#hemon

I guess I’ll start with the ladies. It was so nice to see Methode showing off more of her stuff. More lore is revealed about her in that she’s from a clan that specializes in hunting demons that use a unique fighting style. When you think about it, it makes sense that Serie had assigned Methode to be a part of this job. What sort of clan it was is never revealed, but it does seem like Methode’s people are mostly combat-oriented while she’s the only mage, an outlier of sorts; she only delved into magic out of love for it. She’s super cool, honestly! I also noticed that her healing spells have gotten better because back in the First-Class Mage Exam arc, she only knew how to use minor healing spells and had to rely on a book. Here, she doesn’t need to use one anymore when healing Genau.

It was also cool to see Fern fighting by herself and not needing Frieren to help her. Fern’s speciality is that she casts fast, so she’s very quick to cast barriers when needed. The way she used Zoltraak on Zorida was so cool! It looked like the moon and then it wasn’t! Using her signature small spell circles on Hemon is always a treat to see too!

I do think that the Stark and Genau vs Revolte fight was amazing. I feel like the camerawork has gotten so much better since the first season. Wow. My favorite part of that battle was definitely seeing Stark parkouring after throwing his axe towards the sky. Seeing his immaculate teamwork with Genau was another treat. Stark is definitely built different when he tanked all of Revolte’s attack and is still alive afterwards.

Seeing Genau fight with his knife wings was also so cool! He’s basically flying and cutting at the same time! I feel like working with Stark helped him realize that, while kindness is a good thing, it’s still necessary to have it as it’s human to do so. Genau’s acts of kindness really culminated when it was revealed that he used his coat to bandage Stark’s wounds before passing out. Even if Serie did reprimand his stoic attitude towards his former partner’s death, it’s not like he was going to believe she was right—Serie is a contradictory person after all.

I think the only bad thing about the Revolte fight was that Yun, the pink-haired demon, was wiped out way too quickly. It makes sense given how powerful Genau is as a first-class mage, but it does make that scene feel a little unnecessary, but it’s not because it shows the kindness within Genau, even if it was foolish and almost got him killed.

I did like the possible foreshadowing that Sein will return to the party, hence why Frieren rejected Methode’s offer. All I know is that Sein will be upset when he learns of this given that she does seem to be his type…but the party does have Frieren for the older lady role… I hope both Genau and Methode will return one day!

I just realized something… I don’t think I ever mentioned Genau and Methode’s voice actors, so I’ll do it here! Genau is voiced by Tarusuke Shingaki, who voiced Mario Togata from My Hero Academia, Yashiro from Twittering Birds Never Fly and Raizel from Noblesse. Methode is voiced by Reina Ueda who voiced characters like Mayu Nekoyashiki/Cure Lillian from Wonderful Precure, Hinako Yaotose from This Monster Wants To Eat Me and Miyo Saimori from My Happy Marriage. To be honest, I’m so used to hearing Ueda voice these reserved characters that I had forgotten she can voice mature older women like Methode…and she should use that voice more often—it’s hot. Genau’s former partner is voiced by Genki Okawa who voiced Mizael from Yugioh Zexal and Arajin Tomoshibi from Bucchigiri which is an anime I would never recommend to anyone.

Since this is the 8th episode of the second season and there are ten overall, it does make me wonder what the final two episodes will be like. Where will the season end? Then again, I know the answer…hopefully. Let me know your thoughts on the episode!

Basically, there are two sides. I’ll talk about the ladies first. It’s mostly comic relief, which is a nice sort of respite given how serious this episode is. Methode is hilariously adorable with her love for little girls (not that way) and how she desires to pat their heads. It’s to the point that Serie had to restrict her. Frieren was reluctant at first, but folded immediately when Methode gave her a grimoire that contained a spell that allowed eggs to be cooked without an eggshell falling in. To be honest, that’s a nifty spell to have. Fern is jealous because she’s possessive of people she loves. She doesn’t like sharing.

With the guys, Genau mostly gives off a cold “I don’t care about anything” vibe, but he’s a very caring person inside. Stark points it out too. He cares about people a lot like his childhood friend from last episode and even with his former partner who died recently. The way he described his partner really shows that he does care about people. However, his job as a first class mage caused him to become jaded in a way. His Digardnacht ability is crazy in appearance because of the niello wings.

The one thing I like about the demons in Frieren is that they all have unique designs, so they don’t feel too generic for villains who only appear in a single arc fated to die. I think that out of the demons, Revolte has the most unique design in that he has four arms and a serpentine bottom half. All of the demons seen up until now were all bipedal. Revolte has no legs, but that only means one thing—he moves extremely fast. Holy heck, the camera angles of his fight with Stark and Genau was amazing.

Revolte is voiced by Shinichiro Miki, who is a prolific voice actor who voiced many characters like Mikisugi from Kill la Kill, James from Pokemon and Urahara from Bleach. His minions aren’t named in the manga, but the official Twitter account and the credits listed their names. The one with the fog ability is Hemon and he’s voiced by Mizuki Ishii who is a rookie. The female demon with the blindfold is Zorida and she’s voiced by Miyuki Wakayama who’s also a rookie. The small pink-haired demon is Yun and she’s voiced by Tsukino Chikasada who is also a rookie who’s only other well-known role is voicing Marche Lorraine from Uma Musume.

By the way, the official Frieren accounts are promoting the their third popularity poll. I wonder who will rise to the top 10 this time around. I could see Methode going up in ranks given the recency bias this season. Despite this arc being more about Genau, she seems to have more attention. Anyways, let me know your thoughts on this episode!