Perfect Replicas

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 24 was a good episode even if it didn’t get as far as I hoped it would. I wanted to see the fight against Frieren’s replica. But, at least it looks like we might get to see that in the next episode.

Anyway, in this episode, we learned a few more things about the replicas within the dungeon. Allegedly, these replicas have the same mana capacity as the mages they’re copies of. So, I guess that means you don’t have to worry about your replica stalling you out of mana.

But, for someone like Übel, even if her replica had unlimited mana, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Übel is a very aggressive mage — as we saw. She’s not the kind to sit back and use up all her mana over time. She goes on the offensive.

The reason she had to go on the offensive against her own replica was because it acts just like her. It doesn’t only have her fighting techniques, spells, and mana. When it attacked Übel and Land, it immediately went for Land’s golem flask so he couldn’t use it to flee.

That’s exactly the kind of thing Übel would do in a fight. She’d try to wound her opponent and prevent them from escaping. We even saw her attempt this in the previous test of the exam. Remember how she went for Wirbel’s eyes instead of going for the kill?

What I liked most about this fight, though, was how Übel used Land. She determined that the Land who was with her was a fake. And, she (correctly) assumed that the real Land would come to her rescue if she risked her life to save the fake.

Final Boss Frieren

Frieren, Fern, and Sense eventually catch up to Denken’s group deep within the dungeon. Despite entering later than Frieren’s group, Denken’s group didn’t spend time exploring. So, they made it to the depths of the dungeon much faster. But, I’m sure they didn’t have as much fun.

Considering the personalities of both Frieren and Denken, I was surprised they didn’t team up earlier. Like, I thought Frieren would have agreed to work with Denken. Even if she didn’t need the help of him and his group, it seemed like something she’d do.

But, it’s also possible that the reason she didn’t party up with them is because she wanted to explore. Most of the mages taking part in the test wouldn’t have wanted to waste time doing that. Fern is used to Frieren being like this, so she’s really the only one Frieren could go with.

What about Kanne and Lawine? Wouldn’t they have been fine with going with Frieren and exploring the dungeon? Sure, I doubt they would have had a problem with that. However, I think they didn’t ask to go with Frieren for a specific reason.

The only reason Kanne and Lawine passed the first test was because of Frieren. So, I can see them not wanting to rely on Frieren again here. If they’re going to become First-Class mages, they want it to be because of their own abilities.

But, in order to complete the dungeon, the mages are going to have to work together at some point. So far, we’ve only seen the mages defeat Übel and Laufen replicas. They still have far stronger replicas to defeat — like Frieren and Sense. And, the Fern and Denken replicas are going to be serious obstacles for many of them.

Coming Up With A Plan

How do you defeat a replica of Frieren? Even with Frieren herself, Fern, Denken, Richter, Laufen, and Methode, they need to come up with a plan. And, this isn’t what I was expecting. I thought Frieren would show up and defeat herself in one shot or something.

So, the first two suggestions are to use restraint or hypnosis magic. If they can stop the Frieren replica even for a moment, Frieren can defeat it. However, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to work since Frieren resists both of those. Methode even tested her restraint and hypnosis magic on Frieren to make sure.

All hope isn’t lost, though. Edel specializes in hypnosis magic. She’s not with this group right now. So, that’s a problem. And, she’s not a combatant. So, there’s that too. But, if she can make it this far into the dungeon, her hypnosis spell might be strong enough.

Unfortunately for this group, Edel’s not going to reach them. She, Blei, and Dünste ran into the replica of Sense. And, when Edel tried to use her hypnosis spell, she discovered that it doesn’t work on replicas. They don’t have a mind to hypnotize.

If that’s not going to work, then what’s left? Theoretically, they should be able to win somewhat easily. Frieren can fight the replica to a draw. So, while she’s doing that, the other can attack the replica, too. It shouldn’t be able to defend against all of those attacks.

But, it turns out that there might be an even easier solution: Fern. Fern believes that she can defeat the Frieren replica. And, I believe her. She’s been with Frieren for years. I’m sure she’s recognized weaknesses that Frieren doesn’t even realize she has. So, all she has to do is exploit those.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 24? Did you think Übel was going to be able to defeat her replica on her own? How many of the replicas do you think will be defeated by the end of the test? And, how are you expecting Fern to defeat the Frieren replica?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And, I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about the benefits of supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 25 is available now.

Conquering the Labyrinth

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 23 begins the second test of the First-Class Mage Exam. Sense is the proctor for this test. She has a reputation for proctoring the hardest tests possible. But, she has a very different outlook on mages than Genau (the first test proctor).

Sense is a pacifist. That means her tests don’t pit the examinees against each other. And, she doesn’t believe that those who are unable to pass her tests should die. As I said in a previous review, killing off promising mages is a waste.

Now, with that all said, Sense’s tests are still difficult — regardless of what she says. In this test, the examinees will have to make their way to the bottom of an uncharted labyrinth. But, the labyrinth isn’t uncharted because nobody has tried. It’s because nobody has ever made it to the bottom.

How is Sense going to verify if an examinee has made it to the bottom of the labyrinth? She’s going to go down there herself. I’m pretty sure she has a teleportation spell. So, I thought she’d teleport herself down there. But, that’s not what she had in mind.

Instead, Sense plans to travel with the examinees and reach the bottom floor with them. However, the examinees decided to split up rather than work together. So, she has to pick one group to follow. And, of course, she picks Frieren and Fern because she believes they have the best odds.

This begs the question, “What if Frieren and Fern don’t make it?” What if Sense picked the wrong group? How could she then verify whether or not any of the others made it to the bottom? I don’t think she’s been to the bottom herself before.

The Joy of Exploration

As we saw in this episode, Frieren seems to enjoy exploring dungeons. Though, that wasn’t always the case. She discovered how much fun dungeons were thanks to Himmel. He’s the one who taught her that every nook and cranny of a dungeon should be searched.

It doesn’t matter if you quickly find the correct path that leads to a lower floor. You should still explore the rest of the floor you’re on before moving on. And, the reason for this is simple. You never know what you’ll find. In Frieren’s case, this means magic items and grimoires.

Throughout this exam arc, I’ve noticed how different Frieren is from the other mages. She doesn’t have the same philosophy as most of them when it comes to either life or magic. Denken is the closest to Frieren — probably due to his age. But, even he’s different than her.

One of the major things that sets Frieren apart is how much she loves magic. She doesn’t view magic as a tool like most of the others. Magic isn’t something she uses simply to achieve some other goal. To her, magic itself is the reward.

This different outlook on magic might not be something everyone can achieve, though. Compared to Frieren, humans have a very limited amount of time. So, it makes more sense for them to view magic as a tool. They want to use it to achieve the things they want to achieve before their time runs out.

Fern is different in another way. Sense asks why Fern has worked so hard to become a skilled mage. From Sense’s position, it doesn’t seem like Fern has a goal or particular love for magic. But, Fern continues on her path because magic brought her and Frieren together.

Conquering Yourself

Toward the end of Episode 23, we learn the likely reason why this dungeon is uncharted. Well, aside from all the traditional traps in it, that is. Those have surely stopped at least a few adventurers over the years.

The real reason nobody has made it to the bottom of this dungeon is that they have to conquer themselves to do it. The dungeon produces copies of anyone who enters. And, in order to reach the bottom, those who enter must defeat these copies.

Why is this so hard to do? Well, we can look back to Naruto: Shippūden for the answer. In the Gaara rescue arc, Team Guy has to fight copies of themselves. And, the problem is that these copies are as skilled as the real thing. But, they don’t tire or run out of chakra (in this case, mana).

So, think of if you’re a mage in this dungeon and you come across the copy of yourself. You’ll fight at a stalemate until you eventually run out of energy and die. That’s why tackling this dungeon in a group is so important.

Wirbel, Scharf, and Ehre were together when they came across their copies. So, Wirbel correctly assigns each of them a different copy to fight based on their skills. Denken’s party comes across the Laufen copy on its own. Because of that, they’re able to work together to defeat it.

But, here’s a potential problem. You’re not guaranteed to come across your own copy. At the very end of the episode, we see Denken’s party run into the copy of Frieren. My guess is that this is where their exam will end. And, I’m predicting Fern and Frieren will run into Sense’s copy.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Sousou no Frieren Episode 23? Do you think any of the 18 remaining examinees are going to die during Sense’s test? How many do you expect to pass the test? And, Do you think Denken’s party will be able to defeat the copy of Frieren?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. I’d also like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about the benefits of supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 24 is available now.

Future Enemies

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 22 was a break from the action. The first test of the First-Class Made Exam ended in Episode 21. And, the second test looks like it’s going to begin next week. So, this week, we got to see the examinees hanging out around town.

Specifically, we got to see what 11 of the 18 mages who passed the first exam were up to. These are Frieren, Lawine, Kanne, Fern, Land, Übel, Denken, Laufen, Richter, Wirbel, and Scharf. The mages we didn’t follow are Ton, Methode, Länge, Ehre, Blei, Edel, and Dünste.

So, what were our favorite mages doing during their break? Frieren (and Stark) were trying to cheer Fern up by buying her sweets and snacks. Lawine and Kanne brought more sweets over to Frieren as thanks for helping them in the first test.

Denken, Laufen, and Richter went out to eat at the fanciest restaurant in town. They also saw Frieren, Fern, and Stark there, but didn’t interact with them. The more I see of Denken, the more I like him. He recognizes that people want to be left alone. And, he spoils Laufen as if she’s his granddaughter.

Übel and Land went on a date, which isn’t something I expected to see. Land didn’t seem all that interested. But, Übel wanted to get to know him more because that’s how she learns magic. When she empathizes with someone, she can use their spells — like Wirbel’s Sorganeil.

Speaking of Wirbel and Scharf, they were going around looking for a warrior to party up with them. Wirbel accepted a quest to hunt some nearby monsters and needed an extra hand. In the end, they took Stark (against his will) after Fern told them they could.

Searching for Flavors

Frieren often says things that make me think more about how she experiences the world. Because her life is so long, she doesn’t view things the same way humans do. Though, as we get older, we can begin to see where she’s coming from.

For example, at the start of the series, Frieren commented on her “mere 10-year journey” with the Hero’s party. And, you might think, how can she think 10 years is short? Even if she lived for over 1,000 years, 10 years is still 10 years.

But, she has a point when she says things like that. The older you get, the faster time seems to pass. When I was a kid, a 10-minute drive felt like an hour-long journey. Today, I don’t even consider multiple years to be a long time. Something’s happening in 2 years? That’s coming up soon.

Anyway, in Episode 22, Frieren said another thing that got me thinking. Obviously, things have changed a lot over the course of her life. But, one of the things she notices the most is how food has changed. And, I can definitely sympathize with her here.

I mean, imagine if you went to a restaurant once and it was the best food you’ve ever had. Then, you go back a year later and, even though it’s the same restaurant, the food is completely different. This is something Frieren probably experiences a lot.

She’s lived for so long and traveled so much that by the time she revisits a town, everything is different. This is also why she wasn’t planning to get her First-Class Mage license. Like everything else, it’s going to become obsolete in no time (relative to her). It must be rough when almost nothing is nostalgic.

Preparing for the Second Test

We already knew that Sense was going to be the proctor for the second test. But, now the examinees know that, too. And, according to both Lawine and Kanne, this is bad news.

Apparently, nobody has passed a test proctored by Sense. She’s proctored four tests in the past, and they all resulted in 0% pass rates. So, it looks like this is where the exam is going to end for all of the mages this year. At least, that’s what Lawine and Kanne believe.

As I’m sure is the case for many of you, I have my doubts that this will be the end. Neither Frieren nor Fern needs to pass the exam. Frieren’s Holy Emblem is probably good enough if shown to the right person. But, I’m still expecting at least one of them to pass.

So, what do we know about Sense and her test? We know that Genau thinks the test is cruel. And, that’s a bad sign considering he didn’t care whether the examinees lived or died. However, Sense refers to herself as a pacifist. So, I guess her exam is going to be difficult, but not fatal.

We also know that the second test will be located at the Ruins of the King’s Tomb. And, we know the examinees are going to have to make their way through a dungeon labyrinth. But, that’s all we know.

Is this going to be another team-based exam? Will the examinees need to retrieve something from within the labyrinth to pass? Will the exam directly pit the examinees against each other? We’ll have to wait until the next episode to find out.

Also, it may not be important, but it looks like Sense uses teleportation magic.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 22? Did you like that this episode was a break from the First-Class Mage Exam? Do you understand, at least a bit, how Frieren feels when she sees the world around her changing rapidly? And, what are your predictions for the second test?

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And, I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 23 is available now.

Flamme’s Master

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 21 reveals some interesting things about Frieren’s past. It turns out, she’s met Serie before. Though, that’s not surprising. They’re both elf mages who are over 1,000 years old. It makes sense that they’d cross paths at some point.

Sure, Frieren and Kraft had no idea who each other was. But, they weren’t really active within the same circles. They’re both elves and they’re both heroes. However, from what we know, it’s not that common for elves to run into each other. And, it’s not like all the heroes get together to hang out.

So, what makes Frieren and Serie different from Frieren and Kraft is that they’re both mages. Mages do tend to interact with each other. And, the interaction Frieren had with Serie was due to her master, Flamme. It turns out, Flamme had a master of her own: Serie.

As I expected, Frieren has no interest in being taught any spell she desires by Serie. And, we know this because Frieren rejected Serie’s offer in the past. According to Frieren, “The greatest joy of magic lies in searching for it.” Frieren believes the journey is more important than the destination.

As we saw, this is contrary to what Serie believes. When she hears Frieren say this, she declares that Frieren is no good and lacks ambition. So, I think my prediction that Serie will be an antagonist of some kind is going to be correct.

Now, in Episode 21, we also got Denken’s thoughts on acquiring spells. Remember, he wasn’t interested in Serie’s offer either. Why is that? Well, he tells Frieren the exact same thing she told Serie. It’s clear that Frieren and Denken have the same beliefs when it comes to magic.

How Modern Mages Fight

Denken might have the same philosophy as Frieren when it comes to magic. But, that doesn’t mean he has the same philosophy as her when it comes to combat. Though, he doesn’t fight like the younger generations of modern mages do.

Instead, Denken’s fighting style is somewhere in between. But, before dissecting his style, I need to go over how the kids fight these days. And there’s no better way to do this than by stealing the explanation directly from Richter. During his fight against Lawine and Kanne, Richter broke it down for us.

We know that there’s basic offensive and defensive magic. These are the only spells Frieren and Fern use in combat. There are many other offensive spells that other mages use, though. We’ve seen those offensive spells throughout this arc. However, defensive spells are far less varied.

Sure, Richter sometimes uses earthen walls to protect himself. But, the majority of mages rely on basic defensive magic. And, basic defensive magic has one major flaw. It’s great at defending against magic attacks and even physical attacks from individuals. What it can’t withstand is the massive force of nature.

This is exactly why many modern mages rely on offensive spells that control forces of nature. Richter’s earth spells can smash right through basic defensive magic. And, even Kanne’s water spells can do the same — if she has enough water to work with.

We don’t see Denken using these kinds of spells, though. He uses flashier spells than Frieren’s basic offensive magic. But, he doesn’t use spells that can smash through basic defensive magic. To me, it looks like the reason for this is that he typically doesn’t need to. In most cases, he simply has more mana than his opponent.

The Last Great Mage

It’s always cool when Frieren shows off just how powerful of a mage she is. First, there was when she defeated Aura by releasing her mana suppression. And now, she shattered the “unbreakable” barrier Serie set up over the examination area.

A big part of why these scenes are cool is that they don’t happen very often. Overpowered protagonists often aren’t interesting because they’re always flaunting their power. Frieren doesn’t like to do that. She only uses her full power when absolutely necessary. To her, it’s more important to keep her cards close to her (flat) chest.

But, there were two things said in this episode in regards to Frieren’s strength that I was interested in. The first is Frieren’s claim that she wouldn’t want to fight a water mage in the rain. Do you believe her? I know she said she’s lost to human mages before. But, it’s hard to imagine.

The second thing is when Genau called Frieren the last great mage. This was a very interesting thing for him to say considering Serie exists. He didn’t think anyone could possibly break Serie’s barrier. And yet, he doesn’t seem to consider her one of the “great mages.”

We can also assume from context that Serie is far older than Frieren. So, it’s not even like Genau would be referring to Frieren’s age with that comment. Does Genau not consider Serie a mage? Does he consider her to be something higher than a “great mage?”

Or, does Genau recognize Frieren as the one person remaining who’s stronger than Serie? After all, he says this after learning that she’s the Frieren from the Hero’s party. And, remember what Flamme said to Serie 1,000 years ago. Frieren can defeat the Demon Lord while Serie cannot.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 21? Were you surprised to find out that Serie was Flamme’s master? Do you think Frieren will escort Denken to his homeland after the first-class mage exam? And, what do you think makes Frieren the last great mage? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And, I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 22 is available now.

Wirbel of the Northern Magic Corps

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 20 didn’t quite cover the content that I wanted it to. I was looking forward to Frieren getting into a fight. That didn’t happen. But, it might happen next week. At least, I hope it does.

But, that doesn’t mean this wasn’t a good episode with some interesting content. My favorite part of the episode came at the beginning when we got to see the conclusion of Wirbel and Übel’s fight. In a one-on-one fight, Wirbel wins. However, it didn’t turn out to be one-on-one.

You see, Übel’s spell of choice is a powerful slicing spell. We could have assumed that based on what Kraft previously said about the bodies he found in the forest. But, this spell only has a range of about five meters. So, Übel needs to get close to her opponent to use it.

Wirbel’s spell of choice is the opposite. It only works when he’s able to see the entirety of his opponent. So, he can’t be too close. He needs some distance between himself and them. But, if he’s able to maintain that distance, he can use a powerful binding spell.

As long as Wirbel keeps his eyes on his opponent, they can’t move or use mana. But, Übel notices something about Wirbel’s use of this spell. It’s not a spell for killing. And, she accurately assesses that despite being capable of it, Wirbel doesn’t like to kill. He’ll do it if he needs to, though.

At the same time, Wirbel also notices something about Übel’s fighting style. When Übel had an opportunity to slice Wirbel’s neck, she instead went for his eyes. Wirbel comments that only the perverse who love killing would do that. And, he was spot on about her nature.

Serie, the Living Grimoire

In Episode 20, we finally got a name for the other elf we saw back in the first OP for the series. Her name is Serie, and she’s not related to the demon lord in any way — as far as we know.

Instead, she seems to be the most powerful mage in the world. And, she’s the reason why many people want to become first-class mages. Rumor has it that Serie will give anyone who becomes a first-class mage any spell of their choosing. That’s kind of a big deal.

Now, Serie doesn’t know every spell out there. But, according to Richter, she knows the vast majority of humanity’s spells. So, based on that information, I’m assuming she’s far older than Frieren. She may even be older than Kraft. And, because of that, she still might be an antagonist in some way.

Do first-class mages really get to learn any spell of their choosing from Serie, though? Why would she agree to that? What does she get out of it? And, does that mean every first-class mage has some insanely powerful spell at their disposal?

Furthermore, Frieren didn’t know about this privilege. It’s understandable that Frieren wouldn’t know about another elf and mage. She had no idea who Kraft (a hero) was, after all. But, her hobby is collecting spells. So, Serie’s offer seems like something Frieren ought to know about, right? However, I’m also not sure if Frieren would be interested.

Collecting spells is Frieren’s hobby. And, she doesn’t exactly seem to be in it for the adventure. She has no problem staying in one town for decades. But, I can’t see her being too interested in Serie’s offer — even if there was a spell that could revive Himmel.

Finally, Someone Who Knows Frieren

A surprisingly large number of people don’t know who Frieren is. They know about the Hero’s party and that there was an elf mage in it. And some of them even seem to know that the elf mage in the Hero’s party was named Frieren.

But, there aren’t many people who connect the dots. From what I remember, even the first-class mage exam proctors don’t realize who Frieren is. I think one of them commented that she had the same name as a member of the Hero’s party. So, it’s possible they have some idea.

However, Denken definitely knows who Frieren is. And, as he says, there aren’t many mages from his generation who don’t know of her. After all, she must have been one of the most famous mages in the world 80 years ago.

And yet, despite knowing who Frieren is, Denken believes he can defeat her. He doesn’t mean to kill her — that much is obvious. But, he’s confident that he can best her in battle and stop her from retrieving the stille from Laufen. One of the exam proctors also believes there’s no way Denken will fail this test.

Can Denken actually beat Frieren, though? It’s possible that he knows a lot about her. He seems like the kind of guy to have done his research on all the greatest mages. And I’m sure he has a plan for how he means to fight her.

But, I still don’t see it happening. My prediction is that Frieren will defeat Denken and eliminate his party from the exam. And, this might be fine with Denken. We still don’t know why he’s taking the exam. To him, just getting to meet and fight Frieren might make the whole ordeal worthwhile.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 20? Do you think Wirbel has ever actually killed anyone? Are you expecting Frieren to want to learn a spell from Serie? And, who do you think will win between Frieren and Denken? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And, I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

My review of Episode 21 is available now.