What a Revolte-ing development.
I’ve been waiting weeks to use that, so no complaints. Yes, we have our arc big bad – and season too, as we’re only getting ten episodes. Revolte (Miki Shinichirou) is indeed the promised four-armed sword demon. And obviously, no anime was ever not made better by adding him to the cast. The action-heavy arcs don’t tend to be my favorite from Sousou no Frieren, for reasons I elucidated last week. But there are pleasures that go along with them, and hearing from Miki is certainly a nice bonus.
Genau is an interesting sort of anti-hero, it must be said. A terrible actor (the character, not the seiyuu) but interesting. He cares deeply about his village and is both enraged and distraught at its fate. And as for his talk with Methode, well – no one one as emotionless and “not good” as Genau claims to be would care so much about being that way. He knows the demon in question – Revolte killed his partner. Frieren doesn’t seem to know him specifically, but she knows all about general-level demons, having fought (and dispatched) countless among them.
Demons not having sympathetic natures is just part of the fabric of Frieren – love it or hate it, that’s the mythology. It’s an interesting contrast to something like Kimetsu no Yaiba, where the demons have recognizably human traits (linking back to them actually having been human once). This series’ demons can behave in a charming way and sort of play-act at having what we’d call feelings, but that’s all it is – playing. I’m sure the Divine Revolte and his three minions are no different (including the loli).
Revolte has fought and eaten humans enough to know their trends, and that includes refusing to abandon their dead – something which even a demon as experienced as he can’t really understand. Genau is the one who stays while the others head off to search for the demons who killed the mercenaries and villagers. Three of them, anyway – Stark stays behind with Genau, reasoning that while Frieren, Fern, and Methode can flee is things to cattywampus, Genau won’t abandon the village.
It’s an interesting decision by Stark, who is indeed – as Genau assesses him – a good person. Part of this too, I think, is that Stark is desperate for male mentorship or even bonding time. Plus, he sees through Genau’s facade and wants to honor his resolve. The others head off to an abandoned fort where Frieren believes thee youkai may be hiding, and along the way there’s some lightweight banter about Methode patting Frieren’s head and Fern getting jealous. But soon enough the demons attack – two subordinates go after the Frieren group, and Revolte himself attacks the village (presumably with Loli-chan in reserve).
One of those pleasures I was talking about is seeing Madhouse allowed to really show off, something this series allows them limited opportunities to do. They’re still one of the greats when it comes to sakuga, and they flex pretty good here. There’s not much suspense about how this (or any in Frieren) fight is going to come out, but it’s still a joy to see it animated and choreographed. And Genau’s secret Digardnacht ability – “Niello wings” – is pretty damn cool. He even does a chunni pose when he releases it. He’s probably not quite a pivotal enough character to be Teflon, so Genau’s fate is the one element of this arc that does have a little suspense to it.
tsirrus
March 8, 2026 at 2:44 amDidn’t think of Stark’s longing for male mentorship, it’s a good assumption given that he’s always stuck with girls and Sein is a long time ago. I also think it’s a form of redemption for having left his own village.
I assume, and hope, that the 3 fights won’t resolve in a single episode.
Yukie
March 8, 2026 at 4:01 amlol glad that i wasn’t the only one who saw his chuuni pose; it made me momentarily question whether his previous acts of stoicness and deadpan facade were all just part of this chuuni character xD
Guardian Enzo
March 8, 2026 at 10:01 amI mean, the guy is pretty clearly all eminence front. He may not be chunnibyou but Genau is obviously an emotional guy.
Vance
March 8, 2026 at 5:17 amIt’s interesting that Frieren wants Fern to handle the (teen-aged?) male demon herself. I guess Fern does need a confidence boost since travelling with Frieren, who was part of the Hero’s Party, would make anyone who doesn’t have a good reference on how capable most mages are feel insecure given Fern has spent most of her life with Frieren, but I wonder whether Frieren is eyeing the small child demon, who might actually be the strongest of this group of demons aside from Revolte himself.
Guardian Enzo
March 8, 2026 at 10:03 amWell, in theory the loli could be a problem with Methode, given her fetish. Fern’s confidence issues are less “starK” than Stark’s, but she has them. Frieren knows Fern is a first-class mage but she constantly defers to her (understandably). And Fern doesn’t have Frieren’s lifespan to develop her confidence.
Nanashi
March 8, 2026 at 3:56 pmI don’t think Stark is “desparate for male mentorship.” This arc is not about getting along with women. So concerning mentorship Frieren is enough. Stark’s main reason to stay in the village is because Genau reminds him of his own past. Stark still feels guilty about abandoning his village although his brother told him so to save his life. So he knows Genau won’t run away, even when Genau is looking straight into Death’s eyes. By staying at Genau’s side Stark tries to share Genau’s grief, alleviate his burden and prevent him from getting killed.
But you’re also right about one aspect: Wanting to speak with someone who has the same gender as you every once in while is a valid point.
What irritates me in this episode is the behaviour of Genau and Revolte:
At 4:50 Methode explains to Frieren and Co. that a demon general killed the Norm knights with four swords. Genau knows that his partner was killed by such a demon but decides to remain silent during the information exchange. On the other hand he tells Stark in the evening (18:02) what he knows about the imitation of Megadeth’s mascot Vic Rattlehead. Genau even knows important details about the four swords. That would have been helpful information for Fern, Frieren and Methode as well. So, that doesn’t make any sense, since he obviously cares for his teammates, well, at least for Methode as this episode shows.
As for Revolte: He is certainly the last person to lead others. When explaining to Jung – she is called “Yun” in the end credits which is a way to write the German word “jung” (“young” in English) using Katakana; some of you called her “loli” – at 7:16 what he figured out about human behaviour he seems to be proud of this knowledge. But when Jung asks him why humans behave that way, he just says it doesn’t matter. Yeah, sure, Revolte, it doesn’t give you an advantage in battle knowing the reason behind your opponent’s moves in certain situations. By the way, in this scene Jung says “four mages” at 5:58, “three mages” is an obvious mistake by the translator. “Yonin” means “four” and “sannin” would be “three”, Jung says “yonin.” Plus: After knowing that the humans split up, Revolte decides to split up his lackeys as well. So there goes his advantage, and his research of human behaviour was for naught. I mean, wouldn’t it be better to attack the smaller group of your opponents together instead of alone? Good lord! What an idiot!
And compared with season one, the animations in this episode were rather irritating than good. It reminded me of a James Bond movie, where Bond hunted a villain or maybe it was the other way around. The point is the vast amount of cuts and the use of close-ups made it nearly impossible to know what’s going on. Here Madhouse also used a lot of close-ups during the fight in the village when long shots would have been better. Of course close-ups save time and money.
On the positive side: I liked the reference to Solitär at 7:54, and Genaus one-liner at 20:37 is great.