I love how Fern couldn't say that Frieren was her teacher to Richter because she was so angry with her, but after seeing how thoughtful and caring Frieren is, she proudly stated "I am Ms. Frieren's Student" to Serie, even if it meant she might not pass the exam. What a great series!

I love how "adult" the show is. A lot of anime characters tend to be younger, but the adults in Frieren have different problems from someone like Ichigo or Naruto. Lernen has pretty much reached the limits of his career, Richter is just tired and his body aches, Denken is a powerful government official but he's also a rather lonely man and he still gets stuck in government red tape and "policy" issues. These problems are mundane in a fantasy world but everybody feels like a real person with a lifetime of memories and experiences, it makes the whole story feel more human and it makes all the small moments feel special. Saving the world and being a hero is a good story for the young, but our lives continue well past the time when our fire dwindles. I like some of the language they chose in the english dub of episode one, Eisen says "once you've lost your vigor your body slows, and your life must slow with it", and Himmel has a line in the subtitles that goes "it feels like we're back in the good ol' days, we traveled across the lands, everything was new and brilliant. you three were always there in those memories. I've long been looking forward to us getting together again"; but in the english dub he says "Traveling together transports the soul to a different time, when the world was ours to discover. Each moment of life seemed so brilliant and new. As I brush the dust off of each memory, you all appear behind my eyes. I have lived my life waiting for the day we could be together again" The simple mundane adult moments are part of life, and the show does such a good job of representing them

Serie's Supressed Mana equal to Frieren's Unsupressed Mana

Fern is a sign of a new generation surpassing the legends of old! Yeah, she's nowhere near as strong as Frieren or Serie, but humanity has started to catch up!

yesss been binge watching y'all's videos lately, luv the reactions! keep it up ☺️✨

3:20 Notice that Denken is picking grimoires and magical items and putting them on the table for Richter. It's for Richter to study and use to improve his chances next time.

Not sure if this is off or not, but this episode made me think Serie is disappointment in Frieren, because she doesn't think Frieren is living up to her full potential. I noticed Serie mentioned that Frieren was still relatively unskilled for her age, which blew my mind. It reminded me of the flashback of their first meeting when Serie was immediately taken aback by Frieren not wanting a spell from her and saying she doesn't have the proper mindset or something similar. I think Serie is frustrated with Frieren, because she feels like Frieren could go much higher than she is right now and cannot fathom why a talented mage doesn't want to reach for the stars. Whereas with her student here, the first 1st class mage, despite saying it is a waste he is near death actually smiled when he revealed he saw Frieren's mana was being suppressed. He might be nearing death, but he lived up to his potential and in her opinion has caught up to Frieren's level. Serie's more disappointed that he still too modest and lacks faith in his own level. I think she respect her student more than Frieren. Serie might be so harsh on Frieren and takes jabs at her to lite a fire under her butt and make Frieren want to shut her up by surpassing her. That is why I think she was so impressed with Fern. Fern could see Serie was suppressing her mana, which not even her own students can do. Fern has the talent and potential to go to greater heights. I think Serie wants to train Fern and help her live up to her potential but fails to realize that Fern isn't necessarily trying to reach the stars. I liked what you guys said on how both Serie and Frieren just have different opinions on what makes a true mage. For me it is funny that Frieren both disagrees with Serie's point of view, while also being able to tell Fern that Serie's intuition is usually right. I think both of them deep down respect the other one, but they rub each other the wrong way because their fundamental differences. I think if Flamme was still alive, she would roll her eyes at both of them and tell them to cut the crap.

I think there is a missunderstand about First Class Mage is. It is not about the best mage, or strongest mage or the true mage. The definition of a First Class Mage was created by Serie in a War Era, so questioning what a First Class Mage should be is kinda pointeless. If you dont pass the test does not mean you are not a greate mage, just mean you are not a específic kinda of mage. Remember, Frieren is a mage of peace, Serie is a mage of War. None of them should change, because both of them are necessary.

It's very interesting to me how Frieren literally flat out tells the audience that Serie's criteria for choosing and her decision are never wrong, yet most people who watch the show still decide that Serie's not qualified to choose and she's being unfair and so on.

I think when Frieren said that Serie's intuition is always right, she means that Serie will judge your skill as a mage without bias. She knows that Serie could asses your potential properly and how will you do in terms of high level combat. Serie might say some mean stuff but if she sees your potential to be a great mage, she will never take away that opportunity from you. Serie passing Fern despite her issues with Frieren is already a testament to this. Frieren's beef with Serie is another thing though lol. But we know Frieren hardly cares about the First Class Mage title anyway, and Serie knows that too, that's why she don't mind failing the exam.

17:10 Serie calling the flower spell "useless" is a weird moment for me; I love the discussion you had about this topic overall, but I noticed something strange when I rewatched the show: Scharf used a spell to create flowers in the dungeon a few episodes ago, so he could use his spell to turn flowers into weapons or a shield. So... Serie has a narrow minded convergent approach, I wonder if Fern will surpass Serie because Serie suffers from the same narrow minded overconfidence that the demons have, they get stuck in a railroaded way of thinking and humans breaks those limits because they can imagine more

serie seems like she didn't like wasting potential and no passionate peoples. frieren has long lifespan and elve's are great to use magic, but she choose way of mana control and didn't effort train magics. magic is she's hobby, not life's meaning. she is elf of peace era. that's why she can defeat demon king. magic is world of imaginations, you can't do you can't imagine. frieren can defeat demon king coz she simply love magic and love peaceful. she can imagine peaceful world. but serie can't defeat demon king coz she love magic for weapon and love fight. she can't imagine no killing world. i love this system. frieren can't defeat kanne in the rain, and ubel can defeat long hair first mage.

Serie comes off very cold and uncaring but even with the way she talks to her students and Frieren you can she wants them to be their own "best selves" regardless of if the reasoning is lack of visualizing themselves as a first class mage or Frieren instantly assuming that Serie would fail her. Rather than walking in confidently they all have doubts about themselves or how others see them. where as fern walked in she focused on something external rather than some internal struggle or moral dilemma. Serie may be jaded and I can get why having lived as long as she has seeing people with potential waste it and die but she understands people far more than you may be giving her credit for. Still a massive hypocrite though given she points out that wasting so much time on learning to suppress your mana to deceive others yet she does so as well because she knows the power behind not showing your whole hand. Not to even mention talking down on flowers while chillin in a giant garden atrium XD

As a Japanese, my question is, do you think that a live-action adaptation of Frieren should still use mainly white actors?