I’m certainly calling this post a “Season Finale”, even if nothing is official at this point. And I probably would have even if that “The journey to Ende will continue” message hadn’t flashed at the end of this episode. Series as hugely successful as Sousou no Frieren don’t just stop. The question of timing isn’t a simple one – the manga used 60 chapters, which is just less than half the currently available material. As such a second season could theoretically already be in production, though the production committee might want to wait a year or more now to avoid a much longer wait between the second and third seasons.
I certainly expected this series to be good, and to do well commercially. It was good – not great – for me. But it was a bigger hit than I ever expected. It just missed the overall top 10 in manga volume sales for 2023 (which consisted of the usual suspects). But it was the biggest franchise since Blue Lock and Oshi no Ko, and just edged out The Apothecary Diaries as the biggest new anime property of 2023. In some sense perhaps that’s a little surprising, given how reflective and slow it could be a lot of the time (and it was those times when it was at its best). A great adaptation certainly helps, but clearly this premise really resonated with people.
This finale was – as expected, and fortunately – one of those times. First there was the matter of the remaining mages and their arbitrary “exam” with Serie. Denken kicked it off, and he was passed despite being old and washed-up “ashes” in Sense’s words. Methode got through too (I guess Serie doesn’t mind being called cute). Wirbel and Land too – and interestingly, in Land’s case it’s revealed that his real body never even left his hometown and no one, even Übel, noticed. Übel passed too – Serie not being the sort to be squeamish about her character.
So in the end, Serie pretty much rubber-stamped everybody but Frieren, who didn’t really care either way as long as Fern made the cut. It kind of adds to the whole sense that this arc was filler, but that ship has sailed. It’s over and done, and I’m sure some of these mages will factor into the story later on. As to the aftermath as usual it was Denken who was the most interesting. He continues his role of doting grandfather – revealing along the way that he had no children of his own, his wife having passed away in her 20s. Ehre basks in his largesse, but the old fellow even takes Fern and Stark along for some sweets.
Wirbel has an interesting conversation about the Hero’s Party with Frieren. As usual Himmel is the star here (he’s starting to come off as dangerously close to perfect, but I guess he’d have to be to make Frieren fall for him). He helps an old lady collect her spilled oranges while Frieren counts her grimoires and watches silently, and notes his surprise that she declined to help herself. It was the “boring” feats of the party that made on impact on him – all the little things Himmel did on the way rather than what he did at the destination. But then Frieren already knows all of this – for her it’s just a reminder.
After the confirmation ceremony – which Fern must attend solo because Serie has barred Frieren for a thousand years and Stark would rather be pretty much anywhere else – there’s an encounter with Lernen which comes off as a bit odd. Even allowing that he’s supposed to be a warrior mage, his challenging Frieren to a duel still feels like a stretch. His reasoning just doesn’t hold water for me. Like too much of this arc, it plays like an event that happens because the plot needs it to happen (though even that is a stretch in this case).
Fern’s spell request from Serie is very much in-character – it’s Febreze, basically. The townsfolk make it clear that Stark has – as usual – been winning friends and influencing people (almost Himmel-like). And with that, Äußerst is in thee rear-view mirror and the journey north continues. Frieren’s goodbyes are quick and to the point, as her young charges note. But as Himmel said all those years ago – and a good thing too, or this episode would have no title – “It would be embarrassing when we met again”. And Fern and Himmel meeting again is ultimately the point of all this, lest we forget.
Sousou no Frieren was a funny sort of series for me. I went in with pretty high expectations, and the four-episode premiere very much met them. But my engagement with it waxed and waned a bit even before the Exam arc, It was never less than good, but it went through flat stretches that left me a bit disconnected. Then something clicked – Sein’s arrival definitely was a catalyst – and I felt like I finally “got” the series. Then the whole exam thing, and I was pretty much in and out for the rest of the series.
I think this series has the ability to be genuinely profound, and I very much appreciate that it shows interest in the really big questions of existence. For me it sometimes gets bogged down in the details – and I mean pretty fundamental ones like plot and character. It works best when it’s true to its contemplative nature, and addresses emotion on the most visceral level. When it does that it speaks a language we can all understand, and does so eloquently. The less conventional a narrative it tries to be, the more successful it is.
Despite my relative indifference towards this final arc, I’m quite looking forward to the inevitable second season. The main reason, of course, is that anime that even attempt to do what Frieren achieves so effortlessly are very rare. But the hope is there that as the series progresses towards its inevitable destination, it will hew closer to the wind and revert more often to its essential nature. As long as it stays out of its own way, this series can be truly exceptional, and there just aren’t many anime about which that can be said.
Collectr
March 26, 2024 at 9:22 pmThe adaptation would have worked better at 24 episodes, with the exam sequence condensed by four episodes. The show works best when the leads are on display, being themselves, interacting with people they meet. The journey, with its near-random interactions along the way, is the point. Long stopovers bring the show to a halt.
Still, an adapted anime is a prisoner of its manga, unless the adapter is a fearless writer in his/her own right. Sustaining the wistful, nostalgic, almost placid tone of the journey while maintaining interest requires a brilliant writer, and the author of Frieren isn’t quite up to the job. So it’s filled out with the demon battle sequence (not too long, fortunately) and the exam arc (way too long).
I found the ‘redemption’ of Wirbel as a character a bit too facile. During the arc, he was presented as a ruthless villain, willing to kill Frieren’s companions in the first test without compunction. Now, he’s a decent guy, trying to gain strength in order to defend his hometown against demons; his behavior was a show. I don’t buy it. On the other hand, Fern claiming a cleaning spell as her reward is absolutely in character; and Serie using Flamme’s “useless” flower spell was a nice touch.
I look forward to more; but I think it will be an uneven ride, like this first tranche.
BigFire
March 27, 2024 at 6:49 amSeason 2, if they ever do it should contain the single best story arc of the manga, and that’s not a speculation. Everyone who has read the manga agree on that.
Nicc
March 27, 2024 at 8:28 amI think it’s a good call to consider it a season finale. The question is if it may be picked up by a different studio and Madhouse doesn’t really do second seasons. But, it was indeed a monster hit and it’s doing really well in the MAL rankings for whatever that’s worth. I haven’t been the biggest fan of the First Class Mage Exam arc either, but it did end on a nice note.
First, Serie had to decide the fate for the rest of the candidates. She initially wanted to fail Denken, but decided to pass him once she sensed that he still had some fire in those old bones. Wirbel also made it in and Übel also made the cut. I found it interesting that Übel was the only one who passed without any interrogation from Serie. I’ve been wondering if the Land we’ve been a clone all this time, but I never expected that he was literally working from home. For having the chutzpah to take the exam by remote work, she passed him. Methode indeed seems to have passed she considered Serie as cute. It seems that there were a lot of worthy candidates after all. That’s it for the exam and there’s going to be an after-party later on for all of the new First-Class Mages. There’s some downtime before that and we catch up with some other characters.
Fern is at a bakery, presumably to reward herself for passing when here comes Denken along with Laufen. He goes into full grandpa mode and treats all of the youths with desserts. We hear a bit more about his family life. His wife died when he was a young man and didn’t remarry. Sure, Fern didn’t pass that test and we’ll learn later that she won’t be allowed to retake the test for another thousand years (Only a thousand years? Fern must have thought that Serie is getting soft), but she got some good grimoires and so being at Äußerst wasn’t a total loss. That’s when she runs into Wirbel and he mentions about it’s all the normal feats of the Hero’s Party made the biggest impression on him. As you wrote later, Stark is doing well in that regard. He certainly doesn’t have the charisma of Himmel, but has made a very positive impression on people wherever he goes. It’s good to see that he was making himself useful (And, learning from that old master) while the two others were busy with the test.
The night falls and it’s time for the ceremony, which includes choosing any spell they want as long as Serie has it. Yep, Frieren has been barred and Stark wouldn’t want to be in the party anyways and so they step out. We don’t get a lot of moments between just Frieren and Stark and I would have liked to last longer until she was challenged by Lernen. That scene also seemed out-of-place to me and there were better ways to show that Serie does in fact actually give a damn about her former students.
It’s time for the group to depart and there are a few goodbyes to take care of. Fern decided to take a spell that handles laundry. Considering how much they’re on the road, a spell like that is a godsend. Any spell that makes our lives easier is a great one to get. Kanne and Lawine see them off and it looks like they’ll be staying at Äußerst for the next 3 years for the next exam. They should go bug Richter every now and then too. He does seem to appreciate company more than he lets on. Right, no tearful goodbyes as it would be embarrassing for the next meeting.
I agree that the series works best when it sticks to its contemplative nature and I also wished that Sein stayed a little longer as he added a nice dynamic to the cast. The Exam arc could’ve been better and I’m sure that Fern and company will run into them again somehow. Land can clone himself and follow multiple groups if he wanted to. I’m sure that we’ll get more of the series someday and in the meantime I did enjoy watching their adventures.
Guardian Enzo
March 27, 2024 at 8:56 amI think S2 is an absolute mortal lock here. Frieren is a big, big hit – even bigger than Apothecary, which was huge. Only questions are timing and, as you say, studio.