Sousou no Frieren is an interesting and somewhat difficult series for me to nail down.  I don’t madly love it (I do like it, and quite a lot), and on paper it was one of the very rare shows where that seemed like a realistic possibility.  But it’s very nature is such that that might just be unavoidable.  It’s not one that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and demands that you kneel in awe of its majesty.   It’s more of a brainworm, something that slowly draws you into its worldview and slowly imparts its effects.  Like the proverbial frog in the pot of cold water that’s set on the stove (that’s not actually true, by the way).

The big news story here is the addition of Stark to the recipe.  I didn’t find Frieren and Fern super riveting as a pair in and of themselves, so in theory this is a good thing.  And in practice too, I think.  Their three-way chemistry is more engaging than the two-way was, and it allows the character side of the story to go in a few new directions.  Many will immediately go to the shipping lanes, of course, but I don’t get the vibe the story will follow that course much (and not because of the x-ray vision spell, either).  I’m fine either way to be honest.

In some sense I think Stark most closely mirrors the Himmel role in the party despite being Eisen’s student.  But he’s quite different from Himmel personality-wise (in some respects anyway).  Everyone keeps calling him a coward but I don’t see him that way – he’s just a guy with the sense enough to be terrified of terrifying things (as is the dragon, as it turns out).  As Eisen says, fear is not something to be ashamed of – we’re wired with it for a reason.  It keeps you alive, especially in a medieval world full of dangers like this one.  Stark never abdicated his responsibility to the village (which he never asked for in the first place), and Fern is right that he would never have run and abandoned it when the shit hit the fan.

Eisen too was terrified – of dragons, and of Stark too, which should tell you how powerful Stark (potentially) is.  While they “parted in anger” it’s clear that there was affection between them, and the flashbacks bear that out (they also bear out that the barkeep is full of it).  Stark sees himself as Eisen’s surrogate in traveling with Frieren, since the dwarf himself is too old now (and I think he’s right).  The “fun and ridiculous” times were the highlight of Eisen’s life, and they had a bigger impact on Frieren than she’s willing to admit.

As for the dragon incident, in the end it’s kind of a non-event (am I the only one who feels a little sorry for the dragon?).  If Stark is already strong enough to kill a dragon without any help from Frieren his potential is truly formidable.  For now, though, it’s a return to the road – and to the same town where the heroes’ party departed for the northern lands all those years earlier.  This time around the checkpoint to the north is closed because of monsters and war running havoc there, and Fern overseas a couple of merchants saying it might stay that way for two years.

That would be fine with Frieren, who just wants to wander the back alley magic shops and study grimoires.  But Fern and Stark and not only mortal, but young – the sound of their ticking clocks is deafening in their years.  There’a already kind of an interesting dynamic between them, in part I think because Fern resents having to share her mother figure with anyone else.  But their circumstances make them allies here – two years is not an option, especially for Stark as he wants to make it back in time to entertain the aging Eisen with tales of his ridiculous and fun adventures.  In the end Frieren is undone by her own reputation rather than anything the kids are able to accomplish on their own.

None of this is especially riveting in a vacuum.  But this is a show where the whole often seems more than the sum of its parts, helped along by Evan Call’s outstanding score.  By nature Sousou no Frieren is observational rather than participatory, as if one is eavesdropping on the lives of the characters.  It doesn’t reward patience so much as demand it, and the more the viewer surrenders themselves to it the more these often mundane and seemingly incidental moments impact them.  My hope is that will become easier and easier to do as the story progresses…