When a secret is there from the very start

Sometimes little moments that contain significant depth go unnoticed. Not just normal foreshadowing, more subtle than that. This video explores multiple components of Frieren that make such a compelling story, things like symbolism, foreshadowing, and jewelry
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[@JKUTWatcher]

The amount of things that are ‘hidden’ throughout the series makes every rewatch feels fresh.

[@antimony2333]

Frieren, a story about looking back, would of course reward the viewers who looks back

[@12milecousin]

Gifts seem to be especially significant to Fern. Nearly every main character has given her something, and she’s held deep sentimental attachment to these items. (Parents- locket, Heiter- staff, Frieren- hair ornament, Stark- bracelet, Kraft- goddess pendant, Sein- purse). Perhaps losing everything as a child has given her a deeper connection to her loved ones through the physical items they’ve given to her. She understands the weight an item can hold - she pauses everything to help Frieren search for her ring and she won’t accept a substitute for Heiter’s staff.

[@yumiaria]

I know this is a searching for meaning video, but my brain just goes “the initial ring scene is so good because Frieren is a Anime series made with intention and love, where the anime elevates the manga. Where anime direction works in favor and elevates what the manga does not.” The Anime Creators added the Ring in early. As someone who read the manga first, I positively scream and pointed at the screen saying that wasn’t supposed to be there but also that’s amazing and great and it holds so much meaning that it was there. As someone who is extremely manga biased and is salty about when anime never adapts a manga correctly, Frieren, as of up the mage arc so far, is what I consider an Anime that is better than the Manga. It doesn’t take out scenes it doesn’t need to. It gives the side characters their proper screen time. It doesn’t change the main theme and character intentions. What it adds is foreshadowing and world building. Where the adaptation doesn’t change the the source, but rather adds to a meaningful way. It also creates enhances great scenes and shots, like Stark and the Dragon or Ubel and the great directing with the shot between her legs. Frieren treats it’s source material and it’s anime with love and respect. I haven’t found a scene in Frieren that disrespects it’s original source material or any scenes cut out that should have been there. And anything it adds is beautiful and uses the Anime Medium to it’s fullest. Frieren is great and the anime deserves all the love it gets. Anyways I’ll go cry in the corner about the theme of how the anime industry ruins every Shojo manga it touches now.

[@arukimania]

"Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is a story about recontextualizing past experiences through new ones-engaging in the world around you and relationships in order to not live a life you regret." Once again, I find myself admiring your ability to capture one of the central themes of this show in just a single sentence. Well done!

[@EleonoraTheViolet]

I love how Frieren does foreshadowing - there's just so much under the surface that a person can keep discovering new things, either during a rewatch or just when thinking back to certain scenes / episodes. For example, I only recently realized the following: In Episode 18, while Frieren, Fern, and Stark are riding on the back of a cart towards Auberst, Fern makes a comment how any sort of combat tests shouldn't be a problem for Frieren, because of just how powerful she is. But, Frieren quickly points out that she was defeated 11 times in her entire life, many times by "weaker" opponents - and, out of all of those defeats, 6 of them were from humans. Few episodes pass and, before a fight with Frieren's clone in the dungeon, Frieren admits that Fern's Zoltraak would be able to kill her. Frieren then recalls a conversation she had with Serie after Flamme died, how the upcoming era belongs to the humans. And Serie predicts that if someone ends up killing Frieren, it will be either the Demon King or a human mage. And, lo and behold, Fern succeeds in fatally injuring Frieren's clone with Zoltraak. Multi-layered, hinted at, with a pay off - and the best thing is that it's just one of many examples of such nice foreshadowing in this anime. That's why I love it so much.

[@Internet_Pilgrim]

Thanks for tiding us over until Season 2 champion.

[@sooyster4033]

The symbolism of the credits songs is also super deep. Now that you mention it, the first ending song has flowers for Frieren, and the second one features a stop-motion Fern butterfly very prominently.

[@roadlj]

Rewatched frieren recently, this is exactly how I felt during every scene. Noticing the little things that would be explained later on made me feel so happy

[@yavvivvay]

I'm appreciating that the stuff about human condition is subtle enough i can completely ignore it and enjoy the beautiful adventure.

[@twelfthknight]

One parallel I'm enjoying is between Flamme with Fern. Two human characters raised under legendary Elven masters, seemingly with fathomless potential, but with diametrically opposite temperaments and eras in which they appeared. Through what we've seen and heard from Flamme, Frieren, and Serie we've gotten this fairly elaborate foreshadowing for the kind of impact Fern is set to have on the world. It's the kind of foreshadowing that'll take years of the manga to fulfill, but it's definitely become the arc that exists in the shadow of Frieren's quest.

[@gigipopescu]

I think it's worth mentioning that the ring shows up again in Stark's birthday episode when Frieren is searching through the suitcase for a new gift.

[@Necatuss]

Love this series of videos you do. This show, just talking about it makes me shed tears.

[@ObiwanNekody]

Extremely well done. Might be the best one you have made, although you have made so many now it's difficult to compare peace wise to ensure the accuracy of that statement. Like in the past when I have said similar, you took something that was known and articulated it extremely well, and found other connections that provided it with a stronger base.

[@kcsupersonic1]

I like the idea about giving the author of a work the benefit of the doubt on intention when they have clearly demonstrated that they have created something with a great deal of intention. I recently had a small argument with someone who argued that the repeated usage of a trope in Dan Da Dan did not mean that the story was trying to express a related theme through the trope's repetition. My response was similar to the one expressed in this video, that when the author of a work of fiction has proven that they have woven intentional meaning into their work time and time again, then we should not be quick to write any storytelling element off as merely a storytelling technique and nothing more.

[@snowboundwhale6860]

6:30 Perhaps appropriately following the section where you talked about giving more than the benefit of the doubt and finding meaning in everything, iirc this scene with Frieren on the rooftop is from the same episode where Stark buys Fern a birthday present which is the bracelet with the same design as the ring Frieren was given by Himmel. You also talked about how Frieren seems to have a habit of keeping jewellery that act as mementos for people she was close to, with the ring being Himmel and the earrings being Flamme. In this scene where she's watching over Fern and Stark as he buys her the bracelet, she adjusts her collar to let her earring hang out which brings it into view.

[@-Raylight]

You're curing our Frieren Friday's disease. Hope this will last until season 2 aired xD After reading Frieren's manga, you can feel the foreshadowing even more after rewatching Frieren

[@parasasasaulovs]

You now have as many videos as there are episodes of Frieren itself. Keep them coming!

[@rafaeldeleon3386]

My biggest draw to Freiren is how well the story does existential connections. Frieren is always in search for trivial spells that others wouldn't think are worth learning. But those little spells a precious to her because of how she uses them to connect to others. Like the spell she has for cleaning bronze statues she uses to clean statues of Himmel, the spell for making grapes taste a little sour she has for Eisen because it's his favorite food. And the spell for making a field of flowers has the most significant because it is connected to all people who were a catalyst to her life's journey. So many subtle importance to small beauties.

[@omgamoose]

Great video as usual, but I love what you did with the thumbnail & preview vid

[@crustulumz]

Just started my second run of watching Frieren after catching up with the manga and I absolutely love it. This show is akin to revisiting to take a look at a good painting or re-reading a well written book and noticing new things or having new ways of looking at it from different angles every time,

[@alexsjarif]

Just like how u mentioned that rewatching a show gives us a new persepective or that we notice things that were obv now that u look back. Thats basically what frieren is doing with her retracing her steps to go to himmel, but this time she comes to understand the meaning and actions of what himmel was doing in each place🙏

[@jeffreybongos4837]

I still just want to know what the heck that bird that takes the dark dragon horn at the beginning of the show is! I've read the manga, no explanation still. Where does it go? Does Frieren have an even larger stash somewhere? What does the horn do? I haven't forgotten, Kanehito, I haven't forgotten.

[@pp-vr5tt]

same... slight manga spoilers: . . . . she even got a brand new one at the end of golden land. what the heck is she doing with them? why does she need so many?!?!

[@rianestephanie6778]

3 minsss also thank you for helping me on my writing journey, you help me a lot and your voice just calms me which makes me learn more thank you 🙏

[@NAANsoft]

Your analysis are always very deep, interesting and feels spot on.

[@ShadowShiranui]

and still he gets things wrong

[@cyberspacecat]

I'm a big fan of series that trust in the audience to connect the dots in various ways without drawing attention to them.

[@sooyster4033]

I noticed this on my FOURTH rewatch! Sooooooo goooooood

[@Anas-oo4ro]

I am gonna be rewatching frieren soon and this series really made me love frieren so much more than I already did Another series that does foreshadowing exceptionally is ascendance of a bookworm, I find a lot of the thing I like about them is pretty although the feel very different They are 2 of my favorite anime and I would love it if you would check out ascendance of a bookworm

[@syd.a.m]

Apothecary Diaries also, if you haven't seen it yet. It's incredible with its foreshadowing.

[@Anas-oo4ro]

@syd.a.m yeah i have watched it and i really like it also i am very exited for the new season

[@magic_cfw]

Mentioning about subverting jewellery, every time one is put up the value of the ring is often diminished: - The necklace which shows the goddess faith, a symbol of faith rather than of vanity - The mage's necklace frieren has, once extremely valuable yet reduced to a mere relic of little value over time - A ring with deep emotional value, given to an elf who is generally oblivious to such (as it is basically a proposal at that point) The only exception I think is fern's hairclip, which is is fair considering it's also kinda a visual "trophy" for fern as she starts to travel with Frieren as a mage.

[@TentoesMe]

Masterfully written. Beautiful artwork. About time and relationship, where the main character has little understanding of either. I have watched it twice, and thinking to do it again soon.

[@pretentiousname01]

The series I have seen with the most rewatch depth is Senki Zessho Symphogear. Its got so many details hidden everywhere in it. As well as an insane amount of ties to real world mythology

[@willwheatly6665]

New frieren vid!!!

[@DeathMonky22]

great video, bravo!

[@rantingrodent416]

I think it's especially reasonable to read into absolutely everything in animation because in animation every single grain of sand exists due to someone's intention.

[@tanhouzer]

Ok. I noticed that from the very beginning. But... Did you noticed this??? 1st. Series image in episode 21, overlapping frieren's image. 2nd. Episode 9. Fern deliberately put down her staff to throw her clothes. Many thinks she dropped her staff from lugners attack. 3rd... Krafts statue has a sword..it means he is qualified to pull the hero's sword(but stark is the best contender) 4th... Sousono frieren in Japanese means frieren the slayer. Alternate is Soso no frieren/sousou no frieren is Chinese means frieren at the funeral.. But in Philippines.. "Suso ni Frieren" means "frieren's boobs"(which is non existent BTW😂)

[@ShadowShiranui]

2. then that would not add up fern got pushed in the wall over a few meters. you even see it as linie attacks how far away fern and stark stood. but fern staff was near the tower she was pinned against and not at the place they stood. 3. and? himmel is also always with his sword and he couldn't pull it. the status only represents their outfit and weapon (frieren staff).

[@fer_sure]

Another subtle characterization detail is that Frieren values jewellery as a memento because it's both durable and portable. Look at her holy emblem: even though it's rusty and (almost) nobody recognizes its purpose anymore, it has survived through centuries of homelessness, loneliness, and danger. That might even be part of why Frieren loves treasure hunting - anything she finds has proven it can stand the test of time.

[@oiddio]

i remember specifically the scene with fern conjuring butterflies for heiter, because when i saw that i thought it was like a retroactive choice by the author. like, they had established this motif of butterflies with fern and decided to use it later on as part of her backstory. choices like this make me wonder how intentional an author is and since when-the beginning, the middle, or only later on upon reflecting on the story?

[@hungthinhnguyen3421]

Keep up the good stuff

[@quinnsinanyang2967]

I think something you missed about butterflies is their short lifespans. A butterfly is to a human as Fern is to Frieren: beautiful, but short-lived.

[@PeyTalksAnime]

Fun! I didn't think of that

[@lancemckenzie1074]

First moment Fern used attack magic as a kid, I thought 'NOPE, that's evil magic'.

[@justsomeannoyingredpanda]

Man, now I'm thinking that at the end of the series there would be a cut forward in time and we see frieren wearing Fern's hair clip.

[@brianhall23]

Another great episode.

[@caison8759]

this is why fight club is the greatest movie of all time

[@Buridan84]

adding to the list of Characters starting with the same letter: Lügner and Linie - even though they are evil and we only see them for a short time and demons don't have that kind of relation; your argument should be valid for them too.

[@Ryanin2D]

Each battle has their own secrets, too. Little callbacks, tactics to their magic that aren't explained at all but there for the hawkeyed.

[@nkdevde]

I keep coming back to the Frieren-Boss-fight for that reason. There is a lot in there but for one example: in the very beginning we see the same defensive magic that everybody else uses at great scale: blue hexagons that shield you from attack. But with Frieren fighting an equal opponent, even though it's visibly the same hexagons, it's different! They appear and disappear in the blink of an eye and grow and shrink as needed. It's like a dynamic dance where other mages are only capable of conjuring up motionless obstacles.

[@MazerMP]

4:33 'the earrings are the only red in her character design' *shows pictures with the buttons on her clothings being red*

[@happythefunny2651]

summertime rendering has alot of foreshadows aswell T^T its a very good anime and its very misterious

[@AnoAno94]

German: Frieren = Freeze Norwegian: Frieren = The Proposer

[@realexivus950]

NEW PEY FRIEREN VIDEO LETS GOOOOO

[@elrohirshouldercheaptrick9452]

Btw, fern can mean either far (as in far away) or fern (as in the plant)

[@RedLights9000-f3l]

Talk about the map and world of freiren

[@thecardblazer7440]

Hey pey I love all the friren videos and I was wondering what show your going to do next? I am hoping you do undead unluck or code geass

[@ObiwanNekody]

So many people, mostly women, seemed to immediately latch onto that ring for some reason 💍

[@christianalexanderascherma9160]

Sein and Frieren also are a pair of opposits when it comes to the start of the heroric journey the take or not take.

[@fritchim5765]

masterpiece

[@Abdouallah-b3d]

Thanks man.

[@SuparNerd]

02:40 I don't think you can show that, homie. I like your vids and would hate for you to get in trouble with the big Goog.

[@PeyTalksAnime]

thank you for pointing that out. I didnt even notice lmao

[@FFKonoko]

...was that censored within the last 7 minutes or are you guys talking about something else?

[@SuparNerd]

@@FFKonoko Looks like it just got censored.

[@ObiwanNekody]

Iirc that ring moment at the funeral was not in the manga.

[@whycantthiswork]

this one is good

[@JD-wf2hu]

It's a real shame this doesn't extend to the actual dialogue. The English translation of the manga is literally drier than defence economics texts and while I'm not entirely fluent in Japanese yet. The original doesn't seem to be any better. It seems like the author made a choice to abandon any attempt at using poetic language, I'd assume out of a desire to maximise readability.

[@TheThursty100]

8:43 where is Fern connected to nature in her name? You mentioned the names are german earlier. Fern means far away, it's not a plant in german

[@ObiwanNekody]

Her name does lifting in multiple languages.

[@naughtyhieroglyph669]

The tragedy that goes unnoticed, is that we have not talked about a billion dollar movie in the same way we talk about these anime. Hollywood does not understand how and why they have fallen, as they flail around into the abyss.

[@zazilia-g4j]

That small clip of what looks like Frieren boating through a cave, where is that???

[@BathTeth]

First episode, during her 50 year journey, before meeting with her party again to watch the meteor shower.

[@zazilia-g4j]

@ I figured it was it just didn’t look familiar thanks tho

[@zenythia]

Great video, BUT the part where you say Fern is also connected to nature by her name, doesn't really fit, because the german equivalent to the english "fern" is "Farn" and the actual english translation of "Fern" would be "far" (Which like, can allude to nature, sure but it's much broader any I wouldn't see that as pointing to nature)

[@bijanthegamer260]

pey pls talk about hyouka🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@zlozlozlo]

"Fern" in German means "far", "remote". It has nothing to do with nature.

[@pyeitme508]

YES!

[@JonathanPlasse]

Merci

[@glenbe4026]

I like your videos but I am always put off when an american says "western culture", but then lists a bunch of american cultural practices. Just use American if you are using "western" to mean "american".

[@sayacookies]

Yeah... It's a very American cultural trait. The ring thing.

[@karmawsyd213]

Rings specifically definitely aren't something that can't be attributed to America. While class rings and championship rings are a definite American tradition other rings are very much European, e.g. wedding rings originated in Rome, and many fictive works with rings originate from either Germanic or Norse mythology. Rings have had an impact on European culture for literally thousands of years.

[@anthonydavis5288]

I've always heard "Western" being associated with "American" and parts of "Europe". In fact one of the gifts Loki gave to Odin was the ring that multiplied.

[@THE_UltraNetherite]

Pls do a video on "My Romantic Comedy Life: SNAFU". I think you will like it, it is a slice of life masterpiece If you are not sold, then i will tell you one thing. That show (To me) is about how society breaks us down. So atleast give it a freakin watch!!!!!