My little Fern can’t be this cute.
What They Say:
“Other People’s Homes”
Stark only asked Fern out as a joke, but the two end up going on a date.
Review: (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It’s a week early for Valentine’s Day, but we were promised a date this episode, and we’re certainly going to get it. Given the cadence of two stories (likely each a manga chapter) per episode, the staff could’ve made slight adjustments to create a full episode in this city, almost entirely dealing with Fern and Stark’s relationship and how that extends to the people who have guided them. But promising a date and then making the audience wait a week to see it is certainly an effective way to build anticipation, so perhaps this was by design.
In truth, it ends up being quite an underwhelming date, but this is also very much by design, because nobody is more disappointed in it than the people who are part of it. After Fern spent all morning trying to decide what to wear and getting herself pretty, Stark is faced with a crisis: he finds his date attractive! Even though the two of them are always together, he suddenly doesn’t know how to even walk normally next to her anymore. He has his route mapped out by Frieren, but he doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to pick up on Fern’s hints, dragging her away from the jewelry that caught her eye as a real couple snatches it up. Stark is at least aware enough to realize that Fern has clearly not been enjoying herself, and thankfully, whether out of his bluntness, comfort with her, or sincere concern, he does bring it up to her.
This isn’t a terribly uncommon paradigm, but of course the date was a failure because Stark wasn’t being his authentic self that Fern wanted to see. Once he lets up and they laugh like they would under normal circumstances, all is right. Arguably this deflates any romantic tension and they’re no longer truly on a date, but as Frieren and Himmel believe, the very fact that the two of them are alone with each other is enough to qualify it as one.
Although this is ostensibly about building the relationship between Fern and Stark, it inevitably weaves in each member of the classic hero’s party, sometimes to the kids’ collective chagrin. In particular, as the two of them are almost always with Frieren, she is the common thread that ties them together, and therefore they find themselves unable to have a conversation that doesn’t lead back to talking about their shared mother figure. But ultimately, they find themselves at peace and bonding more than ever by acknowledging their shared appreciation for not only the parental surrogate in their lives currently but also the ones that saved them from their respective doomed childhoods, who in turn led them to Frieren. Without Heiter’s kindness, Fern would’ve been nothing more than a war orphan wasting away in destitution, and Stark feels the same for Eisen. In the case of the latter, it may seem a bit uncharacteristic, but his explanation is the mantra that has carried this world through its past several decades of goodwill, and ties it all back to the one member of the party who was dead before either of these two were born. That’s right, it’s what Himmel the Hero would’ve done.
This web of connections between the past and present party grows ever stronger with each passing episode. Himmel inspired Eisen to take in Stark, Eisen then passed him onto Frieren, Heiter likewise passed Fern onto Frieren, and Fern and Stark can now have this much richer life and this awkward relationship with each other as a result. It comes full circle when we see Frieren reflect upon Fern’s obvious happiness from the barely salvaged “date” by comparing it to the happiness she recognized from Himmel getting to spend the day alone with Frieren on their own “date.” Fern and Stark are the next generation of Frieren and Himmel in many ways, but perhaps the cutest yet is how painfully awkward and naive all four of them are when it comes to romance. In a sense, though, Himmel has the greatest insight into what makes spending time with a loved one special, and practically says “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey” verbatim.
If the episodes had been structured to group the date portions together, this would’ve been an episode with a very consistent tone, but what we get instead is two diametrically opposed halves. It’s on to the Northern Plateau, and Fern finally gets to flash the reason we spent the last 11 episodes of the first season – more than the total length of this season – on one exam. Yes, this gate requires a First-Class Mage for passage due to the danger of monsters throughout the Northern Plateau, and that means not only a very accomplished-feeling Fern but also a lot more action than we’ve seen so far this season.
The previous episode was ironically the most limited of the season in terms of action despite having its greatest threat yet: a three-headed hydra dragon “lizard” monster, but this one more than makes up for it. In the Dragon Quest sense (which is ultimately the basis for this world and its general rules), there are immediately lots of random encounters with unusually strong enemies, as well as a side quest that leads to a slightly threatening miniboss. One thing this season has been consistent about is always ensuring at least one signature montage sequence in each episode, and you’d better believe that this episode’s offering is just a montage of more monster fighting, sandwiched between standard scenes of the same.
When the party receives the quest to take out a very specific monster terrorizing the area, the production naturally takes the opportunity to excel in its action set pieces and pull out several of Evan Call’s pulse-pounding battle themes from the first season. It actually doesn’t have that much in the way of overly exceptional animation, but it’s consistently very strongly storyboarded and executed throughout this extended three-on-one action sequence, and it finds its visual flairs in more nuanced creativity than the flashy sakuga spectacles (which Frieren is certainly comfortable becoming when the mood strikes it as well). It feels like there are real threats and struggles throughout the fighting on the Northern Plateau, especially for this boss of sorts, which makes the victory much more satisfying, particularly with the subtle implication that the trio only makes it through unscathed because of how much they implicitly trust each other.
But, as the series has made apparent from its first moments, the battles are never truly the point. What matters is why they ended up fighting this monster. The first season finale explored the heroism of going out of one’s way to help the seemingly inconsequential people far from any dramatic glory. That unsung heroic quality of Himmel the Hero not only saved countless more people than a singular focus on the “main quest” would’ve, but also cascades through subsequent generations of influence to save even more long after his death. Tying into the first half of the episode, Eisen saved Stark and gave him the opportunity to become Himmel’s successor because he remembered Himmel’s selflessness, and now Frieren’s memory of the same qualities allows her to remind Stark that this is a home just like his, and these people need that helping hand to reach their full potential just like him. It’s important for Frieren that she’s finally finding herself after a millennium and change, but if it can be said that these long-lived races have a “purpose,” perhaps the greatest one is to carry on the will of those who have died but can do so much good for the world simply by inspiring future generations to do good. That’s why there’s a statue of Himmel in every city, to remind people what it means to be a hero, and the world is fortunate enough that one or two of the people who experienced it firsthand will live for a very long time to spread his will.
In Summary:
Half an endearingly awkward date and half a showcase of monster battles, this is a relatively unusual episode of Frieren. But whether dealing with teasing out the slightest hints of romance or solidly executing on action, the series is always concerned first and foremost with its central themes of connection, authenticity, and selfless heroism. The longer Himmel is dead, the more his presence is felt, even by those who weren’t born within his lifetime, and the way his influence permeates everyone who knew him is profound. On the plot progression front, the arrival at the Northern Plateau offers validation to the long exam arc capping off the first season and immediately delivers on the unprecedented level of danger that was promised. The implication is that perhaps the days of peace and quiet may be limited for a while, but this party is masterful at finding moments of serenity within the chaos. Either way, this is a short season, so if what we’ve gotten so far is the extent of the relative calm of the season, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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