The Northern Plateau has problems for our merry band as they continue on their journey. Between demons and dragons they have their hands full, but, as usual, the real friends were the useless spells we gained along the way.
I’ll say from the start that the mining section is probably the weakest one, dealing with an old debt. It has its amusing bits, notably how bloodthirsty Fern gets and the running gag about the bread, but it’s uncharacteristically okay in a series that tends to outstanding.
Everything else is quite winning, starting off with a lesson to Stark that emphasizes that age brings experience, as he inadvertently echoes something Frieren herself said when she was travelling with the hero’s party all those years ago.
This is followed up by a quest for booze illustrating how not all elves are quite as nice as Frieren, as a capricious joke accidentally turns into a sort of obsession and then becomes a bit of a joyous event thanks to, yes, some lessons from the past.
I could see this reliance on flashbacks being a bit much for people, but I firmly believe it’s the extra spice that has helped the series just capture my own fancy with its considerable charms. It gives it an extra depth and lends the world a lived-in feel, and the mangaka makes full use of it as well. The writing for this series has always been quite good.
We swerve into the more action oriented side of things later in the volume, as the company meets up with Methode and Genau, who have been in past volumes, and we spend time with them investigating a demon slaughter.
This storyline goes all sorts of places and almost all of them are interesting. Genau is goal oriented to the point of having lost his humanity, and he’s actually the first one to admit it. He ends up paired with the overly compassionate Stark and that leads to some interesting conversations between the two.
The demons they face are also intriguing in their own way - one has a power I am regrettably forced to label as ‘very cool’ and they prove to be a very canny enemy. I like the way the fights only occasionally become drawn out in the series.
Instead, the combat tends towards quick and brutal, as it would be, which leads to some surprises as characters that seem destined for more definitely won’t be without a lot of tape and some staples.
One of my constant joys in this series is how good it is at othering. Elves, humans, and demons do not think alike and that makes them so much more interesting. I love Frieren talking about why the demons fly and how the mages outthink their opponents by doing things that demons simply can’t even consider.
And we even get a surprising revelation as to just why Frieren keeps asking for useless spells and it’s as thoughtful as every other aspect of the story. All tied up with an outro that brings back another familiar face and promises the next big challenge to come.
This series remains rock solid and I just want it to keep doing exactly this and for as long as it can maintain the quality. It has so much going for it and gives a lot while seemingly being very simple. A real gem.
5 stars - oh, I should probably give it four, it’s not the best Frieren has ever been, but I won’t give my favourite series any less and that certainly hasn’t changed.