You're listening to the After Hours Arc, your
new anime podcast. My name is Anti, and I'll
be your host. Join me as I review, recap, and
relive anime, one arc at a time. And as always,
these are all manga -free point of views. And
before I get into today's episode, I just redid
my setup so I am really excited to record this
episode. Hopefully it is good on your ears. If
you enjoyed this episode, make sure to leave
me a comment and let me know. Today we are talking
about Freerun Season 1. This is one of those
animes that I assumed I knew what it was going
to be about until I watched it. immediately I
realized it was very different from a lot of
the fantasy animes I've been watching. The Demon
King is already defeated, the heroes have saved
the world, the adventure is over, and that is
where the story starts. And I really enjoyed
that concept. I thought it was very entertaining.
Instead of big battles and power scaling, The
show is more focused on time and memory, regret.
Freerun is basically a fantasy story about realizing
what people meant to you after they're already
gone. So to really understand why this show is
so good, we have to start with the original party.
Now, this first episode made me cry like a baby.
It was so emotional. And I have no problem admitting
that. I really enjoyed it and I got hooked immediately.
But this legendary group involves Freerun, this
elven mage, Himmel, the hero, Heiter, the priest,
and Aizen, the warrior. They defeated the Demon
King after a 10 year journey. Coming back to
the capital, they are being celebrated and revered.
And what's very important about this whole scene
and setup is there's a very special meteor shower
taking place. One that only happens every 50
years. So they watch it together and they're
all enjoying it. But Freerun is talking about
how the light pollution is ruining it. And we
have Himmel who's basically telling her not to
kill the vibe. So what Freerun does is she offers
to take them in 50 years to the spot that will
give them the best view of the meteor shower.
To Freerun, 50 years is nothing. She is over
a thousand years old. That is literally an insignificant
amount of time to her. But to the others, 50
years is literally the rest of their life. They
might not even make it. Getting into Himmel,
he is very vain. He has blue hair, and he thinks
he is the most handsome hero to have ever lived.
It's actually pretty great. I love it. But he
is genuinely kind. He is constantly helping villagers.
and doing small but very meaningful things. And
as the show goes on, they do a really good job
showing how much of a legacy all these small
acts of kindness really were. I really enjoyed
it. The show jumps forward 50 years and I love
how they did this. because it was like a time
lapse, but it was so entertaining to watch, like
the sky and the stars. I was really happy with
how they did that. But this is where everything
changes for Free Ren. Everybody reunites to watch
the meteor shower, but now Himmel's old, like
he lost three feet at least. I don't know how
he got so short. The other ones are old too.
Heiter is old, and so is Aizen. But Heiter didn't
shrink, and Aizen's a dwarf, so I guess they
lived to be a couple hundred years. So I didn't
really think he looked that old. I think they
might have given him a couple lines around his
eyes, but it was really hard for me to tell.
Then we have Freyrin, who just looks exactly
the same from the moment she left them 50 years
ago. So this spot... is about a week's journey
away. They get there and it was a very beautiful
scene. I loved watching it. Himmel's reaction
was just so beautiful. He's watching the meteor
shower and these sparks just dancing in the sky.
He's thanking Freerun for giving this old man
one last adventure. It was so intense and I knew
he was gonna die. Whether he died from watching
that or when he got back to the Capitol, I have
no idea. But then we have a funeral. Which again,
I knew this was gonna happen. I literally was
sobbing. It was so intense. But Freerun, she
doesn't break down in the church. It's when he's
getting buried. Like she had been processing
this this whole time. And then she just breaks
down. This moment works? because she realizes
she traveled with Himmel for 10 years, but never
truly tried to understand him. For Himmel, those
10 years were everything, but for Freerun, it
was gone in a flash. This entire series is basically
Freerun slowly realizing just how important Himmel
actually was. One of the important things that
the show established early on is why Frevrin
is going to be traveling north, and it has to
do with Himmel. Her destination is Enda, which
is a place that's really far north. It's where
the Demon King's castle is. In the world of Frevrin,
we find out that Enda is a place where souls
can be spoken to after death. The idea is if
Frevrin reaches Enda, she might be able to speak
with Himmel again. And not in a metaphorical
way, but literally. That goal is what frames
the entire journey of this show. Freeren isn't
just wandering anymore, she is traveling to a
place where she hopes she can finally say the
things she never got to say to Himmel when he
was alive. And along the way, She keeps encountering
places that remind her of their old adventure,
villages that Himmel helped, people who remember
the hero's party, small acts of kindness he did
that Freerun barely noticed at the time. It was
all tied together and I, I loved it so much.
The journey to Enda becomes less about the destination
and more about Freerun slowly understanding who
Himmel really was. But she isn't alone on this
journey. Fern is who we get introduced to as
her first companion. Frevrin was going to pay
her respects and dump some liquor on the drunk,
corrupt priest's grave, but Heiter wasn't dead.
Not yet. So she is lost in the woods and that
is when we met Fern, who was a very small child
at this point. She leads her to Heiter, and that
is where the next five years, Frevrin is trying
to decipher a grimoire for Heiter, but this is
only a con. Heiter had asked Frevrin to take
Fern with her as an apprentice, but Frevrin refused.
She wasn't going to bring a child to her certain
death, especially a child her friend had entrusted
to her, so I totally understood. But then he
made up this bullshit about the grimoire having
some spell for immortality or resurrection, I
forget which it was. But she bought it, hook,
line, and sinker. She spent five years deciphering
it. Part of that deal was in her free time, if
she wouldn't mind training Fern, the ways of
being a mage. Because Heiter being a priest can
use healing type of spells, but he's limited
as far as magic is concerned. So Frevrin definitely
agreed. But by the time Heiter's gonna die, Fern
is a proper mage and can be her apprentice. So
I was really happy Heiter pulled a fast one on
her. Fern's backstory is a little sad. She is
an orphan from the war and lost her parents and
she was about to kill herself. She was going
to jump off a ledge and Heiter stopped her and
saved her. This was all because of Himmel, because
this is what Himmel would have done. I loved
it. Himmel was a real one. Fern's personality
though. She is very disciplined. Extremely responsible.
But she's a bit of a brat. Especially in the
English dub. I haven't heard it as much in the
Japanese. I watched all of season 1 with English
dub. I've not watched it with the Japanese voice
actors. But season 2 is airing. So I've had to
watch that and... I definitely think I prefer
her dub, mannerisms, and bratty undertone. I
think it gives the character something that really
works, that should really annoy me. Parts of
it does, but for the most part I think it works
for her character as a whole. Especially in contrast
to Freerun, who oversleeps, is terrible with
her time, and collects all these weird spells.
It is her hobby. But Fern has to become the responsible
one. In the process, though, she has Fririn,
who is this great mage, as her master. She is
learning about precise mana control, efficient
casting, getting extremely strong with her discipline.
But the group is still missing something very
important, which is a warrior, a frontliner.
Two mages is not going to cut it. So that's when
we get into Stark, who was Aizen's apprentice.
Aizen, the dwarf warrior, I loved him. I thought
he was just such a good friend to Freerun. I
still couldn't tell, like, how old he was. He
didn't seem that old for how long it had been.
But moving on, Stark is extremely nervous and
easily panics. Super dramatic. He's just a total
wimp. But we meet him because we have to fight
a dragon. So Freren sees this grimoire and a
dragon's nest, and this dragon apparently stopped
attacking this town once Stark showed up. Stark
didn't even move. He just stood there. His knees
were buckling. I guess he couldn't move. That
is his character concept. It does get a little
old, but it's not too annoying. Again, like Fern,
I think it works for him. But Stark is terrified.
He ends up stepping up to this fight, and he's
only supposed to hold off the dragon, and Freeren
and Fern are gonna finish it off. Well, he's
got it pinned down, and he's like telling them
to go for it. They're not doing anything. So
he ends up calling Freeren an old hag. But it
turns out, the dragon was already dead. And it
was a really good scene. I enjoy the subtle humor.
So that was great. But this moment, it defines
his character. Because courage in this story
is not about being fearless. It's about acting
through the fear. And the Fern and Stark dynamic
is pretty fun as well. There's a lot of bickering,
and awkward tension, and very subtle hints of
romance. But one of the things that makes Freeren
really stand out for me... is how magic works
in this world. Magic in Freerun is knowledge
that has been accumulated over centuries. Freerun
herself has collected countless spells. A lot
of them are really ridiculous, like ones to remove
rust or clean a bronze statue or make grapes
sour, but these are really important because
she even says that she collects these spells
because some fool once praised me for them. So
one thing about Friren and her mana is that she
intentionally hides it and this is something
that she learned after centuries of fighting
demons. That leads perfectly into one of the
most fascinating parts of the series and I wish
we got more of her and that's Flama. Flama was
a legendary human mage who lived over a thousand
years ago. She was the person who originally
took Freerun on as an apprentice. When Freerun
first meets Flama, Freerun was still young by
elf standards. Maybe like a hundred years old?
I don't even know. She didn't look much different,
but the voice actor did tweak their voice a little
bit to make them sound a little bit younger.
I'm not really sure. Like, they didn't get too
into it. But Freerun doesn't understand humans
at all. Flama sees potential in her. Not just
with her power, but with her longevity. Freerun
is going to live for centuries. So Flama begins
teaching her magic with a very long -term mindset.
Flama believed magic shouldn't just be about
power. She believed magic should benefit humanity.
And she is actually responsible for a lot of
the magical foundation. in the modern world.
This included magical research and advancing
human -mage education. A lot of the magic systems
that exist in Freerun's present timeline trace
back to Flama and Flama's teachings. Flama had
a bigger reason for training Freerun though.
She knew Freerun would outlive everyone so she
had hoped Freerun would become someone who would
protect humanity long after Flama was gone. This
is also why Frevrin eventually joins the Hero
Party to fight the Demon King. Flama basically
planted that whole seed, and one of the most
important techniques that Frevrin learned over
the centuries and thanks to Flama, was mana suppression.
Basically, Frevrin intentionally hides how powerful
she is. Most mages naturally radiate their mana,
but Frevrin, she learned to compress and hide
her mana, so it looks so much smaller than it
actually is. And that reason goes back to fighting
demons. Demons often judge opponents purely based
on their mana levels. So if a demon senses that
someone has less mana than them, they're going
to assume that they're stronger and they attack
so confidently. They are a prideful bunch. So
Freeren develops this technique where she just
keeps her mana suppressed constantly. And this
makes the demons believe she is so much weaker.
This gives her such a massive advantage. Because
when the moment comes to fight, she suddenly
releases her true power. That's exactly what
happens during the aura arc, where the demon
aura realizes too late. that her mana is on a
completely different level. This technique also
shows how much experience Free Wren has. She
is not just powerful. She has been studying demons
and fighting them for centuries. She's learned
how they think and just how to defeat them. And
understanding how demons think is actually really
important because the demons in this world are
very different from what I am used to seeing
in fantasy animes. The demons in Free Rin are
extremely unsettling. They are cold. There is
no gray area. There is no maybe. They're good.
They are all pure evil. And with Aura, she has
this ability that is the Scales of Obedience.
What that does is she compares her mana levels
with an opponent's. If your mana is less than
Aura's, you become her puppet. And Aura assumes
Freirin is weak, which was a huge mistake. Because
when Freirin releases her mana, I was so excited.
It was better than I expected it to be. And Aura
realizes that she is facing somebody who has
been practicing magic for over a thousand years.
Freirin, it says the coldest line. in the whole
season. Once she takes control of Aura, she just
starts walking away and says, Aura, kill yourself.
It was so intense. I wasn't expecting her to
be so cold. After this arc, the show shifts into
the first class mage exam. We get introduced
to a ton of new characters, and I'm not exactly
sure if they all are gonna matter. A couple of
them pop up in season two, and I won't say who,
because we're keeping this to season one. But
who we were introduced to, we have Denken, who
is this older... I believe he was an Imperial
mage? He was very, like, high -ranked as it was.
Then we have this green -haired girl, Ubel, and
I really enjoyed her. She is also very dangerous.
Every time I saw her on my screen, I figured
shit was gonna go down. She was a little bit
of a wild card, I think. I don't really know.
She doesn't fall into that good guy category,
but also doesn't fall into the villain. So I
liked her whole dynamic and vibe. We also have
Land, who he's all about cloning himself, and
I really enjoyed that he didn't even step foot
onto the testing site. That was amazing. I wasn't
expecting it. so I really enjoyed that. We also
have Warble, who he really did nothing for me.
I really didn't care about him. And lastly, we
have Method, who I really liked her at the end.
In the beginning of meeting her, I wasn't quite
able to get a good read, but towards the end
of the season, I think she's pretty funny and
I couldn't wait to see more of her. Each one
of them has a different view on magic. So with
the first part of the exam, they have to capture
this rare bird, uh, Stella. This challenge focused
all on alliances and strategy and teamwork. After
that, though, we end up getting the dungeon trial,
which was really where the show showed me what
magic is supposed to look like. Because even
with the aura fight, it was very low -key And
even Friarin says she used to cast all these
flashy spells. So what we saw wasn't very intense.
But in this dungeon, there are magical clones.
So we have Friarin versus Friarin, and it was
such a good showdown. I loved them squaring up.
They could read each other's movements so well.
It was very entertaining. The spells they used
were so destructive. It was so intense. I was
definitely excited. I was definitely not expecting
the animation to be as good as it was, because
I hadn't really seen anything. But at the end
of the arc, this is where we really get to see
Zarya, who is even older than Freeren, and I
absolutely loved her. The first class mage exam
is run by the Continental Magic Association.
which is led by Zeri. Zeri is one of the oldest
and most powerful mages in the world, and she
is basically the opposite of Freyrin as far as
personality. Freyrin collects strange little
spells and studies magic out of curiosity, where
Zeri believes magic should be used for power
and domination. Zeri also has a long history
with Freyrin. Where Freyrin was trained by Flama,
Flama was Zeri's apprentice. So there's this
indirect lineage, but Zeri never really approved
of the way Freyrin approaches magic. To her,
Freyrin wastes her potential. What makes Zeri
interesting is that she is representing a completely
different philosophy of magic. To Zeri, magic
equals power, where for Freyrin, Magic is sort
of equaling memory. After the dungeon trial,
the remaining mages end up moving on to the final
stage, which ends up being an interview with
Zeri herself. And this is all because of Freerun.
Freerun broke this magical barrier, one that
Zeria had put up. And that basically disqualified
her because she is way too powerful to be taking
this test. So I really enjoyed that. But Zerea
is personally going to decide which one of these
people becomes a first -class mage and who doesn't.
Because during the dungeon phase, basically everybody
passed and it was all thanks to Freerun. So Zerea
could not believe this and was going to decide
for herself. What's interesting is that she doesn't
just judge magical ability, she judges philosophy.
She wants to know... how each mage views magic,
and what they intend to do with it. This is where
we got to see all the different personalities
really stand out, and I enjoyed it so much. Some
of the mages were extremely ambitious, some were
ruthless, like Worble. I actually really enjoyed
their interaction, because when Worble says magic
is just a tool for killing, Zarya's grin and
ugh. I rewound it and watched it a couple times.
I love Zarya. I love her attitude and I wish
I got to see more of her in season one. During
Freerun's result though, she knew right away
that Zarya was not going to pass her. But when
she's talking with Zarya, they must not have
seen each other for like a thousand years. Pretty
much when Flama died. and technically Freerun
only entered the exam because she wanted Fern
to get her first class mage qualification. They
needed a first class mage to travel north. It
was so dangerous that that was actually a requirement.
Zarya could not deny Fern though because Fern
is such a powerful and experienced mage at such
a young age and the amount of potential that
she has There was no way Zarya could let that
go to waste. And this is a huge accomplishment
based on her age. There's only a handful of first
-class mages. Thanks to Fern, this party can
now continue moving north. The mage exam arc
was really important because it did a few big
things for the story. For me, it definitely expanded
the whole magic system. and it introduced a couple
powerful new mages which I was super excited
about. It also showed just how strong Freerun
really is compared to these modern mages. It
also establishes Fern as one of the most promising
mages of her generation. It shows that even after
centuries of history, Freerun is still a mysterious
figure in the world of magic. But even with all
these arcs, the emotional center of the story
always comes back to one person. One of the most
subtle but powerful parts of Freerun is the relationship
between her and Himmel. The show never turns
it into an obvious romance, but the more flashbacks
we got, the more it became clear that Himmel
was in love with Freerun. He wanted to hit that
so bad. But jokes aside, he really was in love
with Friren. There are small moments throughout
the show that hint. Himmel constantly invites
Friren to travel with the group. He tries to
show her beautiful places, make sure she's included
in moments that matter. There's also a scene
where Himmel gives Friren a ring, which she assumes
is a random gift. But, I mean, he got down on
one knee and literally proposed her. She's an
elf, though, who does not understand romantic
interests or, really, how a human mind works.
Later, it becomes clear that the design of the
ring actually represents eternal love. Freeren
didn't understand that at the time. It was because
Stark ended up getting Fern this bracelet for
her birthday. But that is sort of a tragedy,
because she really didn't get it at the time
of their relationship. Because Freeman's lifespan
is so long, she never realized how important
those moments were while they were happening.
It was only years later, after Himmels gone,
that she starts looking back and understanding
what those memories actually meant. That is why
the journey to Enda matters so much. Because
in some way, Frevrin is hoping that if she reaches
that place, she'll get to speak to Himmel again,
and maybe tell him the things she never realized
she needed to say. And when you really think
about it, That is what makes Himmel such an important
character in this story. Throughout the journey,
Freerun remembers Himmel. She realizes Himmel
wasn't great because he defeated the Demon King.
He was great because of how he lived. Helping
strangers, protecting innocent people, and doing
all those small but impactful things. Freerun...
slowly begins living the same way. Freerun isn't
about saving the world. It is about understanding
people before they're gone. I thoroughly enjoyed
this series. Getting into it, I was just so immediately
hooked. I thought it was done so beautifully.
I thought the quiet pauses and moments really
made me reflect on what was happening. The way
that they go back and forth between the present
day reality and Freerun's flashbacks, I thought
it was done in such an amazing way because a
moment would happen, say Fern and her are having
dessert and she just looks up and her mouth opens
and she's literally having this memory real time.
I enjoyed that so much. Freerun Season 2 has
been so good so far, but as much as I have been
looking forward to it, and I've said this a couple
times, this is on me, the Japanese dub is not
taking me on the journey that I was expecting.
But it is very on par with how Season 1 went.
Season 2 has been wonderful, so I can't wait
to continue watching that. Don't forget, every
Friday I am uploading recap videos covering this
current season of Jujutsu Kaisen. I am also going
to be doing the Witch Hat Atelier that is starting,
I think during the core break, like that Friday.
So I'm gonna jump right into that one. I'm so
excited. If you couldn't tell, I really enjoy
fantasy animes. So I cannot wait the trailer.
Ugh, I watched it again. It looks so good. And
it seems like a lot of people are really excited
about it too. Again, because I don't read manga,
I have no idea about the story. I have zero clue
what the plot is. I'm assuming it has something
to do with pointy hats, but I am so excited for
that one. Hopefully you enjoyed this podcast.
Until next time, I'll see you then.