Finally, miles into the dangerous Northern Plateau, Frieren’s party runs into more past companions with the promise of coins and better supplies. Unfortunately, having age-old, unfinished debts comes with its own issues.
Boshaft—The Emperor's Spirit
For you, spending 70 years chasing this impossible dream was the most important event of your life. For me, it was Tuesday.
Boshaft truly convinces me that it’s the elves like Serie and Milliard that are the most thematically interesting antagonists in the show.
For as interesting as the inhumanity of the demons is, they’re ultimately just villains to be defeated by heroes in the end. Frieren’s elves aren’t really evil, but they are truly alien in their views on existence. Where the show is a celebration of the impermanence of life and the peace found in simple dreams, Elves have none of this. They’re not just rigid. They don’t just have zero ambitions or appreciation for life. They don’t even concern themselves with survival, which all living beings innately have.
Milliard is far more insidious and Machiavellian than any villain on the show, simply because she makes a hobby out of wasting existence for herself and the shorter lifespans around her. Not out of any sense of fun, but simply because it passes the time. And I think there’s something quite profound about how the conclusion of this episode, Fass’s act of enjoying crappy wine and sharing crappiness with others like him, acts as a sort of rebellion to this orchestrated meaninglessness.
Even if there are some issues with the three-month gap feeling underwritten and superfluous, I find the episode’s themes so powerful that I can give it a pass.
The Norm Company
This was a nice respite after the heavier first half. Atsumi Tanezaki’s monotone delivery of Frieren announcing that she’s going to slave away at her taxes for 300 years practically sells the episode on its own.
I feel slightly cheated out of a more interesting conflict, with Norm’s descendant having no real reason to continue nepotistic funding for Frieren’s achievements, which he wasn’t alive to witness. It’s a pretty strong conflict that’s undone once the descendant reveals that he always planned to ask Frieren for her services politely all along. (Which he could’ve been nicer about, he almost got his mine raided by a bloodthirsty Fern and Stark)
That said, it’s still fun seeing Frieren in another unflattering situation that still barely elicits a reaction out of her. It’s not just hilarious, but it also shows how valuable Frieren’s levelheadedness can be in problem-solving and guessing twists in advance.
Stray Observations:
- Though I wasn’t a huge fan of the subplot in episode four with the Northern Plateau, I’m glad that there’s a lot more thought being shown here with Frieren’s traversal and supply issues. I hope this tension will become more prevalent as the season continues.
- Are you seriously telling me that Frieren has spent less than a millennia collecting spells and hasn’t memorized one to transmute good food? Come on. At least she has a mining potion spell…
- Norm’s miners are just Baki characters, if they played Confrontation over the scene where they grab Frieren, it would be totally in the same tone.
- Seriously, what did Stark even do during those three months?
As season two continues, keep up with the episodes on Crunchyroll!
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