[Music]
Hello and welcome to an all new episode of Anime Brain Freeze. We are your eternal hosts.
I am John. And I'm CC. And when there's just too much cool anime to watch, we've got you covered.
Today we will look at the topic of having a very long lifespan through the lens of two very different protagonists.
First, I will tackle Undead Unlock, where a suicidal girl who brings misfortune on everyone she touches
runs into an immortal warrior that as it happens is on the lookout for someone who can grant him his final death.
After that we will review Frieden, a story that begins where most other ones wrap up and follows the steps of the elf woman Frieden,
the titular elf woman Frieden, on her pilgrimage of self-discurry and reflection beyond her first journeys and.
And of course, since it's our season finale, we will give you our picks for best anime of the season
for all of that. Let's first take a look at all the shows and movies that didn't quite make it to a full review in the quick and the dead.
So, grab your favorite person that makes the little moments worthwhile.
Break the cycle by fixing your gaze on a new beginning, waiting for you at the end of the road.
And definitely don't pause the pod. We'll be right back.
[Music]
So yeah, this is one of the rare occurrences where I think I have a...
Not more to talk about than the quick and the dead than John does. I mean it had to happen at some point.
So I guess this is the day. So I will start us off. Otherwise I will start... I will be talking for even longer time than usual because, you know,
the undead unlike review is after that and I am the only one who watched that.
Yes.
I just didn't watch a lot this season. I think I got out some of the other stuff that I will watch on the side before we talked about attack on Titan.
So...
Yeah.
So, what do I...
What do I say to talk about in the quick and the dead? Finally, I'm finally all caught up with one piece again.
Shocker, like I had been... 100 episodes, even more maybe? I don't know. I had to finish up the rest of the 1-0 arc and that...
That had piled up. So, yeah.
I'm still in double digits.
Well, there you go.
But yeah, 1-0 was fun. Of course, this is standard with one piece.
These days, some of the stuff dragged a bit, but mostly...
Most of the battles were fun. There were some cool developments and everything and the animation quality, man.
Really, really went through the roof in the later episodes. Really, really, really crazy good stuff.
Like, Toy is on another level these days. It's crazy.
And they continue that in the next arc, which is the Egghead arc, which is kind of future themed.
Like, crewmates go to a future themed cyber island, whatever.
Get funky cyber gear.
It's wild. And it's a lot of fun.
Lots of sci-fi stuff, new cool OP. That is super good.
And it really feels like we're gearing up for the finale, finally.
After all this time, like lots of reveals concerning past events, some big shakeups in the status quo of the world after 1-0.
And, you know, there's like a lot of foreshadowing that, hey, this is all...
This is where we're gonna probably gonna go in the not too distant future.
So, yeah, having a lot of fun watching it weekly again now that I'm all caught up.
So, yeah, hopefully still much more surprises to come.
That's the forward to hearing about them eventually finding the one piece.
Yes. We all know those are the friends they made along the way.
And the laughter that resulted in that because the final island is called laughter.
Oh, God! Oh, God! No! Come on!
I'm not kidding, John. That is actually... Oh, no!
So, all right. But, yeah, aside from that, I watched a couple of movies in the movie theater because, you know, sometimes anime make their way there.
And if I can...
Like, if I can make it happen to watch them there, if I'm interested, and they show around here, not necessarily the case,
I will try to watch them in the theater on the big screen.
So, I watched a very oldy-butt-gurdy and a very newy-and-gurdy first studying off with Luper the third castle of Kaliostro.
You know, the Miyazaki Luper third movie.
Really good. Holds up. Of course. Miyazaki directed a shit out of it.
It's really fun. There's a lot of shit happening on screen.
A lot of goofy antics, a lot of cool things in that castle that is still made set piece of the movie.
A lot of fun characters and, you know, as usual, are a standard crew of Luper, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko and Ziningata are there and they're having fun time.
And this is a classic for a good reason, and it was fun.
I don't even remember when I saw it the last time. It must be like 20 years or something, I'm not sure.
So, I'm glad I finally got to see it again, and I saw it on the big screen, so that was very, very good.
I had to watch it in a German dub, but actually that was very good.
That was on a, like, actual movie dub level, so I guess there are different standards for Miyazaki production.
The Ghibli product, if you want to call it that, or I don't even know who distributes that over here.
Maybe it's Disney, so who knows? But, yeah, definitely, definitely fun watch.
The other one was Spy Family Code White, which is a typical little showdown-jump movie as it's completely in consequential to the main story of the show.
I think it's not considered canon either, but... -Buddy? -Yeah, yeah, I think it isn't.
But it's entertaining, it's well animated, it's occasionally action-packed and sometimes really funny, so the mix you've come to expect and appreciate from Spy Family, the series.
Especially the vacation sites and action scenes were a treat on the big screen, and there is a very acid trip, ask sequence with Anya and the back half that really profited from the big screen and movie budget.
And Prory was also the funniest shit in the movie, and one of the funniest bits in the series overall.
So, yeah, if you like Spy Family, don't skip this one, it's good fun even if it isn't really necessary for the series or anything, but it's also not offensive in any way or stupid.
The show is stupid, but in a good way, so... And that isn't the same in the movie.
So, it's just a fun, relaxing time, and there were a lot of laughs at the movie theaters, so by everyone who watched it.
So, good times.
Yeah, I think, aside from that, some of you, you know, listening to what reviews we have in this finale might wondering, "Where is Metallic Rouge?"
Wasn't that to one of your keepers? I took a break watching that and didn't get back to it in time, so maybe I'll just throw that into the quickened of that next season.
You know, I wanted to put it in the quickened of that this season because we didn't have that many shared reviews or shared shows we could review together, and I wanted to squeeze one single, you know, only CC, only review in there.
I would have picked Undead Unlocked for that anyway because I, you know, you will learn why.
But, yeah, so it happens. I will probably watch Metallic Rouge down the road because I'm still interested in that even though I heard the, you know, the conveyance is not really there.
Yeah, sure. I mean, that was, we both came away from the first episodes or first couple of episodes of the show, feeling that way. What is happening?
I think I got four or five episodes in before I was like, "I don't understand where this is going because it just doesn't."
It's a bit too obtuse apparently, but hey, I still wanted to finish it like I want to check it out, but it's, it would have been a quickened of that review anyway, so it's going to be maybe one of the next season.
So, same for Dr. Stone, season three, I didn't get to finish that, of course, I'm going to watch that eventually, but it I couldn't make it happen this season. So maybe I'll review it together with the fourth season, whatever that comes.
Who knows, but of course I'm still going to keep watching Dr. Stone because I love that show, so definitely going to happen.
But yeah, that's it for me, the quickened of that, John. What do you have? Is there something?
Do you have anything I really have in his classroom of the Elite season three?
I was saying to CC first, start recording, trying to summarize this show as a fool's errand, so I'm not going to.
But basically this was the end of the first year, so.
And it is. Yes, and you know, because in Japan high school is three years, I believe. And you know, everyone in class D managed to make the cut.
And there were some big time revelations and some actually bringing character moments throughout.
It was good. Don't know if there's more coming, maybe. I mean, you can see how it took between seasons one and two.
Maybe maybe they'll come back to start the second year, but that remains unknown for the time being, but.
Yeah, continue watching it, see what sort of absolutely ridiculous mind games, the characters play can see each other because now.
There's things happening.
And other things in this thing and that thing and oh my god, I don't.
I enjoyed it. I'll watch more of it.
And that's the important thing, right? Like guess. It is very much a high drama show because it's because it's high school. Of course, a tie drama.
Yes. All right. Then that's it for the quick and the dead, living up to its name.
And we're going to move on to our pen ultimate review for this season.
[Music]
With the conclusion of her favorite romance manga, Fuku Isomo is ready to end her life of misery and loneliness having long accepted her fate of never being able to experience passionate love like fictional characters.
Kirst with unlock anyone Fuku touches is in grave danger of experiencing unimaginable calamity.
While the possibility of imminent danger would have most sane people run in the opposite direction, Undead has other ideas.
He is an immortal being with superhuman regenerative powers, desperately seeking death which has always eluded him.
When their past finally crossed, Undead sees an opportunity to finally enter suffering by using Fuku's unlock. But before Undead can unlock the full potential of Fuku's power by sweeping her offer fee to trigger the final devastating blow,
the duo must first fend off a murder secret organization hellbent on exterminating those with special abilities.
Thanks for my animal is rewrite as usual for the terrific summary. So Undead unlock is based on a manga by Yoshifumi Tozu-Ka which started in 2020 currently list 21 volumes and is still going.
The anime adaptation was produced by David Production. We have of course talked about them so many times on our show already with the Jojo's and Fire Force among other things.
But it bears repeating, they're doing cool shit. Undead unlock is no exception.
The artwork in the show is really crisp and has this bright neon color palette very close to what Fire Force delivers.
Actually, there are a lot of production crossovers with Fire Force. Same director in the form of Yuki Yase, the two serious share one of the adaptive script writers in the form of Yamato Hashima, same character designer with Hida Yuki Morioka.
And also of course they share a boatload of storyboard artists and animators. The animation between action scenes is serviceable as usual but when the action hits, boy does it hit in this one.
The fights look really good. Some stunning tracking shot sequences that are on the same level as what Fire Force has to offer.
Add to that the kicker soundtrack of Kenichi Roshi Hero and the impactful base heavy sound design of Jin Akitagawa who both also worked on Fire Force and going calmly among other things.
And you have some riveting battles on your hands. So yes, production values wise, this is a really good show.
It looks very cartoony in a lot of moments, very exaggerated character designs, action scenes, battle animation and so on.
And you know, one of the main characters Andy is literally a zombie who constantly gets dismembered and throws his body parts around.
You know, what you're getting with this one and David production, I guess. But yeah, let's talk about why we're already on it. Andy, Undead, formerly but Fuku later named Andy because of Undetto, Unde, right?
So Andy, both of them are, I gotta say it's out immediately two of my favorite anime characters in recent time. I love these two so got them much better.
They are fantastic and yeah, let me tell you why. So the main character and the some intro summary already alluded to that is Fuku who wants to kill herself because you know everyone she touches.
She has the special ability everyone in this universe or not everyone this universe. A lot of people in this universe have this. They're called the people who can do this or can who can use special abilities special powers are called negators in this universe because they negate the rules, the normal rules of the world.
And she is one of them she has unlock and everyone she touches is struck by a huge amount of bad luck and you know it depends if we go into the mechanics later, but a lot of them die.
And of course she actually you know doesn't want to die herself, but she doesn't want to cause harm to people and can deal with the guilt of killing her parents with that power by accident of course because she hacked them before they left for a flight and then the plane exploded.
Jesus. Yeah, that's that's how the show opens you see.
It's really interesting you have these scenes. It's a bit disorienting in the beginning because you have these scenes from her favorite role romance manga that Fuku is finishing up.
And if these inter spliced with the flashbacks, backs of her saying goodbye to her parents in the plane exploding and you're trying to make sense of it in the beginning what is happening.
Like two minutes or something and then you realize, okay, okay, she was reading a story and that was a memory of hers. And so there was a very interesting way of making that happen or telling these two different story past at the same time.
Another cool thing about the the first beginning moments where they inter spliced the romance manga and the actual flashback.
To Fuku's past is like complete the the romance manga parts are completely different as a completely different art style. So it's really interesting to look at and tap this juxtapose with the more cartoony style of the actual show.
It was really where like I said, and you might might say, how does this the romance manga matter? You have no idea.
This show also brings back a lot of the stuff it sets up in the beginning and the romance manga stuff is one of them. And of course it also plays into the theme, you know, she wants to have this kind of stuff she idealizes this kind of stuff that is happening in the romance mind.
She always wanted to have this kind of, you know, experience for herself in a life and it was denied and she was denied that because of her powers because she couldn't be with anyone.
If she didn't want to risk harming them, so it's just bittersweet thing. And once she when she actually finishes the last volume, she's like, okay, it's not going to get better than this for me.
I at least could experience this kind of romantic life or whatever this full-field life by proxy through these characters and that's good enough for me.
So now I'm going to throw myself off a building on a train track or I think I don't know exactly where she is standing. But yeah, you two twist her fate. And the next to her when she tries to kill herself, she didn't notice him and then he's like, what are you doing?
And yeah, tries to say for something and then gets immediately hit by a train, also decapitated whatever his head just rolls over to her.
And she's like, oh god, no, what did I do? And then the head starts talking again. And he's like, well, that was wicked cool.
And then of course, from this moment on, he is obsessed with how this shit works because Andy, we learn a lot more about that in the later parts of the show.
But he has been alive for a long time. So he also is kind of tired of life, but for completely different reasons than FUCO, of course, because he's just experienced so much.
And, you know, there's some other factors that play into that, right, which I can't go into because that would be spoilers.
But he says, okay, I want to find someone who can actually kill me for good because for until now no one has achieved that.
I'm immortal, like basically immortal. I'm too strong and, you know, I just can't be killed. And so having FUCO just touching him and then he, him being almost immediately killed is like, oh shit, she could actually do it.
So, from that moment, they're kind of stuck together. And yeah, after Andy finds out that a kiss causes the biggest amount of bad luck, which he finds out by them having to fight like some members, some, I don't know, is it flunkies, cronies, whatever, like small tear guys from this organization that is hunting and the Gators called you, the union.
And they have to fight these guys and then to get out of this situation, FUCO has to unleash a huge amount of bad luck on Andy.
And then Andy gets himself close to the bad guys. So they are hit by the same stroke of bad luck that hits him. And what is that a stroke of bad luck?
A giant meteor falls from the sky on his fucking head and on the bad guys. And of course he survives the bad guys don't. But the way, you know, that big amount of bad luck hits is that FUCO actually brings it brings herself to kissing him even though she's very shy and very, very reserved and everything.
And she, at the end of the raid, it's so on. So, you know, she's very socially awkward because of course she couldn't have, you know, have contact with a lot of humans and everything.
But something about Andy, like gets her to come a bit out of her shell immediately in a way. And so, yeah, she is actually able because, you know, he's actually a nice guy to and everything to bring herself to kiss him and believe that he will survive this.
And yeah, he does. And yeah, of course, Andy loves this. He is like, man, this was so great. That's one of his, at least that's how they turn this. I don't know what the Japanese word is, but he always says wicked cool or wicked or something like that.
He's like, this is amazing. This is the best thing. I think he just said psych or something.
- Take wicked words, is this the 90s? - Yes. But it, well, it fits because he's got this kind of 90s metal look dude. He's got to choose on his body and he looks like he jumped straight from a heavy metal album cover.
So it kind of fits and it's fun. So when, when Andy finds out that a kiss causes the biggest amount of bad luck, he is hellbent on taking it to the next level with Foucault, so getting Biblically, which she, of course, is absolutely not into as of the moment that that happens like the first or second episode.
And you know, it comes across that that was one of the few moments in the beginning of the show is like, is this gonna get uncomfortable? Is this gonna be like, is he, is he gonna horn dogging her the entire time?
So you're like, let's, let's go to bed. Whatever. Come on Foucault. Let's fuck. But you know, it could have been that and if it would have been super predatory and everything that would have really put me off the show.
Thankfully that doesn't happen because the second aspect to Foucault's power is that she has to in order to unleash a really huge amount of bad luck, she has to actually like the person.
The amount of unlock rises exponentially, you know, depending on how much she likes the person. That's why it was enough to hug her parents for her to kill them.
But she's like, hey, I had this grandfather, you know, I hugged a lot, but I didn't like him very much. So he only sprained his ankle. So this is kind of how her power works. You know, she can still make unlock happen to other people.
She should, to people she doesn't like, but she has to touch them for a much longer time to make actual big amount of unlock happen to them. And for people she likes kisses enough and, you know, a meteor falls from the sky.
So once Andy learns this, he's like, okay, then I'm just going to make you fall for me. I'm going to woo the shit out of you and I'm going to make you mine. We're going to become a couple or whatever.
And you're going to learn to love me, whatever. And I'm going to be the most romantic bastard you've ever seen or whatever. So, so all right.
This is the most unlikely romantic comedy of the season, the wildest set up and a show that anime, but the romance and this is really good.
It's really fucking good. Like it commits, it commits, which shown it series. I feel like almost never do with their romance subplots.
No, this actually advances that relationship between these two characters. It sometimes really focuses on that. And there's actual shit happening that advances that.
In both in character development like for them for each of them, but also together as a unit. And that's amazing. And I was like, what the fuck is happening? How is this crazy dumbass show so good at this?
Some some raiders get it and some just don't. Yeah, I guess, but yeah, like it's just such a rarity in shown anime. So, yeah, it's, it's, that is something that really took me by surprise and caught me of God.
It's something that I really appreciate it like also one of the most fun parts of the show is what ludicrous random yet somewhat plausible events it comes up with that relate to focus unlock power.
I know we had a media dropping out of the sky and there's a truck ramming into someone out of nowhere, a train.
Andy running into a building that is scheduled for demolition.
He just sits on the ground looks up and then there's just like these huge row of dynamite and he's just dynamite in English.
And that's so funny coming out of the voice actor's mouth. That's actually a running gag that's happening like two or three or four times in the show.
It's just a scene where Andy is is opening a door something and then dynamite and huge explosion.
It's really good. It's really, I really like to say like the sense of humor of this show. It's really, really funny.
And Andy's power set is also really interesting like he can use his blood to propel himself forward like a goddamn jet pack.
Like, you know, when his set gets cut off, he can just propel his like like a rocket his head wherever he wants to, but also his arms his legs.
His finger like yes, a little finger gun that he can use because the severed his severed body parts disappear after 30 seconds and he can shoot them at people like bullets.
So, but he can also regenerate from different body parts. So there's a lot of different ways these the battles that he's involved in play out and add to that all the unlock factor with Fuku and how they make it happen that, you know,
she can touch him at certain parts and then the unlock hits or he can through the way he moves and everything get her to what's close to the bad guys.
So she can touch the bad guy. It's really cool tech team dynamic and I thought the show was really creative with how it used these different power sets in the fights.
And yeah, it's really cool. Andy also has a piece of shrapnel stuck in his forehead and when he pulls it out, he remembers everything that he has learned in the nearly 200 years he has been alive, which gives him an insane power boost, but also can drive him insane.
Or, you know, become too dangerous. I'll get into that, but it's really there's some really wild shit happening in the fights, especially later on.
The show gets up the ante several times during the course of its runtime and changes the status quo a lot and tell you know certain things are set up and how certain powers work.
So it gives it really interesting and varied. So I like that a lot.
And yeah, like I said, one of the key things that I really enjoyed about the show was the relationship between our two mains like one of the first nice things Andy does for Fuku is cutting her hair, which since nobody can touch her has grown very long.
And that makes her really happy. It's literally turning that frown upside down. It's a very cute moment in the show that is full of these cute moments.
And wearing gloves actually keeps you pretty safe from Fuku's power since they can only activate on skin contact and the power doesn't activate while contact still lasts only if you let go and then all the accumulated bad luck is unleashed.
So again, very interesting concept and that is basically how we start the show.
And then very quickly it becomes about our two main characters being hunted by this organization that I mentioned before the union.
First by these smaller guys in the first episode, but then very quickly one of their main headliners from the round table are involved.
Then this becomes kind of a Jojo's bizarre adventure thing when it as it comes to the fights because it's not immediately clear what kind of power said the bad guys have or how it works.
It always starts like their power starts with un, but you it could be several different things like unrepair un move unseen untouchable.
So keeps it very interesting for us to find out how these what that actually means that word and how these powers work and what and then our main characters of course have to figure out how they can circumvent that how can they can beat that with their power said so again very good idea to put David production on this because they have their experience with puzzle fighters.
So yeah, this is this was also really interesting and there's like immediately in the second or third episode they have to fight like these two guys.
Shen and Void from the union and this is funny moment where they they beat one of the guys I'm going to spoil that so because it happens in the first couple of episodes they beat void.
And then the idea is hey now there's a vacant place at the round table so technically one of you could become a member and we wouldn't hunt you anymore but there's only one open space and Andy gives that gives that up to Foucault and then she is like okay well if I'm not going to see you anymore and if they're going to take me away and they're going to take you prisoner and I'm going to.
Give up my opportunity to you so you can we can unleash the final stroke of bad luck and you can finally die at least I want to do that for you which is like this ludicrous thing to say but it's also really nice and Andy actually rejects it because he doesn't want to take advantage of her despair of you know that she is losing him and everything so like I said he is a good guy he doesn't take advantage of her and everything so that also of course and.
Here's also of course and gives him all the more to her and Shen is so impressed by all of that anything these two guys are so hilarious that he's like hey.
There is another union member at that in that place at that at the time if you beat that person there to open place two open seats at the round table and you both can join so that's the next step and of course they achieve that and then from that moment on the show changes a bit with what it's done.
And what the status quo is as I mentioned before Andy like I said immortal has also from this first or after the first moment where he beat this one guy who is a katana he just sticks that katana into his body he basically uses his body as a she.
So he carries it around like sticking it into his shoulder down his back or up his arm it's pretty gruesome but also hilarious and kind of cool.
It's not super bloody or anything but it looks just really weird because he's like there I don't need any any real treat or anything I'm just going to use my body for this.
And he's also smarter than you think you know he comes across kind of branch and everything and you know a bit of a pickheaded guy and everything but actually you know he has lived for a long time and he has done a lot of things and experience a lot of things so he actually has learned a lot of stuff and he's good about figuring things out like the in trickies of how focus powers can be used.
So he's somewhat reliably in different battle situations for example he comes up with a lot of that which in turn shows her that her powers are not pure chaos and that she can be reliable partner to him which is nice.
Or what the exact powers of his opponents are and how to counter them like I said the puzzle fighter set up that also works in joker and everything so he's really good at that and while he seems very selfish in the beginning because he only wants focus powers so he can die.
He actually puts the work into give her a good time he takes her to countries she's never been.
Tracer how to party a bunch of food she's never tried gives her a bunch of food she's never tried.
He's naturally good at bringing Foucault out of her shell and Foucault really appreciates it like she was so afraid to hurt someone she never really was able to probably live her life until now and especially not joy living it.
With Andy she gets to actually do this all while being put in incredible danger most of the time but that's besides the point so it's part of the experience.
She screaming a lot in the beginning anyway she gets a bit more gutsy later on when she gets used to the battles but in the beginning there's a lot of yelling by Foucault because she of course doesn't know how to handle this.
Andy has it figured out and everything but it's the beginning is a bit wild for her.
And yeah Foucault has deviled an art during her 10 years shot in periods and is actually good at drawing which later comes back as well as an important plot point believe it or not.
And yeah again Andy keeps on using his powers and creative ways in the battles for example when they fight Gina who is this other union member that they need to be to get the second seat at the table.
She uses these invisible attacks and Andy puts a grenade in a mouth. Cut off his head propels his head high in the air regenerates his body in the air from his head down and then blows it up via the grenade to cover a wide area with his blood and that way makes Gina's attacks visible.
It's ridiculous of course but it's a really unique way of fighting and has the figure out how the enemies power is working how to counter them as a player like I said that make just bounce of fun and of course it becomes even more interesting throwing Foucault into the mix.
And of course because this clothes usually don't survive the first couple of seconds of a fight anyway.
Andy fights mostly naked at least in the beginning and there's a lot of you know dick jokes in the show as well but you know and since to activate Foucault's powers he has to touch her bare skin.
She's also often showing flash this isn't actually show in a way I mean there's no big amounts of tit's throwing around her throwing around everything but you know it's it's slightly raunchy.
But it's mostly played for laughs on both sides and you know since there's a lot of agency to Foucault down the road there is nothing like oh no this feels bad and she's only being used and everything and he has to grab pull her in and so you know they have body contact and he can understand.
And she makes a lot of that happen herself so that's really interesting and cool and at least Andy situation is eased up on a bit after um huma which are these monsters in this world which who also have special powers and body kind of like some of the special rules rules this world exhibits one of these humas attaches himself to Andy and this huma can generate clothes in an instant.
So that's very handy and Andy doesn't have to be naked all the time anymore of course Foucault names that you're a clothing which yes of course that's great you do that Foucault.
But yeah given the avalanche of nonsense thrown at our female main character she remains someone who is refreshingly capable and willing to adapt to a new situation like I said there's a lot of you.
Like I said there's a lot of yelling in the beginning but she is neither just a damsel nor overly possessive of Andy or anything there is a hilarious scene where they try to find a huma who turns people into zombies and one of the zombies tells them in zombie language of course just morning and I don't know who understands her but one of that does and I think Andy does and that she will spill the huma's location
if Andy marries her Andy is game and asks Foucault for permission which is nice because you know he considers both of them like he considers him and Foucault a couple at this point.
He takes her feelings more and more into consideration than expected from this fresh character type so it's really nice to see that and the show does that a lot where it's like no Andy actually cares for Fouca's opinion he cares for not hurting her he cares to be considered cares about being considered towards her.
All very unusual things in shown an anime now in in a lot of those other shows with this kind of dynamic you would expect some sunda re antics from Foucault here you know what no really yeah marry her if you want but she just burst into her hearty laugh and says he should go for it because she knows it's not serious and for the sake of the mission and that super neat it's so refreshingly uncomplicated.
The relationship between the store because they might not say it out loud in the beginning or you know anything but these really especially Foucault falls very quickly for Andy it happens very quickly she doesn't say it but it's obvious and through Andy's actions you realize that is the same for him and he really deeply cares for her and it's like yeah come hell or high water these two really belong together and they show it to each other.
So this kind of little thing is nothing that like throws Foucault offer game and everything so it's really cool to see that.
Yeah just great together and I love being surprised by them going against tropes in the show and Foucault so gosh darn adorable the way she secretly faunts over Andy and she's you know like I said incredible cable to great character.
The things get slightly more complicated ones especially like at the halfway point of the show Andy has to fully unleash his alternative ego which is Victor or Victor I think they just pronounce it Victor but it's written Victor.
And once he does that he becomes kind of a completely different person and very unhinged he you know he has different memories and is completely overpowered and Victor's memories don't match and he's like he doesn't remember the stuff that Andy did and Andy doesn't remember the stuff that Victor did.
And Victor can regenerate himself from everybody party once he can make clones of himself and much more worst of all he doesn't give a shit about Foucault and would rather kill her to not let Andy take control again and it takes the full force of you know the round table to rein him back in and that is also really cool fight and you know it mixes things up a bit and makes it a bit dangerous because in certain situation you might need Victor's power but Victor is.
Complicated and dangerous so you know you really they really have to gauge the situation or as really have to judge the situation and decide okay is this the best moment to unleash Victor or should we just try to windows fight ourselves because who knows what he might do so.
Yeah really cool one last thing about Andy that's really nice you will be surprised by what kind of jobs Andy already has doubled in during his mortal life like dude wasn't slacking it's ridiculous like there's so much stories like yeah I did that for a while yeah I did that for a while and that's you know how they kind of can explain him being a jack of all trades and being able knowing a lot of shit being able to do a lot of shit.
So yeah it's really fun like I said these two main characters are fan fucking testing but they're not the only cool characters in the show and in general the show has a lot more stuff to offer.
Like I said the world is really interesting we have all these different people with different powers who are called the indicators and one example of that is one of the first enemies the fight has the power unavoidable so you will always get hit by him because he can stop your movement to an extent.
And a lot of the characters from the union of course also have crazy powers and we don't immediately know what these powers are and I won't tell you because that is a lot of the fun to figure out what the actual power sets of the of the characters in this show are and how these powers work and how to beat them and everything.
So I won't get into that that much but yes they they become part of that and actually Andy was captured by the union and experimented on for 10 years until he escaped weirdly enough he doesn't seem to have that much of a grudge against them.
He is willing to kill them but he is not super emo or aggro about it he is more like ah shucks oh you guys bang and that's also fun part he is very like laid back about the whole thing when they meet the union again in a way.
He tries you know he does one tries like maybe I can immediately get rid of one of them just because they annoy me and everything but yeah it doesn't work out of course.
But Dina is one of the interesting ones like I mentioned with her invisible attacks she's also really interesting because she is the one who abducted who kidnapped Andy and she also kind of fell in love with him and so therefore this really interesting.
But yeah one day one so two main characters become part of the union the world is open up and we learn why the union actually exists why they hunt negators what all of this actually what the entire show is actually about that become that becomes evident at that moment because the roundtable members of the union regularly receive new quests by a talking book called Apocalypse.
Which apparently is the first artifact found on earth artifacts are like the special artifacts that have like special meaning or powers or whatever and this is the first one that was found and accomplishing these quests gains the union rewards for example being able to add an 11th member to the roundtable that would be one of the benefits or implementing special rules or being able to find it gets certain information or whatever.
But failing to completing all quests in a time a certain time window determined by the book will add a penalty to the world what exactly these penalties are is not immediately clear but the union wants to use the system to a mess as much power as possible to eventually break the system and its creator.
And since the system was already used 98 times in the past to add rules like language and race and gender and so on but also negative ones like sickness and death to the earth so cornerstones of human existence really they're basically talking about killing God and negating the rules he imposed on the world that some Shin Megami ten say shit so good stuff.
We're on the g r p g stuff now I love it absolutely yeah this is a very gamey show in that regard very game game a fight concept that I could see this work really well as an RPG as an action RPG so I wonder I must assume there is a game adaption of this at some point or will be but I don't know they don't always make the best use of the concepts that the show show shows offer so I don't know if there will be anything that really does.
Something interesting with that outside of hey here's a poccalopsies giving you quests so we'll see but you know it felt really video gamey but in an interesting way for example there are apparently no stars in this world only the sun and the moon which we learn on Fuku Fuku adds them to a painting of hers because she feels otherwise the moon in the night sky feels so lonely.
And then later after they fail one of the to accomplish one of the quests in the time window the Yuma which is in you know are the monsters but also rules and this short for an unidentified mysterious animal okay but one of them gets applied as a penalty to the world and that
is called I think universe so suddenly the earth is not alone in the universe anymore and all the other planets exist and the logical result from that is now there are aliens who are invading the earth and the union has to fight them off.
That is the penalty right because now you have to deal with this shit and it's you know there's there's a lot of crazy nonsense happening in the show in that regard but also like I said it keeps it really fresh and interesting no the
Yuma was called galaxy right so it's really cool and I really like the stuff that the author came up with that is like you know comes kind of out of nowhere but in the weird framework of the show also kind of makes sense and is it always you know delivered something in every other episode was like oh I've never seen this before in an anime in a way but this is implemented
interesting and uses some of the show in tropes but also sometimes subverts them in an interesting way so yeah really refreshing in a lot of ways that's what I would call the show definitely.
Fuku also wants to enter system because she thinks too much people suffer because of it but does not agree with the union's methods.
The current leader Jewish says in response that all Fuku has to do to change things is to become first seat so complete a lot of crests
and again this would also let itself to really well to a real video game you know where you have to actually rise through the ranks and then being able once your top seat to change how you know your organization works and everything so cool idea.
Another interesting quest rewards that they get later on is unifying all the world's languages so after completing it everyone in the world speaks English
and other languages don't exist anymore which you know which technically makes it easier to communicate across different countries but negators aren't affected by this.
One of the round table chambers members we meet in the very beginning is a Chinese native and you know since these these rules these rewards don't apply to negators he still speaks to Chinese why all the other people were suddenly speak English.
So you know he can communicate that well anymore so he has to use the translation device and some of the other characters too because they all speak still speak their native languages and everything and you know that also makes it tough for some negators who want to stay hidden in the world to now do that because now they're the only ones who speak another language.
That nobody understands anymore and that is you know so they're literally fucked and stand out a lot and this the show doesn't really interesting bits with that it's a bit wonky you know since technically now everyone is speaking English but also this is an anime so of course all the voice actors are mostly speaking Japanese.
So when there is a negator character introduced who is only speaking Japanese they have to do some jumping through hoops to properly convey the language barrier mostly succeeds but you still have to do some mental gymnastics to keep up the immersion like among the union characters this isn't really an issue because I think everyone gets equipped with some of kind of universal translator gizmo so they can understand each other even though some of them might not be able to speak the same language but you know once they come across other characters it's just like oh these actually.
These actually these characters actually don't speak the same language anymore so even though they all speak Japanese so it's a bit you know it's a bit wonky but it's still fun.
I was thinking why not go with a Tekken rules where you know everyone talks to their language and they can understand each other don't ask questions shut up.
Maybe they maybe they didn't want to didn't want to shell out for voice actors who could speak other languages and so on who knows could actually speak Chinese.
Still you know yes I would prefer to the same way like it would have been super fun if suddenly you know all the characters that were just speaking Japanese before now all of them you know outside of the negator suddenly speak English and it would be great like if you know in the dub version like the in the US.
Dup or maybe in the jump dub or whatever they actually make use of that and have you know only certain characters suddenly speak that main language and everyone else maybe speak still Japanese or still whatever so that would be interesting like maybe add and mix dub option or something like that when they would figure that out.
Yes you know it's it would be tough but it would be a lot of fun especially in regards to how the show works works that into the story.
So but yeah like I said it's it's it's not perfectly implemented but it's an interesting concept and the show actually does some really interesting things with that so I'm glad they put that in.
So the end game for this is there's a stone tablet with slots for 101 penalties the final one is called Rector Rock so that will probably be the unavoidable end of the world and they're now at eight ninety eight.
So they can't afford any more penalties I wonder why they are not more confident though considering you know how easily Jewish deals with one of the penalties maybe Rector Rock is a jump you know you don't know what I get it I wouldn't want to risk it either so they're very intent on not making mistakes anywhere at the certain board so it's interesting and touching certain artifacts gives you also a vision of the future.
Which also makes it interest gives you some interesting glimpses into oh for shadowing here what what what is actually going to happen with that Rector Rock shit and who is the God in this world so yeah there's also later this others organization introduced which is called under which is trying to become the rulers of the world before Rector Rock slash God arise because they don't think anyone can beat that thing and don't want to be the one suffering until then because I don't want to be the one.
I don't want to bring until then because negators are mostly abused used in this world used as tools sold in auction and stuff like that so they want to change all that and they want to basically become the kings of the world and then when God arrives and the whole world dies well then that's how it is but until then they want to live the good life so that's a day of course then clash with the union because you know they're
not just the creation sometimes overlap and everything and of course that leads to a lot of interesting battles with a lot of different powers clashing and so on and like I said the battles look really good so it's cool.
The only point of critique real critique so far is that the further the series progresses the more flashbacks you get multiple ones in the same episode that often flashback to stuff that happened in the same episode.
So idea if they were running out of manga chapters I don't think so because the manga is still way ahead you know maybe they felt this was really necessary maybe because a fight was coming up and they wanted to push that to the next episode for the better animation team to handle no idea what the actual reason is but this often felt like a bit of one piece stalling so there was one of the things that stuck out to me later it doesn't break the shore anything like it doesn't win it but it was definitely noticeable at a certain point and it's like yeah I wish
you know get on with it so but yeah aside from that there are a lot of twists and turns and surprises and this and I was surprised by how much of the stuff that felt random at first glance actually gets explained down the road.
There's a knowledge bombs dropped in episode 80 and 19 that shed light on stuff that was introduced as a side bit in episode one.
Like the creator of the manga is definitely playing the long game with some of the lore and plot developments and the show becomes very meta by the end in a very fun way and I also of course enjoyed that kind of shit and of course I was surprised like I said by how much I was dialed into the romance subplot which also becomes very important for specific reasons down the road not only because it's fun and because the characters are fun together but also story relevant.
And you know you can't not love these characters they're just so good and yeah slightly pervy beginnings aside the love story between Andy and Fuku is so sweet and cute and I'm really glad the series actually commits to it both by having the two say out loud at a certain point that they like slash love each other and showing actual earnest physical acts of affection multiple times on screen which is also rare.
They're allowed to say it yes what yes crazy I'm a candle I feel the real thing for shown anime especially and that's why it's all the more welcome here and there's like there's so many moments where it's just odd as is so so nice and so cute and such good vibes and I'm so happy for them and they deserve this I'm so glad I don't want anything bad to happen to them they belong to it together and I hope they have a happy ending and everything and
one of my favorites moments was when they go on their first undercover mission and Andy is like are you ready my honey and Fuku is like yes my darling I love see that some shown and writers get it yes I love these two
goofballs so much and I love that they're written this way and yeah it's really fun it's a fantastic show the first season of the anime covers 53 chapters of the manga 209 have been released so the
anime covers about one quarter so I hope we get at least three more seasons soon the problem is you can watch it on Disney plus the streaming service where anime go today so I don't know if this is gonna get anymore seasons I really hope so because man this was the most fun I had with the
show in action show in a long time like great battles super endearing man characters aromas that despite his ludicrous setup make sense and is pulled of really well and the show actually commits to it which is so rare in
shown anime and good lord it was such a breeze of fresh air I tell you really really is a show Joe story masquerading as a show in manga
considering the way the show opens I should have expected that but I was still caught off guard in a very good way and then add to that some great plot twist and turns and very
brisk pacing and amazing battles and I can almost guarantee you that you will have a great time with this one so please check it out so I don't have to send a big
amount of misfortune your way you have been warned
so guess going from one journey of immortality to what is on its face another question journey of immortality
among other things yes yeah self reflection and you know self actualization as well and you know evolving as a character
oh yes but purely on the concept that our main character may or may not be ageless or at least ages very very slowly
like really really slowly it's you know the show never makes definitive statement about how long her lifespan actually is but you could imagine it being
could go into like 50,000 years or something maybe I mean well we know up to this point it's been at least several hundred years at least
no it's been several thousand years John did they say that yes yes it's been like when they talk about her master they say that was
thousand years ago and she is already like a preteen at that moment so she you know you have to add all that time she was
still growing up before she got to her master and you know that so it's yeah I couldn't I couldn't remember the exact
time when she was with flammie so yeah yes we're talking about so so no free run or free run beyond journey's and depending on which name you decide to go with
during their decade long quest to defeat the demon king the members of the heroes party Himal himself the priest Heiter the Dwarf
war in ice and in the Elven Mage free run for spawns through adventures and battles creating unforgettable precious memories for most of them however the time that free
runs spends with her comrades is equivalent to merely a fraction of her life boy that's an understatement of the of the ever M.A.L.
right which which has which has lasted over a thousand years there we go when the party to spans after their victory free run casually returns to her usual routine of collecting spells across the continent
due to a different sense of time she seemingly holds no strong feelings toward the experiences she went through as the years pass free run gradually realizes how her days in the hero's party truly impact at her
witnessing the deaths of two of her former companions free run begins to regret having taken their presence for granted she vows to better understand humans and create real personal connections
although the story of that once memorable journey is long ended a new tale is about to begin so free run beyond journey's end brought to you by our good friends at madhouse
boy
haha
m
although looking at the credits of the
they do what they did they called in a million billion favors because boy this show looked amazing from beginning to end
yeah it's ridiculous like the best thing I've seen from madhouse since one punch man I think I don't even remember what other shows they did in between
but this definitely feels like one of those favors shows right from the get go is like what are these production values why does this look so goddamn good
someone i'll give back to the staff in a second but i'm trying to look at the history of the shows that they look at they worked on between one punch man and now there are a few things actually
but someone on the staff must have been like this is the one that we want to just knock out of the park
but yeah they chose that one to be that the one yeah i mean they did a few other good looking shows in between then like i didn't watch prints of stride all the way through
but i remember it being you're having some pretty good looking moments as well as aqua and um you watched sunny boy
oh right yes that was what there was a shingo not some a show in as well right i think so yes there was a looking show what a very different style like was very yes at very experimental artwork in a lot of moments very loose
I feel i would say like i mean in some battles this also has a bit more loose animation but outside of that everything looks pretty crisp
so i mean some of the backgrounds have like a bit of a watercolour seal and everything to make this feel more fairy tailors more fantasy style but it's still very crisp it's very you know very clear artwork i feel like there's not a there's not that much as big experimentation happening with the visuals
it's very precise artwork it's done very well and never on of model in any possible way no it's like even the littleest
moment looks so got them good in this show and like you have this delicate little this moments of delicate body movement and everything where they really put the focus on that and I was amazed how high quality this was from beginning to end
and I never got the feeling that it dipped at any moment in any episode it's like this was so high level from beginning to end and this is not like one core show this is like 28 episodes
and it looks so good from beginning to end
it was such a good choice of them to drop four episodes at once yes to get you hooked immediately
because I let's not bury the lead the show is great but I it the first it's kind of a slow burn at first and I don't think if they dropped you know all those episodes at once I would have been like yes I'm going to watch this thank you
thank you very much yes yes I mean I feel like some of the good emotional hooks already happened in the first episode like when we you know come across
or when we get introduced the bad to the characters and then we see the burial of of him all in everything we see free and reaction to it and everything and you know the soundtrack swelling up in the moment where they watch the what was the meteor shower
yeah you know where the strings and the occupiers reaping orchestral goes all out and everything and immediately then you're captivated by the production values but you know once you actually
get in the coming three episode following three episodes what the story is going to be from that moment on then it firmly has this hoax and you so yeah I totally agree with you it was a good idea to give us immediately for episodes so that we can realize oh this is about a new journey for these characters
and this is the structure of the show and everything and yeah what was what wouldn't have necessarily been completely evident from the first episode
I don't know yeah the music is excellent all the way through is done by Evan call who's done somebody other shows that we've talked about our watch like the sympho gear G violet F for garden
one of your favorites big order but he's done a lot of great work so in that very apparent throughout this show
the manga it was the shows based on it's created by Kanahito Yamada who did like the writing in the story and Tsukasa Abe who did the art
and it didn't really look too much of the manga itself so I'm not sure how it translates to this show but I'm not sure if you did
no no no I didn't I didn't want to spoil myself fair fair you was directed by Keichi Sato who we have spoken about
but for did a little bit of work on Akka a little bit of work on sunny boy speaking of directed bochi the rock
that's a wild experience and also a great show for different reasons well animated as far as I've heard
yes it that's a show that's not afraid to go a little off the rails in the animation department yeah and speak you want punch man
this show is written by tumohiro susuki who did that and a bit of loop on the third part for
and some other stuff here and there too so the pedigree of this show is very apparent on its face so I'm glad that like very very strongly comes through
there's a lot to say about this there's so many characters to go through oh my god so I guess we could start with the main character herself
freeren is this many centuries old millennia millennia well I can is it more than one millennia I'm pretty sure I mean look she is it's good yes
it's been 1000 years since she was with flamma and she hasn't aged that much since then so I can't like if she's like 10 and
more years when she meets flamma which might be the case maybe a bit older I must imagine that it was like at least another millennia before she met flamma or even two so she might be 3000 years old at this point
that's possible but I'm not in the hedge my bets and say at least one yes definitely one
it's not clear give me some guidance give me a solid number I mean we might get that eventually but maybe also not also it kind of doesn't matter in a way where it's like hey doesn't matter how old exactly she is it just matters
that time passes very differently for her when compared to other characters and she has very different that results in her seeing the way in a very treating her life in a very different way
like there's so many moments where it comes through of course the what you mentioned in the beginning the journey with her comrade she always says like hey it was just a mere 10 year long journey a 10 year long adventure
and everyone is like what do you mean mere what do you mean just 10 years right you know and she's like yeah for her that's a blink of an eye thing like it's it began and it's over
but you also see that in a lot of other ways like that she just has more time she goes everywhere of course by foot and everything and goes very long stretches by foot because you know it doesn't matter if it takes her like half a year to get somewhere
because she has so much time on her hands so she can walk these long distances without problem without losing much time and she likes to sleep in
yeah and relate the hashtag relatable very much so she has trouble getting out of bed because she doesn't have to right she you know in her life because she meets before she meets some of the other characters she's like yeah I can just
get up whenever because it's not like I'm missing anything because I have so much damn time on my hand
some of some of the some other characters later on make it a point to be like we need to get a move on we can't stay in this town because if free rent gets comfortable we will be we will be here for months
if not years yes and I mean she later on tries to take the other characters feelings into consideration and you know straight insert have up a bit and tries to hurry up in certain moments but also
you know she's a person of habit and some stuff just needs to be done when you get to a town like look for a couple of new spells get to that weird dingy magic shop with this with this weird magic shop owner who is very suspicious and these are the best ones because they have the best hidden spells so of course she needs to go there because she
wants to collect spells because it's the most fun thing to her about magic she loves doing that she loves to find these weird kind of on the surface nonsensical spells and then just you know collect them that's her thing
and of course that takes also a lot of time and she's willing to put the time into that the problem is later on you know when she
characters mostly with humans who don't have such a long life span she needs to take that into consideration and you know needs to accept that they you know want to move through this quicker and she can't just linger and assertive moment in a certain place for too long otherwise she might make them unhappy and she also doesn't want to do that so it's definitely she definitely needs to adapt and I think she does in certain ways but sometimes it's hard it's hard
to take a minute to do so yeah I mean I am got to imagine as we don't really see it that during the initial before the journey and that him all and the others probably able to keep her moving a little better
yes I mean there is a reason all of this is set up or she goes on her second journey and everything there is this clear squasai romantic thing going on with him right when it's like yes she says that herself like like elves live a long time but like romantic feelings and reproductive instincts so there are not many of them around anymore
this is one of the facts of the world like we meet very few elves in this show so and she herself has you know a somewhat called demeanor that name that makes sense was could you know writer on this but yes we'll get to that and yes so she treats a lot of this from the outside when you know don't know her that well
she seems like very matter of fact the even the character does and so on that's for her like yeah they have limited life spent she only comes to only the real realization how much a person with a short lifespan can actually mean to her when him will dies and she's at her as his grave and it's like fuck I should have I have so much time in my life I should have spent that little time that he has to with him to get to know him better
because he was important to me and I wasted that time going around just searching for spell stuff that I always do when I could have spent more time with people that actually I grew fond of and that I had a good time with and that brought something valuable to my life
and that is like a journey she disappears sure was it like 50 years 50 years yeah and you know when she returns a him it's just like this really really small old man
it's not it's it's she treats that again matter of fact you write and it only really really understands how that actually affects her once him will dies and then she makes a decision and from that moment on she actually tries to learn more about the humans she meets during her travels you know
she has talks with them a lot of conversations and you know helps them out and everything and of course you know her new co-opanians also add to that and everything and her trying to adapt and trying to learn more about them and trying to accommodate them
it's just what who says that I think hide her like that he says free and is very bad with people or with emotions or understanding this she tries to
you will see when you spend time with her you will you will understand that she actually tries to do that she's just not good at that
so that's a learning process but she yeah she definitely makes the effort and I feel like him all is one of the main reasons why she is doing that not because only he died but also we had more and more glimpses of that in her second journey later on we always get the flashbacks right when
she on her second journey with her new companions she visits places she has been before with her old you know party
we always see bits and pieces of what she did in her on her first journey the experience she had with her old crew
and you quickly realize a lot of what him will did is making her feel welcome at home and giving her a feeling that what she is doing is
important to him and you know commending her for the silly spells she is she is collecting and saying hey this is the coolest shit I've ever seen and stuff like that right and that makes that is important to her because you know this this is what she doing is important to her and then you know is this person who
who apparently this also means something to for one reason or another own even only if it's because she is the one who is collecting these best and showing them off
so a lot of that is a lot of that what she's doing now in the second journey and everything and why she is going on the second one why she is spending more time with people and everything is because of him
and of course the other characters from her party so yes that's I don't know what your initial point was and my point was that is that is the hook for this and this is her I think her main drive after this particular moment and her main drive for going on the second journey
right like going to the place they were before where they beat the demon king and actually going to a place called heaven so maybe she can talk to him again or I don't know what the actual end game is here for her I don't know if the outright state that in the show I know she just wants to go there do they ever say what she plans to do when they get there just she just want to talk to him one more time or what was the plan I don't remember
I feel like it was that you wanted to speak with him one more time it was it didn't your rate it wasn't
cleanly apparent but yeah I mean that's also a tie singer it's like okay so we still have a big question mark of what's going to happen at the end of the show
maybe is she going to just stay there right in heaven herself and be like okay I'm going to stay with my who friends or whatever or what is what is actually actually going to do what is or she just going to say thank you to him
or for you know changing her life or whatever so let's see I mean the manga is still running so there's plenty we I believe we got about halfway through the current material
and you know it's still ongoing so there's there's plenty to figure out yeah it's not definitely like I would say the show is definitely not the fastest one
despite you know fear and having to hurry up certain things it's still a very relaxed pace you know there's some moments where it moves a bit
first like in the beginning it moves very fast just in terms of how much time is covered right like we said we get these like little
this little montage that happens over the course of 50 years before she returns to her old friends and then there's the burial of Himal and everything
and then she goes on her new journey but after she meets fan and start like the time slows down very abruptly and we spent like most of the show 20 years
20 years less 28 slash 29 years after Himal's death I think that's where that's where most of the show at least in this season happens
it's like one year right so I mean I kind of feel like it's it works to get to the story that they're trying to tell to sort of like
speed past that initial part absolutely yeah and then that gives you an opportunity to tell that story later on if you want but the thing is about that
I just said that and I was like well wait we kind of got bread crumbed pieces of that story as we went along so it's not entirely
necessary to even go back and tell it in full I feel like no not really I mean that's not the absolute important part
the important part is second journey she's taking right now the way she approaches the life different now how she interacts
with a new comrades and how and then the flashbacks that are these key moments that's already the seeds that were sewn by her old team members
her old party members for these changes that are happening now like seeing okay this is what happened here and that's why she's acting now on her second
we're away through this journey the way she's doing right now so these are the important moments everything that happens before that
or eventually after that is not really that important I mean we get also some flashbacks to her time with flammar right because these are relevant to
summer from motivation why she likes magic so much and why she likes to collect spell so much the stuff with the flowers bell and everything
we have a nice full circle moment at the end that also relates to all of that at the end of this first season and how him will him
will him himself place into that as well so yes these flashbacks are also important but everything else outside of what she experienced
with her party is in her life is not that important so I really kind of like that oh I'm going around collecting spells
I can spell so you mean like these big big bang zimz app spells just like no just you know little virtual spells that don't honestly have too much utility
but I think her brain and I'm like I love that I think that's amazing and it's not like like only like spells
I mean that's her main thing like she's always on the look for grim was like that continue you know ancient spells that nobody knows about
right and she's always really excited when she she senses when she smells there might be a grimoire in some way
you know this in this dungeon this could be like like this is moment in the background of the show where they have to
to get past a test they have to go through this get to the end of this dungeons and dungeon and she's with like two other characters
and then she is like oh no this is the main route let's go back you have to fill in the map dude yeah she is me at a fucking RPG
they could be a treasure that way down there I wasn't there before and this is obviously the main road so I'm not going to go there
because I'm going to miss a fucking potion or some bullshit so that's her like she's collecting so much stuff
that to all the other people in the show seems like worthless junk but she's so happy like just just rummaging through that shit that she gets out of one of those treasure chest or whatever
and you know if she wouldn't always get stuck in fucking mimics it wouldn't that's a little bit of a problem
it's a bit of a problem yes I I saw a figure you can buy
that is free rein hanging out out of the mouth of a mimic you can purchase that yes of course it's one of the running geeks of the show
like so good like whatever was it she's like the super powerful mage and everyone's like oh shit and then she gets stuck in a mimic and I was like wait what is this a joke like is she maybe just an idiot
it's just one of those things with the characters the case like not again yeah yeah I mean Fern is very found and at a moment or at a point she's like I'm just so used to this I
whatever this again how did you get out of it before well yeah yeah well there's there's several ways you can do this
you can you can some something some might more be effective than us but then have you know repercussions maybe on your hair
so that's you have to really think what you want to do you want to be barfed out or do you want to explode yourself out of a mimic
the hair can be fixed yeah well it's a matter of yeah importance sometimes you know
priorities I guess priorities yes well it's always it's it's such a funny running gag because the show does a really good job of making sure you understand how god damn powerful
Frieden is like you know we get very early on we get the the the name drop of flammah who is like the founder of human magic
and everything and then we quickly learned that Frieden was actually her student and she which is why she can easily identify a lot of the
tom's attributed to flammah as a fake and yeah you know that she has learned all about magic from her and she's super powerful and everything and she
and there are these moments later on like the show is mostly the way it's structured is slice of life he at least for quite a while right
they go to town you know where you have some flashbacks to what happened the auto just do some side quests and so on
they're not that many battles in the beginning that gets there happen later on that they look really good
you know and having Frieden being so incredibly overpowered is fun
but also I feel like they couldn't make it a bit less obvious at times like there's this fight against a couple of demons
later in the show and it's very obvious the ways one of the powers of the demons works that
they can't beat Frieden because it relies heavily on the demons mana being mana level being higher than Frieden's
you know that cannot be the case like yeah she's so fucking old she's the student of this got tier mage who lived a thousand
here it goes no fucking way your mana is higher than hers oh but it looks like it is yeah but what the fuck
whatever but there's a chance you know right and you know we know this or at least we can assume that's the case
so as soon as we get the explanation to how that demons powers power scare words it's it's
it's like a bit of the tension out of the confrontation it's not a judges puzzle where we have to guess how we'll
experience experience helper overcome this is just not she's got more juice it just turns into a real
night win yeah exactly and that at least in concept is a bit lame it is however fun how they weave the
effect that demons underestimate her into the world building and you know Frieden has done certain things
in her life and she's that have made her that at doing certain things with her mana and everything and
you know she can suppress it and that is something that is unthinkable to demons for demons because
that magic power mana level whatever is there status in their society and you know there's status
in their society is solely derived from the amount of mana they can they openly display suppressing
it constantly would mean the basing themselves so of course there of court court of guard by Frieden who
can do this and you know when the one demon that Frieden fights makes the realizer giant mistake
and how Frieden actually delivers the finishing blow it's not this super big sacriot moment but
it's very effective and the soundtrack also does some really good work here but I think the scene
could have even been better if this was more of a twist than the series things it is because we knew
that fear in this ridiculously powerful they didn't play coy with that so I don't know I don't know
that reveal could have been even cooler miles but it's still pretty neat and you know the actual
excitement is delivered by a fan and Stark who fight the other two characters in a really cool
sacrifice and yeah it's it's really great to look at and a lot of great sound work and everything's
really exciting and I didn't expect to show to have that because it felt very low key and like a set
slice of life in the beginning and then we have some cool training you know battles between
Fern and Frieden and then we have Danny to extinguish the steam and called Kual and
that which is also really cool and also interesting in terms of world building and how that works
you know because he he was bananished or he was like sealed away because he's the way for him
yes for a long time right and in the meantime humanity has caught up and his deadly spell that he had
before has like been completely up in this and you know he's like oh what the fuck and that's
really interesting I'll use my most deadly spell we took it and made it a lot better yes exactly
also we have super powerful defense magic that has no problem dealing with that now and is like
really interesting because you know the way I just loved how the show deals with time and time
progression and how it works different for different people in the show not only Frieden and the
humans but also other elves eyes in the dwarf and who is not quite you know doesn't have quite as
long as alive spanish field but you know longer than humans and then the demons and everything and
you know Kwa who was sealed away and stuff so there's a lot of different aspects to this and how things
changed over time you know memories how people remember the band of heroes that Frieden was part of
remember her some people don't some people think her of a myth which is weird like she is kind of like
the boogie man in in demon in demon lore right like Frieden the demon slayer true so she would think
that immediately immediately when they run across the demons they would see her and be like oh
fuck right they would like dust off like run blast off with the speed of like like team rocket
they would just fucking get out of there because they know that they have no chance dealing with her
I would assume the way this is this is portrayed like later on explain that they would be taught
in demon school or whatever or with demon children books if you ever come a if you come across these
this elf run like take your belongings and run and they don't so I don't know what that says about
them if demons are kind of stupid or if they don't really educate themselves properly but it was
funny to hear that that she is actually kind of like this boogie man character in their lore or whatever
their their their legends and then it's like no I mean they gotta know that elves lived this long and
that it could be her like if she looks exactly the same so it was a it was weird but it was also
really funny so yeah I don't know I guess me because she is purported to be a legend yeah maybe
it's like I should can't be here like this is not important to her she must be somewhere I don't
know studying magic by which to be in this town in this in this unimportant town right yeah that
could be the case I would be I mean because also be the case that you know they don't know what she
looks like I don't know but then again coming into the or playing into the theme of conveying certain
things to the future or taking for certain things into the future was also very important thing in
this show like taking the memories of people who don't live that long as other people like being
their monument by their living monument which she is for her old party who you know have died or will
all die at at a certain moment and all the the people he is with she is with now as well right she is
making memories with them and taking these memories into the future so that maybe people can still
learn about them in the future they won't be forgotten right you only really die if the memory of
you dies I think is one of the things that is also said in the show so that's real yeah considering that
I would say like yeah maybe write this shit down demons maybe draw some pictures like draw manga
so yeah it's just it was really funny to be demons funny guys at least to an extent
maybe not quite as cautious as the demons from Kimetsu no yai yeah yeah I feel like there a lot of them
you know maybe no more what they're doing I mean it doesn't save them ultimately but yeah
maybe it would do the demons from fear and good to be a bit more cautious but yeah it's fun
and yeah this journey is fun and free and as a fun character even though she's not super emotional
or anything but that's also fun part because she treats certain things so matter of factly and
her her mumbling when Stark is trying to try to wake her just another 12 hours is peak Monday me
like I get it so I love that moment so much she's just like me for real for real yeah yeah
but yeah she's not alone on the second trip right so who does she meet in the second episode already
that becomes a very important key factor in this journey well I think that's when she reunites with
Heiter who was the priest of the old party the corrupt priest we do a little bit of drinking on the
side you know we're supposed to be chased you know don't judge I don't worry about it yes she
lovingly calls him that every time he's like hang over or doing something not really you know faith-ish
not very priest like not very priest like he is she calls him corrupt priest or whatever so
it's fun yes today reunite for every moment you're supposed to be a man of the cloth
but that's when freeren is introduced to this girl fern who was orphan from you know the
she's just an orphaned war refugee I believe yes she lost her parents in a war and I think I don't
know if it was war demon take or whatever but when when Heiter meets her she actually tries to kill
herself she tries to throw herself off a cliff and Heiter convinces her that you know she should
keep her parents memories alive by not ending her own life and you know which one of the core themes
of the show like I said and yeah fan wants to repay him by becoming a strong enough mage to look
out for herself yeah so Heiter takes her in and as Heiter gets up there in age for you know does
her best to take care of her and like you said she's training to do the mage stuff
and that's when freeren rolls around and it takes a little bit of convincing I would say it takes
a little bit of trickery on Heiter's part like it takes a little bit of convincing but Heiter manages to
have freeren take fern in as a student and boy does fern learn some things
yes I mean she's one of the main reasons or should we get aside from the stuff that you know what
Timmel did for freeren fern becomes one of the main reasons why you know she acts away she does
and why she's more considered to what's humans and so on because fern is the daughter to freeren but
also partially her mother because you know freen is really laid back and does have a different concept
of time and responsibilities and everything so fern is always the one getting up early and making
sure that groceries are being bought and she is you know very her time with Heiter has made sure
that she knows how things are run and if everything is not done properly and the way she has
conceptualized it then she's very quickly very angry very upset but not in a loud way because none
of the none in this show except from maybe stark on occasion but especially fern is not a loud
angry like she's always like sulking and she's sitting on the bed and making this face great where
she's like mmm like the big puffed out cheeks puffed out cheeks very grumpy and freen and both
both freen and stark are scared of her but you know she's the worst thing she does is just very delicately
like hammering her fists against the chest of other people but you know she has this aura around her
very that is very dangerous and she has she becomes such a strong mage in her own right because you know
of course she first she's very adept to magic apparently but also she has a great teacher in the
form of freen who is just like this uber mage and you know of course of course fern is bound to
become incredibly powerful and people you know of course underestimate her a lot
due to her demeanor and you know the way that because she always uses basic spells just like freen
but once she actually unleashes it is everyone is like oh fuck I cannot beat her probably so yeah she
she becomes a really really strong mage in her own time it's also that is an interesting party setup
right like in what RPG party do you have two mages in one warrior this kind of rare I would say
like the way this is this is set up so the battles are maybe a bit different than they are in other
other parties you know and even the the back half or or what we saw in the from the fights or
experiences freen had with her previous party because that had two melee fighters one healer and
the magic use of the classic setup but in this now in the second journey journey it's like two
overpowered mages and one melee fighter and no healer really I mean they have yeah they sometimes get
like guess we get guest characters for a while like four one or two episodes or three like
Zinus one of them yeah it's gonna say besides Zin that's cuffed I guess from one episode right
he's a monk I don't just eat two hating spes I think he does healing spes or something like that I'm
not sure I don't remember but Zin definitely and you know then we have later some other characters in
the test exam that they partially team up with and so on but you know this is the setup and
it was kind of unusual and made the battles interesting because they're of course more magic
focused than maybe in other shows of this kind so that was cool I like that and yeah so yes she
found the cums films apprentice and has to deal with a lot of shit with in one particular episode with
three and and eyes and at the same time like both two characters with long lifespans who like to
just hang and one from a tree the other one I don't know it you you immediately realized
fan is not okay with that and yeah but it's it's fun I feel like I liked her but in certain moments I
felt like she definitely got too much into her companions business like there was some moments where
like if Stark wants to stay up late and drink juice let him for fuck sake none of your beeswax woman
especially if he doesn't know that you know Frieden and and and uh and fan were already done with the
first mage exam like fan fan definitely needs to learn to relax and be less uptight and that's part
of her character journey right she needs to learn that she can't always just lash out at people
or just just not not trying to immediately withdraw herself if she is upset but instead talk to people
instead of sulking so that's part of her journey and uh yeah so some of the moments I was like
God fan relax I mean I get it because they're trying to paint her as like a motherly figure to
the party which you know okay I get that and motherly or a wifely figure because she and Stark
obviously have a romance thing going on obviously I mean design even says why don't you two get together
he says in so many words why don't you just start dating already I love that moment I was like yes
you're right God damn it get it get it over with you too this is so tiring and yes I mean these
moments are also cute right when they actually uh learn to express affection for each other but it's
like this very teenage is loved Stark is very much acting like a child the fan is very much trying to
go in the exactly other direction but too far at certain moments where she's like immediately upset when
something doesn't go her way and everything and you know taking something's the wrong way when
they are not meant that way so it's you know it's a bit tough and free of this in the middle there
but also sometimes receives that anger because she's not you know she's too late back in certain
moments but she's also you know it's not just fan who is like exhibits this mother role because
Frida definitely exhibits the mother role towards fan like that's that's her role you know she's
obviously older and in certain parts she's not as responsible as Fern but it's definitely her
role to guide her and to show how she needs to tackle her life and how she needs to approach certain
things and she teaches her about the world and everything so she's definitely a mother character
especially to Fern partially to Stark but also Fern is partially a mother character to Stark but
also romantic interest and so on so there are a lot of interesting dynamics in this party makeup
and due to the virtue of Frida being this this kind of complicated funny character because she's
partially also acting like a child but she's this incredible old person and she's she's always really
mellow like she's she always seems kind of relaxed in the face of the most ridiculous shit and you know
that's really it's a really interesting character type that you don't see that much as a main few
make character she's very unusual a lot of characters in the show are feel very unusual I mean
Fern as a type two you get these uptight character types but usually these they are then also very
loud and angry and she isn't that right she's she she's very she pulls her emotion also back just
like Frida they're not that many big emotions in the show in some parts there are but they're more
more conveyed through the music through the importance of certain character developments
happening in that particular moment they're not necessarily expressed loudly by the characters
themselves so it's a very interesting way to handle this and I feel like that is kind of unusual
you don't see that that often with these with especially with you know
RP with these fantasy stories and action stories in a way um that have left kind of an RPG-ish
character or at least adhere to certain tropes that are very familiar and yeah I I I appreciate it
I appreciate that some of these characters felt very different the way they reacted to certain
standard things happening I don't know you felt about that especially when it comes to you know
Frida and Fern it kind of goes for the whole show not just for the interaction with the characters
that it just feels like everyone's just vibing yes yes it definitely a vibe show yes I would totally agree
with that and that really comes to especially in the way you know the characters act towards each
other and of course you know there are changes that happen that's for sure but it's still very you
know very gradual very slow and also very um very minor at points it feels like like really really
minor more but still nonetheless important so it's just a very slow process and uh I like that the
series takes its time I mean towards the end I always I also felt like okay maybe you could speed
some of this up right I was founding it uh but also there was still enough interesting new stuff
happening and we get always especially in the back half we get introduced to like you said
there are a lot of characters in this show we don't spend that much time with
anyone really outside of our three main characters a lot of these are just for now anyway
guess characters that stick around for a couple of episodes and they're gone I would say like the
biggest addition at least for a while comes in the last what is it five episodes ten episodes
of the show where we have like this magic magic exam thing going on when we get introduced at
once to a lot of new characters and those stick around for these couple of episodes because it's
like a close off test environment and due to it that we are we we have to deal with all of these
characters for a couple of episodes and that's funny itself because you know we get to spend actually
more time with other characters and don't solely focused on don't solely focus on our main three
characters don't get me wrong I love our three mains but it's also fun to then actually spend some
more time with these other characters while before that a lot of this was just this slice of life
the journey thing where hey this episode we're in this town this episode we're in this town
completely new cast of side characters and you will never see them again after this
so it was nice that the show changed that up a bit by the end and it doesn't mean that the side
characters we only meet for one episode are interesting right there and nothing interesting characters
are there but of course you know some of the later ones are more memorable because we've spent more
time with them um yeah that's cool yeah and I mean it kind of makes sense to uh that some of the
characters you know we don't get seen for a long time because you know it's the journey they're constantly
on the move so not every side character is going to stick around it only makes sense during the
mage the mage certification exam whatever you want to call it uh that yeah of course we're going to
see god how many characters was in we're going to get to know them at least a little better a little
bit a little bit a little bit some of them more than others of course right yeah for sure we'll
definitely learn a lot about dyncon we learn some stuff to uh about uble about billbel and stuff like
that but uh and of course two other girls uh for your new spirit that's yeah yeah so yeah definitely
those and we might see them down the road again we might we might see a sign again right so um
that that I am willing to put money on will see sign again because he had his own story that
yeah we don't we haven't seen the rest of it but I also really like that he was only around for
a couple of episodes and he was like no I'm gonna take off and do my own thing for now because
that is my journey on you have your journey is so unusual I was like oh here comes the priest and
you priest right they need a healer so he's gonna stick with the crew and then he's like no
after three episodes no this is my goal this is your goal and I'm gonna head that way and I was like
oh unexpected but really cool really cool so yeah like you said I would bet money on it that they
meet them him as well and will be interesting to see what and doing the time they did the magic
exam stuff and so on what he did in that time did he meet his friend you know did they reunite
did something else happen maybe when they meet him then need to get him out of a bind or something
like that it's really really cool that they have like this that they touch uh you know other people's
lives like for a short while and then they move on and we might or might not see this people again
that keeps things like you know that keeps the anticipation high or it's like oh I love this
character but you only got to meet him for like two episodes but maybe we'll meet him again
down the road because they're also no journey so yeah you have these different story paths that might
intersect again at some points and now that all these different new characters are introduced in
the back half of the show we might also see a lot of those again down the road I think I don't
think about didn't they do that with craft where we saw him in episode and then we saw him again
briefly later on very briefly very briefly but only in a site bit because he kind of saved Uber
or not really like he saved the bandits that were trying to that were trying to rob her because he
knew that she killed the other bandits in the vicinity so he's like uh huh I yeah so that we
saw him saving them from you but that was really interesting like that was oh we know this character
and he's also on his own journey and we know what he is about because because he spent one episode
with our characters and so that's really really cool way to do this like having once again like
get you know we acquaint with some of the characters or see what they what part of their journey they're
at now so really interesting idea to handle the story telling in this uh well yeah we haven't talked
about our third main member yet and we definitely should give him a few sentences yeah that's uh
stark and he uh he's a warrior he's he's the one who took up he took up the axe warrior in every
sense well final fantasy 14 is where I know the warrior job from and he's you know he's a pretty
good-natured guy but he's uh he's not the bravest no he absolutely is he's looking strong
he studied under Eisen yes and he kind of ran off and Eisen wasn't wasn't like he didn't get mad but he
wasn't super pleased with that but you know at his instruction he joins three right in front I mean
Eisen kind of also partially blames himself for that right you know the initial backstory of
Staggers and we get filled in on that a bit more down the road but he you know his village got attacked
by demons and he ran away so he considers himself a coward and he is by the definition of the world
in certain parts he is a coward he is you know he's tries to avoid risks he gets scared easily and
stuff like that he's a bit of a zenithu type without being in a knowing shit stain yes he is I'm
glad he's not like that yes he is very much he's not overly loud he's sometimes yells he's like
he complains a bit but he's not like overbearing about it yes exactly and not all the time not
always in your face not or screaming at the top of his of his lungs and everything is he's sometimes
just freaking out and it's always funny you know the way he reacts cowardly to certain things it's not
so over the top that gets annoying it's so funny when he sometimes gets out and you know but the
thing the cool thing about him is he is he's actually super super strong just like Zenithus but he's
he has agencies actually going out of his way despite his fear helping people and you know because
he's so strong what did Eisen say he hit him not because he was angry with him but because he was
scared when they had a training session because there was like this moment of instinct where
Stag was about to unleash his full power in a way and Eisen realized that instinctively
and got so scared that he just hit him with this hard punch and gave Stag a scar on his forehead that
he still has but that was not because he was angry he was just scared right so he knows what that
the thing is I think he also had the same experiences to an extent like Stag that's why he also took
him on as an apprentice because he could empathize with him and because he thinks that
Friedland would also be a good teacher for him and you know be a good environment and he would be
a good addition to the party he asked her to please take him on as a as a party member as well
and yeah so that's how they join he fights a dragon which is super cool that that fight like
once you actually realize how strong he is where he sits next to this giant like Cliff in the mountain
and you realize oh he did that that's actually crazy what the fuck so yeah he is a really fun character
he's like the of course he's the only guy for most of the time in this team constellation so
and he's a bit of a you know a bit of a child to an extent more irresponsible and
Friedland and you know not always thinking about what he's saying is also bad with people especially
interpreting certain things that found us and everything and he that also that fucks him up a lot
like I love this moment where fairness complaining that Friedland doesn't understand her and Stag is
just like I don't understand you either she gets mad against its pecality I love that moment so much
and there are several moments of those and like I said there's a development slow developing romantic
thing between the two it's not really emphasized or anything but that much but you can quickly see
that they start to care for each other in more ways than one and that's really nice and yeah he
he starts the why he joins the other two is he wants to have a ridiculously ridiculous and fun journey
just like Eisenhead who is now too old to travel so he can bring back the stories of you know his
adventures back to Eisen as a payment for his death of being his student or Eisen being such a good
teacher to him and everything so that's why he's going on his journey is that he wants to make memories
he wants to have cool stories to tell because Eisen always told him cool stories of his adventure with
Friedland and Tim and Hiter so he wants to reward Eisen for that because Eisen is just now an old man
and can't be an adventurer anymore even though he really wants to be so that's nice Stag is a really
nice guy yeah he immediately and that happens several times in the show every time they get to a new
town he immediately makes friends it's a lot of these are like the small sight scenes where it's like
he hangs out with the with the kids of the town and plays with them or he you know there's like
a shock vendor there's like a stark nice to see you again here have a loaf of bread or whatever
right and he helps them with like this this these daily task and whatever and he's just a really
really cool guy there's this cool moment like with craft you know the month they meet
a stark immediately takes to him because he sees like oh he's such a cool strong character and I want
to be like him and everything and it's just nice to see him idolize someone like he idolizes
Eisen probably and it's like you know he's really he's really a young kid he's like he has to learn a lot
of things and he has to get more brave and everything but he has a really good heart and that shines
through a lot of the times in the show I don't know what your favorite part about with stark was
or whatever but I think there were a lot of standard moments and of course his fights are super
cool like the dragon fight there's a fight against the demon which is super look super good
and he's not as much as prominently featured in this show as the other two characters I would say
as Fernand Frieden I would say they get more screen time than him well you know being a tank is a
thankless job and you know the letter half of the show is about the magic exam which he of course
doesn't take part in so maybe he'll get more screen time in another season or whatever but you know
I mean to be fair you know during is it just before just after the major exam one of the other
meters we're both was like I'm borrowing you and he does a good job and we're both you know
respects that so yeah it's it's it's he like I said he kind of always leaves a good impression with
everyone except maybe found like yeah it is moment where he looks at the clouds and he's like oh they
look like boobs oh they look like poop and Fernand's in the background is like oh god he's such a child
it's just he's a funny guy and he's he doesn't do anything bad or anything he's just you know a
bit of a still a child so that's you just the goof he's a goof he's a he's a big old goof he's a
bit scared sometimes but he's nice so I think he yeah he's a good part of the team and he delivers a lot
of the of the comedy in the show aside from Frieden of course because you know she also does a lot of
funny shit but what's the one of the funniest things that Frieden does oh yeah right when she tries to
convince Zine to join their party because he wants to travel with elder women with with mature women
and of course Frieden considers herself that because she's she's an older woman but that's not what Zine
means no it's not and her charms are completely lost on it does her her her skills quote-unquote
of seduction definitely don't work on him so that is really funny but also she is not like insulted
by that or it doesn't you know a soul or anything because of it she's just like oh that didn't work
well I tried so that's funny I think one of the only jokes that I didn't like in the show was
that they did two or three times and it's such a bad trope there is like you know in the beginning
once we meet when we meet Furn she's still a little kid and then you know she Frieden takes
under a tutelage and everything and then of course Frieden grows grows and becomes no how old she is
for the main time of the show she like 16 oh Furn yeah she 16 or 18 I think during the bulk of
the story she see yeah she's 18 for the bulk of the story okay and of course there is a joke about
Furnst tits now being bigger than Friedens and Frieden being self conscious about this I wish this
wasn't in here the show is pretty good at avoiding bad anime trust but this is one of the lamest
ones that is in too way too many series and I think the show doesn't linger on it no I think it
bothers me so much here because Frieden outside of the scene is not painted as a woman that would give
a flying fuck about whether another girl has bigger boobs than her or not it just feels out of
place and trope and dumb and they bring it up at least twice in the show if not more so that's like
guy that doesn't make sense I don't even remember the one time when they were on the wagon and
she's saying down in firm slap and then I can't see the sky know that right yeah but there
know there's this other moment where they walk next to each other was very much at the beginning
of the show where she remarks on Furnall being 16 in years old or something and then she looks at
her side were always and they talk about food or something and or or not genetics I don't
so upbringing or something like then she looks at her tits is like is that all it is right is the
side glance of her where she just glances at fans tits and it's like really and then she looks at
her own and then you know she you know what this is about yeah I guess I guess I put that one
out of my mind yeah just because the second time it was just sort of okay yeah and they just looked
touched on it and then walked away from it yes and I'm glad they don't do that like in every episode
as I but again it just stuck out to me because it doesn't make sense in regards to Furnall's character
really because she doesn't feel like a character who would care about this kind of stuff like that
would matter to her in any possible way I mean she cares about her hair we know that
but aside from that I've not much time spent on her thinking about looks or anything or
comparing herself really like in terms of appearance to other people so that doesn't seem to be an
elf thing to do and yeah it's yeah it just felt out of place I guess sometimes it just you know
it just happens for how's on oh no this is yeah maybe uh yeah uh you already talked about the soundtrack
and how good it is like there's this wide selection of sweeping orchestral tracks and we have this
more relaxed sombre folky songs I think it captures the atmosphere of this world and the characters
and emotions on that venture really well there's there like when when there are like actual battles
I feel like the music picks really up and gets really exciting and everything so they also do a good
job there but they also really are able to highlight the emotional moments well with the music so
yeah I I like that a lot and John I think we both kind of really we are just really happy to see
some good fantasy anime that is not Isikai or video game or light novel related you know that one meme
with uh oh god with uh oh I can't think of his name now with Gordon Ramsay finally some good food
absolutely like I I'm searching my brain to think of the last time we had like a really really
good fantasy anime and it's escaping me there was one reason to I mean yeah it definitely was one
but you know we watched so many so much anime that's sometimes hard to remember I think we if you
look at our review list we would find one like I feel like um Somali and the forest spirit was
true right I mean there's there's gonna be one that I know for certain we're gonna talk about
next season that was also really good so you know and there's a little bit of a research and
but it took time yeah and one you haven't watched and I really like this made it a bit right so
but that is also a bit video game ish feeling anyway so even though it's not video game related but
yes yes I guess I could have made the argument that Johane of the perhealy and kind of is
but that's also a spin-off of something else that is something completely different and the focus is
not necessarily on the fantasy story that's true and then god or Finn god or Finn yes god or Finn
and that's an old show right so and again light novel related so it starts off so strong and it
just devolves into nonsense like I didn't understand like I watch it begin to and I didn't understand
what was going on at the end I guess orphans are god now I don't know okay but yeah I think this one
is just in terms of being a clear cut fantasy anime with a really interesting concept is it's
really stellar and I recently talked to a colleague of mine and she's into fantasy stuff and actually
writing her own fantasy novel right now and everything so I recommend it because she's also into
history I recommended Vinland saga to her but I also definitely will recommend this one to her because
this is just a really good fantasy story period in all aspects and then it has this interesting
hook with the different experience of time going for it so yeah cool shit I and you what you said
earlier that this is mostly a vibe show I would agree to that like I said and it's not one of the
strongest or one of the things where you notice that maybe the most that it's nice that they stay
a while always at the place where they do one of the side quests after the fact like in the city
for example after defeating the demons or in the magic in the city of the doing the magic exam and so
on and we get have like these hey we're having a party or we eaten something or we buying shit
or whatever and it's just it's good vibes like with these characters hanging out in this environment
and not immediately moving on to the next thing the next step one their journey so that was
definitely one of the things that stuck out to me like what's a good one um uh episode 12 has
is like this great character focused episode there is um there's enough funny bits in there like
Frieden wanting to give a stark approach and that dissolves clothes for his 18th birthday
Jesus Christ it was actually an episode I think where stark sees boobs and poop in the clouds
much to ferns chagrin but there's also some really heartfelt stuff when stark realizes that both
is older brother stoltz and his teacher Eisen always made him ridiculously big hamburger steak
for his birthdays to comment his hard work as a warrior because that is part of the the the thing
of society in that particular part of the land and we get filled in on why stark why exactly stark
ran away from his village and see how this is still fueling his guilty conscience and so on so
it was great that we aside from you know the action stuff the slice of lifey stuff we also got
like these great character focused episode that really dives into the backstory of of our characters
Frieden gets the most of this I would say but stark also has some strong ones in the in the few
episodes where is the focus uh fern of course has that as well though not as much because a lot of what
she experienced she experienced with heighter so maybe we'll get more into her early childhood later on
but um her character focused episodes are mostly about her coming to an understanding with
Frieden day having this respective mother daughter uh relationship that is sometimes reversed
and try Frieden really making an effort trying to understand each trying to understand fern trying
trying to consider her feelings just this episode I think where she tries to buy a gift for her
right like a real considered gift that fern would like which is really tough for her
and uh yeah these then are the episodes that are also focused on on fern and that are really
interesting and tear of course trying to get along with the other characters and trying to get over her
sometimes and her strictness but but all the little stuff that doesn't really matter to the
character development or the main plot or whatever if there really is a main plot to speak of
aside from hey we get to the need to get to that one place but all this little stuff with you know
the running gags with uh Frieden being always stuck in mimics and the funny spells that she the
legendary spells she finds like removing mold or tough oil stains oh come on yes very useful I didn't say
they're not useful it's just interesting that they're called legendary spells lost lost to time
yeah and speaking of the magic like the further we go into the show the more interesting the
concept of magic becomes uh like in how it works in this world and how it set up like that it's a very
visual kind of things that uh you know spells are visual constructs they can produce effects you can
picture in your mind and that is really interesting and they actually weave that into the battles and
how uh how the tide of the battles can turn because uh this uh the way certain characters can
imagine this best and if there is actually one character this is super overpowered because of the way
she perceives reality because she's a psychopath and you can literally imagine anything happen and
being able to cut anything and oh well that person is basically just a piece of cloth so I can just
cut its head their head off and yeah it's really fun a really fun idea to um uh to how to set up
magic and um you know also these small spells then being really important from a character perspective
like you know flammus and friance favorite spell of creating a field of flowers is you know one of the
key spells in this show and that gets brought up several times because you know it's also important
to him a force specific reason and you know we learn more about that the further the show progresses
and why it was why that spell is particularly important to which character and so on so yeah
really cool uh I love the world building in this and the character building later on there's a
character introduced that is maybe even older than friaren we can't be sure about that that's
serious and we don't know if she will become again more important later on she's basically just
kind of an obstacle there for a while but uh it's also interesting because she's also you know this
all-powerful mage and basically this living grimoire and everything and it's really funny this spell
and one of the characters gets from her because of a past test and uh uh uh I bet she didn't see that coming
it's really funny so yeah uh I wonder if she will be brought back later on in the show um I
generally wonder where the show is gonna go in future seasons outside of you know they're
trying to reach heaven and maybe friaren trying to talk to him again
and what the other characters do and how that jony a jony will actually wrap up and uh i hope we
will see more of that john do you know how many manga chapters were covered by the show so far
and how much is still left so it looks like it went up to about chapter 60 let's find out real quick
if i can feel how many chapters of the manga that are thank you fandom wikis you you sometimes come
in handy so it currently on volume 13 as of april uh chapters not in volumes 130 is the newest and it was
released may 8th so we're about halfway through what's currently available interesting so we see when
we get another season i i hope so i mean i think the show was a big success it was certainly the most
talk about show in that particular in the particular season it started and i feel like
that is not necessarily reflective of you know blu-ray sales or whatever but i feel like a lot of people
came away from that show with a very positive experience so uh i would assume we will get more of
this and among us popular so uh yeah i i think i think there will be more i hope so at least uh i mean
wait a little bit air crunchier all uh yeah in the stages mainly in crunchier all but depending on
where you live in this world of ours you can find it a ton of it's on a ton of services i'm just
looking on live chart right now and i'm not gonna run down all of them but you you you'll be able to
find it you should definitely you should because this is one of the best fantasy series one of the
best enemy series in recent times so definitely check that out but before we move over to other
topics john oh you warned me about this since a lot of the names in the show kind of here to the
Kojima school of naming as that they are really funny on the nose if you speak that particular
language uh in this case german i thought i'd come up with a little quiz for you would you be willing
to participate i will try okay i i told you previously there i was looking up names as i was going
along because i was curious and i did not retain all of them so okay then it's a bit of a
cheat but also i didn't warn you in advance or tell you to not look it up so it's okay if you still
remember them and register so here are the conditions from the german character name without looking
it up i want you to get the english translation and since i don't want to make it too hard for you
here are some qualifiers it's gonna be only character names no places or monsters yes there are also
a lot of those that have on the nose names like that beach side town called varm but no just characters
for this quiz and only characters whose names have direct connection to either a characteristic
or skill that defines them okay all right so random seeming names that i couldn't make immediate
sense of in context of who the characters are or what they do are out so no linear no kana and no
land and some of the other weird ones so yeah got it okay then let's play around off
how kojima is that german name please welcome our own please welcome our only contested john
of course the audience is welcome to guess along with the contestant i have a list of 60 names
here each of them will award you one point oh Jesus okay we of course start with our main character
our main girl Frieden so what do you think is the english translation for her name
freezing frozen cold along those lines freezing would be correct yes very good the next one
her most important party member him it was not I was shooting like I say I know I looked
alive he's not like soldier or warrior think of where they're going on their second journey
all right heaven well like him it could be either sky or heaven but I think in this context heaven
makes more sense so yes I will let that pass you know I was getting confused because there was some
shoot him up the game I can't remember what was called but I think it was like head this germus
abtel called like chemo stormer and I was like I was like sure all right um okay so next one
the corrupt priest highta think of what kind of character he is he laughs a lot
truly fall joyous joy is jolly yes exactly then we have ison this one I know for sure thanks to super
robot wars and it's like iron steel that sort of thing because because one of the mechs and super
roe wars is all the ice and scrap metal exactly just call it scrap metal I know
the other names are funny all right well done so far okay the next one the second girl in the new
party fan no or distant yes well done which kind of describes her character as well and you know
she's emotionally distant just like freedom sometimes but in a different way okay
so you can up the first definition was remote and now I was like no this I guess in the most literal
sense but no distance feels more like it makes sense um stuck think that was strength uh strength strong
strong just strong in this case which is funny because it's kind of ironic considering you know
his actual character you know it's more cowardly but you know physical physical strength yes
physical strength yeah okay next one this might be this is one of the most difficult ones I would say
but maybe you'll get it it's the demon the first demon we meet kvah and it's it's not
necessarily super related to anything he does directly but it's a very demonish name it's very
close to what you would name a demon maybe in english uh like something that would describe a lot
of demons maybe this or that they something they do to other people that they cause pain
yeah very pain adjacent it would be agony okay yeah I give for some reason I didn't click on that
when being German but I guess certain eight times all the names in the show are German as I just
spell names I don't know if they're different language or made up but yeah the the towns the monsters
the characters all of them are German names it's ridiculous if you like the spell names are probably
made up yeah so track sounds very neat it made up it doesn't sound Latin or anything
okay another demon you can know what does he do he talks a lot and
not yes I'm trying to remember it's about the things he says and what they are
confidence freshness nope I'm not sure man liar oh he lies a lot okay yeah one of his subordinates
dread also maybe a tough one but think of how he fights what does he do to or what does he try to do
to to uh Frieden and how does he do try to do it he what does he do to the guard I'm trying to
remember specifically he cuts off their head with what listen can take a wild guess otherwise I'm
gonna resolve it go for a not sure wire wire yes he cuts off the the head of the guards of the guard
with a wire trying to do the same for you I couldn't remember that specifically I mean to be fair
this could also have meant over confident dipshit and it would have applied just the same but
that is where so we go all right next one very adjacent to stark craft craft
so bad guy in mega min zero four I think yeah for some reason he was there that's a different
discussion why is now what's another word for you know what a different actually just the same word
as the bit differently than what stark is it's not an it's not an adjective it's a noun so not
string but might well okay no stark was strong so half the strength or power whatever you want to
call it okay that that I let it count might works as well then uh stark's brother stolt's
that would mostly relate to uh the feel the feelings of
their father towards stolt's and of stark's feelings towards stolt's that describes pretty much
what this transleto loyalty well maybe I misled you uh like he is the he is like the poster child warrior
of this town right like he's the example so what is what do you think does his father their father
feel towards stolt's pride right correct yes very good all right then we have our favorite psychopath girl
ube this one actually knows evil yes very good which I kind of picked up my cuz here it's spelled
different it's technically spelled wrong but there is a ugeo card calls you bell so really interesting
yeah they spell it they try to dumb it down and they spell it why you instead of you with the umlaut
okay maybe they're available I don't know I don't know not every keyboard has umlauts
I that's not much you're an excuse that's true uh but yeah okay this one is maybe again a bit tougher
but it relates to her powers lavene so what what kind of spells does she use what are they
uh element are they based in was canna was the one with water spells lavene was the one with all right ice
right so but it's not directly ice it's something that relates to ice and snow and it's the force of
nature is hurt no try to think of mountains something that occurs there is related to snow
oh evermatch yes very good okay we have three more you're doing well you're doing super well
okay so dankin he is a very smart man so what does he do a lot that's an easy one
um she did a lot of was it like a lot of reading or studying
hello enough but that would be another character that would be lannan and I thought this was not
evident enough so I didn't pick him but no it was something you do every day
something you might do right now because of this quiz
uh thinking yes exactly okay think or thinking um laven
she's a very quick girl she has speed-based spells so what could this mean
something you do running yes very good and our final one maybe the most difficult one
I didn't actually want to put it in here but I thought it was funny
and that is vista and that more relates to
not necessarily anything he not to his spells not to his outward appearance or whatever
but it kind of relates to how he acts towards other characters in
indifferent I don't know if indifferent is the right word I feel like he has certain preconceived
notions about a lot of the characters and he likes to verbalize them what kind of person does that
what what what what would you call such a person not a racist no no no I should say hope not but no
no no it comes to mind no well you if that doesn't help you it is also a profession
in the juricle system oh uh the biggest one probably judge yes and he's very judgey towards other
people so it fits it doesn't necessarily fit because of his power set or you know is the way he
appears and whatever or his job but because you know he's a shop owner but he's definitely a
judging character so john you got 15 out of 16 points with a little bit of help but I feel like
congratulations your german skills are almost up to par with that of a certifiable video game
creating madman congratulations I hope you're happy with that and thanks for playing this was fun
yeah I don't did the thing all right we'll see hey maybe if there's a second season we get a
bottle of new german names so you might have to do this again oh no so next time so if there's
another season don't look the names up this however all fine all right and I think with this
little bit of nonsense we're almost done like I mean we could we didn't talk about the ending of
the show which is kind of meta like there's like this thing where the scene where him will say say
that saying long tearful goodbyes would be embarrassing and if one was to meet their companions
again down the road and of course a show that can't quite be sure if it will get another season
and with a somewhat a somewhat abrupt end right in the middle of the story would leave us with
that sentiment so that kind of makes sense and it's funny it's like hey maybe the
audience will see each other again so don't shed big tears of sorrow and we're not gonna say long
tearful goodbyes we're just gonna end it here and move on so yeah that that felt appropriate but
it was also a bit funny but yeah I like again love this show I love that one of the core themes is
don't ignore the needs of the ones right in front of you even if their burdens seem insignificant in
the grand scheme of things which is the thing that you know it's important becomes important to
all of our main characters over the course of the series and yeah I like I said I love that
John I think you feel the same especially you know as a fantasy anime that is not relying on
other stuff you know light novel or is the kind of stuff oh we forgot ancient mega sprite that is
also good fantasy anime I was thinking about four and I was like well I guess it kind of counts and
that was a Dino DiBoken yes yes in a way that yeah that counts as well I guess I mean that is also
kind of video game adjacent kind of so yes so but it doesn't behave necessarily like a video game maybe
so yeah yeah this is definitely one of the best ones we've seen in recent time I would say together with
with agent from my side of things with ancient mega sprite and with made out of this and Somalia
the forest spirit which we also only got one season off which is a shame but maybe that will also
sometime any time maybe come back we'll see but yes before we leave you for this season and this
has already been an incredibly long episode but as usual in our season finalize there's still one
little thing you have to do
bus of the season all right yes best of the season john we didn't review that many shows the season
you and I are together we review two I reviewed another one so there's not a wide selection
but nonetheless this was really tough for me for you it was probably easier because you had only two to
pick for and and I don't know for which you would go I I like feeling a lot don't get me wrong
but that might get a second season and also it was more of a chillout anime than one that you know
grabbed me fully from beginning to end it was something to you know turn on after work and relax
and everything had good character moments anything but I was not completely gripped by the story
from beginning to end it was just like oh this is interesting and this is nice and this is cool
but I was just clamoring to watch the next episode each each week and so on so I don't know
again love the show but I don't know in the face of the other two I probably won't make it best
of the season I would love to give it to undead unlock just because I love its two main characters so
much and the story action and animations also great is it's nothing to sneeze at but that series
is still in on going as well so it might get another chance even if it aired on Disney plus I hope
it will because otherwise I feel really bad because I think I'm giving this to brave bang braver
because that show just like undead unlock also caught me completely off guard surprised me in
several different ways made me laugh a lot just had a generally great time with it so hilariously
self-aware and false wall breaking so unusual for what you know at the beginning it seems like a
normal mega show it's a great one and done with the short run times I can't recommend it enough
for someone who is in the mood for something pretty weird and special but really in my heart
undead unlock and braver really share the number one spot this time around with a very
feeling being in very close second but I have to pick one so it's gonna be braver because that's
just so such a one of a kind ridiculous dumb anime that you just don't always get and the other
two have a chance to again be on the list again so I'm just gonna pick that one but yeah since we
partially get to half our cake and eat it too John are you what is your pick or what do you favor out
of the two shows that review your review to season brave braver is great and I really really enjoyed
it a lot for all of its stupid goofiness and the action and whatnot but you know for your end
it was at the end of the week it was just such a vibe show it was just like I could just sit down
watch this and have a great time getting to know these characters and explore this world with them and
so I really think that I would give it to free run but you know again like I said that is that is not
discounting braver because that show is crazy yes in all of the best ways of simply and I don't
think we'll get another one of that I would be really surprised I mean I think a bluerase
we're selling really well so yes yes they were it also maybe something could happen but you know
I don't think there's anything definitive yes with C I mean maybe a movie or something ridiculous but
I feel like the story the way it finished up like works really well like it was very definitive yes
closed-off thing really really well done character arcs and everything so I wouldn't be
sad if we didn't get more of that of course would welcome it but I wouldn't be sad if we didn't
so that's fine I hope we get more of undead unlock I hope we get more of free run because those
stories are not finished so I don't want to read the manga I want to see this animated because
these both these shows had also really great animation free and of course be a bit better in that
apartment because that quality level was just ridiculous so I hope the next season if we get it
looks just as good and yeah with that we're at the end of the season the new premieres are not too far
away and we're gonna see all of you again once those come around and we've watched those that
interested and then we're gonna give you a sneak peek and our first review of the next season what
will that be well you might say after the usual outro rant and listen to the teaser then you might
get an idea what it might or might not be so until then see you around guys so long everybody
and that is a wrap on the 157th episode of NMA Brain Freeze all the music in this podcast is
from the double drag neon soundtrack by the amazing tech government please go to vart.bandcamp.com
and check out his awesome work find us where all the podcasts live but also check out NMA Brain Freeze
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NMA brainfrees@gmail.com we would love to read your feedback thanks for tuning in we hope you had a
good time and please join us again on our next episode. Matt's good take care everybody
next time on NMA Brain Freeze the training begins in earnest for the final encounter
and sadly the yellow one has returned
and uh...
see you soon
you