Loving how enthusiastic and excited you guys are to watch Frieren. The only negative, is it "Frieren Fridays" - can we instead have "Frieren everyday!" 😂 - can't wait for more! 😂
Qual is the only demon i kinda feel bad for so far. He was such a genius that even after being put in stasis for 80 years and having his spell analyzed and decoded, he was able to identify the weakness in its counter and come up with a strategy ,all within minutes of being awakened. He wasnt actually arrogant, he was just extremly capable.
@@jebes909090 Just imagine what a problem he could have become if not sealed for those eighty years. Because humanity possibly wouldn't have even gotten the time to study and analyze his spell if he continued his rampage. I mean it's quite possible that the Demon King would have straight up won the war if Qual wasn't sealed away by Frieren and co.
Really all three of them. With Lugner, Fern killed him at the end to put him out of his misery, but he was bleeding out beforehand. Ultimately he would have died from that. Linie was taken out by Stark using Eisen's technique.
At 13:53 there is a rapid sequence of images from Himmel's party on their quest to defeat the Demon king. That is 0.5 seconds in length and therefore 100 times shorter than the 50 second sequence of Frieren living after the death of Flamme. Compare this to her life of 1000 years (approx) and their 10 year journey, and you'll notice it is the same ratio. It is a beautiful way to see how time feels in Frieren's perspective, and powerful knowing that sliver of time had such an impact on her.
I swear this show does the passage of time so damn well! Like even these kinds of seemingly small editing things are so meaningful and made with intent
@@hikariizuki1693you mean physically? That assumes that elves grow up very slowly as children, which we don't know yet. It's possible they mature comparatively normally and then just stay looking around Frieren's age indefinitely. At the very least we can be sure Frieren is less than 2,000 years old, since she says she has been suppressing her mana for most of her life, not half her life. Plus that "my adventure with you wasn't even 1/100th of my life" points to "somewhat over a thousand years" as well. SPOILER We also later meet an elf who is far older than Frieren (possibly the oldest person in the series) but is the same height and doesn't really look any older.
kinda like being a recluse for 20 years then suddenly Having the wildest 2 hour night of your life and then you have to process all that in the morning after.
One detail I love is that during the flashbacks with Flamme, their clothes and the architecture are all Greco-Roman style instead of medieval like the rest of the series, because it takes place 1000 years earlier.
When Himmel and the Hero Party meet Frieren, she isn't wearing the earrings. She is, however, wearing the earrings in flashbacks after joining the party. I believe that she had kept Flamme's earrings after her passing and decided to wear them when she finally went out to kill the DK. It's how she brought Flamme along with her to show Flamme her dream. Freiren continues to wear the earrings to show Flamme the 'peaceful' world she wanted. Yes, they look a bit different, but that's what happens to things over 1k years.
I honestly think when composing the ED, someone was thinking, "This would be perfect for ep 10, let's keep it there for the whole series for the lols."
One of my favorite parts of the episode is when they show you the montage of Frieren living by herself for those 1000 years training is like a minute, and then after she meets Himmel you see like 1 second of pictures of her with Himmel fighting demons, representing how quick it was from her perspective.
I think they overwhelmed themselves, or at least KIM, with watching the 3 episodes back to back. For some it is the right amount to feel the hype, for others to much. Yes it was a nice reaction but yeah I think it swung a bit to far here.
The footage of Frieren's adventures after meeting the hero Himmel was only shown for 0.5 seconds. In contrast, there was 50 seconds of footage of Frieren living alone. This seems to indicate that the 10 years with the hero were only 1/100 of the 1000 years that Frieren lived. I think that every time you watch it, you discover something new in this work.
Imo this episode is a masterclass example of directing and of what you can do with flashbacks when done well. And the emotional payoff at the end when we see Frieren's absurd amount of mana exploding in full display. Flamme planted this seed and plan to defeat the demon king thousand years ago. Also that timeline montage of Frieren living alone in the woods in obscurity just like Flamme told her always makes me tear up a bit. Especially because the soundtrack playing in the background is the very same we heard in episode 1 during the montage about the 50 years Frieren spent alone after defeating the Demon King. The montage about the time passing is so beautiful but at the same time I can't imagine how lonely it must have been for Frieren to live alone in the woods for hundreds of years 😢 Like that shot where her only company is the snowman she has built 😭
Many anime, and shows in general commit storytelling crimes with flashbacks: (1) expository without buildup; (2) breaking up story flow; (3) and at worst, padding time to stretch a fight (shonen-fight syndrome). This show does not only root flashbacks in audience expectations, but also times them well, and makes them immediately relevant to the story at hand. After the audience gets up to speed in the first few episodes, flashbacks are not only relevant, but demanded by the viewers, almost like getting handed a cup of hot cocoa when the storm looks bad outside.
This is the episode I told myself 'This is defo the best this anime will ever really be', and boy, was I wrong. Sort of. It's all great, start to finish, that's one thing I can stand by.
@@UguuUng No guarantee there will be a second season. No spoilers, but from the last few chapters of the manga, you can tell the author is hitting a burnout stage. They are currently on an "indefinite hiatus" (or "open-ended break" depending on how you translate it) -- hopefully they'll come back refreshed. (There's enough content for a second season, but how much inertia and funding there is behind production of it is unknown.)
@@cah1-kr9eb We'll see in half a decade I guess haha, by then we will either be happy about a new season, unenthusiastic about a drop in quality or studio change, or sad about the manga/anime being dropped Hope the author is going to be okay
Impressive that this show made you attached to a character we know died over a thousand years ago. Also Heiter is a monster for having half the mana of a thousand-year-old elf.
I'm not sure he's even that strong, but that he can even compare to her on a meaningful level is a hint as to just how stupidly strong the entire party of heroes is.
well, half the mana of how much mana Frieren had 1000 years ago. She was limiting to 10% back then, but she might have kept the total outpost the same and been at 1% of her total 1000 years later. That would give Heiter 5% of her total mana. Which is still probably a lot
@@grimscar Heiter in that flashback of the first meeting of the hero party doesn't know she suppresses her mana. He comments on her mana he can detect right in front of him, so she has 1/5th of that "1%" or how ever much you pool you attribute it that is visible.
"Eyes are the window to the soul." I love how the colouring of the souls to be weighed on the Scales is similar to the colour of both Aura and Frieren's eyes. Frieren has a much lighter shade of eye colour, and her soul has a similar hue to match. What incredible patience and resolve! Not only did Frieren prepare for close to a thousand years by suppressing her mana as Flamme trained her to do, but if you watch episode 9 closely, you'll see that Frieren starts off the encounter by complimenting Aura about how powerful she is to be able to control so many soldiers. And Frieren also uses a very inefficient way of defeating those puppets, which clearly wastes her mana. This turns out to be very important, because Aura _was_ being cautious. She knew that she had a major advantage with her army, and it was indeed suspicious that Frieren would attack Aura without a party to support her. In doing so, Frieren opened herself up to the possibility of having the Scales used against her. So Frieren had to plan ahead and make sure that it didn't turn into a battle of attrition, where her mana would get drained to a level that Aura would win. At every point in the encounter Frieren is deceiving and deliberately manipulating her opponent into being defeated. The genius of her tactics is without equal. It's very interesting how Flamme is stoic and practical when first meeting Frieren, in that she is actually ready to leave her there to die. I know Flamme has the appearance of a strong motherly figure, but she's far more masculine in her approach to training Frieren. Now that isn't to say that Flamme doesn't care for people, but more that she doesn't let her strong emotions override her important goals. No one who watches ep 10 seems to notice or mention this, which is strange to me, considering how much this incredible episode has been analyzed and discussed by the fans. The way Flamme is just ready to walk past Frieren, and only turns around at the comment Frieren makes about Flamme being so powerful, is quite a revealing character moment. Flamme is very practical, and so when she asks Frieren to place flowers around her grave, it makes sense that Frieren's response is: "That doesn't seem like you.". The line: "Aura dealt with them in the most logical way after gaining control." is a reference to Aura "removing" the heads of those she turned into her puppets, so that the strong-willed couldn't temporarily resist her spell. Which is why Frieren's command in the end is such poetic justice. There's so much more about this that can be discussed, but I'll leave it at that. This concluding episode to this mini-arc is simply a *masterpiece* of storytelling. It doesn't turn out quite how we were expecting, in that there's no flashy and epic magic battle like between Fern and Lugner, but it's all the greater for it.
This episode plays the Columbo gambit: The story shows you everything up front. You know how it will happen, how it must happen, long before it does. And you are still riveted every second, and knocked back by the resolution. In my opinion, this is possibly the second best episode of this series.
Yes, as you discussed this episode delivers yet another layer to the "we're the same" statement that Frieren says to Fern earlier in the season. They may have initially regarded magic as wondrous, but eventually they settled into a routine of constant mana suppression and/or honing spells and skills solely to battle/shoot through a distant rock. And so magic transformed from something that they loved into something that they like "only somewhat." Imagine someone who loves singing being told to never raise their voice above speaking level when they perform and only to sing melancholic songs. They may still hold their innate love for singing deep inside, but it would certainly dull over time. So when Fern responds "somewhat," Frieren understands exactly what Fern must have gone through and how it relates to her own experiences.
That last flashback where Flamme tells Frieren to deceive demons with mana is so great because mana is essentially the "native language" of demons. It's how they communicate with each other to decide who's in charge. Demons only learned human language for the purpose of deception, so Flamme taught Frieren to do the same with the demons' own "language". Anyway, keep in mind that distinction between magic for revenge and magic for joy. That's definitely a major recurring theme in this show.
Do you remember in Episode 2 when Frieren drew a circle around Fern during their magical training? The size of that circle is exactly the same as the width of the mana that Fern showed Rugnar. This means that it is likely that she was teaching her about mana suppression at that time. These kinds of foreshadowing are one of the charms of this series.
Just to clarify, Qual's title was the elder sage of corruption but he is not one of the seven sages of destruction. Just wanted to clarify and give recognition to my boi Qual. He would have been a heck of a problem if frieren didn't defeat him then. Figured out defensive magic and its weakness after seeing it once. Reactors often don't realize how much of a threat he really was because of how quick frieren defeated him. Love your content. found you by your frieren reactions and have enjoyed since. Keep it up!
Best mic drop. Great to see so much story with Frieren and Flamme. And you know that Flamme just passed away as a normal human does of old age. Having demons just be demons is something that shows don't do any more. Yeah, Flamme taught Frieren to be a mage who does battle magic to fight demons. Frieren collecting spells is getting back to her loving magic. Epic episode and great reaction, guys! Looking forward to next week.
In episode 2 Frieren was drawing a circle around Fern while teaching her, which ,now after the last 2 episodes, we understood why - to teach her how much to suppress her mana. Lugner was seeing exact amount of Mana coming from Fern, as it was the diameter of the circle.
Not a manga reader so i don’t know if they go more into Fern’s backstory but Frieren also bootstrapped Fern’s training by knowing Heiter and their adventure together, which then allowed Heiter to provide rudimentary training for baby Fern to be prepped to be her apprentice. That acceleration then primed Fern to become the meta defensive/zoltraak spammer she is today.
There's also a scene during young Fern's training where she's just crouching in the forest while, I think it's a bird or squirrels, climb on her. Which could also be Fern training to suppress her mana completely.
@@n1c2c8 @bobislav85 This comment is a spoilery and should not be visible to read right away. They read the comment section, can you not reserve yourself a bit.
- SPOILER - Pretty sure Fern learnt to supress mana before Frieren started to teach her. In later episodes Heiter ask Frieren about why/how supress her mana, she asked back why he's interested, and he answer that maybe he could have a mage daughter in the future. That explain why Fern since child is practically invinsible and even Frieren has a hard time finding her. Tho, surely Frieren taught her better techinques o gave her some advices.
I knew you guys would enjoy this episode, great reaction as always, I recommended you guys watch episode 8-9-10 because it is very detail heavy and I knew you would appreciate the little details. Honestly the pacing and storytelling of this is amazing, I think the author really knows how to portray a story and although from the beginning you kinda already know what the outcome is, it leaves you in awe and still gives you that sense of surprise just from the sheer connection of all the details from previous episodes, honestly you are a great channel and can't wait for you guys to continue!
I think Frieren saying she only likes Magic somewhat is the perfect answer, because she knows first hand that Magic is not all about the fields of flowers you can create. Afterall magic whiped out not only her village but many many many others, not mentioning all lives that have been taken by magic. But for every Zoltraak there is a spell for sour grapes. For a violent spell, there is a spell for cleaning statues. For a spell that destroys there is a spell that heals. It is about balance, you can't have one without the other. And I think Frieren, and to some degree even Fern knows this. Flamme certainly knew. The regret in Flammes voice when she said she only taught Frieren Combat Magic made that clear. So I think she teaching Frieren her favorite Spell which is creating a field of flowers is the perfect parting gift. So yeah...... She likes Magic somewhat. And I think this is perfect.
Thank you for your great reactions to my favorite anime! I still hope that one day I'll be lucky enough to find your uncut reactions on Patreon ;-) So that I can enjoy them again.
Thank you so much for your support!! We definitely want to get a Patreon going and we are hoping to have that up soon! Thank you again for watching with us :)
I love you guys. I think this is in my Top 3 of reactions to this scene. Amazing. Super hype. You guys recaptured the excitement, buildup, and payoff that I felt the first time. AAA. 10/10 would eat again with rice.
What a beautiful couple. Made me reminds of my late wife, we use to watch anime together until she passes away 3 years ago. Great reaction, I'll be following you guys from now on (sorry for my bad english)
lmao i love the long knowingly stares with each other at the end, probably silently asking "did that just fxxking happen?" haha best episode 10 reaction i've watched so far (and i've watched A LOT of frieren reactions coz i dont have a life lol)
I so love your reactions! I'm so happy whenever you guys get the connections of every little thing in this story. Rewatching this masterpiece with you two 🥰🥰🥰
This is probably the episode that underlines how bada** high the stakes are. And your reaction is definitely the best! You are the only one that really picked up on the outro's dark humor. I probably reacted the same way you did. Art
i called the "kill yourself" a few seconds before it happened when Aura's eyes changed i thought "wait... now Frieren can command her to do anything. What could she ask her to do? Oh. Oh no..." Few seconds later: "I CALLED IT! I F*CKING CALLED IT!" 🤣
25:44 I made this mistake too, but Qual is actually the Elder Sage of Corruption whereas Aura was one of the Sages of Destruction. It does sound similar, but they are different
The voice actor for Flamme, Atsuko Tanaka has passed away at age of 61. The same person who played Motoko in Ghost in the Shell. Huge loss and we'll all miss her...
10:23 one think I really like about Frieren is how it shows things change over time. It isn't a stagnet standard fantasy setting. Time passes and everything chages.
Brief Timeline of Frieren: Sometime before Frieren meets Flamme, Flamme supposedly discovers Aureole. Approximately 1000 years ago - Frieren meets Flamme, trains with her for 50 years, and Flamme dies. We don't know exactly how old Frieren is, but Frieren is over 1000 years old by present day. 60 years before the death of Himmel the Hero - Frieren meets Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen and set off on their 10-year adventure to defeat the Demon King. Sometime during the adventure, they seal Qual and humanity studies Zoltraak with contribution from Frieren. 50 years before the death of Himmel the Hero - Demon King is defeated. Era Meteor Shower opens the era of peace. Frieren leaves the royal capital. Year of Himmel the Hero's death - Frieren reunites with the hero party. Era Meteor Shower happens. Himmel dies. Aura's forces become active again. (They literally feared him so much they waited for him to die.) 20 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Frieren meets Fern. Frieren agrees to decipher a grimoire for Heiter and train Fern. Fern is 9. 24 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Fern hits the rock. Heiter dies at around 100 years old. Frieren and Fern begin traveling together. Fern is 13. 26 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Frieren and Fern discover blue moon weed. 27 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Fern turns 16. Frieren and Fern unseal Qual and kill him. 28 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Frieren, Fern, and Eisen discover Flamme's notes and Frieren and Fern set off to find Aureole. We are currently still in this year.
Even after her tutelage under Flamme, to Frieren it was still only a mere 50 years. She's over a thousand years old, yes, but she was probably ancient by the time of their meeting.
Slight correction: 24 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Heiter can no longer walk. Frieren gets a suspicion that the book does not contain immortality spells. Fern tells Frieren about her suicide attempt and Heiter saving her. 26 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Fern hits the rock. Heiter dies. Frieren and Fern begin traveling together. Fern is 15. 26.5 years after the death of Himmel the Hero - Frieren and Fern discover blue moon weed.
@@annabethchase2569 This is incorrect. Otherwise, this would indicate Heiter was bedridden for 2 years before dying. Also the 26 year marker only happens at the beginning of the quest to find blue moon weed.
Wowwww... 90% of reactions miss how Frieren doesn't like combat magic but loves every day folk magic, but you instantly locked on it. I'm so happy. It will be an important main theme later
There are a number of first person POV shots in this show, like the one from last episode from Fern's perspective when the attack started. But the choice to end with the POV of a *falling cut off head* is absolutely insane and brilliant.
One of the underlying themes of the show is how magic is perceived. What various viewpoints think the purpose of magic is and the show hints as to what their consequences for a society that has embraced it would look like. I love it.
just binged watched all your frieren reactions, great reactions and analysis. i love your questions and theories. amazing job and I can't wait for more.
I just wanted to say I've been loving your reactions. You both engage so passionately with the media and your excitment is infectious. You two are both so charming and I can't wait to see whats next!
I love the theme throughout the show of mage's love for magic. I used to work in music and when you make your passion your profession there is a weird complicated thing that happens where it's easy to get sick of what you loved because you have to work at it or rely on it. I think this show does a really good realistic job at showing that struggle. The theme shows up in small moments throughout the show and it's a cool thing to keep an eye out for
Fun fact: Every single moment after this episode takes place in an alternate timeline where Frieren never says that last line to Aura, because that shit was so cold it reached absolute zero and completely destroyed the fucking timeline.
The Demon King knew... But Flamme knew too. Let an elf live long enough and they really could defeat the Demon King, or any demon! It is so sad to ask someone to just.... wait. I mean, Flamme didn't just ask Frieren to suppress her mana... She asked her to suppress Frieren herself! Any deep relationship would be a potential danger, if they ever found out. Any heroics would be dangerous. Imagine suppressing your real talent that could help people, even against the creatures that you despise, but still never revealing it. Honestly, Frieren deserves respect. Not for being powerful, but to make a freaking HUGE sacrifice!
I'm so glad people are actually finding this anime. I honestly didn't think it'd be this popular when I read tha manga about 3 years ago. Makes me happy that more people are gravitating towards anime and similar media.
What I get from Frieren, is if the demons were to back down and walk away. She'd likely let them. She doesn't come off as a person that holds malice in her heart. Slaying demons is practical, it's something she does, but it's not what defines who she is.
in case you guys didn't notice the really subtle details, the old, Rome-looking city that frieren and flamme were walking through is supposed to display the difference in time. that's how ALL cities used to look like back then a thousand years ago when flamme was alive. temples instead of buildings. loincloths instead of shirts, pants and dresses. dirt paths instead of paved streets. frieren was even holding a stack of scrolls instead of books.
flamme was long dead before aura came to power, freiren faught her with himmels party. flamme was also just human thats why she was considered such an amazing mage she acomplished so much in a human lifespan
You finally made it here!!!! I haven't seen the reaction yet but I will tell you something about episode 14 before you watch, no spoilers, just get lots of tissues ready.
I think you should redact the comment for the specific episode and just let it stand for episodes going forward, because she will tear up in a couple of episodes going forward. Not that specific one only.
I don’t think the point is to love magic again, but more of a balance. Because she knows both, the magic for revenge and the beautiful side of magic. Love your reactions!!!
"All I could do was to teach you to fight." Based on Flamme's words, I just realized the only non-fight thing Flamme taught Frieren (as far as we know) was the flower bed spell. Frieren wanting to learn it showed that she still did indeed love magic. It wasn't a spell useful against her vendetta against demons. Yet, she still asked to learn it because it was magic.
You're reactions are so fun - but it's soooo hard to not spoil... :) Let's just say - you're definitely going to enjoy the season, right down to the last episode. Great choice of a series to react to!
19:46 the parallel between Himmel and Frieren both saying “Just a feeling” is one of two parallels in this episode. In episode 2 Frieren asks if Fern if she loves magic to which she answers “somewhat” which is what Frieren says to Flamme the second time she’s asked that question.
Another way to live in obscurity is to make sure there are no witnesses alive to your actions. Case in point, in the flashback montage Frieren is shown surrounded by monster wolves which she obviously defeated. Though the wolves were not demon and can’t talk, as defined by Flamme, any battle Frieren may have had before meeting Himmel, Heiter and Eisen she just had to make sure there were no surviving witnesses.
Worth noting at the end of the episode, as Aura's severed head settles on the mud, the last blurry thing she sees in her final moments is Frieren walking away. She never even looks back.
You’ll come to find that Frieren has a habit of using the type of magic a demon is proud of to take them out. Zoltrak for qualm. Severing magic for stringy dude. Control manic on aura. The trend continues.
And that's why 8, 9 and 10 are supposed to be watched together. Setting aside your release schedule and just from a viewing experience perspective for the 2 of you, for the remaining episodes I would recommend doing 2 at a time from now until the end. You can still release them to us in the same cadence as you have so far. This is just a suggestion for you to watch. 1 by 1 also works, but so does 2 by 2.
23:06 I think this is also why Frieren only taught Fern basic combat spells. They are more than enough for those she will fight, and Friren wants to make sure Fern is better able to continue loving magic, somewhat.
i can understand flamme's request to not leave name in history as no one would know her age till she defeates the demon king as to no one would ever suspect if she is hiding her mana cause they don't know how old she is
Demon King ordered all elves killed huh? And was then killed by an elf 1000 years later? Sounds like he tried to stop a prophecy of his death and only caused its fulfillment. Decent chance that if Frieren's village hadn't been attacked then, Flamme never would have met and trained Frieren in her underhanded tactics.
