Sousou no Frieren – Episode 18

Episode Synopsis:

Frieren, Fern, and Stark make it to Äußerst with a few months to go before the First Class mage exam. Upon entering the exam, the first task is set right away. Teams of three must capture a bird known as a Stille within 24 hours in a barrier enclosed forested area . This is no easy task, as the Stille can move at the speed of sound and is very sensitive to mana. After a rocky start, the trio of Frieren, Kanne, and Lawine take most of the day to observe the Stille and try to come up with a plan to capture it.

Review:

Let me get this straight…

Brendan, Dan, and Scott all get adventuring, romance, and heartfelt episodes…

And I get…this…

COME ON!!!

Episode 18 is a prelude more than anything else. There’s a lot of new faces and setup to be had here. We are introduced to a murder mage on the road to Äußerst and of course she ends up on Fern’s team. For Frieren, we get the wonder twins Kanne and Lawine. The two of them are frustrating to watch but at least they seem like decently competent mages. I rolled my eyes at the fact that the best we could come up with for these two, character design-wise was: “childhood friends” and “here’s just enough material that you could also ship them”.

Oi…I’m already mentally done with this arc. It feels like a massive interruption to my slow, slice of life show that deals with existential themes. My favorite part is how the show uses the exam proctors to name several characters (that are clearly going to matter) in the First Class Mage testing room, as though this is My Hero Academia. Show please…I don’t care who these people are. Let’s just get Frieren and Fern certified and boogie outta here.

Also, this episode has not one, not two, but effectively three mini-montages. It’s like we needed to speed through material just to crash into an explanation about the first test, and then rapidly get to know Kanne and Lawine. It’s pacing is a bit odd.

Despite my complaining, I did enjoy parts of this episode. There are some key pieces I appreciated here. One is that, as stated in the description, Kanne and Lawine have some skills. They have solid coordination in their attacks and Kanne is very force mana sensitive to her element (water). While Frieren does seem to be the only mature adult in this equation, I’m glad these two aren’t dead weight. I’m curious how Frieren will put their abilities to good use.

Two is that the Stille are a genuine challenge to catch, and it takes some thought to capture one. I like that this isn’t just a “use flashy magic and you’ll win” type of test. Having to take half an episode to observe something and proceed with a plan is a microcosm of why I love this show. It’s methodical and takes its time with things.

The third important element is that the test is dangerous. Early in the episode Frieren casually remarks that many mages die during the First Class Mage test. To enforce this, Kanne nearly bites the bullet near the end of the episode. Those aerial monsters man! Gotta watch out for them!

As is normal for Frieren, the show looks and sounds excellent. I’m curious how we’ll follow Frieren and Fern, and how the other teams will come into play. I just hope we don’t spend too long here.

Summary:

Episode 18 is all setup and while I’m curious how the show will creatively showcase intelligent magic skills, I’m also…kinda done already. I don’t need magic school-esque shenanigans in my existential fantasy show.

In other news, has anyone seen Brendan? I thought he’d be thrilled to hear that the breast jokes are back.

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