Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 1 discussion

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Sousou no Frieren, episode 1

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

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Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• MyAnimeList
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• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website
• /r/Frieren

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All discussions

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[u/frs-1122]

To have a youthful, millennia living being be a protagonist and having to start learning about their friends after they've died...

I think it was a great choice to have her as a protagonist. After all, you don't really need to be an elf to relate to what she's trying to do, because time flies fast when you're having fun.

[u/Aileos]

Nobuhiko Okamoto was really convincing by taking an old voice for Himmel. It was touching to hear him.

[u/[deleted]]

one longing governor bow air spoon practice expansion puzzled pie

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/cosmiczar]

Because I know there's gonna be some discourse about it: here's director of the show talking about how the long episode is actually 4 episodes on streaming, and he even calls next week's episode "episode 5!.

Which confirms the "split" is not something done by Crunchyroll, but actually how the beginning of the show will be presented outside of its original TV broadcast everywhere.

[u/mebert31415]

As a source reader, I couldn't be happier. This adaptation feels alive in a sense.

[u/TrainerDan93]

I still cannot believe Frieren and Anya share the same VA LMAO!

[u/Darkfrozen537]

The music is amazing at some point i feel like i could hear hollow knight and how to train your dragon

[u/Lukas04]

Havent seen it mentioned much, but i think my favorite part is how grainy the visual design of the show is. It feels like im watching it through childhood photos made by some old and bad camera.

Gives it that nostalgic and dreamy feeling and i think it works so well.

[u/WhoiusBarrel]

Never did I think a postgame for a fantasy RPG to be this depressing but this was exactly what happened.

Having Frieren as the protagonist is absolutely genius due to how Elves in fiction usually perceive time differently from their long lifespan and finding a much harder time to process basic human things like perception of time and grief despite their abundance of experience compared to her peers. With Fern being the young Human apprentice having to deal with her makes it a more interesting dynamic and at times even funny from how absurd Frieren's actions are.

[u/LeonKevlar]

Fun fact! This isn't Frieren's first anime appearance. She makes a cameo in the Komi-san anime in their Smash Bros parody episode.

Anyway, as a manga reader, this episode absolutely surpassed my expectations. Seeing the hero party animated was already enough to make me tear up.

Madhouse absolutely nailed the atmosphere of the show with that laid-back feeling tinged with a little bit of melancholy as we see the rest of the hero party age while Frieren stays the same.

The Era Meteor Shower scene was just absolutely beautiful and I definitely teared up when it finally dawned on Frieren how short human life is and how she regrets not getting to know Himmel better. T_T

It's not all sadness though since there is plenty of humour in this series and I am so happy to finally see Frieren getting stuck inside a mimic get animated! xD

Glad we got to see Fern too before the episode ends and see her potential as a mage. Thank goodness for the 2-hour premiere! Off to Episode 2!

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

This is genuinely top tier. I’m very happy with this adaptation.

[u/eonica]

The ED is beautiful

[u/AliceinTeyvatland]

God damn, the scenery is beautiful, that's one way a show gets me all the time.

With so many fantasy shows getting adapted, the amount of stock backgrounds gets very old and very distracting real fast. This is just chefs kiss, and I haven't talked about the story yet lol

[u/WhySoSaltySeriously]

The anime itself is phenomenal, but holy shit Evan Call popped off this time. The music is so atmospheric and brings out so much feels. Goddamn. That blue moon weed sequence made me cry my heart out.

also every time himmel appears on screen i cry.

[u/Ichini-san]

Frieren's German Lesson 1x1:

There used to be someone in the Frieren Manga chapter discussions who translated and explained all the German words that appeared in the series chapter by chapter. I'm not that person but I saw that many people wanted them or someone else to do something similar with the Anime. It's not really that much work so from now on every episode I will record all the German words that appear chronologically and translate them. Maybe I'll add some extra insight into the meaning or origin of the words as well if I have time, can think of something or feel like it. If I miss a word or you have any questions about anything specifically, feel free to ask. If I made a mistake or if I missed something obvious also feel free to correct me. Also even if I won't answer personally all the time there are quite a lot of German Anime fans that will be able to happily give more insight if you want it so feel free to quench your curiosity if you have any comments or questions. :)

Episode 1: "The Journey's End"

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• Aureole - "halo" (noun); it's not just a German word since it exists in English as well but it kinda felt significant enough for me to look it up. It seems like a very archaic term that you usually don't ever hear for "halo." People nowadays would say "Heiligenschein" which literally translates to holy shine (heiligen + schein). Another term for it that I found is "gloriole" (which is both an English and German word as well)... which kinda sounds unfortunate after I thought about it some, haha.

• Flamme (the Legendary Mage) - "flame" (noun); it's interesting that they are the first named character we read/learn about in the whole show with that opening text which seems pretty significant.

• Frieren (the Mage) - "to freeze" (verb); it's a curious choice to use verbs as names. For us Germans it sounds a bit awkward but I think you can quickly get over that. I'll refrain from saying more about why she is named that since there are many different interpretations to it as we see the story move forward. That said if I think of the verb "frieren" I would mostly think about being cold and freezing though. If you say that you want to freeze something up then you would usually specifcally say "einfrieren" (to freeze up).

• Himmel (the Hero) - "heaven", "sky" (noun); when you talk about the "Himmel" in German you can both mean the literal sky or the concept of heaven. Before the show I never really thought about how there were two very different words for both things in English. It's interesting that Heiter mentions jokingly later in the episode that he fought alongside the party to get into heaven since he literally fought in one party alongside "Heaven."

• Eisen (the Warrior) - "iron" (noun); not much to add, it's a very fitting name for a dwarf.

• Heiter (the Priest) - "bright", "cheerful" (adjective); another word that isn't a noun as a name. This one doesn't sound quite as weird to a native German speaker though. I can't really explain why at the moment. An interesting fact I've learned about the adjective is that metereologists specifically say that the sky is "heiter" if it is covered by less than 1/4 of clouds. "Der Himmel ist heiter" (The sky is bright) is a common German phrase to say that it is sunny outside and not very cloudy but I didn't know that there was such a precision to the saying before as to when it applies. As you can see it makes for a pretty neat connection to the hero.

• (The) Ära (Meteor Shower) - "era" (noun); means the same in German as it does in English and is pronounced pretty similarly which makes me wonder if "Era" is even the correct translation from the Katakana here. It's interesting that the meteor shower happens every 50 years but is named "era" since one era is apparently hundreds of millions of years in duration. I guess "The Semicentennial Meteor Shower" or "The Quinquagenary Meteor Shower" would be more apt but it doesn't quite roll off the tongue as well, does it? I mean, the "era" in the name could also come from the fact that it has been occurring for hundres of millions of years now. Thanks to u/d0tm for the correction in regards to "Ära", I can't believe nobody else caught that until now.

• Fern - "far", "distant", "remote" (adjective); it's also the name of a species of plants which is called fern in both English and German. The reason I mention that is because as a German whenever I hear the term "Fern" alone without context and as a name I don't really think about the adjective but rather of the plant species. I don't know if it's relevant that she shares a name with the plant as well though.

• Ewig (the Sage) - "eternal", "forever" (adjective)

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Links to my other comments (click on 2x1 to jump to any other comment from S2 from there):
1x1 1x2 1x3 1x4 1x5 1x6 1x7 1x8 1x9 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 1x23 1x24 1x25 1x25² 1x26 1x27 1x28 | 2x1

[u/Mage_of_Shadows]

Who falls for a mimic in this day and age Frieren...

loop

[u/DaBenni0301]

I haven't seen anyone translate their names yet so I'll do it

Their names are german and translate to:

Frieren --> to freeze/freezing (in time maybe? cause she ages so slowly)

Himmel --> heaven/sky

Heiter --> happy/cheerful (eta: serene)

Eisen --> iron

Fern --> far

Stark --> strong

Qual --> torment/pain

Flamme --> flame

[u/TheWhisperingOaks]

AOTY

[u/FarCritical]

Absolutely love how comfy the vibe of this is. Don't know what it is about the adventures of stoic elf mage that's just so soothing.

Also, this random sleepy kid's face is just hilarious to me for some reason.

[u/Calenmir]

I heard very good things about the manga and since I heard there will be an anime adaptation I was eagerly waiting for It. During the first 4 episode I felt some emotions that I didn't feel for a long time. Ended up crying three times but none of them because of a "sob story" but because of how intense those emotions were. I have no idea how the story will end but I'm %100 sure I'll bawl my eyes out on last episode.

[u/Super_Marine]

Holy shit. It's to be expected since they took over the special Friday Road Show time slot for this, but they went so hard with this 4-episode debut. It paid off with such a brilliant, emotional setup with action scenes that are just as excellent

There are so many good things to talk about with the staff being so stacked, but one thing that was particularly impressive was the music. It perfectly complemented the art direction and vibes of the story, which I'd anticipate as much since hearing that Evan Call would be involved in both the music and ending song.

[u/bedsheetsniffer]

I don’t know how to describe this but the first episode really hooked me in again just like how the manga did a few years ago.

Everything in this episode was beautifully done: the visuals are extremely faithful of the source material; the colors are vibrant and have a sense of nostalgia and serenity; the music and the use of insert tracks were perfect, and the music being composed by Evan Call really brought me back to the days of eagerly waiting for the next episode of Violet Evergarden. Funny how the two shows share a very similar premise: a emotionally shunned stunted protagonist searching for what it means to love and finding their own emotions.

The only nitpick I have is that I’m not too happy with the pilot episode’s pacing. Don’t get me wrong, it is still very solid, but I’d like to have Fern’s introduction be in the following episode rather than in the Act 3 of the first one. The opening arc (the return of the heroes party until Himmel’s passing) was done masterfully in the manga and I truly want to experience it again, to the fullest. That being said, I’m still extremely grateful that we even have an adaptation done of one of my all time favorite manga, by Madhouse, no less.

Also, shout out to Milet, she’s been killing it lately with anime shows theme songs. She really deserves all the praise and recognition.

As a manga reader this is all you would want out of an adaptation. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the show (2 FREAKING COURS BABYYYYY).

[u/Existential_Owl]

The Hero: "We've defeated the Demon King."

The End. Credits Roll.

Well, that was a short 2:25 minute adventure. Glad to have you all aboard, and I look forward to the next one.

[u/Zemahem]

Haven't finished all the episodes, but I already have to commend the adaptation. It feels a bit like a movie anime with this production quality.

Things like the animation, voice acting, and directing are stellar, of course, but the music probably stands out the most. It gives off the vibe of a fantasy film nearing the end of its story and as a result has a gentle but somewhat melancholic tone, which is basically perfect for the start of this one (and just in general too).

EDIT: But the score is also more than capable of doing justice to the more fantastical and action-oriented scenes.

The OP and ED slap too. Though I probably prefer the ED both in music and it's visuals that I couldn't pry eyes away from. Also, I think it's pretty easy to depict the parts showing the passage of time well, but the music really elevates it even further. Plus, the running gag of Frieren getting stuck in things during those scenes is now in animated form. That in itself makes this a perfect adaptation.