Loved the potato puns this episode, particularly Spudcalibur and Ifritter. Also, the preview makes the next episode look very interesting. I still wouldn't say I love this show, but I feel like it has hit a stride after a bit of a rocky start and it is enjoyable enough to stick with it.

Every other MC wishes they could learn her powers.

This one is just a single page, so a quick read!

I have seen elsewhere that it is a pun and can be loosely translated as either Frieren's at the funeral or Frieren caused the funeral. But I don't really know enough Japanese other than to say those are fairly liberal translations.

葬送 (sousou) literally just means funeral, フリーレン is Frieren and the の (no) in between usually indicates possession in some way.

I went back and checked how they did this in the manga and this episode actually ends mid-chapter (chapter 15). So, it wasn't a cliffhanger at all in the source. However, I really like how they did it in the show. The cliffhanger was really well done.

Edit: Also, yes. We have only adapted 14.5 chapters so far in 7 episodes.

Finally got a good dose of Mirika this episode. I look forward to her camping adventures with the group! One of my favorite gags in this series is how Shino is constantly finding herself in compromising situations with Naoya. It's funny to see her lament as much in one of the eye catches in this episode.

Also, I hadn't really looked up the cast previously, but I kept swearing this episode that I recognized Shino's voice. After looking it up, its no wonder I recognized it as she is voiced by none other than Rie Takahashi.

This is a great point I hadn't thought about before. This is something that is not present in the manga to the same extent due to the medium being inherently black and white and still images. The animation really adds a lot of character to the world in how it is portrayed so peacefully most of the time; Frieren waking up gently in the woods to butterflies landing on her nose for example. Even the demons themselves in this city are smartly dressed, extremely cordial, and outwardly forgiving of being threatened by both Frieren and the local lord. However, their true nature is so discordant with the rest of the world it adds a lot to their "otherness".

This thing is an alien that has been beaten into a shape that makes it look vaguely human. But scratch it the slightest bit and the alien comes out.

This pretty much describes demons in Frieren. Different demons you have to scratch at harder than others, similar to how better AI models you have to engineer your prompts better to get it to break. The best fictional stories are the ones that can help us to better understand and contextualize the nonfiction world around us.

Another great episode. Really loved the first part about Himmel not wanting Frieren to be alone and that is why he had so many statues made.

One of the (many) things that I really enjoy about this series is its portrayal of demons. They really feel quite alien but relatable at the same time. They fall right into an uncanny middle between human and monster that always has you second guessing yourself about them. Frieren probably says it best in that they can understand our speech, but can't be communicated with; drawing a clear line between being able to speak and being able to understand and convey thoughts and emotions through speech.

There are many parallels I can draw between this series and Mushishi, but this portrayal of demons reminds me a bit of how mushi are described by Ginko. They are more or less wild things living in nature and when they intersect with humans bad things can happen, but it isn't out of malice or any kind of emotion, it is simply surviving in the environment it finds itself. I think Frieren views demons in much the same way. They are not hurting humans out of malice, but simply creatures that find themselves in a world full of humans. As a survival strategy, the demons found ways to use humans to their advantage, it just so happens that those strategies involve manipulating and taking advantage of human emotions.

Yeah, really curious how this time travel arc is going to go. It is a chance for Frieren to talk with HImmel once again, but they haven't really dove into the emotional side of that yet. It was enough to get her crying at Himmel's funeral, so I expect it will be tough to say goodbye to him this time.

One of the things I was most curious about how they were going to adapt this season was the explanation of Claire's newfound powers. I never thought that the way the LN described this part was very clear and it is only through later discussions with other fans that I got a good understanding of it. I think that the anime actually does a better job of setting up and explaining this. Plus, we get to see Aurora-sensei and JK Claire in the process, so that is a win.

The fight sequence was quite modified from the source, but I actually really like it. Characterizing Elizabeth's attack as literally raining blood was a great touch. My favorite part of that sequence was Aurora/Claire trying to use Cid's All Range Atomic. This was a great anime original touch and I loved everything about it. From her initiating it, Beta realizing what is going on and freaking out, and finally Aurora trying to do the Cid atomic voice. Just chef's kiss.

We get to see a new ED this episode by Maaya Uchida (voices Nu). We also get to see the setup for the next arc in a post-ED scene. If you liked the design of Yukime and didn't want to see her leave the story yet, then this scene should give you hope. Also, just as a meta-aside, the next arc is probably the overall fandom's favorite, so look forward to it!

Edit: I forgot to mention that this begins one of my favorite ongoing gags in the whole series. In which Cid thinks Claire is just a chuuni having chuuni delusions about things.

It's been ages since I have last played Minecraft (beta probably, yes I am old) so it blows my mind that people are making mods centered around anime. As long as you enjoy the show, that is all that matters. Honestly, what anime doesn't have 1-2 troublesome elements (brocon, siscon, inappropriate fanservice, etc.)? If you dismiss every show that has one problematic thing, then you aren't watching very much and would miss out on some great characters and stories.