Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 04
葬送のフリーレン
Sōsō no Frieren 04
Summary/Summary of content:
Twenty-eight years after Himmel's death, Frieren and Fern arrive at a seaside town in the Granz Canal. The town elder offers a grimoire from the legendary mage Flamme as payment for cleaning up all the shipwrecks in the canal. Frieren agrees, surprising Fern who believed the book was fake. Frieren confirmed that it was fake but she had personal reasons for accepting the invitation.
Months later, during dinner, the elder asked if the cleaning job would be completed in time for the Reception? New year festival. Frieren decided to participate this time and the two promptly cleared the shore. However, on New Year's Eve, Fern had to force Frieren to stand up. Frieren was not impressed with the sunrise, but observing Fern's reaction to the sunrise, she understood why Himmel wanted her to participate decades ago.
Frieren and Fern visit the dwarf Eisen. She learned that Eisen and Heiter had kept in touch until Heiter's death. Heiter is working to find an authentic text from Flamme and narrows it down to Voll Basin. So, Frieren decided to take on the task of seeing whether this text was authentic or not. Eisen, Fern and Frieren search. Finally, Fern found a giant tree with a fence around it.
Frieren realizes that her old master, Flamme, still asks her to do things even after 1000 years. After passing the tree to reach the house inside, Frieren finds a book by Flamme, detailing the location of Heaven and that it is real. However, that means traveling through the cold country where the Demon King's castle is located. Upon returning to the Eisen house, Fern talks to Eisen, who believes that Frieren is a good owner for Fern.
Thinking/Evaluating
More excellent character stories with Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 04. And I'm completely disappointed about it.
Dawn
One of the interesting things about Frieren's journey is that she returns to the places she visited with Himmel and the gang. This continued to happen in Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 04. Frieren is on a journey to get to know others, mainly the now deceased Himmel. The elf is an important member of Himmel's group, however she doesn't really care about the group beyond the task at hand.
Himmel learned a lot about Frieren just from observing her. Previously, we saw that he knew she wanted a pudding without having to say it. And he guessed correctly that Frieren liked the New Year's sunrise, though not for the reasons she thought. So the whole reason she visited this town on a TV channel was to witness the sunrise she had experienced decades earlier.
And that's what I appreciate about the character of Frieren. Although she still had no interest in actually seeing this particular sunrise, she wanted to see what Himmel saw in it. And really, when it happened, she was less than impressed and even though Himmel didn't understand her. Only by observing Fern's reaction did Frieren understand Himmel's meaning. So we get to a really interesting moment.
Besides that, there is one small change in the anime that I don't like. In the manga, Fern and Frieren salvage all the wood from the ship and bring it back to town. That makes sense because it can be sold or reused. In the anime, they burn everything, even usable barrels.
The Master's Master
As for the second story in Frieren: Beyond Journey's Late 04we learn a little about Frieren's mistress Flamme. Even after more than 1000 years, Flamme still has a lesson to teach Frieren. Once again, we see that Frieren has never been interested in truly getting to know or understand people. She is still kind and helpful, as seen when she joined Himmel's group on a 10-year adventure that consumed less than 1/100th of her lifespan at the time.
However, Flamme understood his apprentice quite well. She knew that in time, Frieren would realize the importance of forming relationships and connections with humans, even though human life was like vapor to her. So Frieren did just what Flamme knew she would do. What makes this funny is that Frieren was there when Flamme planted the protective seedlings and set up the barricade. But at that time she didn't understand. Now she is too.
Finally, I really enjoyed Fern's conversation with Eisen. Fern could be a little more open about her uncertainty when it comes to Frieren. She knew Frieren only accepted her as a student because of Heiter. Throughout their journey, Frieren doesn't seem to show much interest in Fern but still gives her a birthday present every year.
However, Eisen still knew Frieren. After the celebration nearly 80 years ago, Frieren said she would never take on an apprentice. However, she does it not only because of Heiter but also because she is trying to connect with people and understand them. And although their new ten-year journey will be brief for Frieren, Fern will spend half her life with the elves by the end of the journey.
Final thoughts and conclusion
Final, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 04 is another good character episode. And aside from one small quibble, this is a faithful adaptation of the manga. This volume cut out the final parts of the manga, but I confirmed that those parts were added at the beginning of the next volume, so everything is fine.
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