Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1213 |
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How is something a "sleeper hit" when it was the main series everyone was clamoring around before it even premiered? I'm literally typing this with banner ads for the manga on three sides of my screen right now. |
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jdnation
Posts: 2004 |
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See, I personally didn't know that. I only learnt of it just before it popped up on Crunchyroll. I should contextualize that it could be one of those hits that suddenly blows up way outside of the fanbase and even be a upset winner that ends up at the #1 spot on most people's lists in the same year where anticipated shows like Jujutsu Kaisen and Mushoku Tensei are airing. For me, this was pretty much out of nowhere, and anecdotally I know many people where this was not even on the radar. Admittedly, myself and they are older and busier and we are not online all the time to know what is trending or not. We're rather word-of-mouth the old-fashioned way. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 1847 |
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There is something that attracted about the direction. Early episodes feel like events are a bit slow and calm but intentional mostly in the last days of Himmel and how Frieren react in his funeral. Both Fren and Stark also feel like quiet teenagers which shocked when something Big happened and the latter fought that dragon alone with an axe
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Oggers
 Posts: 366 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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I'm enjoying the series a lot so far. I'd already heard good things about the manga, and learning that the anime would have the same director behind Bocchi the Rock gave me high hopes (even if Bocchi is very different from Frieren in terms of story and tone), and so far it certainly hasn't disappointed. Evan Call's music also adds a great deal to the story's overall low-key but somewhat wistful atmosphere.
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2314 |
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Really enjoyed this week's episode. Even if it's not a theme in the series, the shounen kid in me was spoiler[excited to finally get some meaningful action. Frieren (the show; and the character, I guess) is really excellent at it, when it wants to be.].
One curious linguistic thing stuck out to me: the episode's title is spoiler[translated as "Frieren the Slayer", but the word used for Slayer is 葬送, which seems much less aggressive, and almost literary; even the individual Kanji seem to mean something like 'funeral send(ing)'. Although, admittedly, I have no idea how I would succinctly translate that.... "Frieren of Burial Observations" doesn't have the same ring to it. Oh, hm, and also feels like maybe it has a double meaning not present in the English, in that much of the show is about her observing the funerals not just of demonkin, but of her friends...]. Ahh, and, from wiki, apparently this is also spoiler[the Japanese title of the series as a whole? But, the English translation in this episode and for the series' title are completely different, reflecting different ways of interpreting the Japanese word in specific contexts, I guess, with the translation of title as 'Beyond Journey's End' definitely giving it a more artful, soft, somewhat lachrymose feeling.] Mm, or perhaps in both cases it is just the publishers/translators giving up entirely on a direct translation |
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SaneSavantElla
 Posts: 228 |
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I wonder if there is any distinction between demons like Qual and the demons introduced in the last two episodes? We've only seen five 'humanoid' demons so far (the three envoys, Aura, and the one in the Himmel flashback) and I can't help but notice that not only are these demons eloquent -- they are also unequivocally beautiful, at least compared to the average humans we see in the show.
I was thinking that the story might go for the common modern vampire trope, i.e. they also evolved to become very attractive to their prey, but of course Qual is a glaring counterexample. So maybe not? Or perhaps they can shapeshift? |
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tintor2
Posts: 1847 |
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We got the title drop in the 8th episode. I didn't expect this twist. It's like she turned out to be a Goblin Slayer of demons or something. This sure gives a lot of potential to her backstory or whether or not Himmel and the others knew about Frieren's clash with demons in general. There are so many other characters in the opening that I don't know if the guy Fren and Stark saved recently might become another major character. Looking forward to the next episode.
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DerekL1963
 Subscriber Posts: 1114 Location: Puget Sound |
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There's two things I've picked up on that tie into this... First, Himmel wasn't lily white and one-dimensional. He's got his flaws. Second, I think he might have been carrying a bit of a torch for Frieren.
More likely, they decided that in these cases direct translation was not suitable. Even in cases where it's even possible, it rarely is. |
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DerekL1963
Subscriber Posts: 1114 Location: Puget Sound |
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Qual was locked away decades ago... Plenty of time for not-locked-away demons to evolve their strategy in the same way humans evolved theirs. |
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Zerreth
 Posts: 207 Location: E6 |
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It could always go the route of Magic: the gathering cards: spoiler[Frieren, the Wake Host/Host of Wakes] |
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Gnarth
Posts: 175 |
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Another couple of masterclass episodes. As much as I'm usually a sucker for grey morality, I actually find the portrayal of demons to be deeply refreshing. They are they are the natural predators of humans and they exploit our biggest weakness: empathy. After so many Devilman-like stories asking you to empathize with man-eating monsters, this show makes it very clear the two species cannot peacefully co-exist. A great way to have purely evil villains, as once again it explores our humanity rather than just the flashy fights. Speaking of which, Frieren looked so badass in that last scene!
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MemoBookworm
Posts: 10 |
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I've been thinking about why this treatment of the demons works so well - I've seen a few people suggesting that it's because it's so rare to see intelligent but irredeemable creatures in media these days, but I don't think that's true - I think it's actually because Frieren comes at it from a completely opposite direction than we usually see.
Usually, when we see species portrayed as intelligent and capable of speech yet still completely evil, it's because a series wants a challenging antagonist but also wants to show the heroes slaughtering their way through them with no remorse - then tacks on that the species is completely evil as a way to avoid thinking about the morality of that. This show comes at it from the opposite direction - by showing that the instinct of humans is indeed to sympathise with creatures we can talk to - even if they eat humans! Frieren's immediate reaction to the demons comes across as shocking because of that and our natural instinct is to think that she's being prejudiced - when really she's had a thousand years to train herself out of any hesitation when killing them. In a way, this show feels more like the shows that treat demons sympathetically than those that don't because it shows how humans are naturally inclined to empathy, and uses that to make the demons come across as even more terrifying by comparison. It also helps that I wouldn't exactly call the demons evil - more like they operate on completely different moral standards than humans do. Like with the demon girl in the flashback - I think her desire to 'live in peace' was sincere, but to us a human can 'live in peace' and still swat a fly that's annoying them. Theoretically, a demon could coexist with humans, but how many people would have to die before that demon understood the boundaries of what humans consider acceptable? |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1397 |
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This is, I think, what makes it work. If the show, through Frieren, took a hardline stance that Demons were morally irredeemable by virtue of being demons, it'd be pretty uncomfortable and uncharacteristically thoughtless compared to the rest of the series. Instead, the demons are presented more like they're approaching humans the way humans approach animals. In the same way we learn animals' behavior and exploit it to our own ends, demons learn what makes humans tick and have no qualms about misleading or manipulating humans for their own ends. That almost neutral manipulation is honestly more unsettling than if they were cackling villains. |
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RenimLS
Posts: 118 Location: North America |
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The fan translation of the manga also took the route of translating it as Frieren the Slayer, with the translator noting it was for lack of coming up with a better way to translate the different interpretation of the title's meaning. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11365 |
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I love Frieren playing "tough mom" by leaving things for Fern and Stark while she dealt with Aura, knowing the pair of them could handle it on their own.
Poor Stark. Made to look like he wet himself and constantly comes off uncool around Fern. I guess she just has that effect on people. I was denied Manaka Iwami vs Kana Ichinose. |
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