#Frieren became a parent and it changed her

[boku-no-anime-phase]

Do you ever just Cry

[ecargmura]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 2 Review - Time Is Both A Blessing And A Curse

I love the fact that time passes in this show. Usually in fantasy stories, everything is done within a short amount of time. In Frieren’s case, her past journey took ten years to complete and then she spent fifty years wandering around to study and gather magic and then she spends four years living with Heiter and Fern to teach the latter magic and help decipher a grimoire the former gave to her. As time passes, Heiter and Fern do get older with the former becoming more frail and the latter getting taller and her hair getting longer.

Why I like this is that it shows that time is both a blessing and a curse. Having more time means being able to hone your skills more but it’s also a curse because being older means inching closer to the end. I think the character that is affected by time the most in this episode is Fern. While having more time means she’s older and is able to handle stronger magic under Frieren’s tutelage, it’s also a curse because her father figure Heiter is becoming frailer each passing year. She’s in a hurry to be able to make a hole in the rock because she wants to prove to Heiter that she’s able to fine on her own before he dies. She lost her parents and Heiter found her and took her in before she was able to take a tragic end. She wants to become a strong mage so that she feels as she can repay Heiter for all he has done for her.

In Heiter’s case, time is not looking good for him. He’s getting frailer and even becomes bed ridden halfway throughout the episode. I do like that while he is slowly dying, he’s enjoying the end of his life. He once thought about seeking immortality but realized that he’s enjoying what’s left of his remaining time. He’s able to see Frieren again and he took in Fern after she lost her parents and became sort of a father figure for her. Why he did this is because he was influenced by Himmel who was kind towards children throughout their travels. While the ten years Frieren spent with her companions might have been trivial, it was an experience for Heiter. Time changes people. Heiter, who was once a corrupted alcoholic priest, is proof of that. He’s able to quit drinking and adopt orphans because of it. However, his corrupted personality is still lingering as his request of asking Frieren to decipher that grimoire is nothing more than a ploy to get her to stay and take in Fern as an apprentice when he’s gone. I do love that some things don’t change even after time passes.

Once Heiter passes, Frieren and Fern start traveling together. Their adventure mainly consists of collecting magic spells by helping people out. I really liked how they use magic for stuff like harvesting pumpkins and other mundane tasks. However, I also like the conflict between Frieren and Fern. Fern’s not really sure why Frieren spends her time collecting magic while Frieren states that it’s just a hobby. I do like the conflicting views these two have. It’s especially shown when Fern does things Frieren doesn’t like being kind to seed rats and telling Frieren about how pointless it is to search for the blue moonweed for the past six months when it died out. It really shows the difference on how these two view time.

Time is also a curse because Himmel’s legacy is nothing more than a story now that people don’t really care for his rusting statue save for one herbalist. It sucks that the heroes’ action are nothing more than an event in the past and that the current people don’t care for it. This could mean that history could repeat itself in the future.

I really like the scene with the flowers. Frieren does her best to search for the blue moonweed for half a year because she wants to know more about the hero she didn’t have a chance to fully connect with. It shows that she’s slowly learning the value of her companions. She poured liquor on Heiter’s grave because that was what he wanted and now she searched for those flowers because it was Himmel’s favorite. It makes me wonder what will happen when Fern grows old and passes away after the end of this new journey. My favorite part of this episode is seeing Heiter and Eisen playing with each other by dancing around and giving each other flower crowns.

In terms of voice acting, I do like how softer Tochi’s voice becomes as Heiter grows older. Kana Ichinose does a great job in voicing Fern. There’s no bad voicing in this anime so far and I’m glad.

This episode was more of a slower paced once and it focused more on the aspect of time and how it affects the characters. I think it presented itself splendidly. What are your thoughts about this episode?