Sousou no Frieren is a funny sort of kaijuu. It’s not simply the “Long periods of boredom (idyll) interrupted by moments of sheer terror” paraphrase of a couple weeks ago. But that general style is kind of great for a power studio like Madhouse. When you have a big budget – as a monster hit like this surely does – and a show that’s mostly dialogue and backgrounds, you have a lot of powder to keep dry. So a series like this with roughly 80% slice-of-life and 20% action means when that 20% rolls around, you can really go balls-out on the sakuga. Madhouse doesn’t get as many chances to show off these days as, say, Bones. But I’m certain they love to flex when given the chance.

The flipside of that of course is that the big fights in Frieren have little suspense. The only meaningful characters who’ve died have done so of old age (in itself something we rarely see depicted in anime). So until given reason to believe otherwise, we can assume the demons will die and the humans will live on. It’s just a matter of how it plays out, which is exciting when it’s depicted as beautifully as Frieren does it but not in the suspenseful sense. The fights are, if anything, a vehicle for character development. Unless Frieren gets involved, in which case they’re a massacre. But she only dirties her hands when things get quite serious.

Frieren here is the proverbial mama tiger teaching her cub how to hunt. Having taken the measure of their two opponents she literally removes herself to a distance, where she’ll get a better view. Presumably she would have intervened if things got really bad, but Fern’s plot armor is so strong that she never even gets hurt. As for Methode, I don’t think it’s as certain that Frieren would have bailed her out if needed but I also think Frieren knew she was less likely to need the help. The goal here is to force Fern to think for herself during battle with a modestly formidable opponent.

In the end, if we’re honest, Methode winds up bailing Fern out but I don’t think Frieren will have been too upset. It was, as Fern said, a bad matchup for her and she does OK when the chips are down. The main event here is with Stark and Genau (certainly where the sakuga is concerned), as they’re taking on the big boss in Revolte. Although Frieren makes no secret of the pecking order with her kids – Fern is priority 1 – I’m sure she would have liked to have been there observing Stark too. But not even Frieren can be in two places at once (at least not that she’s revealed – I wouldn’t put it past her). And this sort of combat is less her stock and trade.

This battle is pure teamwork, but then it needs to be with Revolte in opposition. The loli demon (I thought she might have been ticketed for Methode, which would have been fun) finally enters the fray, as Revolte uses her to get inside Genau’s head and land a blow. But she’s dusted quickly enough (she’s just a demon, and in this mythology they’re purely disposable). Stark has taken a blow to give Genau an opening but that opening wounded Revolte, too. As a tag-team these two are quite effective, and manage to break Revolte’s swords one by one. His hands are still weapons, and they do some nasty damage. But in the end things follow their predictable course.

Methode’s comment about the party lacking a priest certainly is on-point – Stark and Genau would have been toast without her. But Frieren insists the slot if being held open for Sein, which is a hopeful Sein that he might be returning soon (Stark surely hopes so). I was a little surprised to see Revolte dusted so quickly – we have two eps left – but it seems next week is a flashback episode. That’s a reminder that compared to the first season, the Heroes’ Party has been a rarity this go-around – we’ve seen much less of them. Since they’re still more or less the MacGuffin of the series, that had to change sooner or later.