Frieren Almost Broke Me (Blind Review)

[00:00:00]Okay, so I know I'm a little late to the Firin party, so to make up for it, here's a quick time lapse of me struggling to draw that angle of her that people just love. It took me 3 hours. Now that that's out of the way, FN almost gave me a goddamn heart attack with how weird its first episode was, and it convinced me to keep watching.

[00:00:16]Now, as you know, Finn's story kicks off at the ending, and it was an ending that felt so authentic that it convinced me I had accidentally started season 2. So, that was my first near miss panic attack. But don't worry, I didn't know anything about Fearin before going into this beyond that weird low angle drawing meme she had. So when I discovered that this was going to be a D&D fantasy story, I had my second heart attack because I immediately got flashbacks to that one time, my friends made me watch the director's cut of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in one afternoon. But little did I know that these nightmarish flashbacks didn't matter because Finn, as I discovered, is a whole lot of yapping. Now yapping isn't inherently boring. I mean, I know this. I've enjoyed Dragon Ball fights, but by every law of storytelling, Finan seemed to me like it was a story doomed to fail from the start. It changes genres mid episode. It kills tension off before it could even build to anything. And it's not afraid to let beloved characters just walk out of the story. No payoff.

[00:01:15]They're just bye. Now, I've seen plenty of shows fall into obscurity for less.

[00:01:19]So, if this was bingo, Fren would be walking away with a goddamn air fryer right now. So why then I ask is Finan still [ __ ] incredible? Like how does a show composed of several elements I personally hate, cobbled together by a series of creative choices that would make even Tommy Wiso blush, >> oh hi Mark, somehow emerge as one of the most popular new anime of its generation for not one, not two, but soon to be three seasons.

[00:01:49][music] All right, so what's the deal? Was Firen penned by some soant? Was its creator some industry newcomer that immediately caught fire? No. In fact, Finn's author, Kanahito Yamada, was having a pretty disastrous career all things considered.

[00:02:05]His first work made no real dent, and his second self-illustrated manga was described by his editor, Katsu Ogura, as a flatout commercial flop. And instead of being dropped there and then, Agura offered Yamada something few authors ever receive, a third chance with two conditions. Number one, focus on writing and hire instead an illustrator for the mangas that he made. Yam's own art was okay, but it wasn't going to wow a crowd. I mean, I think he might have a point here. We're all guilty, myself included, for picking up manga just because they look cool. So, that's a solid suggestion, I think. And condition number two, write another comedy. You see, Agura truly believed that Yamada was a comedic genius and thus gave him 6 months to draw up something that would prove him right. 6 months later, Yamada threw onto Agura's desk Fin, a sidesplittingly hilarious tale about an elf at a funeral. First off, that takes some serious balls, but this guy gave you a third freaking chance, and you reward him by handing in this weird, depressing F. Yep, that's right. Oh, good ran out. Anyway, the more I learn, the more I'm convinced this guy is just screwing me over. What do I go to see in that first chapter that made him release it anyway then? Well, Finn's entire first installment hinges on how successfully it can get us to align with its titular elf's perception of time.

[00:03:25]And given that she says this, >> our adventure was a mere 10 years.

[00:03:30]>> A mere 10.

[00:03:31]>> Now, connecting with a main character is important, and that's typically achieved by placing us in the character's shoes.

[00:03:37]The fall of Shik Sha from AOT, the arrival of Bulma into Goku's life in Dragon Ball, Naruto's experience being bullied. While some of these are indeed fantastical, they are rooted in inherently familiar human struggles.

[00:03:49]Fyen's defining trait is specifically what makes her inhuman. It's what the story is fundamentally about. Her struggle as a functionally immortal elf with a dwindling circle of mortal friends that she's learning why she cares about them. I mean, it's wild. But what's cool about this that I noticed anyway is how Yamina solved this viewer fear and alignment problem. He crammed 80 years worth of story into 24 minutes.

[00:04:14]This is so genius and elegant it actually made me angry again. But do you know what makes me even more angry?

[00:04:20]Trying to get sleep this summer with its 900 heat waves. I had to keep my curtains and windows open for literally any air flow, which means being woken up at 5:00 a.m. every morning by that blistering sun in [music] my eyes.

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[00:05:19]Again, that's 10% off. Check them out.

[00:05:23]By turning episode 1 into a series of montages, this man made me feel how FN perceives time, simulating her perspective. The pacing in episode 1 is at an absolute breakneck speed, alternating between montages that swallow years of real-time scenes until suddenly we're calibrated and one single decade does indeed seem like a fleeting beat in a longer story being told here.

[00:05:44]Because Yamida literally made it fleeting. It is such a simple solution.

[00:05:49]It's so good and yet I'm so [music] angry. Despite her immense experience with the passage of time, Fyan is the character least equipped to actually feel the passage of time in any meaningful way that she can share with people. Eras come and go. People rise and fall. She experiences it all completely unable to relate to it. Her statue alone tells a story. Everyone else is smiling, taking the moment in, while she remains, pardon the pun, stonefaced. This is what makes Himl's death so poignant as a framing device at the episode's close. We never saw the adventures he went on with this group, nor any tender scenes he shared with Fearin, but what we do witness is the inexperienced lament of an elf having felt loss perhaps for the first time.

[00:06:34]>> Why didn't I try to try to better know and understand you?

[00:06:40][snorts] >> That is what Yamada threw down onto Agura's desk with zero warning. this profound thought experiment exploring loss in the face of absolute bewilderment. So, I guess what I'm saying is fine, Yamada. I'll watch your stupid fantasy story.

[00:06:57]One thing I will say about episodes 2, three, and four is that they are marketkedly slower, contemplative, and for brief periods of time come very close to, well, being dull. Now, while the first episode's pacing had me feeling like I was in a wind tunnel, it at the very least showcased charismatic characters like Himl, for which FN could break her routine silences with. But, as I've already noted, Hibble's dead. And while his death set the stage for the central question Finn now seeks to address, it left the story feeling very dry. You can sprinkle in all the sweet tooth having, morning hating, childish pouting quirks you want. It's not going to change the fact that Furin is easily the most boring character I've ever liked, which isn't so much a backhanded compliment as it is a a backhanded insult, I guess. I don't know. Whatever the case may be, worry not, for he is fast approaching. Now, look, I'm a big boy. I've seen 12 Angry Men. I don't need bombastic [ __ ] happening every single second. But given Finn's extremely introverted nature, the story needed someone to inject some much needed levity. Enter Hiter, the priest from her now defunct adventuring group.

[00:08:05]He's dead. [ __ ] Well, at the very least, Fern is still alive. And while she's yet to offer much of anything beyond competition for anime's quietest character, I will say that she gives this story something it's sorely needed, a short-term goal. One that connects elegantly to Fernin's overarching story.

[00:08:22]Fern is the second most important character in this series, but from a structural standpoint, Fern, like the show itself, shouldn't really work. In any lesser story, the inclusion of this sort of student would take away from the story of the master. No longer would it be looking at Finn dealing with time moving forward, but at a new generation taking center stage instead. And it sort of does still. Fern's character is fully explored as we literally watch her grow up right before her eyes. But somehow Yamida manages to have his cake and eat it too. Avoiding Fern stealing Finn's thunder by using her student master dynamic as the vehicle to show us Fyen's character growth and what she learned from her time with him. Almost all of the lessons we see FRN teaching Fern are lessons she learned on that 10-year journey. I mean, we know Finn's lived way longer than that. There are probably a million unone things she could teach Fern, but the fact that Finn sticks to her time with Himl isn't a coincidence either. By making the hero's journey the inciting incident, which ties every aspect of the narrative together, Yamada is able to give us the tropes we know and subvert our expectations accordingly.

[00:09:32]Cards on the table. I don't love Fern yet. She's fine. I mean, while she might not be as dead pan as Finn, my god, she's giving it the good college try here. Thankfully, she is interesting, though. I mean, her innate magical abilities alone seem to surprise even Fin, which makes her give off a Gohan during the Saiyan saga type vibe. And yet, despite her potential for awesomeness, despite her lack of opportunity to actually speak, Yamada montages us through the bulk of Fern's actual training. Why? Because like I stated earlier, this aspect of Ferin's character ties back into FN's narrative and the narrative of the entire series.

[00:10:10]That even with time passing, it's the amount of love one puts into something that will make it last. And this is arguably the most important lesson FN teaches her. It doesn't have to be magic. Fern had the chance to do anything else, but at the end of the day, she chose magic because it brought joy to the people she cared about the most. And that joy is what led her to study so hard to become the exceptional prodigy she is. All right, so that's episode two. Hiter's dead, remember?

[00:10:37]Yeah, that sucks. Fern's Fern's pupil and now they're venturing off into the terrifying world of beach cleanup. I know I said that this story comes very close to being dull, but I swear it isn't actually dull.

[00:10:53]While it's very slice of lifeheavy at times, it manages to achieve a sense of forward momentum and weight by taking the Avatar method to episodic storytelling. While yes, there is a significant amount of time spent doing oddly mundane [ __ ] like reading, walking, flower hunting, and yes, picking up trash. All of it serves to expose us to the impact the likes of him has had on the wider world during the insignificant decade with Finn. And it also sprinkles in some really cool and consequential [ __ ] everywhere, like this village where they previously slayed the demon quall, who is still very much a problem.

[00:11:32]This is such a [ __ ] cool moment and quickly became my favorite creative choice in these four episodes. What we learn about this character is expressed first and foremost through the characters of Furin and the towns people. The town's people, of course, gush about how important and impactful the ceiling of this foul beast was to the small village. But it's in what Finn realizes about Himl's actions that makes this feel super special. Even without telling her to, he knew Fyin would return when the time came to recapture this demon. And on its own, that is pretty cool. But Yaina pushes things even further by transforming this entire section into a giant piece of foreshadowing, showing us the strength of the demons and the evolution of humanity to combat them. The fact that Quo's seal broke only for his once revolutionary killing magic to be literally the most common spell for the new generation [music] is hilariously disrespectful, but it's also a clever way to use the theme of time in a battle setting. This is Furin's first dip into the action genre, and it doesn't really even feel out of place, even though we haven't seen much action at all. And it's all because the battles and non- battle scenes stick to the same theme, time. We've seen how the relentless passage of time has stolen people away from Finn. Great people at that. But in this short scene, it demonstrated how time is attituded to in the right light.

[00:12:49][music] Hell, even from loss, we learn that we can grow from that. So, for one of humanity's greatest enemies to become the foundation of their newfound strength is extremely and ironically poetic. Now, of course, this is a big risk, but now that I'm four episodes deep, that seems like Yamada's warm-up routine. He can kill off the best characters, spend endless minutes doing mundane crap, and even switch genres mid- episode, and still manage to make everything feel perfectly reasonable and pleasant by tying it all together using the message and theme of the story as its anchor point. Since beginning my watchrough of this story, I've come to learn that unlike most animes, Finan premiered with four episodes, which means these first four episodes are intended to be viewed all in one swift demon killing, flower planting, trash picking run. And honestly, that might be the only decision within these four episodes that actually made any sense to me. By the time episode 4 concludes, we understand what the rest of the series is going to be about. Taking advantage of the main character being old as balls, we can now finally explore the world outside of the ramifications of that fabled 10-year adventure. So, if I've made anything clear within my [music] coverage of these initial episodes, it's that Furin, more than any other show I've watched [music] on this channel, it's a slow build type of story. Thankfully though, it does pull it off rather well. In spite of the often dry dialogue, the episodic nature of the story, and Finan boasting all the charisma of a 14-year-old zoned out on their phone, this story held my attention and even managed to impress me more often than I'd care to admit.

[00:14:19]However, something has been missing.

[00:14:21]Something important. Something that will make a stark difference.

[00:14:32]This red-headed, superpowerful imposttor syndrome having ball of anxiety represents a turning point in the series for me. And having been divided on whether I thought this show was entertainingly boring or not. Once Stark arrived and injected some muchneeded energy, the impact was immediately apparent. He loves to chat. He's much more relatable to me. And just like Fern, he feels like the sort of character that would steal away focus from the main story at hand. And yet somehow Yamina finds a way to keep Firin and the theme of time at the core of the story with Stark's connection to that theme being his complicated but sweet relationship with not Gimy. Okay. No.

[00:15:08]Okay. I actually had to learn his name.

[00:15:09]One second. Okay. It's only fair I learned everyone else's. His name is Eisen. Lots of very German influenced names in this show. I'm realizing him fur and now Eisen. Hey, I'm not complaining as an Irishman. I'm just happy they're not bastardizing my own language into a novelty like they always do with these fantasy stories. Anyway, the point is I'm happy that someone like Stark now exists to accompany them on their travels. Not the least because now Fern has the opportunity to chat with someone other than the walking statue that is Finan. Now, my scathing sardonic criticisms of Finan's person aside, it's high time we burst out of this tutorial zone and into the next arc of the series. And by that I do mean [music] so right off the bat, let me say that this arc entertained me more than anything that has come before it. But honestly, it kind of left me feeling, I don't know, kind of conflicted. On one hand, I love this arc because it was far more action focused, which felt like a welcome change of pace to the boatload of exposition prior arcs were burdened by, but on the other hand, there's this demon situation the arc contends with that I guess I kind of don't know how to feel about it. So, let's back up for a second to break this one down. Furin and her apostles enter the town. Finan acts super racist towards what I thought was just a normal regular demon person and gets thrown into prison. And honestly, I kind of [ __ ] with this opening because I thought it was trying to do something really clever. Up until this point, I've felt largely indifferent about Finn. I hate her personality, but I very much loved her whole angle within the story at large and thought she was a fantastic main character because of that. And well, this arc kind of flipped that on its head somewhat. She goes full sicko mode in this section. Each and every time she popped up on screen, she did not suffer a single fool. Ambush her in a prison cell. Turn to Ash. Try to be all cocky and [ __ ] with her. Time for you to cut off your own head. Jesus Christ, that last one was [ __ ] wild.

[00:16:59]For the first time, this arc allows us to see Finan for the monstrously powerful foe she was. Which is ironic because the entire story has spent endless minutes telling us that the real monsters are quite simply with no nuance demons. And this is only an issue because, well, I think I've committed arguably one of the most annoying sins a video reviewer can do by imprinting my own vision of what I thought the story was going to do. And, you know, it didn't pan out that way. You see, across the runtime of this video, I've expressed a confused praise for Yamada's determination to subvert genres and convention with the story of Furin. And while there was plenty of subversion in this arc, easily the most surprising element has to be Yamada's overly simplistic implementation of the demon race itself. When this arc began, I sincerely believed that something more sophisticated was going on, something that would leverage my understanding of orcs and demons in pop culture in order to subvert a surprise based on that.

[00:17:53]Needless to say, this didn't exactly happen. For now, it seems that violence is the only way to resolve this predicament. It would be a lie to say I'm anything less than overjoyed.

[00:18:04]>> Surprise! They're actually the bad guys with virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They lie, manipulate, and mutilate in order to kill thousands. And man, does that himo flashback drive that home hard. Only strength and survival matter to them. And it left me feeling, look, I wasn't like disappointed, but it was I was kind of a little bit underwhelmed. And by the way, I'm going to stop talking about this narrative nerd [ __ ] in a second, but it is important seeing as it is my chief criticism of the arc overall. Yamada has built an entire narrative around the nuance of individual characters only then to include an entire race where none of that applies. Again, if I'm wrong, please let me know. But it seems to me like the demon's value of strength is kind of a contradiction of sorts.

[00:18:44]These guys are supposed to mimic human behavior, and yet pride is inherent. So, like, what? That didn't come from mimicking humans. And if demons are known to possess humanlike intelligence, why do all of them lack any other emotional understanding? Yamada made them sentient, but also gave them the one robotic biological feature needed so that they could stay evil. That seems kind of like a convenient copout to me, which again is weird because Yamada does this for no other aspect of the story. I want to know your guys's opinion on this, by the way, because this was the only part of it that's kind of confused me so far. There are plenty of downright evil characters in fiction. Frieza from Dragon Ball is one of the first to come to mind. But you wouldn't treat Frieza's action as coming from a non-scentient being. It's not Frieza's biology that makes him evil. It's his choices. And this isn't to say that they can't be evil. Of course, there is a way to make them evil and and make it work in my mind, too. You could just have them make evil choices, not choices born from natural order. And taking that approach would place them in direct opposition with Finan's character. And I need to be clear here. The issue isn't that demons are just plain evil with no sad backstory to justify their actions or whatever. Far from it. In fact, there's no explicit reason I should expect demons to be anything more really in this story. They're like wild animals.

[00:19:59]With any trait that resembles something human, either being incidental or false, it's kind of like a parrot mimicking human speech. I do get it. My only issue is that within a show like Finn, it feels like that choice comes from a different story. The entire demon race in Finan simply exists with human intelligence, but no understanding of human emotions, with every single one of them having the same fatal flaw.

[00:20:21]Although we clearly see individualism in their personalities, it lacks a nuance in a story filled with so many layers that it stands out like a sore thumb to me, unfortunately. But yeah, that's it.

[00:20:30]And who knows, maybe I should give Yamada some grace here and presume that as time goes on, more pieces of demon lore come to light that will maybe make things a little more complicated and make sense to me, you know? I don't know. That's the nerd [ __ ] out of the way. Time to dive into the hype. So, there are three major fights to close out this mini arc. One for Finan, one for Fern, and one finally for Stark, who we are going to kick off this with because this fight is pretty cool, if for no other reason than it is anime as [ __ ] This girl with the axe is a demon with the ability to read someone's monoflow and imitate their fighting style. And with her swinging around a giant axe, it is revealed that Eizen was one of the people she's managed to copy the movements of. This is a really cool angle that plays into the demon's inherently deceptive and performative nature, while also making it personal to Stark. The most interesting part about this fight, however, is Stark's lack of offense. Until the very end, he's on the defensive. It's even pointed out by this little demon herself when she labels it as weakness. Now, having seen Stark, the apprehensive dragon slayer, in action once before, we know he can do more than this, but the fight aims to highlight and explore Stark's own insecurities.

[00:21:36]Even before the battle started, he was ready to leave all the heavy lift into Finan. And even in the last seconds, he claims he was ready for him and Linn to take each other out. But he kept getting back up. This dude tanked every hit she threw at him, even the one meant to slice him in half. All because his own lack of belief in himself deemed it a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. Thematically, it's even better with the very lesson Eizen instilled within him serving the ongoing theme of time. Also, quote, "For warriors, whoever's still standing at the end is the winner." In other words, Eizen and subsequently Stark see combat as a battle of attrition. Who can last the longest? who can win the battle against time. It was stark, like super easily, too. Largely thanks to his adopted parent. And speaking of adopted parents, Finn raised a badass. And how, you might ask? Through mindfully coning her attacks to be especially effective against a certain type of foe, an enemy that wants to rid the world of nuance demons. Demons. Okay, that's right. Two specialized weapons that have transformed Fern from a quiet purple sad girl into a quiet purple sad girl that is also a demon killing machine. The first of these specialized weapons is her speed and sheer volume of attacks, effortlessly and relentlessly hammering Lugner into submission. And the second is, of course, Fern's trademark spell, Ztro, a demon weapon that is being repurposed to kill demons. While it's easy to sit back and enjoy the awesomeness of this moment, I believe what Ayameda is trying to emphasize here is something a little more sophisticated than pew pew, even though that is awesome, too. To defeat one's enemy, you must first understand them. and the fight may be a direct representation of why this story is being told at this specific point in time. Humanity has finally reached a point where they fully understand these creatures and are now armed with the direct tool they need to eliminate them. And with Sultrak once thought to be the peak of demon magic being reduced to a simple foundation for general magic wielders nowadays, who knows what other demons slaying magic humans could have come up with since. I mean, humanity has shorter lifespans and they can spend hundreds of years perfecting spells. They have to then by necessity evolve with each subsequent generation. And in this battle, time for once is on humanity's side. But before his defeat, Lugner discovers a third weapon. A final secret to Fern's success. One that he calls a disgrace to all magecraft. A reveal that perfectly connects to the next and final fight.

[00:24:02]And through doing so, unveils the true meaning behind the title of the entire Breaking Show. Veran the Slayer. Now, fun fact, if you watch the subtitled version of this scene, Luggner says, which is the Japanese title for this series, a play on words that translates to Finn at the funeral, a reference to Himl's funeral, or Finn, the Slayer, referring to how Furin is known amongst demonind to be the one mage that has taken down the most demons. And we come to discover this as we watch Finn herself descend from the sky onto a pile of corpses. It's a good title drop.

[00:24:43]Faced with Aura, one of the seven sages of destruction. Who are they? Oh, no one. Just this group of demon generals said to rival the demon king themselves.

[00:24:51]And Aura is one of them. Now wielding this new magical tool, the scale of obedience. And this is where Fern and subsequently Ferin's third and final secret come into play. In a story whose contents consists of about 95% flashbacks, this one has to be the best so far. Well, I say best in truth. I'm a bit of a shownen gremlin at heart. And this fan that flame inside me like no other in this show so far. Years before the 10-year journey to defeat the demon king began, Firin would kill the demon general Bassalt, making her the sole survivor of her village. Blame, her master, arrives in the aftermath, and seeing Fman's potential, takes her on as an apprentice. But of course, not before showing off her skills as a mage, one-shotting the rest of the demons. Why did the demon king order the demons to kill all the elves? I mean, that would explain why we don't see that many elves in the show, but did the elves and demons have some kind of long-standing feud or something? Whatever. Going back to the flashback, the whole secret power thing is mana suppression. By reducing their mana to a tenth of its normal level, Flame can make herself look far weaker, even to the trained eye. Now, I don't think I need to explain this to you. We've all seen Dragon Ball.

[00:25:59]>> Vegeta, what does a SCOUTER SAY ABOUT HIS POWER LEVEL?

[00:26:02]>> What she's doing here is considered an insult to magic itself because the amount of mana one possesses is a direct representation of how long they've been studying it. For the demons, their hierarchy of strength is determined by the amount of mana one has. So, for a demon, flexing that mana is a must. And thus, these creatures of darkness never expected someone to suppress their mana.

[00:26:21]It'd be like a dog performing a trick for no treats or like a billionaire not paying off a politician. Vote Count Binface. By opting to disgrace the craft they both hold dear to combat the biggest threat to humanity, Blame turned Furin into a demon killing machine who will be around for a very long time and may one day even be strong enough to defeat the demon king herself. A prediction we know for a fact came true.

[00:26:44]Flame is known in the current era as the great mage who benefited magic greatly.

[00:26:49]And while that still may be true, her greatest contribution to this world was done by disrespecting the very thing her legacy was built upon. What Yamida is touching upon here is that when it comes to history, things may not always be as they seem. That even the most renowned historical figures are people with their own set of flaws. Unbeknownst to anyone, Flame's greatest contribution to the world was not a famous grimoir, but rather a student, one that she left behind. The hype moments and magical lore are nice, but the characters are the final piece of the puzzle that Yamada is using to hold all of this together. It's why it feels so rewarding to discover the origins of Finan's sleeping problems because that reveals ties right back into the character we've been following this entire time. We care about the reveal because we care about Brin. And as Aura continues to belittle the amount of mana Finn has, we know that Ferin's power level is actually over 8,000. And we all know how this story ends. Oh my god. Jesus Christ.

[00:27:54]I want to go wash my eyes.

[00:27:56]>> So there I was, eyes glued to the screen in anticipation. Aura weighing the scales up, claiming she is a great demon who has lived for over 500 years, blah blah blah. And just like her master taught her, Finan releases her mana, stating, "Ora, the person standing before you is a mage who has lived for over a thousand years." Hype as [ __ ] yes, but I was expecting that. The head slicing [ __ ] on the other hand, not so much, though, seeing as I've seen Dragon Ball, I probably should have. But yeah, TLDDR, this arc has a lot going for it.

[00:28:25]Yamida was able to beautifully tie in our prior knowledge and expand on it greatly, turning this once fantasy slice of life story into the culmination of humanity's efforts against the increasingly simplistic dark forces knocking on their doors. All the while keeping the central theme of time present and relevant. Stark represents elongated time with his last man standing shtick. Fern represents the accumulation of the efforts through time with her normal magic being something that was built on the backs of the generations that came before her. Flame was ahead of her time with her being the creator of the best demon killing strategy we've seen yet. And Finn is time everlasting itself. A being who has lived through it all and rightfully stands at the height of magic.

[00:29:09]I hope this doesn't sound dramatic, but I'm going to need therapy after watching these episodes because holy [ __ ] I did not enjoy this at all. When the story began, Furin's obliviousness served a clear thematic purpose. She had genuinely failed to appreciate the significance of human mortal lives because her time scale was fundamentally alien to everyone. Himl's death shocked her into realizing that she'd never really tried to get to know him and now it was too late. That is interesting.

[00:29:37]The expectation therefore that it created was for a story which explored how an immortal learns to empathize with others. However, now 17 episodes deep, I feel my enjoyment coming into conflict with an expectation I had for her Furin that hasn't really manifested in any meaningful way yet. Now, at times it feels like some progress has been made and then in others it feels like none at all. Take the mage license announcement as an example. When Fern finds out that she needs to acquire a mage's license, she makes the claim that 50 years isn't that long a span of time. And to be clear, I don't think that it's actually implausible for Furin to still feel this way. An elf isn't suddenly going to experience 50 years as a long time all of a sudden. My issue is that as someone who has spent decades traveling almost exclusively with humans, she should at this point at least instinctively qualify the statement. Something like, I mean, it's only been 50 years. That's not a long time for me at least. That tiny acknowledgement would demonstrate that she's internalized other people's perspectives, [music] even if her own hasn't changed. Just some example or sense of empathy. It's just bizarre and really makes it hard for me to like her on any level. Now, do I think FN as a character is poorly written? No. I've spoken to plenty of people who absolutely adore her as a character, and I completely understand why they do. I'm never going to say that she's badly written or that the story has accidentally portrayed her in some bad way because I don't connect with her. I think the author on some level actually understands that she's inconsiderate.

[00:31:15]And in many ways, I think that's the point. Her emotional growth is intentionally glacial because she's an elf. So yeah, no, I don't think she's broken. I just don't enjoy spending time with her at all, which is a very different kind of criticism. Now, do I just not like quiet characters? you might be thinking. Also know Firin often feels psychologically dormant. She rarely spends much time contemplating what other people are thinking unless the plot explicitly prompts her to do so with a flashback or someone points something out that she'd completely missed. And ironically, I think that's what the story is trying to explore. It was never supposed to be a story about transformation so much as it was a story about recognition. As time passes by, Ferin slowly recognizes and ascribes meaning to past events that she never realized were always there. Himl's intentions and feelings for her being chief among them. It's a truly fascinating premise brimming with potential for heart-wrenching moments. I just absolutely unequivocally hate Furin with the burning passion of a thousand sons. And this collection of episodes following the last arc have really tested my patience in that regard. In episode 12, Fern collapses while climbing a mountain, which you know what? They are enough. Look at it. It's cold as hell. But when she wakes up after being carried for god knows how long, Fern inquires whether or not she can walk, only for Furin to sheepishly bury her head into her scarf like she's a kid that doesn't want to get up for school. But look, yeah, whatever, right?

[00:32:43]That's a quirk. It could be excused if it was an isolation, but it's not. These moments of borderline inappropriate immaturity are everywhere. She's offered to give Stark the teenager clothes dissolving potion for his birthday.

[00:32:56]She's entertained the idea of leaving it up to chance to see if Stark could survive a poisonous snake bite instead of just going back to the village from whence they came. For all of these, it has taken Fern, another teenager, to act like the responsible adult for a 1,000 plus year old mage they should be able to rely on in this regard. And look, I get that this is charming to some people as a funny quirk of hers, but honestly, it's just become very grating over time for me. And look, yeah, I'm willing to entertain the fact that maybe my feeling this way is inappropriate. Maybe the fact that I feel like throwing Furin off of a mountain for the bulk of the time she's on screen is immersive. This must have been what it felt like to actually interact with her at all. But all I know is that these slice of life monster of the week style episodes have been extremely uninteresting to me. I found myself enjoying Fern and Stark more and more as characters. But honestly, I don't know if I like them more now or if it only appears that way because I've grown to hate Furin more and more with each passing second her monotonous, lethargic persona occupies my screen.

[00:33:59]That being said, of course, I need to chill. I need to get excited for something, anything else to happen. And thankfully, anything else does happen, and it's within the confines of this dead zone of episodes in the shape of a man called S. From a structural standpoint, I think Sin is doing a lot of work. Work I can appreciate all the more because it's in close proximity with Furin. Initially, he's introduced to fill gaps in the party's makeup. But I think thematically he's there to model the very things Finn seems incapable or unable to demonstrate. Things like trust, communication, the acknowledgement that you can't get through life on your own, etc. He mentors Fern and Stark through their miscommunications. He processes his own regret surrounding Gorilla Warrior in real time. He's psychologically active in exactly the way I keep complaining firm and on paper he should be the correction the show needs to engage me.

[00:34:51]And yet I found myself feeling quite unable to feel strongly one way or the other about him. Functionally he's here to teach trust and communication. But the party member who most needs that lesson is functionally immune to it.

[00:35:03]Unlike Fern and Stark, Furin isn't talked through anything by sign. Nothing that pushes her towards vulnerability anyway. She just quietly observes as he impacts the lives of those around her.

[00:35:14]Therefore, once sign leaves, it's framed as a natural conclusion of an arc around trust. He provides a service. The party grew from that experience and now it's time for him to go. With all of that said though, there is a substantial amount of narrative weight surrounding his exit since the whole of FN is about reckoning with lost time. Sign choosing not to waste any more of his own time becomes the climax of his stint in the story. I think my favorite aspect of his time on the show is his exit. In fact, it's presented as intentionally ordinary and rather unceremonious. And while I always knew his exit was a possibility, if not a foregone conclusion, FN does keep him around in the party just long enough for me to entertain a version of the story where he's a consistent voice.

[00:35:55]But instead, Yamada allows him to just leave once his purpose is complete.

[00:35:58][music] Thematically, he embodies the show's insistence that trust isn't simply about others, but more broadly encompasses a trust in oneself. Trusting in yourself to act on what you want rather than settling for a life of quiet regret. It's entirely possible this path he's chosen does eventually loop back around to meet up with Fern Stark and Furin. But even if it doesn't, I think the point is that the limited time he spent with them doesn't need to be permanent to have mattered, which as a concept is, as you might have guessed it, foundational to Finn's personal journey, too.

[00:36:32]Now, in my view, the best element to sprout from the prior arc was the announcement that Finn and Fern needed to attend a mage licensing exam. This honestly excited me. I never found myself particularly drawn to the established magic system of this story.

[00:36:46]But if there's one thing I know about tests, challenges, and tournaments in manga, it's that I love them and the stories they get to explore often introduce and establish tons of new interesting characters. Whatever the case may be, if the gang wants to travel north, they need a first class mage to go with them. Going into this, I was half expecting something akin to the Tudin exams from Naruto or the Hunter exams from Hunter Hunter. And while Furin doesn't exactly change up the formulas established in those prior iterations, it does try to present these examinations in a new light through the lens of Furin's lifespan. Every few generations or so, mage craft classification changes, which serves to show how this world has always had different forms of measuring one's strength. This is easily Furin's strongest quality and truly gave this entire exam a different vibe despite how derivative it could have felt otherwise.

[00:37:34]So, the triedand-rue shownen exam arc.

[00:37:36]How did Yamada fare? Well, despite the structure feeling antithetical to that which Finan had [music] established thus far, the theme of time remains the central element through Yamada's focus on the present era itself, introducing us to this generation of mages, all of whom explore the theme of the series by how they use their magic. And this is honestly the best the story has been in my estimation. Switching genres from slice of life emotional fair into full-blown battle shownen antics is like turning Pride and Prejudice into the Fast and the Furious. Both might be about family, but something tells me you're not going to buy that sudden shift in tone. And yet, through his dedication to the theme of time, Yamina manages to make it work. And through doing so, it has just given me the biggest example of why Furin has found so much success. The first exam. With this influx of new characters, we get the chance to play the [music] triedand-true game of guess the main character, as is tradition. This guy looks way too basic to be anything, and he is. But this girl with the weird eyes and the green hair has to have more in store for her moving forward, surely.

[00:38:38]There's this beardy dude that looks distinct enough to be certainly a compelling side character. And this girl duo that finds their footing on Fins's team. Yeah, this all shaping up nicely.

[00:38:48]So, what is the exam?

[00:38:51]Capture the bird.

[00:38:54]>> Okay, it's it feels kind of like the hunter exams. Okay, well, it's not exactly like them, but a bunch of characters rocking around the woods, squaring off against one another to score the point they need. It results in similar outcomes. The examinees are placed in a team of three, and a barrier is put around the exam area. Capture the bird in the given cage before the allotted time runs out and your team passes. Good luck with that. But what I found interesting about this first exam was the different ways Yamina chose to introduce the new extended cast. Even in the shownen exam arc structure, Yamina puts the characters first, using their introductions as the foundation holding the narrative together. While Laan and Kana hail from a magical school, other mages like Ubel and Land who are teamed up with Fern seem like rogue mysterious figures with their own personal agendas at hand. Then there are characters like Verbal and his team who are also soldiers of the northern lands. And that's not even to make mention of Denkin, the Imperial Mage, and his team.

[00:39:48]Similar to Gon and Kilawa, we can infer [music] a lot about these newly introduced characters by how they choose to take their test. Fern's team is able to capture one of the birds using their own talents. And Verbal and Denkin's teams aim to steal the stale from other teams who have already done the hard work. In comparison, Finn's team aims to disrupt the other teams' search and limit [music] the animals movement. So, right off the bat, from a design perspective, this first exam does a fantastic job of highlighting each team's respective characterizations. And while these pairings were presented as random initially, functionally, each character was placed together for a specific mechanical reason within the narrative. Take Ubel and Verbal for example. Ubel on team Fern has already completed the exam and thus is simply waiting for time to run out. [music] Whereas Verbal is on the team trying to mooch off others hard work, emphasizing the mantra of work smarter, not harder.

[00:40:39]When Verbal attacks Uel's team, he claims that he was firing kill shots, hoping to take them out quickly. But in his continuing fight with Ubel, you find that he is hesitant to kill, mentally preparing himself to take another person's life, even when the opportunity to do so quickly presents itself. He's not simply a brute of a soldier. He values human life and is a lot more of a rational actor than he initially presented as. On the flip side, Ubo, the girl who has been very strategic in her movements, is the least rational person on this team. She only tends to think things through because that's the most effective way for her to hunt people down. She doesn't value life as much. In fact, it seems like she takes pleasure in taking it. And so, by allowing us as an audience time to ascribe archetypes to each character in the early going, Yamada manages to pull the rug out from under our feet. It's not the jagged sharp tooth guy that's the killer. It's the cute girls smiling at you from across the field. Yamina pulls a similar move when introducing Denkin. This old mage who by all rights should be the strongest and wisest person in the exam is pushed to his absolute limits by Fyan and forced to literally box other teams in order to pass. In short, this is why this first exam worked so well as an introduction for me. It allows Yamada to put these characters in situations they otherwise would never find themselves in to test their character. And when push comes to shove, it's their actions which show us exactly who we're dealing with moving forward rather than how they describe or present themselves personally. With that said, the most interesting element or introduction isn't even someone taking the test, but rather the overseer of the entire association, Sira, who is introduced to be from his master, which I guess makes her Finan's grandmaster, and they are an elf, making this the third elf that is extremely important to the history and lore [music] of this world. And just like this entire section, Yamada lays out clearly just how different Furin and this other magical mage is. Now, as I've noted, introductions are the key in the opening contest and Furin's introduction to Syria is no different. Appropriately contrasting her quiet and understated nature, Finn grabs Siri's attention when she shatters the thought to be unshatterable barrier surrounding this event. One that Syria erected around the exam site personally, showing us that this is going to be a test unlike any other. while simultaneously showing Ser just how powerful a mage from a peaceful era truly can be. Mages are not monolithic. Magic can take many forms and no one type is objectively better than the other. They each serve a purpose and can overcome another if wielded by the right individual and mindset. And heck, on further analysis, the message stands out more because Yamada placed this variety of magecraft during an era of peace. The demon king is dead and without a central villain to bring the people together, everyone is left to their own devices. The time of peace opens up the world to different ways of thinking and different ways of thinking open up to several new unseen talents. And when you think of it like that, Bame may have been right. The peaceful era of mages may be like nothing this world has ever seen before.

[00:43:43]And this is only the first exam. Now, something I've noticed about these two exams is that despite what first appearances might suggest, each one places cooperation as a virtue rather than pushing it aside for the purposes of individuality. There's virtually no reason why each of these first mage trainees can't [music] cooperate in the second test. In fact, it's to their benefit if they do. That is, if they can trust each other, which, you know, is a big if considering they spent the majority of the first test as teams fighting against basically everyone else. Thus, the after effects of the first exam inform the second, inciting conflict when there is really no need for it, and by doing so offers a way for Yamada to continue with the established dynamics from the prior test itself.

[00:44:23]Another thing that I really like about this is that the proctor for this exam seems to be focusing less on each individual person's skill, though that [music] is part of it, but also is keenly interested in looking out for how they choose to navigate and ultimately find their way through this labyrinth safely. And to add even more dimension to this test, Sensei, known as a pacifist, offers each examinee a golem that will protect them should they be in any life-threatening danger within the dungeon itself. Functionally, it's described by the proctor as an escape rope for anyone that needs to get out of there. But mechanically, I can already see how something like this could be used by other examinees as an eject button for other players. Simply break the glass of another player and immediately they are disqualified.

[00:45:05]Ejected from the labyrinth itself. But but but but if I were to tell you the truth, and I am inclined to, while I was still interested in the test, I wasn't convinced it was going to be anything more than a wellexecuted clone of the labyrinth challenge [music] found in the Hunter exams. The Labyrinth even looks similar. What this needed so then for me was an emotional throughine, something that sat at the core of this story, which this test would drag from its insights. For Hunter Hunter, that moment was gone stating stonefaced, I want to see my dad. When I read that, when he said that, everything else in the background just faded away. The wellexecuted and conceived of challenges, the humor, everything. All that remained was that one panel and the goosebumps it left me with. I really did fear that Furin wasn't up to that challenge. If it hadn't been clear at this point, I will state it out right now. Despite being a strong story and far from a bad anime to boot, there's something about Furin that I've not really managed to connect with. Maybe it's the genre. Maybe it's the offbeat writing style. Whatever the case might be, by this point in the tale, I was becoming concerned that my personal enjoyment peaked during that short arc with a demonic siege. But then, oh, DD. Oh, there's a moment during this labyrinth navigation where Finn's group is interrupted by her jumping into a chest, which has a 99% likelihood of being a monster that wants to eat her.

[00:46:33]Following this embarrassing and easily avoidable near miss from FN Sen shares some advice right before they enter their final stage of the labyrinth.

[00:46:41]Quote, "Find a way to enjoy this labyrinth, as brutal as it can be."

[00:46:45]Honestly, I didn't really think much of this line the first time I heard it, but by the time episode 26 concluded, it retroactively took on meaning comparable to a thesis statement of the entire season. Fern possesses formidable magical talent, but the passion for it, well, as she puts it, she doesn't really have any passion for it. While Finn, on the other hand, has walked the earth for over a thousand years and witnessed death more than anyone else alive. Yet, she still cannot fully understand it or the emotional implications that surround death. By keeping all of this in mind, the labyrinth becomes the space where these personal shortcomings are tested and most interestingly of all, exposes the difference between talent and passion for all of us at home to see.

[00:47:25]So, within this dungeon, the quirk is the opposite of the initial test.

[00:47:29]Instead of fighting each other, trust is the order of the day because to an increasing degree, this dungeon is slowly filling up with stronger and stronger mages, or rather doppelgangers.

[00:47:38]I mean, on its own, a firing doppelganger sucks ass because while it isn't exactly her, it is in all the ways that matter within the context of this challenge. It's as strong, has as much mana, and wields the same techniques without distinction. Therefore, in order to defeat these stronger clones, the surviving examinees need to band together in order to share personal information about themselves, expose weaknesses of their own, and discuss strategy. Already, that's a really cool angle to take this. But when Fern enters the picture, it gets even crazier.

[00:48:14]Now, this is where I'm going to have to start getting poetic and finding my own meaning in all of this because damn, this was one of the coolest and most well-connected moments for me within this story in ways I had been lacking for quite a while now. Naturally, this entire encounter is built around a series of fights, but one in particular serves as the lynch pin. Fern and Furin versus copy Furin. It's your classic master versus a student premise in a way that feels believable instead of forced.

[00:48:40]However, it's during this fight that we gain access to yet another flashback.

[00:48:45]And it's not one for him. During this, Ferman thinks back to her time with her grandmaster, [music] Siri, specifically the last time she met with them to deliver the final will and testament of her master flame. Through this will, we come to discover that Flam's wish came true. Through her travels and studies, she managed to spur on humanity to learn and master magic themselves as a means of combating demonic kind, thereby ensuring humanity's place at the pinnacle of magic. some great deal of time in the future. Hearing this news, Siri expresses displeasure and begins to explain that elves like them lack the urgency humanity carries with them naturally, for their short lifespans are the key to their successes. They can't afford to wait a century to figure something out. Therefore, [music] their collective growth over a long time span is exponentially greater thanks to their proactive nature. Keeping this in mind, I then thought back to what Fern said about being able to kill FN and what Finn's response was to that pleasure.

[00:49:40]Finn in this battle chose to fight her copy with one other person, Fern, who prior to the entry into the battlefield exposed FN's one and only weakness, which happens to be a shortcoming you'd find in a novice mage, which is embarrassing. It was something she never got around to fixing, which again speaks to that issue that Siri highlighted. In that way, Fer's defeat of copy Furin becomes symbolic. It's the realization of what Siri warned of nearly 1,000 years prior. And yet, it's something that Furin herself can't help but smile over. You see, that smile made me think back to what Sense said to both Fern [music] and Finn earlier in the story.

[00:50:16]Find a way to enjoy this labyrinth.

[00:50:19]Firin can. Faced with 100 to one odds of failure with that chest, her passion for magic drove her to not avoid taking that chance. And just like that, when Siri warned her that there will come a day where Fern's life could either be ended by the demon king or a human mage, what was intended as an ominous message reaches Finn's ears with excitement, which is a fitting reaction for her to offer in the midst of this penultimate test here. A test built to encourage cooperation and trust in your fellow magic wielders. Siri saw humanity's rise to magical power as a challenge to their life, to their standing. Fur sees it as a potential for more magical allies.

[00:50:55]She's never been afraid to open that chest to see what awaits her, even if the odds aren't in her favor. It's a really cool way to round out the conclusion of the second exam and most importantly gave it a muchneeded sense of identity in what had started to feel like a Hunter exam clone. But moving on to the third and final exam, Siri chooses to pick out the passing members based on her judgment alone. And if there is anything this arc has taught us is that there are several ways to succeed in this world. And that's exactly why the characters who best showed us that throughout this arc are the ones who passed. And the ones who didn't may need more time to grow as mages or in Fern's case as people.

[00:51:32]That's the mature way of putting it. We all know Siri also failed Fern out of spite. But on the flip side of all this, although their ideologies when it comes to magic and humans may differ, both Finn and Siri were accurate about who was a worthy mage. And Fern, Fern's one and only student, being able to see Siri's fluctuating mana, the one thing no human mage since Flame has been able to notice, further cementss her spot in the story as a representation of humanity's ever growing potential. And with Fer's choice in magic being a laundry spell, something so simple, Yamina chooses to close off the ark as they started, making the little things matter. Whether that is how you view magic, how you fight, or your personal outlook on life, this arc is a testament to that when it comes to this story.

[00:52:14][music] The tiniest things will always make the biggest differences if given enough time.

[00:52:22]After 28 episodes, I'm kind of conflicted on how I feel about it. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. Now, I'm sure that middling response from me doesn't exactly sit right with people who hate it or people who like it, so I'm not really going to be impressing anyone here. I'm sure many of you have waited this entire video for the moment where this sad elf show would finally break me down and I'd emerge a changed man weeping into my fur body pillow. But unfortunately, I came close once or twice, but never managed to get all the way there. Unfortunately, for as much as I understand her, Furin still makes me want to launch her off of a mountain. I know I mentioned the lack of demon nuance as a criticism earlier, but honestly, I could get past that. it really didn't play that much of a factor in my overall enjoyment of the series, but there were rather large stretches of the show where I found myself watching the clock in ways that weren't exactly befitting of a story, even if it was centered around the theme of time. But here's the thing, right? I don't regret my time with this show. And yes, I'm about to do that YouTube essay thing of trying it back to the start, but I really do mean it. When Mr. back-to-back flop. Yamada handed his editor a melancholic fantasy tale rather than the comedy he'd been asked to write, that editor ran it anyway. He took a chance in something that wasn't in the realms of what he thought would be successful.

[00:53:33]And because he took that chance, millions of people found a story that absolutely meant the world to them. I think in retrospect, this video was kind of my own version of that. I'm not sure Fern was ever going to be my bag.

[00:53:45]Between the fantasy genre, slice of life segments, and episodic structure it possesses, it's not really a show designed for me [music] at all. You could even make an argument that it's a miracle I didn't hate it. But between my typical work on Pacy Shonen Gremlin stuff, I took a chance on this quiet little show. And while it didn't land for me the way it landed for so many of you, I'm sure that were watching, I think I get it now. I've seen what you've seen and understand your love, even if I felt differently. And I think if I was to take anything away from this is that that feeling is maybe the most appropriately firin feeling I could have gotten. This is a show about time spent with something or someone that doesn't have to be permanent, perfect, or even entirely enjoyable to have mattered. I may have opened this chest in hopes of treasure and effectively being consumed by a mimic, but I'm glad I looked all the same.