Sousou no Frieren Season 2 Ep.08 - Stealth Fern Beam Bombardment!

Episode 8 of Sousou no Frieren Season 2 (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) delivers what I consider the best action sequence I have seen in any anime over the last few years. The entire episode was dedicated to completing the Revolte story arc, with a strong emphasis on making the combat look and feel exceptional.

On one side, Genau and Stark try to find a way to defeat Revolte, while Fern and Methode struggle against their own respective opponents. Meanwhile, Frieren simply hovers in the air waiting for them to finish. She is convinced they can succeed on their own and believes she does not need to intervene.

Fern's jealousy toward anyone approaching Frieren really makes my day every time. Fern really likes Frieren!

Fern's face here is like 'just don't do it again Frieren please, that shortened my life'.

The battle involving Genau and Stark works similarly to what I expected because Stark uses the same tactic he employed against the demons in the first season. He tanks an enemy hit to create a distraction long enough for Genau to strike Revolte down. Of course, things are not quite that simple, as the smaller demon complicates matters, but everything turns out well in the end.

Methode resolves the other conflict by clearing the fog, allowing Fern to enter stealth mode. Fern moves far beyond the mana detection range of the demons and begins to bombard them with massive energy beams. It was truly incredible to see how dramatically things changed once the fog cleared, as the match shifted from a desperate struggle to a completely overpowering victory.

It is clear that the world of Frieren is about more than just "power scaling" and focuses heavily on matchups and skills. The battles seemed evenly matched for both sides until a small variable shifted the balance to favor one side over the other. This makes the combat feel much more intense than what you typically see in other series.

It certainly helps that the animation was exceptionally smooth and of high quality throughout the episode. I feel as though more budget was spent on this single episode than on the entirety of several other series airing this season, such as Mayonaka Heart Tune or Yuusha Party ni Kawaii Ko ga Ita no de, Kokuhaku Shitemita.

Methode fighting style was extremely nice to see, the animation was ultra fluid and felt really natural.

Apparently this is how Fern and Frieren sleep when together? Like whoa, that's cute.

The next episode is titled "Himmel's Memoirs." It seems there is actually a book he left behind somewhere during his travels. It will be interesting to see if Frieren is truly unaware of its contents. Perhaps it contains precious new information about the person she cares for?

A dragon is also mentioned in the preview, though I am not sure if we will see more action so soon. This episode was likely the major highlight for the season, much like the battle against Aura and her two servants. I am interested in whatever comes next, as this series is definitely the best we have seen in a long time.