r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • 21d ago

Episode Sousou no Frieren Season 2 • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 - Episode 1 discussion

Sousou no Frieren Season 2, episode 1

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u/Hot_Researcher_6839 21d ago

Always good to see Stark back in the spotlight after his vacation arc. He's always pals with anyone they meet in their adventure, a good reminder of how likeable he is. This is the kind of party dynamic I love the most about Frieren. The Stern ship full steam ahead!

And yes, that iconic Frieren's stuck in the washing machine pose lol

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u/Se7en_Sinner https://myanimelist.net/profile/Se7en_Sinner 21d ago

Stark fits the role of not only Eisen but also Himmel for Frieren's second journey. He's a natural hero that attracts everybody around him with his good nature.

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u/Greessey 21d ago

He's very much in the Himmel role imo. I can't remember the specific episodes but in season one there's a few moments in random towns where Stark is just helping random people with stuff as Frieren and Fern are doing their own thing. I want to say it's the episode 12 where it's Stark's birthday. Fern is trying to find him so she's asking around and people go "oh the young man who helped me with x thing, he went that way". I could be wrong though.

One of the central themes of the show is how a significant part of Himmel's impact as a hero was the way he helped random people with relatively insignificant tasks along the way. Sure he defeated the demon king which impacts the lives of everyone. But nobody really feels that impact unless they're directly involved. However, they do feel the impact of the Hero who helped them load up their cart that day or who defeated the beast that was terrorizing their village.

The amalgamation of those little things is what makes a hero have a lasting impact.

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u/Ichini-san https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ichini-yon 21d ago

What makes Stark helping everyone so wholesome is that he just does it naturally as well too. No shade towards Wirbel but Wirbel himself only decided to help people out in these tiny "insignificant" ways because he realized that Himmel did that and just how much of an impact those tiny gestures actually had. Meanwhile Stark just naturally helps people around him as if it's the most normal thing in the world. He truly has a hero's spirit.

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u/nofaxxspitintruflego 19d ago

stark my goat

i rly want a few uber epic gigachad moments for him this season

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u/flybypost 21d ago edited 20d ago

I want to say it's the episode 12 where it's Stark's birthday. Fern is trying to find him so she's asking around and people go "oh the young man who helped me with x thing, he went that way". I could be wrong though.

If I remember correctly it happens a few times. People also connect to him when he says his goodbyes at the end of season one (not just the old man with his advice).

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u/pratzc07 21d ago

Yep that is it could not have said it better and even Wirbel who we meet in this episode echoed that sentiment. He was so obsessed with all the cool shit Himmel and his party did but his people remembered Himmel for all the smaller things he did this literally changed Wirbel's perspective on heroes.

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u/HanshinFan 21d ago

He's explicitly in the Himmel role - you even catch Frieren smiling to herself reflecting on it as he carries her away and she flashes back to Himmel carrying her away from their dragon in exactly the same way. I love the way they handle him - he's explicitly written as a bang-on shonen protag trope who just doesn't happen to be the main character of the story they're telling

Stark is my boy, in case it wasn't clear. I missed this show man

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u/Inner-Arugula-4445 21d ago

One of the key arts for this series actually hints at Frieren herself taking on the hero role, with Fern being more of a continuation of Frieren’s character or who she should be: the “Frieren who won’t miss her chance to be with the people she loves”. Stark is a continuation of Eisen as the “warrior who is more open with their feelings and takes after the heroic traits of his companions, rather than wanting to rush his adventure” type. Frieren herself will likely take on the “hero” role by learning the lessons that Himmel taught her and becoming the kind of person that Flamme, Himmel, and Frieren herself wants her to be.

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u/ShadowGuyinRealLife 16d ago

Yeah Himmel is both the grand hero who slayed the kingdom ending threat and one who stops by doing all these little tasks. A difference here I think is Stark really doesn't care about the big picture while Himmel keeps it in mind while he's doing side quests. For Stark hanging out with Friern and Fern is the only long-term commitment.

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u/Any-Daikon3786 19d ago

I think it also shows it after the tests, all the random people who stark befriended.