These past episodes have shown us how bad demons are, it is you or them, and that is deeply ingrained in how they raise their own, lack of warmth or love.
They are just savage beasts without a shrewd of compassion so it is pointless to try, it is refreshing to see demons portrayed like that, it doesn't get more scary than this, they only use our words to fake it and eat humans at the end, anything and everything they do is with the ultimate purpose of hunting humans, there is no twist to that, there is no gray area, they are cunning and EVIL (by our standards).
The direction sells that really well, and so many other details too.
I'm sure this episode was not as impactful on the manga, and I have NOT read it, but I have seen some bits here and there... there is so much going on with this anime, it is subtle most of the time, but the OST of course is making a difference in how it builds the scenes, and then how the director chooses to portray them.
Greeeendino said:i wanna give five bucks to whoever make that music
https://myanimelist.net/people/32281/Evan_Call
The composer for this not only is not Japanese, not a shocker, but also composed for Violet's... I m loving outside representation in japanese anime (to cite Kevin Pekin), I'm really enjoying the notes of this OST too, and it is the same dude that did Violet Evergarden, which has some beautiful songs. Written in paper that seemed like the perfect pick, and it shows wonderfully, Violet Evergarden might have been the last show I have seen, most resembling this series in tone.
Having previously seen this scene of her mana reveal, without context weeks ago, I was surprised how much more meaningful it was, it shows Frieren's resolution in life, and revealing her past only added to that. She knows this is a disgrace for a mage, and she loves magic, but this is the extent she needs to go when dealing with demons. Her determination left me awed at the end, it is kinda a pity that Aura dies like that (I like her design a lot but she is a BAD GIRL, to quote it gently, so living would only make it worse for humans).
Chanbara said:The anime is doing an excellent job, this episode had a greater impact than the manga had. And that is very difficult to do. Seems like I was right on the money, and that is not to badmouth the manga, it has its merits, but this adaptation is ONLY taking that and elevating it as only the anime medium could.
A detail I think that needs to be accounted for is that Frieren accepted the invitation to Himmel's party because he, like her (towards her master), could see behind the appearances, and for a being having lived so long, that is when she first started to take interest on Himmel, maybe the first person for a very long time, since her master.
Another would be, the demon king ordering the destruction of elves because he feels fear of their potential, to live that long, someone like Frieren could be born and become a menace, which is what ended up occurring.
Ep9 fights were badass and very dramatic showing Fern and Stark's potential, but this episode just hits differently, that close-up with Aura's in despair chopping off her neck, then ends with this always amazing ending... the OP IMO is too out of place, a lot of times it plays after a rather somber moment and then having the anime jump to that, just kills it for me.
But ending the episodes always lead to... this beautiful song never gets old and just gives it such a neat touch whenever a feels intensifier is needed.
I have seen episodes 5 to 11 in less than a day, and I'm glad I waited until after the first four came out, it was a joy to binge, even Hitorigot doesn't hit like this (another I also binged), the funny thing is that one has a better VERY striking OP, to suit the tone of that series, and Frieren, by contrast, has the ED doing the heavily lifting. |