Even knowing about Ai’s fate at the end of this episode/movie, the way this story unfolds is so well done that it still hits emotionally.

After rewatching this episode, it reaffirms to me that my absolute favorite character in this whole series is Miyako, the twins’ adoptive mother. She is so much fun to hate with her introduction and even her turnaround is driven by incredibly shallow motivations. However, over the course of the first episode, she steps up and becomes the mom that the kids need. The cherry on top was her recognition that she couldn’t ever hope to replace Ai for them, but that she is simply going to do her best to support them in her own way.

Honestly, she is too good for some young, handsome guy, and I am happy that as we jump forward in time, she is an independent, successful businesswoman that still raised two children. It stands in contrast to typical Japanese societal expectations and, as Gotanda would say, is (hopefully) a sign of the times.

Episode 1 got most of the attention back when this show aired, but this was the standout episode of the season for me personally. It hit pretty close to home as I have dealt with somebody close that has come approached the metaphorical edge in the past (though not due to bullying or social media like Akane).

The standout moment in this episode for me (unsurprisingly) happens as Akane is standing on the precipice, about to take her final step. Her hair is gently blowing in the breeze, the city lights are twinkling with some soft bokeh, she has a content grin on her face, it honestly looks gorgeous. Then suddenly it isn’t. There is a hard cut to Akane standing in the pouring rain, drenched, with unkempt hair, and a mix between a scowl and a grimace as the music also suddenly cuts to just the sound of the rain; falling down to the earth, just like Akane is about to. The sudden cut does an excellent job of contrasting the elegant solution to her problems that Akane imagines her death to be with the ugly truth of what it is she is about to do. I can’t get enough of it.

Just as an aside, this same kind of sudden cut is used elsewhere in the series as well. Most recently, it was used in season 2, episode 7 when Akane is upset with Kana because Kana is not living up to her acting potential.

Episode 9 is an absolute visual feast. I don’t have too much to add to my original comments on this episode except that I really wish Linie were still around. Her fighting was so much fun. Though, I guess Ubel kind of fills this niche later on in the season.

By comparison, Episode 10 doesn’t have much in the way of action animation, but instead is a storytelling tour de force. I already wrote a lot about this episode back when it aired. Thinking about this episode some more, it is really a lore dump more than anything else. It is packed full of flashbacks and lore while the combatants are simply standing and chatting. The execution of this exposition is so incredibly well done though that it manages to build expectation the whole way through rather than get boring. Finally, the payoff is short and sweet, leaving us in shock.

Fortunately Milet is there to help soothe us with the sudden ED at the end. For the record Milet, I was not alright after this episode. Not even close.

My favorite part of episode 25 (just like when it aired) was the Serie flashback when Frieren delivered the will of Flamme. I absolutely love the way that the Serie/Flamme relationship is depicted through Serie’s flashbacks. It is done in a way to take advantage of the animation medium and, frankly, works much better than the manga version. I can also see how Serie’s feelings towards Flamme echo the interest she will later show in Fern during the third test.

The Frieren vs. Frieren and Fern fight in Episode 26 is just a phenomenal visual spectacle from start to finish. However, upon rewatching, I also had a new appreciation for the Ubel/Sense “fight” and flashback. The way that they depict magic and visualization through Ubel is just so well done. Magic visualization is a recurring theme through the rest of the series and Ubel provides such an comprehensible way to develop an intuition for the complex game of magical rock/paper/scissors that mages undertake in the world of Frieren.

This episode is just a phenomenal climactic battle. It really feels like a boss battle. When this episode aired, I gushed about the OST. Upon rewatching, that is still the thing that jumped out at me the most. In particular, the way the OST is used in this episode compared to the other shows/episodes in this post is so different.

As a point of comparison, Frieren episode 9 is also a life or death battle, but the OST helps give that episode and this episode such different feelings. Just such an excellent way to aurally signal to the viewer that everything is different now. There is a much darker element to this show that has always been lurking there if you really looked for it, but is now in the forefront.