Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check back in Frieren and Fern’s rambling journey, as they pay back the debts of the past and chart out an unknown future. A lifetime is a very long thing for an elf, but with Fern at her side, Frieren is being forced to embrace at least a touch of urgency. Is life best appreciated as a long arc towards an uncertain destination, or as a series of individual challenges and experiences? Frieren’s perspective invites us to consider both, with a melancholy assurance that no matter your perspective, precious things will inevitably slip through your fingers.
Our last episode explored the vagaries of time’s passage from a new angle, emphasizing how the grand lifespans of fantastical beings can make them ill-equipped to counter the curiosity and industry of mankind. Time moves slower when it is in abundance, as the young blithely accept and the old are unfortunate to know well. An ageless being might see its power as similarly ageless, but the returning Qual found himself outgunned by progress, his once-singular powers now incorporated into the bedrock of magical inquiry. You could take that as a lesson in clinging to past glories, an assurance that seemingly insurmountable hurdles often just require dedicated consideration, or a rueful acknowledgment that mankind will always find a way to build a better gun – regardless, it serves as a fine extrapolation of Frieren’s fundamental questions. With an open road before them, let’s see what new questions await the mage and her apprentice!
Episode 4
We open on an overcast beachfront, shipwrecks lining the edge of what we are informed is the “Granz Channel” in the central lands. The color palette is characteristically cohesive, trees and rooftops subdued into gloomy pastels to match the overall somber tone
A village elder informs our pair that the difficulty of navigating this channel ensures there’s always wrecks washing up on shore. A very Frieren assessment of conflict in aggregate – individual crews may bravely navigate this channel, but over enough time, certain patterns inevitably emerge
The elder laments that the village no longer has enough inhabitants to clean up the shore. A reflection on time’s passage that has particular Japanese resonance, given the nation’s many depopulating rural villages. Even the generally upbeat Skip and Loafer is grounded in an understanding of this trend
The elder offers a book written by Flamme the Legendary Mage as payment for cleaning the beach. Fern immediately notices it’s a fake, and furthermore refuses to accept that Frieren took on the job out of the goodness of her heart. This place is clearly another shrine in Frieren’s memory, a memorial that ought to be tended like Himmel’s statue, lest something important to Frieren fade entirely into the past
God, this show has such lovely backgrounds. In an era of frequent aesthetically and dramatically inert CG backgrounds, I really appreciate these lush painted backdrops
You can practically feel the chill in the air as snow begins to fall, an effect facilitated by the cohesive wintery color palette. The show’s also taking a traditional approach to this snow, presenting it as a flat, semi transparent layer like a full cel fitted over the image. Unobtrusive and nostalgic
Frieren is still asleep in a messy room. Both qualities fit Frieren perfectly – why wake up early if you’ve got plenty of time, and why clean your room if it’s just going to get messy again?
Frieren hates mornings and the cold, a mage after my own heart
Lots of goofy Frieren faces as she endures the outrageous suffering of a cold day on the beach
“I hope you’ll be able to watch the sunrise this time, Frieren.” Seems we’re tying Frieren’s sleepiness in with a larger point – her “unfinished business” here is failing to watch the sunrise for the New Year’s Festival, and the beach cleanup is intended to ensure she gets that moment right this time around
Ooh, impressive cut of water animation as the pair raise an entire sunken vessel from the waters
And once again, the everyday substance of life is presented in a montage. The necessarily limited perspectives of stories tend to condense life into a few key moments of action, but Frieren persistently emphasizes that life is mostly a procession of largely similar days, making it important to find what meaning and happiness we can in our routines, and to be mindful enough to appreciate the moments that are truly special
Their victory is accompanied by an entirely new color palette, with the late afternoon light casting the entire beach in warm pink hues
“Are you that interested in seeing the sun rise?” “Honestly I’m not interested, which is why I want to see it for myself.” Frieren has learned she will miss many precious things if she only ever trusts her own preferences and preconceptions. A lesson Fern has yet to learn – that one of life’s greatest instructors is being proven wrong, and that we should always welcome a chance to challenge our assumptions
A brief flashback reveals the obvious, that Himmel inspired this curiosity about what she might find great in one more sunrise
“Thank you, Fern.” Frieren is now swift to acknowledge her own weaknesses, and grateful for a traveling companion who balances her
And indeed, the sunrise isn’t anything particularly special in and of itself – but sharing that moment with Fern makes it special. We should never deny ourselves the chance to make secure tethers like this, shared moments that shine brightly in memory even after the ordinary procession of days fades away
Part B opens with another memory, a light argument concerning Heiter’s belief in heaven versus Eisen’s assumption of oblivion
Frieren merely acknowledges that the presence of a soul cannot be proven, while Himmel thinks whatever happens after death doesn’t matter either way. Nicely representative perspectives from all of them
Regardless of their thoughts, all can agree that it would be nice if there were a heavenly reward for souls after death. That thought carries us to the present, Eisen still musing on Heiter’s words at this marker in the Bredt region
“Eisen, I’m here to hang out.” “You act like it hasn’t been thirty years.”
Eisen is now showing his age more clearly than thirty years back, his once-sturdy hands now wrinkled and thin
Frieren is characteristically surprised to learn that other friends do things like write to each other when they’re apart for years
Eisen has a lead on Flamme’s genuine notes
Their search and attendant activities are of course also presented in montage. As with external action, the process of building relationships is generally shorthanded in narrative, reduced to a key conversation or two. In Frieren, Fern coming to an understanding of Eisen is presented in a more realistic manner, through the natural accumulation of common memories
Incidentally, this is part of why the most convincing romances tend to hinge on affection building over large spans of time, like in Spice & Wolf or Toradora. Love at first sight is exciting, but also shallow and prone to disruption
Eisen reveals his pursuit of the notes is based in sympathy for Frieren. He hopes to allow her to finally tell Himmel how she feels
“Even after a thousand years, I’m still dancing in the palm of my master’s hand.” An intriguing reveal by Frieren, leading into a flashback where her master Flamme seems to predict precisely what will bring her here
“Did she already know I’d come here in a thousand years? What an unpleasant woman.” It is an irritating feeling, being pinned as so predictable that even a thousand years will not change your nature
Flamme’s notes reveal she actually reached the land where souls rest
“Heaven exists. It’s more convenient if it does.” Eisen has taken Heiter’s words to heart. What use is there in worrying if heaven exists or not? The only time we are certain of is our own lifespans, so we might as well believe in heaven, if only to no longer preoccupy ourselves worrying about it
Apparently this land of souls called Aureole is on the northern continent Ende, where the Demon King’s castle resides
With Frieren asleep, Fern wonders to Eisen if her master truly cares about her. But looking back on his own time with Frieren, Eisen can clearly see her perspective has shifted, even if she’s still a tricky person to get close to. “She is a good master,” he assures her
And Done
Thus our heroes at last find themselves with a genuine quest before them, which Frieren is of course characteristically describing as a “mere” ten year adventure. It feels a little odd to dedicate their next ten years to making up for not properly appreciating Frieren’s last ten year adventure, but I suppose that’s how it goes when you’re trying to catch up with lost time. I’m also guessing complications will arise regarding this journey to reconnect with Himmel, or even that Frieren will ultimately decline the opportunity – this show is so preoccupied with accepting the consequences of time’s passage that it seems hard to imagine it would offer Frieren such a convenient escape from the repercussions of not living in the moment. Regardless, I’m sure the journey ahead will be brimming with more beautiful sunrises, and can only hope Frieren wakes up early enough to appreciate them.
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