Frieren: Beyond Journey's End – Episodes 7-8

This pair of episodes introduces you to the main antagonists of the series: the demons. In anime, demons have undergone an interesting evolution over the years. They used to be simply the bad guys who needed to be defeated. Pure creatures of evil that the heroes took care of to save the world.

Demons

Lately, that has changed. Many stories portray demons in a more sympathetic light. Sometimes they are a people forced to fight because of their difficult living conditions. Or they are victims of prejudice, a convenient scapegoat for the people in the fantasy world.

Demons are so often seen as complex and nuanced that Frieren herself initially seems incredibly racist, trying to kill a demon in the street without warning and calling them monsters, not people. The trick is that the demons in Frieren's world have evolved to prey on the better nature of humans. After all, we are all taught as children to "use our words" and "fighting is bad." The logical thought is that if we can communicate with each other, we can understand each other, and if we understand each other, we can make peace.

No Feelings

However, demons cannot understand humans, nor do they want to. For a demon, words are not for communication, but rather for deception. Both the humanoid form of the demons and their use of language are simple tools of evolution. The tools that make it easier for them to hunt their primary food source: humans.

Basically, demons have no empathy, and that's not just towards humans, dwarves, and elves. They have no emotional connection to others whatsoever. They have no friends or family and are inherently loners. Simply put, they are an entire ethnicity of psychopaths.

Everything they say or do is only to elicit a reaction that furthers their goal of feasting on human flesh. But only because they have learned that, among other things, yelling "Mother" when they are about to be killed can cause their enemy to interrupt their attack. They are unable to understand the emotional impulse of why this is so, and that is their weakness.

Difference Between Frieren and Demons

On the surface, Frieren herself seems closer to the demons in her personality than Fern or Stark. She is often cold and logical to the point where she considers abandoning the town to its fate and fleeing into the chaos of the impending demon attack. Due to her distorted sense of time, she finds it difficult to care about people who will be dead in a few years. Be it by demon hand or by old age. Especially if that death is caused by something she considers foolish.

However, the difference between Frieren and the demons is that while she finds it difficult to form emotional bonds with mortals, she is capable of doing so. She cares about Fern, Stark, and her former companions (far more than she ever realized). Even if she had no personal stake in the fight. We have seen this repeatedly in the series so far, that she has a new moral compass that helps her in her interactions with mortals: "What would Himmel do?"

Even if that weren't the case, there is another emotional drive for her actions: a cold, infinite rage. After all, it takes a strong drive to be the one who has killed more demons than anyone else in history. To the point where the demons themselves refer to her in hushed tones as "Frieren the Slayer."

Conclusion

The moment that brought me to tears? That Himmel erected so many statues, not just out of vanity, but so that Frieren would not be alone. That is proof that her story, her life, is more than a series of half-believed tales from past times.

What about the action scenes? It's so brutal and violent that you can't help but see Frieren in a completely new light.

The "logical" reasoning of the demon girl: I killed a family's child. They intend to kill me. If I give them a new child, they won't want to kill me. The mayor has a child. If I kill the mayor and give them the mayor's child, I'll be safe.

I like the idea that the barrier that has protected the town for a thousand years was only erected because Flamme saw a sapling fighting against a snowstorm and decided to help it.