Frieren: Beyond Journey's End: Frieren The Slayer
March 25, 2024 9:24 AM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe
The presence of the elf mage and her party - and their actions - force the hand of the demon Lügner - fittingly, 'liar" - to forgo subterfuge and resort to force to find the key to collapsing the spell protecting the town. For while the people around her might see Frieren as a quirky oddball, demons have a decidedly different view of her - of a cold eyed bane of demonkind, known by a fitting epithet - Frieren, the Slayer...
And we get one of our first heavy action episodes, as the demon party begins to act actively - starting with Draht, named for the wires that are his signature weapon, seeking out Frieren in the oubliette to kill her. Of course, being that Draht is a young demon unaware of the elf's bloody history and Frieren knows the value of playing things close to her chest, this goes decidedly poorly for the demon as he gets a first hand demonstration of her skill in demon slaying - starting with his..."disarming" and "unhanding", followed by him finding out that demons begging for mercy just makes Frieren kill them even more brutally.
Unfortunately, the dead guard is more of a problem, as with Draht now literal (mana) dust, Frieren doesn't have an alibi - and thus realizes that she's going to need to deal with Aura sooner than later. A quick chat with her young charges has her give them the job of dealing with Lügner and Linie - "line", like a sketch (which makes sense once her ability is revealed) - and Fern figures out a plan - use Stark to make an opening for her to hole Lügner with Zoltraak. The plan works well, and the duo are able to retreat with Granat in tow - but marked with mana-infused blood, the hunt has begun...
And we get one of our first heavy action episodes, as the demon party begins to act actively - starting with Draht, named for the wires that are his signature weapon, seeking out Frieren in the oubliette to kill her. Of course, being that Draht is a young demon unaware of the elf's bloody history and Frieren knows the value of playing things close to her chest, this goes decidedly poorly for the demon as he gets a first hand demonstration of her skill in demon slaying - starting with his..."disarming" and "unhanding", followed by him finding out that demons begging for mercy just makes Frieren kill them even more brutally.
Unfortunately, the dead guard is more of a problem, as with Draht now literal (mana) dust, Frieren doesn't have an alibi - and thus realizes that she's going to need to deal with Aura sooner than later. A quick chat with her young charges has her give them the job of dealing with Lügner and Linie - "line", like a sketch (which makes sense once her ability is revealed) - and Fern figures out a plan - use Stark to make an opening for her to hole Lügner with Zoltraak. The plan works well, and the duo are able to retreat with Granat in tow - but marked with mana-infused blood, the hunt has begun...
The arc of Aura the Guillotine pleases me in a way that I'm not proud of. Who hasn't imagined looking into the eyes of an enemy at the moment they realize that they messed with the wrong person?
posted by SPrintF at 11:28 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 11:28 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
Who hasn't imagined looking into the eyes of an enemy at the moment they realize that they messed with the wrong person?
The whole thing with the Draht...thing (I'm not calling it a fight, because that implies that the demon actually stood a chance) is that Frieren just has an attitude of "I'm not mad, I'm just so very disappointed" about her, as she lets him have his fun before crushing him heart, mind, and soul. She calls what she did "extermination", and it's very clear she meant it.
And then we get even better scenes in the next two episodes.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:49 AM on March 25
The whole thing with the Draht...thing (I'm not calling it a fight, because that implies that the demon actually stood a chance) is that Frieren just has an attitude of "I'm not mad, I'm just so very disappointed" about her, as she lets him have his fun before crushing him heart, mind, and soul. She calls what she did "extermination", and it's very clear she meant it.
And then we get even better scenes in the next two episodes.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:49 AM on March 25
The reveal that Sousou no Frieren is the name given to her by demons is an incredible title drop.
posted by lucidium at 1:40 PM on March 25
posted by lucidium at 1:40 PM on March 25
Yeah I think the English name for the show is good in its own way but I do really like the double meaning in the Japanese title. I don't think there's a great way to translate it, preserve both meanings, and have it sound good though.
posted by valrus at 4:21 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
posted by valrus at 4:21 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
I don't think there's a great way to translate it, preserve both meanings, and have it sound good though.
I've only seen one genuinely successful attempt at such - the English title for the second Zero Escape game, Virtue's Last Reward - which captured the dichotomy of the Japanese title's readings ("I Want To Be A Good Person"/"Good People Die") in a suitibly Western cultural context.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:48 AM on March 26
I've only seen one genuinely successful attempt at such - the English title for the second Zero Escape game, Virtue's Last Reward - which captured the dichotomy of the Japanese title's readings ("I Want To Be A Good Person"/"Good People Die") in a suitibly Western cultural context.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:48 AM on March 26
OK, I'll share my favorite subtitle/translation story. In Fushigi Yuugi, the monk Chichiri is chasing a bad guy through a tunnel, only to discover the tunnel is blocked. He exclaims, in Japanese, "Shimete!" (Closed!). But his intonation implies he meant "Shimatta!" (Damn!). A companion even comments, "Are monks supposed to swear like that?"
The English subtitle translated Chichiri's exclamation as, "Aw, shut!" Which is pretty good, I think.
posted by SPrintF at 2:38 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]
The English subtitle translated Chichiri's exclamation as, "Aw, shut!" Which is pretty good, I think.
posted by SPrintF at 2:38 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]
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Also, while the name isn't given this episode, the spell that she used to..."disarm" Draht does have a name - Reelseiden. We'll meet a mage later for whom this is her signature spell - and what that says about her.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:43 AM on March 25