The new year anime hiatus is always an odd time of year for me as a writer. It’s really the only extended break I get from episodic coverage on the entire calendar, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy that. But by the time the winter season rolls around I’m always antsy to get back to the grind (until I’m exhausted again after about three days). Dungeon Meshi was the start of a trickle; now we’re basically preparing for the flood.
Sousou no Frieren kicks off its second cour (the only series I remember to do so with Episode 17) with an episode that could hardly be more Sousou no Frieren-like. Which is great in the sense that I’ve really started to vibe with it over the past several eps. But just as I’m really getting into it, Frieren is headed for big change – as evidenced by the faces prominent (and absent) in the previews of the second cour. And the new OP too, for that matter. My great fear is that on paper this looks like a Mahoutsukai no Yome-style Hogwarts arc, though a couple of manga readers have described it as being more like the Hunter Exam. Whichever, it’s not going to be business as usual.
This starts with Sein, and while
his departure was hinted at in the mid-finale and effectively confirmed by the aforementioned PV and OP, it still sucks. I imagine we’re going to see Sein at some point in the future, but I felt that his was an extremely positive impact on the chemistry of the cast. Sein was blunt spoken and saw things from the perspective of a jaded adult. That meant he could call Fern and Stark out on their teen nonsense (“Start dating already!”, indeed). He could tell Frieren things she needed to hear, too, things which Fern and Stark would not either because they lack the experience to see them or the stature in their relationship with her to share.
It certainly makes sense for Sein’s character arc that he would leave to pursue Gorilla. Until he gets closure there, that relationship will always hang over him. But it still sucks (repeat) for the series, and his parting was mighty abrupt. His final act with the group was, in effect, mediating a dispute (at Frieren’s pleading) between Stark and Fern. As you’d expect it was over something silly (Stark reciprocating after Fern touched his cheek earlier), and went no deeper than Stark’s social clumsiness and Fern’s hypersensitivity. But Sein’s value to the dynamic is obvious here just the same. I think his absence is especially tough on Stark, who’s really the odd man out in the group without Sein.
At this point the focus turns to Fern getting sick as the trio continue on their journey. Hiking through the mountains in the winter it’s only surprising that doesn’t happen more often. Sein would have been more than handy here, but he at least left Frieren a sheaf of notes on medicinal herbs. Frieren loves to hold Fern’s hand when she’s sick, which Stark keenly observes she complains about only because he’s there to witness it. Frieren learned this behavior from Himmel, unsurprisingly – she learned far more from him than she realizes (and she realizes a fair bit).
There’s not much to be said about this sequence, really, except that it’s classic Sousou no Frieren. The “icicle cherry tree” was lovely, so was Frieren’s talk with Stark in its shadow, and seeing her play mother as best she can is quite impactful. She learned how to care from the ones who cared for her as no one else had. And while Frieren seems dispassionate and distant, it’s been obvious for a long time that those ten years changed her more than her other 990 (or however many it is) combined. This is a good mode for the series to be in – let’s hope the myriad major changes about to happen don’t throw it off its game.
SeijiSensei
January 6, 2024 at 10:39 pmI wonder what will happen to Stark at the magic school. What role will he play?
Guardian Enzo
January 6, 2024 at 10:41 pmI’m assuming none at all, or almost none.
sonicsenryaku
January 7, 2024 at 3:43 amShakugan no Shana and To aru Majutsu no Index/Kaguku no Railgun are series that characteristically start their second cour on the 17th episode. Back then I used to call it, “the JC Staff delayed new opening” effect because both shows were produced by said studio and shared the trait of starting their new cour on the same episode count.
sonicsenryaku
January 7, 2024 at 12:29 pmI think for Frieren however, the 4-episode premiere is probably what’s factoring into the 17th episode second cour start. Seeing as those first four eps debuted at the same time, it has only been airing for 13 weeks prior to the new year. This 17th episode is its 14th airing week (which is usually when you expect to see changes in an OP and ED) and the start of a new 12 episode second cour since the anime is going to have 28 in total if I recall correctly; once again, those 28 eps are on account of that 4-episode introduction.
Essentially, Frieren should be your typical 24 to 25 episode two cour length season but since its premiere ep was narratively treated as one 84 min long episode, the effort spent to do so has bumped it to 28 in terms of episode listing, which is a concession you don’t typically see happen. Usually multi-episode premieres are treated as just that: a multi-length feature that takes up the episode count of a typical cour’s length; however for Frieren, they decided to do the multi-episode premiere while STILL producing an additional 24 eps, almost as if that multi-episode debut really was just one singular episode.
I surmise that the director really wanted that premiere to legitimately be seen as one long episode on the official episode list. That however, would probably never fly with the production committee as I’m sure they wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to make sure they’re able to sell the premiere on the technicality that it’s composed of 4 episodes and for that reason alone, should be distributed as 2 different blu-ray volumes; gotta keep ripping people off on those insanely high disc prices, after all.
Guardian Enzo
January 7, 2024 at 12:46 pmWell yes, of course the movie premiere is the reason for it. I was just pointing out that I didn’t recall another recent example.
Nicc
January 7, 2024 at 3:16 pmYep, the downtime gives me a chance to catch up on some other shows that I may missed out on earlier in the year. Or, to just do other things. I’ve been doing some cleaning up, but I’m saving the serious work until before Lunar New Year.
In the meantime, it’s great to have “Frieren Friday” back again. Indeed, the new OP does show some major changes as the party looks like they’ll be arriving at Äußerst in the next episode and to kick off a major arc there. That also means that Sein will be departing as his pal the Gorilla was last seen headed off to another city that’s in a different direction. I’ll miss his addition to the party too, though I also agree that we’ll be seeing him again at some point. I’ve already seen Sein’s “Just start dating already!” image make its way around the Internet. However, it looks like he’ll be staying a little longer with the party as a major blizzard hits the town just when they were planning to depart after staying a night. As we’ve seen before, winter hits hard and fast in this region.
Still, at least they have creature comforts compared to when they were staying in a small hut along with Kraft. Fern and Stark get themselves into another tiff which Sein helps to mediate. As the snow lets up, it’s time to resume the journey again. Sein splits off from the party and he already misses the company of the others. As for the rest, Fern gets a fever while in the middle of the journey. It is a good thing that Sein left some notes behind to help out and Frieren was able to remember a nearby town (Which is now just a small settlement) from her time with the Hero’s party. Frieren and Stark head out on a small quest to find ingredients for the medication which leads to a beautiful icicle cherry tree. I’d also be startled by mushrooms of that size. We get some new bits about the relationship between Fern and Frieren, such as the hand-holding, which she learned from Himmel. It does seem like Frieren treats Fern as something of a daughter. The medicine does the trick and Fern is back on her feet soon. So, it looks like they’ll reach that magic city and like SeijiSensei, I too wonder what Stark is going to do in this arc. Perhaps he sets off on his own adventures as Fern and Frieren busy themselves with their magic exams.
Morton
January 19, 2024 at 12:26 amDo you think Stark deserves to be forgiven for what he did to Fern? Sneaking up on her and touching her face