Sousou no Frieren 2nd Season Episode 2 Discussion

Fern: "Wow there are a lot of statues of Himmel aren't there?"
Me: "Well, it worked for Kim Jong-Un..."

But it's actually a different hero statue this time, of some generic looking medieval guy with a twirl-able mustache, so the episode immediately launches into a flashback and I swear- the entire first 15 minutes of the whole episode was just a massive exposition dump about this unnamed Hero of the South who we'll never see again and my God was it boring. I had high hopes for this season I really did.
So then they go to generic looking village and get invited to generic looking castle where another bland guy says he has a job for the adventurers to go get his family's magic sword from the Sword Demon. Was this written by a 5 year old?

They go searching and come to a ruined village and there's a woman there hiding by a tree.
Me: "It's the demon"
Demon: "Oh I'm a priest visiting the ruins to pray.."
Fern: "Oh look she's a priest" ... Fucking really? First Class mage and gullible as a dog. How did Fern not sense her mana? Demons don't hide it remember! Because they like to flaunt their power- I remember this from S1 because I actually watched it... oh but that's okay nobody noticed
Woman says she's praying, Frieren points her staff at her "Nuh uh you're demon chick"
Me: "Yep told ya so"
They fight in what was the only entertaining 3 minutes of the episode, then take the sword back to generic castle to present to generic gentleman dude.
Yawn.
2/5 way too much walking and talking, unnecessary exposition on an irrelevant character, action over before it starts, pretentious closer again.

boooooooooring, they really should've skipped all these boring parts of the manga

and it's just exposition with Frieren explaining but before they actually show the flashback more with Himmel, this time more exposition less flashback

Knowing that you are the strongest humanity has to offer, and that even if you battle against the 7 sages at the same time and defeat the strongest of them, you will still die, and you will still become just a footnote compared to someone else who will come later in the story... And yet you still accept a mission like that: if that's not a hero to you, your definitions need updating.

Friren Fridays bringing little tears to my eyes as always <3

My hot take is these types of stories in a show like Frieren is the best ones. We get mini subplots and detours which you may think is a meaningless side quest, but it’s what makes the show great. We aren’t focusing on the main goal Frieren is looking for (important but not the main focus), but it’s the process. That’s my problem with the exam arc, it didn’t felt like a Frieren story that I expected unlike the first half of season 1. Not saying it’s a bad arc, I liked it overall, it’s just stories like this is what makes Frieren amazing.

@Haunt88 How you made it past the first 4 episodes of S1 ill never know.

This is a SoL series at its core.

@Rafael2AMerlo It reminds me of Dr. Strange being able to see the path that gets him to the goal, even knowing that not everyone will make it.

I thought i wouldnt tear up but damn i was proven wrong again.

The starting story with the Hero of the south was beautiful and meloncholic. For someone to know their fate and also the fact their efforts might be in vain but still choosing to accept it & face it head on is a different type of mindset. Its so rare and i have so much respect for that. Humanitys strongest indeed.
But his efforts werent in vain as he accompilished so much including annihilating the demon armys frontlines and especially defeating 3 of the 5 Sages. (Rip Aura you will not be missed).

On top of that he also predicted the fated meeting of himmel and frierent & how much it would affect frieren as someone whos life span is beyond a humans. Its so profound.



Truly paved the way for them in all manner.



What a Goat. Its so nice seeing other heroes been given their deserved story and limelight.

Anyways 2nd half had some action with the party going on finding a sword quest. They find the demon whol almost tricked stark and fern but our experienced elf baba was quick enough to notice.
Interesting line from the sword demon "i had to eat to survive"

Also its good to see that fern has still much to learn as the demon overwhelmed her and broke her defenses easily with stark having to intervene. Frieren finally managed to wipe her out with a little himmel flashback.

The sword is returned and frieren gives a little demon pep talk on how the demons use different ways to get what they want including using greed of humans and also their kindness. Hence why frieren protected fern during the mission cause she was gonna pray for the dead people and thus fall into the demons hands like the others.
Its interesting seeing its not just mindless demon slaughter but also understanding their nature, something which has been recurring from season with flamme teaching it to freiren and now freiren parting it to stark and fern. Good stuff.

Another great episode in the bag.

Really enjoyed this [essentially anime-original]* chapter which foreshadows a later sub-story.

But the CG animation is grating on me. The art and animation feel like I'm watching someone play through a game. I'm reminded of Hi-Score Girl at times but it had the excuse of being about gaming so it was sort of thematically appropriate.

*Yeah, this is bollocks. I basically forgot a chapter from the manga.