Sousou no Frieren

[Buffalobiian]

We don't know the pana reserves the girls had. And they shared their shielding. They have a strong bond, so Richter was pitted against probably between 1 to twice his mana reserves.
Don't you think it can be seen like that?

That had slipped my mind actually. Lawine got side-lined in my mind, but the up-to-double capacity is plausible, and actually have more mana combined than him is likely.

Talking about mana, I wonder if mana capacity alone would let you brute force binds. Richter didn't get frozen completely because he's "protected by mana", and Frieren blocked Draht's wire with ring of mana as well. The difference would the manner in which various binds differ from physical restraints. Ubel couldn't use her mana while under Wirbel's bind, but Laufen could blast a tree whilst still under Frieren's bind.

Actually, now that I think about this.. this means that Frieren already knew of a "general bind" (that she used against Laufen and Denken against the tree). It'd have made sense to try that spell on the birds first, unless Bird Bind was needed because Stille are "tough", or General Bind needs physical contact while Bird Bind actually works a (small) distance away. Or it too is an oversight for the sake of story.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 22

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-Ubel can copy spells just by knowing a little about them and with empathy. Interesting tidbit that's going to give her potential, though neither Fern/Frieren's advantages can be quick-learned.

-Stark's knowing his way around Fern.

-The bakery Stark took Fern to looked like the drabest place ever.

[Kraco]

In my opinion the best part of the episode was the random scene where Frieren fround Stark "training". It was pretty funny how that nameless geezer apparently kept visiting Stark and dealing out possibly totally meaningless, possibly useful information, as if he was Stark's (temporary) martial arts instruction. Maybe he really was an instructor in the past, but then Alzheimer got to him, and now he's basically living in the past, teaching Stark, as if Stark was some former student of his. Funny but also sad.

-Stark's knowing his way around Fern.

I feel like Fern can just appreciate his intention and effort, as Stark isn't really smart enough to know his way around anything, and she knows that.

-The bakery Stark took Fern to looked like the drabest place ever.

Fortunately the two girls appeared, and seemed to know exactly what a young woman would like, unlike Stark and Frieren.

[MFauli]

Very bad episode :/

I REALLY hate how saccharine things suddenly became. Last episode: EVERYBODY, LET'S MURDER EACH OTHER YOOOOOOO!!!11. This episode: Let's spend fun time together and laugh lots! Am I kawaiii?

:|

This entire episode felt out of place, as if this wasn't a world where deadly monsters, robbers, intrigues and all sorts of horrors exist. Nah, suddenly this was portrayed as if it's peaceful paradise, with unconditional basic income, too, since Frieren just spent all her money for the fun of it. Ugh.

This is what plagues soooo many anime. They cannot properly balance serious and lighthearted scenes. Another thing older anime did so much better. Anime like Berserk, Claymore, Record of Lodoss War, Vision of Escaflowne, etc had funny scenes, too, but always within reason of the world that's depicted. Nowadays, anime just cannot do that anymore. Death and murder one minute, fun and cutesy the next. Meh ...

[Y]

Very bad episode :/

I REALLY hate how saccharine things suddenly became. Last episode: EVERYBODY, LET'S MURDER EACH OTHER YOOOOOOO!!!11. This episode: Let's spend fun time together and laugh lots! Am I kawaiii?

:|

This entire episode felt out of place, as if this wasn't a world where deadly monsters, robbers, intrigues and all sorts of horrors exist. Nah, suddenly this was portrayed as if it's peaceful paradise, with unconditional basic income, too, since Frieren just spent all her money for the fun of it. Ugh.

This is what plagues soooo many anime. They cannot properly balance serious and lighthearted scenes. Another thing older anime did so much better. Anime like Berserk, Claymore, Record of Lodoss War, Vision of Escaflowne, etc had funny scenes, too, but always within reason of the world that's depicted. Nowadays, anime just cannot do that anymore. Death and murder one minute, fun and cutesy the next. Meh ...

No one committed murder in the first stage of the exam. The only team that died was killed by the hostile monster birds.

[Ryllharu]

This entire episode felt out of place, as if this wasn't a world where deadly monsters, robbers, intrigues and all sorts of horrors exist. Nah, suddenly this was portrayed as if it's peaceful paradise, with unconditional basic income, too, since Frieren just spent all her money for the fun of it. Ugh.

This is what plagues soooo many anime. They cannot properly balance serious and lighthearted scenes. Another thing older anime did so much better. Anime like Berserk, Claymore, Record of Lodoss War, Vision of Escaflowne, etc had funny scenes, too, but always within reason of the world that's depicted. Nowadays, anime just cannot do that anymore. Death and murder one minute, fun and cutesy the next. Meh ...

No, this episode is actually a return to form. The exam arc is out of place for the overall vibe of the series.

If you think Berserk had a good balance of serious and lighthearted, you obviously didn't read the later arcs.

Either your notion of balance is off, or you're watching the wrong series. Based on your comment, it's the former.

Frieren always spends all their money, usually on useless shit. She never cares. She would happily work in a small village for 30 years earning subsistence funds before resuming her journey. Fern is the one that watches their budget and is reminding Frieren that their lifespans are finite compared to hers, which is what Frieren wanted to learn after Himmel's death because it hurt her so much. The trio frequently has to do hard labor to make up the money.

[MFauli]

No, this episode is actually a return to form. The exam arc is out of place for the overall vibe of the series.

If you think Berserk had a good balance of serious and lighthearted, you obviously didn't read the later arcs.

Either your notion of balance is off, or you're watching the wrong series. Based on your comment, it's the former.

Berserk had lighthearted scenes within reason of the world depicted is what I wrote. And that's what Sousou no Frieren is lacking. One moment death and horror, the other cutesy and coziness.

@Y: The only reason no murder was committed is because they failed to. They certainly tried to kill each other. And outside of the competition, we know that Übel and Wirbel are infamous mass murderers. The way they acted in this episode didn't fit at all. I mean, the suicidal dude who was just okay with getting killed by Übel was very convenient for the writing, too.

[Ryllharu]

Berserk had lighthearted scenes within reason of the world depicted is what I wrote. And that's what Sousou no Frieren is lacking. One moment death and horror, the other cutesy and coziness.

You need to read past the Conviction Arc, because no, it does not.

[MFauli]

You need to read past the Conviction Arc, because no, it does not.

I read the manga, dude. It does.

[Y]

@Y: The only reason no murder was committed is because they failed to. They certainly tried to kill each other.

The test is clearly serious and life threatening, because people can die. But it equally obviously isn't a test about murders and the teams killing each other, because that didn't happen at all. There were multiple first-class mages on hand to presumably ensure it didn't. The test was not "ok, murder each other."

As for whether you could treat people relatively casually when you were just in a life-and-death scenario with them, there's nothing unbelievable about that at all, even in real life, much less an anime.

[David75]

I never lived in a country plagued with war.
But elderly had lots of stories of how they cherished brief but happy moments with others anytime they had a chance to.
Depending on where you lived, sure it was dangerous, but they still did it.
I guess that even in very trying times, it's important to party and have fun, maybe even more than in peaceful times.

[Kraco]

I don't believe the world is nearly as bad as you think it is. The problem with monsters and demons seem to be either sporadic and/or limited to certain spots in the world, where a demon happens to be living. Frieren & Co have seen a lot of it because they have been specifically looking for those spots while travelling.

Not to mention your view of the world is twisted by your own experience, which includes nothing but peace. If you go hundreds of years back in Europe, there simply was no peace. There were wars going on all the time. Sure, people didn't have the Internet or even the TV to get news from, but news about such big things spread with merchants, travellers, tax collectors, priests, and others. People just had no choice but to continue their lives the best they could, regardless. That shaped their minds. You don't see the "first world problems" line thrown around for nothing. If you live in certain parts of the world still today, you can't let the little things bother you anymore, as you never know if you are still alive a year from now.

In a fantasy world people as powerful as Frieren, Fern, and Stark are quite free to behave as they did in this episode. Few things can threaten their lives, plus they don't even have families or property to worry about. They are unfettered (expect for Frieren and Stark being fettered by Fern's mood swings), so they act accordingly.

[MFauli]

Few things can threaten their lives.

Except for literally everyone they met this episode :/

[Kraco]

Except for literally everyone they met this episode :/

That's nothing. When they are travelling, they only need to be worried about the most powerful demons and maybe some rare monsters that are an exceptionally bad match for them. In the city they are right now, the only thing they should be worried about is how to pass the next test.

[DarthEnderX]

Except for literally everyone they met this episode :/

None of them are a threat to Frieren.

No one committed murder in the first stage of the exam. The only team that died was killed by the hostile monster birds.

The teammate of the team Denken got his bird from died fighting other mages. As did, presumably, at least one of those other mages.

The test is clearly serious and life threatening, because people can die. But it equally obviously isn't a test about murders and the teams killing each other, because that didn't happen at all. There were multiple first-class mages on hand to presumably ensure it didn't.

COMPLETELY disagree. The test was designed to make teams fight, and the rules made it so killing was the quickest way to eliminate the other team.

And the first class mages didn't to SHIT to ensure people didn't die. They never even went in the bubble.

[Y]

The teammate of the team Denken got his bird from died fighting other mages. As did, presumably, at least one of those other mages.

COMPLETELY disagree. The test was designed to make teams fight, and the rules made it so killing was the quickest way to eliminate the other team.

And the first class mages didn't to SHIT to ensure people didn't die. They never even went in the bubble.

Yeah sorry I posted that drunk at 6AM.

[Buffalobiian]

The episode was fine. It's in line with the overall vibe of the anime.

And there's nothing wrong with chatting with examinees during off time. Just because you can kill them during the test doesn't mean you should kill them in between. It's illegal to do so outside of the exam setting anyway.

The only real caveat here is Ubel, who steals your shit by talking to you - so she's one to worry about.

[shinta|hikari]

I mean, I'd want Ubel to steal all the shit she can then try that shit on Fern just to get pwned.

Mana reserves destroy versatility in this show. Freiren mentioned she lost to some human mages in the past, but I bet she just didn't bombard them with all her mana to avoid murdering them. The contest was probably of skill, not pure combat. If it were, she would be dead already, having lost.

[shinta|hikari]

Even then, there exists such a thing as no hard feelings. If a Christmas Truce can happen in WW1, examinees can be cordial with each other during their off time, especially because they might be allied up again in the next stages of the exam.

[Buffalobiian]

And the first class mages didn't to SHIT to ensure people didn't die. They never even went in the bubble.

They were sitting in the bubble.

I mean, I'd want Ubel to steal all the shit she can then try that shit on Fern just to get pwned.

Wirbel's binding spell is a bit bothersome though. It's exceedingly good in 1v1. Even though mana can "protect" you like it did for Richter against ice and Frieren against Draht's wires, I'm not sure that mana protection works the same way against binds specifically - especially since this one shuts down your mana control.