「入念な計画」 (Nyuunen na Keikaku)
“Nyūnen na Keikaku”
Frieren’s Hunter Exam begins to enter its climax. That’s certainly better than the Mahoutsukai no Yome style of the Hogwarts arc, which is what I’m worried about. And this episode was certainly better than last week’s, if for no other reason than that the unbearable arguments between the two pillowcases paired with Frieren were almost non-existent. Honestly, I still don’t feel like this change is happening, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely without potential.
I love the hunter exam, don’t get me wrong. But it takes something really special for the writer to be able to do that and make it really compelling. It’s not, but Yamada Kanehito is clearly a writer with some wit and intelligence, and there are possibilities inherent in this type of script that can be exploited to keep the story interesting. I don’t think it’s the best way for Sousou no Frieren to spend its time, but what I do think isn’t really appropriate so the way of least resistance (and aggravation) for me is to just accept it and hope my expectations have been surpassed.
At least we get to the meat of things pretty quickly. This first test is not really about capturing still life, although of course one has to do that. It’s about keeping what you catch from being stolen from other groups of three wizards. That’s why catching one (which Fern’s team does pretty quickly, through means not shared with us, interestingly) doesn’t get you out of the bubble and into the room. waiting to depart for the next stage with coffee and croissants. And immediately, another group shows up to try to steal (that pun may be intended) the still life – much to the already tired Übel, who wants nothing more than an excuse to kill some French her monk.
One of the members of the attack group was Wirbel, a second-class magician who appeared to be an important figure in the army. But before this fight could really heat up, there was a rumbling noise from the lake in the middle of the test bubble, an explosion of mana that Wirbel immediately recognized as coming from Lawine. It’s not surprising that Frieren has a plan—that plan and a spell (which she uses to save Kanne’s bacon) to catch a bird 50 cm or less. The idea: freeze the lake, force the still to go elsewhere for water, then have Kanne infuse as many watering holes as possible with enough mana to scare away the sensitive birds. And Frieren circled a “clean” pond and waited motionless (young people were good at that), mana compressed, waiting for a still life to sneak in to quench his thirst.
Another group we know is being advanced by Denken, another second-rate mage and clearly a man (possibly a dwarf) with a lot of experience. I suspect he’s being self-conscious about his own magical abilities, but Denken clearly relies heavily on his calmness and intelligence to win in life. He came up with Frieren’s plan before anyone else—maybe it was the atmosphere during the hunter exam, but I remembered Zeno Zoldyck’s Netero “mind like a tree” comment when thinking about the two of them. there. While the two zygotes at his side impatiently urged action, Denken happily rested and waited for the opportunity, knowing that Frieren would have no choice but to appear when the time came.
Obviously, we know who’s coming.
Obviously, we know who will come out victorious in the battle between Frieren and Denken. But while it’s clear that the association still accepts candidates dying in the name of filtering out the vulnerable, are they also trying to filter out the non-sociopathic? Frieren is a pretty amoral creature if we’re being honest, but would she kill Denken—who doesn’t seem all that evil—in the name of continuing on the mage exams? This scenario clearly recalls the manga inspiration in its deviousness, and it could give us a chance to learn more about the puzzling old bishoujo at the heart of this series.
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