the barrier, the rain is now pouring into the area, which is a huge advantage for Kanne.
- Kawine freezes Richter's hands to hold him in place. Kanne uses her high volume physical attack "Reamstroha", which is a gigantic amount of water accumulated in one spot. Kanne sends "Reamstroha" directly to Richter. Richter is defeated and ends up being washed right where Denken and Laufen are tied up.
- Richter & Denken are out of mana. Laufen uses a spell to bring the tree down; Laufen & Denken are now freed from their bondage. Since Richter, Denken, & Laufen no longer have mana, Denken does the old fashion way of getting things done by fist fighting other parties for a Stille. After a brawl, Denken gets a Stille.
- The first exam is over. Genau announces that Six parties(18 individuals) have passed the first test. The second test will take place in three days; information will be given to the 18 individuals later.
Fern pouts because Stark & Frieren overslept.
Frieren, Stark, & Fern go to a restaurant.
Quick Opinion: This episode is mainly to serve as a "slice of life", an intimate view of Frieren's daily activity with her party. Nothing really happens on this episode besides Fern pouting all over the place.
- First test is over. 6 parties(18 individuals) have passed the first test. The second test will take place 3 days from now. Everyone will be informed of the details later.
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Parties who have passed:
1st Party: Ton, Methode, Lange
2nd Party: Lawine, Frieren, Kanne
4th Party: Land, Fern, Ubel
8th Party: Scharf, Wirbel, Ehre
13th Party: Richter, Denken, Laufen
17th Party: Blei, Edel, Dunste
- Stark resting n bed because he was staying up all night. Fern being upset with Stark because he drank juice in the middle of the night. Frieren is in background being blamed as well for waking up late.
- Fern is pouting. Frieren and Stark need to make her happy.
- Denken & Laufen invite Richter to eat at a restaurant, where Denken and his wife visited fifty years ago. Since Denken is paying, Richter came along.
- Ubel finds Land and converses with him. Ubel uses "Sorganeil" on Land, binding him in a standing position. She is able to use Wirbel's spell because her ability allows her to use other people's spells by empathizing with them. If she can't empathize with a spell user, then she can't use the spell of the user. Ubel unbinds the spell from Land since she can't empathize with him.
- Denken, Richter, & Laufen find the restaurant called Bell. As soon as they walk in, they find Frieren, Fern, and Stark seated, reading the food menu. They don't bother them and decide to eat there.
- Ubel & Land are also eating at the restaurant.
- After eating, Fern is in a better mood.
- The day after yesterday, Fern is now in a worse mood because Frieren overslept; It was Frieren's turn to go shopping. It is revealed that Fern is the type to let things build up until she explodes. When that happens, Fern gives Frieren the silent treatment. Stark tries to mediate and Fern requests snacks, so they go together to find snacks.
- Out of no where, Wirbel examines Stark. The Continental Magic Association has hired Wirbel to eliminate a Fresser that's been ravaging crops. Wirbel non-chalantly asks permission from Fern to borrow Stark for their quest. Without question, Fern allows them to take Stark. Stark is dragged whining.
- Kanne & Kawine gives Frieren a basket of goods as a thank you for helping them through the first exam.
- As Kanne, Kawine, Fern, and Frieren were socializing, a light blue bird greets them at their window seal. The light blue bird delivers them a scroll. The scroll is a notification for the next text. A location, date, and proctor's name(Sense) is printed on the scroll for the second test. Sense proctored 4 tests in the past and not a single person passed any of them.
Frieren gets partially swallowed and chewed by a mimic.
Fern pushes Frieren deeper to choke the mimic, spitting Frieren out.
Frizzy Frieren
Quick Opinion: This was such an interesting episode with a mysterious encounter, a replica of each test taker. Mostly, I found Frieren's encounter with mimics hilarious. Although it is funny to see Frieren getting chewed by mimics, I sometimes wonder if Frieren's thought process of finding a grimoire is actually legit. She is in fact one of the greatest mages of the story. In reality, if we were to follow Frieren's thought process, we might end up suffering greatly or dead. At the end of the day, Frieren is involving herself in high stakes gambling, opening a chest with a 99% chance of it being a mimic. If the mimic did no damage to me, then I personally would open it if I came out unscathed and alive; it is in fact a 1% chance to find a grimoire. In the real world, I wouldn't do it unless the mimic is proven to do no damage at all and I can escape from its jaws. If there are no serious repercussions, then that 1% chance to discover a spell is rather favorable if you ask me. Actually, I understand Frieren's logic here and I would follow it depending on certain factors.
- Location: Ruins of the King's Tomb(Nothern Lands)
- The second test proctor is Sense, a First-Class Mage. She is explaining the rules for the second test to the 18 individuals, who passed the first test. The 18 individuals will raid the Ruins of the King's Tomb. The only condition for passing the second test is to reach the deepest floor of the tomb. Sense will be descending to the bottom along side the 18 individual test takers; however, she is not assisting the test-takers. Each test taker will receive a bottle with an "escape golem," which was developed by a first-class mage Lernen. When the bottle is shattered, the golem will manifest and carry you out of the dungeon. If you use a bottle, then it means you failed the test; Sense recommends to use it if a test taker becomes unable to continue due to injuries or otherwise. The bottles will shatter automatically at dawn tomorrow, which is the time limit of the second test.
- The Ruins of the King's Tomb have multiple entrances, but they all lead to the deepest level. Examining the entrances should allow the test takers to determine the internal structure of the dungeon.
- A test taker decides to go in solo while everyone else splits into separate groups.
- Frieren and Fern go together into one of the entrances; Sense decides to accompany them since she assumes they will have the safest time reaching the bottom. Frieren & Fern map out the area cautiously; they even warn Sense from stepping on a trap. Frieren demonstrates that she knows alot about dungeons.
- Frieren is debating whether or not to open a chest. Fern warns Frieren the results of the Mikheit spell, which identifies the chest as a mimic. Frieren says that the spell is only 99% accurate; there is still a 1% chance that it could have a grimoire. Frieren opens it & is being swallowed by the mimic. Fern tries to pull Frieren out of the mimic while Sense is regretting following the party.
- Denken's party reach a door, which triggers two gargoyle statues to animate. They fight the gargoyles. One of the test takers within their group get pushed back to another room from one of the gargoyles. The room ends up being a trap, enclosing one of the test takers; two walls covered in spikes are now moving closer together to puncture and squish the test taker. Denken tries to use his spell "Catastravia" to break out the test taker, but it failed. They demand the test taker, who is trapped within the enclosed chamber, to break her bottle with the escape golem. She breaks it, a golem pops out and smashes through the chamber, and carries her to safety. Although she failed the test, she is still alive.
- Instead of pulling Frieren out of the mimic, Fern is recommended to push, which chokes the mimic to spit Frieren out. Frieren is now free.
- Frieren & Fern are now treasure hunting. Sense accompanies them. Although they find the main route to the deepest part of the dungeon, Frieren decides to explore the floor. Frieren & Fern accumulates a pile of treasure.
- Fern continues to search for magic because Fern likes seeing Frieren happy. Frieren seems to be having fun collecting magic junk.
- 3 mages ambush Ehre, Wirbel, & Scharf; the 3 mages who ambushed them are replicas of themselves. Ehre is restrained by a binding spell. Scharf creates a defensive barrier with his metal petals. Ehre is appointed to Scharf's replica, Scharf is appointed to Wirbel's replica, and Wirbel is appointed to Ehre's replica.
- Denken, Richter, Laufen, and Methode face a replica of Laufen. Methode destroys the replica of Laufen. After disposing of Laufen's replica, Denken explains that it is a perfect copy of Laufen, which has the equivalent mana and skills as the real Laufen. The replica has the same behavior as the real Laufen. Denken says that it is possible that the replica also uses memories of the real Laufen. Methode states that the caster is powerful because the spell can control multiple replicas simultaneously.
- Denken, Richter, Laufen, and Methode enter a chamber with a replica of Frieren.
"Smells Good."
Fern is jealous, so she clings unto Frieren.
Quick Opinion: This episode was just a huge cliff-hanger or a gigantic teaser episode! It ended with Fern confidently volunteering in defeating Frieren's replica. This monster Spiegel sounds terrifying since it can summon all of these replicas; I'm only left with unanswered questions about Spiegel. There's facts revealed about Spiegel in this episode, but more questions start to spring up after all the facts have been revealed. Every test taker looks like they are having an awful time against the replicas. I wonder how they are going to defeat this menace: Spiegel!
- It is revealed that the lord of the dungeon is called "Spiegel the Water-Mirror Fiend," a monster from the mythical era that appears in Ewig the Sage's heroic tales. It is believed that Spiegel reads the memories of those who enter the dungeon and creates perfect replicas of its targets. The perfect replicas have physical substance and copy the target's abilities, mana, and skills. It is the reason the Ruins of the King's Tomb remain unconquered to this day. The pacifist Sense chose this because a person is evenly matched against their copy; Defeating the replicas without suffering casualties requires cool-headed self-analysis and teamwork.
- Denken, Richter, Laufen, and Methode are in a fight with Frieren's replica.
- Ubel is retrieving injured Land's bottle, which was stolen from Ubel's replica. Ubel's replica casts "Sorganeil" on Ubel, but Land or his clone distracts Ubel's replica. The distracted replica of Ubel gets sliced apart by Ubel herself since "Sorganeil" can only remain binded to someone in full view of the caster.
- Ubel already knew that the injured Land was a replica, but she rushed towards to fight Ubel's replica because she knew that Land would come to rescue Ubel. Ubel created this situation to where her death would be Land's fault. Mainly, Ubel did all this to empathize with Land to take his spell.
- Frieren & Fern are still searching for treasure while Sense is accompanying them. They find a secret chamber.
- After exploring the dungeon for treasure, Frieren, Fern, and Sense catch up to Denken, Richter, Laufen, and Methode, who are just lounging around the hall. Apparently, the bottom of the labyrinth should be beyond the hall, but they can't go through because of Frieren's replica.
- It is revealed that restraining or hypnosis magic doesn't work against stronger mages like Frieren. Methode tried to test her restraining and hypnosis magic on Frieren, but both didn't work. The group is now planning on how to pass the exam.
- Hypnosis magic only works on targets that have minds. It is unclear if the replicas have recreated those. The group lacks too much information on the replicas.
- Edel tried to hypnotize Sense's replica, but it failed. Edel's group retreats after Edel gets critically injured; Edel had to shatter her bottle for the escape golem to rescue her.
- In modern magic, there are two ways to defeat defensive magic: hit it hard enough or skillfully slip through it.
- Fern volunteers to kill Frieren's replica. They plan their brute force against Frieren's replica.
Frieren is looking forward to the future of human mages while Serie isn't.
Frieren making an opening for Fern.
Fern remains hidden and waits for Frieren to create a window of opportunity.
Quick Opinion: The purpose of this episode was merely to build suspense with the audience. Honestly, the suspense was killing me. I'm truly impatient in knowing how they will defeat Frieren's replica. Frieren has nostalgia in the dungeon, which leads to another flashback of Serie and baby Flamme. Although Serie is dominantly a cold character, she shows a bit of a soft spot for even teaching Flamme in the first place. Personally, I love the flashbacks because it shows how everything is correlated. Anyways, if you hate suspense, then you'll hate this episode. If you love suspense, then you are in for a treat.
- While injured, Mr. Dunste slowly approaches the hallway before the bottom floor; he has crucial information about the replicas. Dunste tells everyone that Edel has dropped out because she was injured by Sense's replica. Dunste doesn't know what happened to Blei because Blei kept Sense's replica distracted for Dunste to escape. Methode heals Dunste with a basic healing spell. After being healed, Dunste says to the group of test takers that the replicas merely imitate the functions of a mind precisely without actually having a mind.
- Kawine and Kanne finally make it to the hallway before the bottom floor. Kawine tells the test takers that the replicas have no weaknesses. The replicas are being controlled by a monster known as Spiegel. Kawine's oldest brother was in the advance party that the Continental Magic Association sent into the Tomb of the Ruined King. Spiegel is in the treasure room on the other side of the door, which is guarded by Frieren's replica. Spiegel itself is weak and has no way of attacking directly. Once we defeat it, all the replicas will disappear. Spiegel creates replicas of everyone within the dungeon and begin to gather at the bottom of the dungeon, so they have to act quick. Aside from Kawine's brother's unit, most members of the advance party died just before the bottom floor. She had information because her brother told her before hand.
- The door before Spiegel is shut fast with a powerful sealing spell, which was cast by Frieren's replica. It is a spell that shuts the door of a treasure vault at the risk of your life. The door won't open until the caster, frieren's replica, is dead.
- Fern questions whether the replicas' behaviors would be the same as the original's. Fern shows Frieren's fatal vulnerability by shooting Frieren with a magic blast. Frieren automatically blocks Fern's blast with defensive magic. When Frieren casts a spell, she stops detecting mana for a brief moment. Frieren didn't say her vulnerability because it is embarrassing.
- They all plan a strategy to take down Frieren's replica.
- They begin their plan. Frieren reassures everyone that there isn't a dungeon that can't be conquered. Confidently, Frieren says that she is the mage of the party that cleared the most dungeons in history.
- It is only Fern and Frieren who will be responsible in defeating Frieren's replica. Frieren says that the fewer of us there are, the easier it will be to predict Frieren's replicas' movements. Frieren says that most of the test takers would die if they all fought Frieren's replica together. There would be no time to use the escape golems. The rest of the test takers' duty is to slow down the replicas gathering at the bottom. If all the replicas surround the test takers, then all the test takers would die.
- Frieren and Fern go into the chamber to face Frieren's replica.
- Frieren cast "Judradjim", which looks like a purple colored lightning, against Frieren's replica. It did nothing against the replica.
- Frieren casts "Vollzanbel", which looks like a volcano erupting out of the ground, against Frieren's replica. It did nothing against the replica.
- While all these epic spells are being cast, Fern remains hidden to find an opportune moment to attack Frieren's replica with a Zoltraak, which is the quickest spell. Elves aren't able to reflexively defend against Zoltraak. It takes only a moment for elves to respond it, but the time we spend thinking about it causes a delay. Frieren says that Fern is different; Zoltraak has existed since Fern's birth. To Fern, Zoltraak is nothing special, a fundamental mage spell engraved into Fern's being. With conviction, Frieren says that Fern's Zoltraak can kill her.
Fern blasted by an unknown attack.
Frieren finishes the replica.
Spiegel
Test takers pass the second exam!
Gold mimic chews on Frieren.
Quick Opinion: Awesome episode! I know for a fact that every anime only viewer are now extremely curious about that unknown spell that Frieren's replica casted on Fern. It looks like some kind of Jedi move from Star Wars. If anyone remembers the anime Naruto Shippuden, then the spell will remind you of Pain's "mighty push"(I think that's the name). Fern even states that she didn't detect any mana used from that spell. I believe that Frieren has telekinesis, an attack that only uses her imagination. I bet Frieren has all types of spells that she hides under her sleeves; this is simply a tiny demonstration of her true magical abilities. A theory that I have about Frieren is that she will either become the Goddess that Heiter discussed or a mage that can create spells out of her imagination; she's simply hiding her strongest spells and only casting basic spells around everyone she meets. Frieren is humble and doesn't flaunt her true power.
- Frieren and Fern are still fighting Frieren's replica.
- Methode has determined the exact locations of the replicas, except for Sense's replica. They split up in teams to stop the replicas before the replicas gather in one spot. The test takers also discussed each other's weakest matchups. Communication and team work is the test taker's advantage. As long as the test takers choose the right opponents, the test takers have the upper hand. Stronger replicas may require more people to face it. The test takers are simply buying time before Frieren and Fern defeat Frieren's replica.
- The replica of Sense stabs Kawine and Richter, which eliminates them from the exam. Both Kawine and Richter are rescued by their escape golems. Ubel uses her spell "Reelseiden" to defeat Sense's replica. "Reelseiden" cuts anything that Ubel visually imagines; it will cut through anything Ubel thinks it can and it doesn't cut anything Ubel thinks it can't.
- Unfortunately, the defeated replicas come back to life. It is mainly a battle of attrition between the test takers and Spiegel's replicas.
- Frieren creates an opening by getting slightly injured by Frieren's replica. Fern found the opening and starting shooting multiple Zoltraaks at Frieren's replica. Frieren's replica lost both of its arms. Before Fern was about to finish off Frieren's replica, an unknown attack sends Fern flying towards the wall, which injures Fern and destroys Fern's staff. Fern does not recognize this attack as a spell because mana was not used. Fern recognizes this attack as the height of magic.
- After Frieren's replica had blasted Fern with an unknown spell, the real Frieren had the opportunity to finally defeat Frieren's replica. The final spell used by Frieren looked like a wide-area of effect Zoltraak that manifested below the feet of Frieren's replica. Frieren congratulates Fern. Frieren says that it has been 80 years since she was forced to use that unknown spell.
- After defeating Frieren's replica, Frieren and Fern open up the treasure chamber to destroy Spiegel, a monster that looks like a purple diamond artifact. By destroying Spiegel, all the replicas in the Ruined King's Tomb disappear.
- Waiting at the treasure chamber, Sense congratulates the remaining test takers. Everyone who made it to the treasure chamber passes the second test.
- Denken asks where Frieren and Fern are. Frieren is stuck within a gold mimic while Fern watches.
- Outside of the Ruins of the Kings Tomb, the eliminated test takers are healed by the golem.
Frieren shows a younger Himmel a spell that creates a field of flowers.
Fern exceeds Serie's expectations.
Quick Opinion: Serie is definately an a$$h0le, powerful people often are. There's alot of over-confidence spewing out of Serie because she is powerful and always right, but she is still in disbelief that Frieren defeated the Demon King. Frieren is obviously much stronger than Serie, but Frieren is humble and rather not flaunt(it doesn't suit Frieren to be someone she's not). After this episode, it shows that Fern is not after power because she would have accepted Serie's request. Fern reveals in earlier episodes that she is happy making Frieren happy. This is the era of peace, which is Frieren's visualization. That's why Frieren was able to defeat the Demon King in the first place. Serie can't visualize an era of peace; therefore, she never came close to defeating the Demon King. There are two separate visions that two elves have: Frieren is for peace and Serie is for power.
- Fern visits Stark. As always, Fern is angry with a pouting face. Fern and Frieren had an argument. Fern explains that she had broken her staff in the Ruined Kings Tomb and wanted it repaired. Frieren responded back by saying that it is better to purchase a new staff than to repair it because it was already in pieces. The reason Fern wants to keep the staff because Heiter gave her the staff(it has sentimental value).
- Kawine is depressed for not passing the second exam. It will be another 3 years to take.
- Richter is in his shop trying to drive Denken and Laufen away from his establishment. Denken starts lecturing Richter to not be discouraged.
- Frieren visits Richter's shop; she requests for Richter to fix Fern's staff. In a bad mood, Richter decides to fix it anyway.
- Within the inn, Fern discovers that her staff is fixed. Frieren is on the other bed sound asleep.
- The third test begins with all the test-takers waiting in front of a doorway. Suprisingly, Serie came down to be the proctor of the third exam because it is an anomaly to pass 12 test-takers, which is too many according to Serie. Serie says that a third test would result in pointless deaths. Serie blames Frieren for all the anomalies that had happened.
- Lernon says that Frieren's mana is equal to Serie's mana.
- Falsch, another first class mage, doesn't notice Frieren's mana. He states that no living creature with mana can conceal these fluctuations. Even if it were possible, it would take an extraordinary amount of time to master. It would hardly be a practical skill.
- Serie responds to Falsch by saying that Frieren has devoted her life to mastering that impractical skill in order to deceive demons. Demons are far more sensitive to mana than humanoids. Without innate talent, it takes more than a century or two of practice to fool demons. Serie says that Frieren wasted her time suppressing mana. Instead, Serie suggests to devote one's effort on training on something else to become powerful.
- In a battle between experienced mages, miscalculating your opponent's mana can lead directly to death.
- Although Frieren is unskilled for her age, she has defeated demons; her mana control is simply that refined. Only the Demon King was able to see through it at first glance.
- Lernon says it was a coincidence to see a minor fluctuations in Serie's mana.
- Lernon has become the first first-class mage for more than half a century. Serie thinks of Lernon as a disappointment, the same timid boy. She says to Lernon that he has achieved this level, and yet doesn't have much longer to live. Serie doubts that Lernon will have the chance to fight Frieren. In an insulting fashion, Serie states that she shouldn't have human apprentices.
- Lernon never saw fluctuations in Serie's mana.
- The third test will be an interview with Serie the Great Mage. Each test-taker will be interviewed one at a time.
- Serie intends to fail Frieren and Fern; Serie chooses who passes based on her intuition. Serie wants Frieren to become an ideal mage of her standards.
- Without much effort, Serie fails Kanne, Dunste, Laufen, Scharf, Ehre, and Frieren.
- Serie passes Fern.
- Serie fails test-takers who are frightened by mana and know the limits of their abilities. In the world of magic, the most fundamental principle: that which can't be visualized cannot be.
- Serie states that Frieren can't imagine herself as a first-class mage. Giving Frieren a second chance, Serie asks what is Frieren's favorite spell. Frieren answers "a spell to create a field of flowers," which is a spell Flamme taught Frieren. In an mocking way, Serie is in disbelief that Frieren defeated the Demon King. Frieren states that she was lucky to have help from Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter to defeat the demon king.
- A flashback shows the explanation of why Himmel chose Frieren to join their party to defeat the Demon King. As a child, Himmel was lost in the forest while gathering herbs. Frieren showed a younger Himmel the direction of the village. Frieren sensed unease, so out of a whim decided to show the younger Himmel a spell that created a field of flowers. Himmel thought magic was beautiful.
- Frieren explains to Serie that the useless spell that Flamme taught her brought all her companions together. Frieren predicts that Serie will fail Fern as well, but Frieren says that Fern will exceed your expectations. The era of humans has arrived.
- Fern steps in to be interviewed by Serie. Doubtful, Serie examines Fern. Serie is asked what she is observing. Fern responds that Serie's mana is fluctuating. With Fern's response, Serie requests for Fern to be her student. Immediately, Fern says "no" because she is Frieren's student. Although Serie was rejected of her request, Serie still passes Fern.
Madhouse, Kanehito Yamada, and Tomohiro Suzuki have a major foot fetish.
Frieren banned for a 1000 years.
Fern's "Laundry" Spell.
Quick Opinion: This episode ties the knot and finishes the whole series. Serie shows more and more of how an a$$h0le she is by banning Frieren for a 1000 years. Not only is Serie an a$$h0le, but her student Lernen decides to attack Frieren because he had issues with his beloved teacher, Serie. Often, a cherry doesn't fall far from the cherry tree; Lernen and Serie are both a$$e$. Anyways, Fern revealing her "laundry" spell was hilarious. Fern picking that spell was like a middle finger to Serie. In my opinion, it was well-deserved. Besides that, this episode was a gem. It was especially funny when Serie met with Land and Ubel. Serie didn't say much to Ubel because she was a special kind of mage, a psychotic one. As for Land doing his "wifi clone spell", I found it quite hilarious. All the flashbacks of Himmel were icing on the cake; it made the episode interesting and shows how all the little things you do can make a gigantic impact in the future like rolling a snowball down from the top of the mountain, which in turn, becomes a huge avalanche. It's the butterfly effect in real-time; all the things that you do creates a chain of reactions. Madhouse and the creator of Frieren put a high budget on Serie's feet. It is not a conspiracy theory that the creators of Frieren have some type of feet fetishization. It's obvious by now and if you haven't figure it out, then you are delusional.
- Denken, Ubel, Land, Wirbel, and Methode passes the third exam.
- Denken and Laufen eat snacks with Fern and Stark. Denken shares his life with Fern, Stark, and Laufen.
- An old lady dropped her oranges, so Wirbel helps by picking them all up and placing them back into the basket; Frieren didn't help the old lady, but just stood there and watched. Wirbel tells Frieren about his life and how Himmel's less exciting stories guided him here. Although Himmel helped insignificant people along the way, he had changed the world.
- Everyone who passed the third exam will be granted privileges; they are also allowed to bring guests.
- It is discovered that Frieren is banned for the next thousand years from entering any Continental Magic Association facility.
- Frieren and Stark wait outside for Fern. First-class mage Lernen, one of Serie's students, could see Frieren's mana fluctuating. Lernen decides to start a duel with Frieren because he wants to be remembered as the killer of the legendary mage Frieren; Lernen doesn't want Serie to be alone and doesn't want proof of her existence to disappear as well. Lernen shoots magic bolts at Frieren. One of the magic bolts happen to rip a piece of her clothing. Frieren declines the duel because she believes it to be a waste of time. Frieren says that Serie will remember Lernen because Serie clearly recalls each one's personality and favorite spell. Serie never regretted taking on any students even if they hadn't made a mark in history. Serie has never told her students how she truly feels about them. Frieren calls Serie a child. Frieren walks directly pass Lernen and leaves the duel.
- Everyone in Auberst remembers and loves Stark. Stark, Frieren, and Fern leave AuBerst.
- Fern reveals her privilege(spell) that she was granted. Fern's clothes are clean with a vague floral scent to them. Fern was granted a spell to make clothes clean and spotless(a legendary-level spell from the era of mythology). Frieren gives Fern a head pat as a congratulatory gesture. Serie wasn't happy about Fern choosing that spell.
- Kawine and Kanne give their gratitude to Frieren as they walk out of Auberst. They say that they will take the test again in 3 years time.
- Flashback: Himmel always gives quick goodbyes because tearful goodbyes aren't their style. He also states that it would be embarrassing when we met again.
My Final Review:
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS OF THE STORY: Sousou No Frieren is a slow-paced fantasy anime with a "slice of life" perspective built into it. You'll encounter plenty of Frieren's nostalgic flashbacks of her original party inserted in pivotal parts of the story, which does not interrupt the pacing of the story; rather, it makes the story compelling. This anime is heavily story-driven and has in-depth character building, as well as world-building elements in some areas. If you are an avid shounen-type fan, then you might be disappointed by the lack of action-filled scenes; this may repulse people who are expecting flashy over-the-top fight scenes. If you are the type of person that just wants action scenes, then you have to look elsewhere. The main focus of this anime is to show you the interactions and relationships between people and what type of situations and conflicts arise. Basically, you'll find dramatic scenes like people arguing with each other about petty things, which happens to regular people on a daily basis(situations that actually happen in real life). The anime has plenty of adventures in it like fighting mythological monsters and demons. Once you've dived into the anime, you will only anticipate for the funny antics or facial expressions of Frieren, which she offers on each episode, for the most part. Frieren is a subtle comedian! Like many dramas, you'll also be watching emotional content that may make you teary-eyed or out-right cry. This anime has an emotional effect on the audience that may even affect your daily life, so be prepared to take out your tissue boxes. Overall, Sousou no Frieren has to be one of the best fantasy anime released of all time. Nothing has come close to Sousou no Frieren in terms of character development; however, the only direct competitor in the anime fantasy genre is Demon Slayer, which I think are both on par with each other.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS OF THE OST: Evan Call produced the OST. I must say that Evan Call did a masterful job in making a memorable OST. All of the music brought great impact to the whole story and amplified the immersion of all the fight scenes. The OST also reminded or alerted the audience of an incoming funny part, which exponentially helped in emphasizing the comedy. If you are listening to the OST separatedly from the anime, then you will enjoy and possibly play it in your time of leisure many times over. It is that good!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE SOUND EFFECTS: There's nothing to complain about with the sound. Everything was crisp and on point. Everything sounded like it was from the real world. The recoiling sounds from weapons clashing together were notable throughout the series, especially the fight between Ubel and Wirbel.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE OPENING AND CLOSING SONGS: "YOASOBI - THE BRAVE", "Yorushika - Sunny", and "Milet - Anytime Anywhere" were the songs for the opening and closing. These songs were catchy that I listened to them on my spare time. I couldn't find any other song that's perfectly suited to be the introductory and closing songs for this anime. They are masterpieces!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE ANIMATION: MADHOUSE Studio's animation is out of this world! They are getting up there in terms of quality like MAPPA and A1 Pictures. I'm glad MADHOUSE did it. The only issue I had was when they drew characters that are either in the shade or far off to the distance. If you observe the character's faces, they lose their facial attributes such as the mouth, eyes, and nose(which I didn't like at all). It felt a little lazy to not draw certain scenes without those details. Another animation blunder are character's eyebrows. Often, I find MADHOUSE create awkwardly placed eyebrows or eyebrows that are shaped either too big or too small. Nevertheless, everything they drew was outstanding; I just had a few qualms about facial artistry.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE VOICE ACTING: I loved every voice actor! Atsumi Tanezaki, who did Frieren's voice, did an outstanding job. Her voice is perfect for an indifferent, wise, and soft-spoken elf such as Frieren. Any voices that are too wacky, condescending, or high-pitched would ruin Frieren's character. Overall, every japanese voice actor was superb!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE BACKGROUND SCENERY: There's really nothing to complain about the scenery. The aesthetics of the background scenery were simply phenomenal. The scenery looked exactly what a fantasy environment ought to look like. Madhouse created many captivating scenery, especially scenes in the Ruined King's Tomb; everything was designed realistically like how a dungeon should look.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS OF THE OST: Evan Call produced the OST. I must say that Evan Call did a masterful job in making a memorable OST. All of the music brought great impact to the whole story and amplified the immersion of all the fight scenes. The OST also reminded or alerted the audience of an incoming funny part, which exponentially helped in emphasizing the comedy. If you are listening to the OST separatedly from the anime, then you will enjoy and possibly play it in your time of leisure many times over. It is that good!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE SOUND EFFECTS: There's nothing to complain about with the sound. Everything was crisp and on point. Everything sounded like it was from the real world. The recoiling sounds from weapons clashing together were notable throughout the series, especially the fight between Ubel and Wirbel.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE OPENING AND CLOSING SONGS: "YOASOBI - THE BRAVE", "Yorushika - Sunny", and "Milet - Anytime Anywhere" were the songs for the opening and closing. These songs were catchy that I listened to them on my spare time. I couldn't find any other song that's perfectly suited to be the introductory and closing songs for this anime. They are masterpieces!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE ANIMATION: MADHOUSE Studio's animation is out of this world! They are getting up there in terms of quality like MAPPA and A1 Pictures. I'm glad MADHOUSE did it. The only issue I had was when they drew characters that are either in the shade or far off to the distance. If you observe the character's faces, they lose their facial attributes such as the mouth, eyes, and nose(which I didn't like at all). It felt a little lazy to not draw certain scenes without those details. Another animation blunder are character's eyebrows. Often, I find MADHOUSE create awkwardly placed eyebrows or eyebrows that are shaped either too big or too small. Nevertheless, everything they drew was outstanding; I just had a few qualms about facial artistry.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE VOICE ACTING: I loved every voice actor! Atsumi Tanezaki, who did Frieren's voice, did an outstanding job. Her voice is perfect for an indifferent, wise, and soft-spoken elf such as Frieren. Any voices that are too wacky, condescending, or high-pitched would ruin Frieren's character. Overall, every japanese voice actor was superb!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE BACKGROUND SCENERY: There's really nothing to complain about the scenery. The aesthetics of the background scenery were simply phenomenal. The scenery looked exactly what a fantasy environment ought to look like. Madhouse created many captivating scenery, especially scenes in the Ruined King's Tomb; everything was designed realistically like how a dungeon should look.
SCORE SHEET:
- Episode Score Added Together: 251.5/280
- OST Score: 10/10
- Sound Effect Score: 10/10
- Opening and Closing Songs Score: 10/10
- Animation Score: 8/10
- Voice Acting Score: 9/10
- Background Scenery: 10/10
Total: 308.5 out of 340
Calculation:
308.5 divided by 340 = 0.907352941
0.907352941 multiplied by 100 = 90.7352941Score(Percentage): 90.7352941%
- FINAL SCORE: 90.7%
Score:
90.7%