Forum - View topicFrieren: Beyond Journey's End (TV) (w/ index).
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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I have to admit I was a bit nervous about the beginning of the magic exam arc. I thought this was a chance that Frieren might take a turn into the more typical. I needn't have worried. Of course they are doing their own spin on magic exams and of course it's interesting and fun. Faith restored.
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4997 |
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Given how the series usually goes we will have plenty of fun and unexpected moments to look forward to. Frieren has not dropped the ball a single time thus far, so I am not all that worried, the one thing I do wonder about if if Stark will have any role to play for the foreseeable time.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3443 |
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#19
If last week was the appetiser, this is the first of a multi-stage viewing banquet. Entertaining from start to finish, even though the action only picks up right at the very end. The franchise is particularly good at laying down the foundations through an episode and then delivering a payoff before the episode finishes; just like the first season when the flashback to Frieren and her teacher's background laid the groundwork for Aura's eventual defeat. The first half focuses on Frieren's party, since Fern's trio somehow caught their bird quickly and could afford to find a place to hide until the time limit. If Frieren's party failed here there wouldn't be much of a story to tell afterwards, so naturally Frieren the 1000+-year old elf devises a plan very much like her personality to clear the first requirement of this stage. It's calculated, but very bold in how it disrespects every other competing team in achieving the goal. We knew Frieren would be capable of stealth (after all demons did it in season one) but it's a surprise for the junior third-grade teammates. Nevertheless, for someone like Frieren staying motionless for hours on end doesn't matter when it feels like mere seconds to her. It works, but they now have to contend with parties without birds who are more than happy to seize their newly captured one by force. It's not just about Frieren's party though. The old mage Denken gets much screentime as he plays the role of the series explainer to casual viewers. Through his analysis we are slowly teased details of what Frieren spends minutes telling her team, as well as the shortcomings of the other teams who fail to appreciate the danger of this seemingly harmless selection test. His party is first to the scene when Frieren grabs her bird, and if it came down to grading alone Frieren would have to fight the trio of them single-handedly as her teammates are not given enough time to showcase their teamwork. Frieren seizing the bird is the starting gun for the action free-for-all. It is only the second time we see Fern engaged in a magic duel away from Frieren (the first was against Lugner) and the first time she's facing another human. To be honest, Fern is overqualified for her grade and I'm not expecting her to lose against another mage one grade above her. The "modern" mage may scoff at her old-fashioned fighting techniques, but those same techniques helped Frieren and her party finish their quest all those years ago so it would be a shock if they failed to defeat a far less powerful opponent, even with Fern only taught to use basic attack and defence magic unlike the flashier skills used by other contestants. It is interesting Fern judges her current opponent to be stronger than the second-grade battlemage in charge of fighting demons (and who has somehow taken leave to take the exam for a promotion, isn't the frontline so bad Frieren and company have to take the exam so that they aren't barred passage?!). She must have some reason for doing so, since her teammate is a third-grade strong enough to kill first-grade invigilators. Perhaps it's based on the standard technique of gauging mana capacity the same way demons did when facing Frieren and her teacher Flamme. Looks like next week is going to be a bloodbath as the remaining teams duke it out for the remaining captive birds. The invigilators are happy to have a body count for their selection stages, so the fewer mages remain the more likely they are to be of the minimum standard required to deserve the first-grade rating. Somewhat counterproductive, since Frieren already mentions there are far fewer mages in the present day compared to her first grand quest. If the pattern continues, there won't be a need for a first-grade exam since there'll be no candidates to sit them given the brutal reputation of the process. Last edited by Harleyquin on Fri Jan 19, 2024 8:09 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4997 |
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Man, Frieren episodes always go by quickly, but this arc is so exciting that it feels like the episodes have become extremely short. It is also sad that we are slowly going towards the final section of episodes.
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3443 |
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The total episode count is 28, we just finished #19. Sad indeed to start the countdown with over two months of airtime to go.
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zfunk
Posts: 546 |
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Interesting to see where this arc goes? Is just going to be a straight up examination, or has a demon infiltrated the test?
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4997 |
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I get what you are saying (two months sounds like a lot), but you know as well as I do how fast time and thus anime seasons go by. Add to that how fast Frieren episodes in particular fly by and how rare something like Frieren is adaption wise and yeah, I would call it sad. Though maybe I have just gotten old enough that time feels like it goes pretty by darn fast in general and I would hate to see Frieren end. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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This is easily the best magical exam story I've ever come across in anime. Hey Frieren and Fern... even if you two don't pass, you're both first-class mages in my book!
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ACｘS
 Posts: 1226 |
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19:
I think this First Class Mage exam arc is a revelation. Why? From the beginning, we have this impression that mages are good, and demons are bad. But now we see that maybe not all mages are good. What does even "good" mean? In a moral sense? You can say that mages are good since they battle against demons, and demons are deemed universally as evil (if you accept that humans are the good ones). But then you have mages like Wirbel and Ubel who won't flinch at the idea of killing other mages to achieve their goals. So are they "good"? What makes this exam revealing is that, in order to reward people as first class mage purely on merit, a price must be paid and if that price means casualties, then so be it. So now, we the viewers don't just see how the strongest mages are; we also get to see their moral compasses and even understand what magic means to each of them. That is quite a revelation. So uhh, where does Stark fit in all of this... |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4997 |
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Stark has been benched and since the exam arc will probably take the remainder of the season...well, he may pop up near the end of the season, maybe? As for the morals of it, the demons are clear in that they are bad/lack anything that can be reasoned with. For the mages it is a tad more tricky. There are good and bad ones I am sure, but you do not get to the top of the magical world just by being nice. As the one flashback showed, the world is not very friendly towards mages and those with power are usually the target of envy/fear.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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It's like the saying goes, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." The depiction of "power" in this show has mostly been through magic users. We haven't really seen any aristocrats flex their social/political clout, and it's basically just been Frieren and co. getting out of most situations with their skill and prowess as adventurers. If you think about power in the sense of being an extension of oneself, really, anybody with magical ability could be considered a major threat, because they'd just have speak some words and/or wave their staff around, and kablooey. A warrior or knight could still be considered powerful from a physical perspective. But magic is essentially like bringing missiles to a knife fight, and the only limiters are the mage's mana and skill level. Could be interesting if the story delves into this, later. But I'm honestly so enthralled by the world of the franchise and masterful craftsmanship in storytelling and production, that I don't care where it leads. I just want it all to go on forever. Last edited by Tony K. on Thu Jul 11, 2024 3:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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zfunk
Posts: 546 |
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This episode is all about subverting expectations. Wirbel having this other side to him, I wouldn't call him a nice guy, but there is a kind side to him. And his motives wanting to impress a girl, that gives him some depth even though it is superficial, still better than just being some psychopath like his appearance implies.
Also subvert the expectation of Fern and Ubel relationship, I thought there was going to be conflict between them, the way the examiners talked about them a couple of episodes ago, and so far they get along fine. Though I still not going to put is past Ubel when this is over, she is going to flirt with Stark just to mess with Fern. Someone needs to do something to get things moving with Fern and Stark. And we have one person who is just power hungry, and just wants an excuse to kill some people, and it is not Wirbel. Last edited by zfunk on Sat Jan 27, 2024 10:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ACｘS
Posts: 1226 |
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20:
You know, I was actually a bit nervous that they were going to kill each other, for two reason. One, I know that they must be some good in them because ultimately, their purpose is to vanquish demons. Two, I want to get to get to know them more. Thankfully, they didn't kill each other, and even better, we learned more about them. Perhaps the most important theme of this episode is that we got to see their principles. All of them have clearly done something they are not proud of, but all have humanity in them: Wirbel has killed many demons—even humans, I guess—before but even he has to mentally prepare himself before doing so. He is cunning and uses underhanded methods just to win, yet he is naive enough to believe Fern's bluff. And after hearing that Ehre is "dead", he was low-key disturbed (which Ubel picked up) and chooses not to fight further. He's clearly not the sadistic kind, and kills when he has to. (Somehow I feel like Wirbel's team finding the Stille was karma for choosing not to kill). Ubel has hinted that she has had her own horror stories, which might explain her cynical streak. I still want to know what happened when she killed the first-class mage in her last exam; maybe there is more to the circumstances. Denken is a political figure who is cerebral and power-hungry, but even he thinks that killing children is too much. Probably the kind who does things only when necessary. Unlike Richter who, after revealing the story of Serie, clearly wants his wish, and would apparently kill for it. This exam is proving to be a plot device to explore character background, and I want to see even more. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 3443 |
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#20
It's all about the action for now as the invigilator's wish for a battle royale to prove the mettle of the candidates is granted. Quite a few duels featured in this episode, with more to come as time runs out and the remaining Stille proving too difficult to secure without specialist spells or plans. So far, the only fatalities in this franchise have been of demons when duels take place, although this episode came very close to breaking that rule with Fern and the others. Is anyone surprised Fern uses (Frieren-modified) Zoltraak the same way Guvaul did? The only time Fern has been brought to her knees in battle was defending against Guvaul and Frieren, so it's no wonder she uses the exact same techniques he did to bring mere human mages to their knees. What's scary about Fern is she maintains her poker face throughout, so no one is going to second-guess her when she claims to have killed. Frieren appears to have deliberately handicapped her by not teaching her anything other than modified Zoltraak as it's more than enough against the mages of this era, which is just as well as Fern doesn't hold back and could easily kill if a different spell was in her armoury. As for the others, having two seasoned killers target each other turned out slightly differently than expected. Wirbel takes his time before pulling the trigger, so his intended victim's taunt that he's trying to remain human despite all of the horrors he's experienced might have a ring of truth in it, since she's not hesitating if the positions are reversed. It buys enough time for Fern to intervene, so a human death within the vicinity of the Frieren party is avoided for now. The big showdown which a lot of people (including myself) are anticipating is Denken vs. Frieren. The latter has gone completely under the radar since the test began with the invigilators not recognising her, yet Denken (and to a lesser extent Frieren's teammates) knew who she was on sight and have knowledge of what she's capable of through her reputation. He might not want to kill Frieren's teammates since they're still young and no threat, but is he capable of pulling his punches against a figure of living legend? A battlemage who worked his way up the ranks through achievement and backstabbing, Denken should prove formidable if he can surprise Frieren, but if it's drawn out I cannot see Frieren losing even though she admitted she'd lost duels in the past to opponents less strong than she is on specs alone. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 4183 |
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While we didn’t see them die on screen, I think you might be forgetting about the corpses of the one party that Denken and his party found in the previous episode. |
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