Fern's convo with the old woman: I think it was more that Fern was looking for advice on what to do. She was frustrated with Frieren and worried they'd be there for potentially years trying to find a flower that may not even exist anymore. I love the focus on mundane magic this show has; The floating books when Frieren is studying, the spells the Frieren has been collecting (sour grapes ftw). For me, it makes the world seem more interesting and believable when magic isn't just big flashy spells that look cool. If magic actually existed, you'd be damn sure people would be making spells to just make their daily lives easier.
Yeah even on rewatch it still didn't feel especially clear 🤔 I wonder if it was intentionally a bit vague and clumsy (like as a means of demonstrating shortcomings in Fern's communication skills for example) or if they could have just handled the scene better overall. I definitely think it fits the sort of tone of the show thus far, what with things being slow and character focused. It's not all about big flashy explosions like you say because the narrative isn't all about combat and fighting and using _those_ kinds of spells. Something I found interesting about it is that despite the fact Frieren is presumably an incredibly powerful mage, she still needs to obtain spells for these weird little party tricks. Like she can't just use her prior knowledge and build on abilities by going, "I bet I could do something simple like produce warm tea", she has to *specifically* learn how to do it. Yet at the same time, once she absorbed one of the blue moon weeds she was then able to use it as the base for her spell that creates a field of flowers, so it's not as though magic/spells are _entirely_ rigid and inflexible either. I feel like this episode somewhat quietly said a *lot* about the world's magic system, which is interesting 🤓
@@RiverReactsWatchalong Fern for the better part of her life had Frieren around - the mage of the hero party. For Fern Frieren is the authority in everything. That admiration and seeing her master "wasting time" (in a human perspective), while she could benefit so many with her magic is something Fern doesn't agree with. She is motivated to do stuff, instead she percepts the situation as holding her back, because of looking for something that may not even exist anylonger. Ther herbalist functions as an outlet to tell off her frustrations with Frieren. But since the herbalist is old herself she can relate to a perspective of chasing after fond memories like Frieren does with the blue moon weed - which Fern being so young can not relate that well as of. Regarding why Frieren does things the way she does, well you have worked out by now that this show is character driven. You will learn more and more. But Frieren as a show does like to play with tropes its own way so have fun with getting surprised here an there. The magic system will expand over many more episodes to come so i will not comment on it.
"slow character exploration" & "leaving it hanging" ... The show sometimes really takes its good time with these. Like it asks a certain question about Frieren's character in this episode and doesn't come around to it until like 20 episodes later when 97% of the audience have long forgotten about that one scene back then.
It is nice seeing a full reaction rather than a best of. I've rewatched Frieren a lot, this is my 15th, and even just now, I made connections in the ED that I had missed every other time despite trying to figure them out. The symbolism both in naming and visuals is ever present. The soundtrack is also amazing, I love Evan Call. The first 4 episodes were released as kind of a mini-series, all together and basically act as the prologue to the story. You probably know that by now in real time since you are well beyond this, but it helps to understand the pacing a bit better. Anyways, I hope you love this show as much as many of us do!
There is a youtuber Kelsey Eng who mad a video "Color Design in Anime: Frieren's Eyes" focusing on the eye coloring that was a nice watch. You may wanna check it out when you are at least 5 to 6 but better 10 episodes deep into the show.
Thanks for the recommendation (and especially the warning to not do it right away), I may check it out later down the line. Hope you've been enjoying the reactions 😄
Fern's convo with the old woman: I think it was more that Fern was looking for advice on what to do. She was frustrated with Frieren and worried they'd be there for potentially years trying to find a flower that may not even exist anymore.
I love the focus on mundane magic this show has; The floating books when Frieren is studying, the spells the Frieren has been collecting (sour grapes ftw). For me, it makes the world seem more interesting and believable when magic isn't just big flashy spells that look cool. If magic actually existed, you'd be damn sure people would be making spells to just make their daily lives easier.
Yeah even on rewatch it still didn't feel especially clear 🤔 I wonder if it was intentionally a bit vague and clumsy (like as a means of demonstrating shortcomings in Fern's communication skills for example) or if they could have just handled the scene better overall.
I definitely think it fits the sort of tone of the show thus far, what with things being slow and character focused. It's not all about big flashy explosions like you say because the narrative isn't all about combat and fighting and using _those_ kinds of spells. Something I found interesting about it is that despite the fact Frieren is presumably an incredibly powerful mage, she still needs to obtain spells for these weird little party tricks. Like she can't just use her prior knowledge and build on abilities by going, "I bet I could do something simple like produce warm tea", she has to *specifically* learn how to do it. Yet at the same time, once she absorbed one of the blue moon weeds she was then able to use it as the base for her spell that creates a field of flowers, so it's not as though magic/spells are _entirely_ rigid and inflexible either. I feel like this episode somewhat quietly said a *lot* about the world's magic system, which is interesting 🤓
@@RiverReactsWatchalong Fern for the better part of her life had Frieren around - the mage of the hero party. For Fern Frieren is the authority in everything. That admiration and seeing her master "wasting time" (in a human perspective), while she could benefit so many with her magic is something Fern doesn't agree with. She is motivated to do stuff, instead she percepts the situation as holding her back, because of looking for something that may not even exist anylonger. Ther herbalist functions as an outlet to tell off her frustrations with Frieren. But since the herbalist is old herself she can relate to a perspective of chasing after fond memories like Frieren does with the blue moon weed - which Fern being so young can not relate that well as of.
Regarding why Frieren does things the way she does, well you have worked out by now that this show is character driven. You will learn more and more. But Frieren as a show does like to play with tropes its own way so have fun with getting surprised here an there.
The magic system will expand over many more episodes to come so i will not comment on it.
"slow character exploration" & "leaving it hanging" ... The show sometimes really takes its good time with these. Like it asks a certain question about Frieren's character in this episode and doesn't come around to it until like 20 episodes later when 97% of the audience have long forgotten about that one scene back then.
Careful now, no spoilers 😉
It is nice seeing a full reaction rather than a best of. I've rewatched Frieren a lot, this is my 15th, and even just now, I made connections in the ED that I had missed every other time despite trying to figure them out. The symbolism both in naming and visuals is ever present. The soundtrack is also amazing, I love Evan Call. The first 4 episodes were released as kind of a mini-series, all together and basically act as the prologue to the story. You probably know that by now in real time since you are well beyond this, but it helps to understand the pacing a bit better. Anyways, I hope you love this show as much as many of us do!
There is a youtuber Kelsey Eng who mad a video "Color Design in Anime: Frieren's Eyes" focusing on the eye coloring that was a nice watch. You may wanna check it out when you are at least 5 to 6 but better 10 episodes deep into the show.
Thanks for the recommendation (and especially the warning to not do it right away), I may check it out later down the line. Hope you've been enjoying the reactions 😄
@@RiverReactsWatchalong You have your own perspective. I guess you will enjoy this show for what I have seen so far of your reaction.