Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 33 Review - Do It For The Money
It’s crazy how the group spent three months helping someone out for money…only to lose it all in one fell swoop later on. Also, notice how the second half of the episode says 30 years after the death of Himmel the Hero meaning that a year finally passed throughout the story.
The first half of the episode features the trio in a city where grains are abundant. Because of that, breweries and pubs are very common. Frieren runs into an old dwarf friend named Fass who is on the hunt of an ancient liquor called Boshaft. While Fass is a city dwarf, he had to learn how to mine in order to find the liquor which is hidden away in some ruins and an elf named Milliarde had sealed the room it’s hidden in. Because of that, only Frieren can unlock it. Originally, she denied the offer, but Fern and Stark insisted, for once, because of the money reward.
It was interesting to see a story where one guy is locked in on finding some ancient liquor for 200 years, only to realize it tastes awful. At least he was a good sport about it. To be honest, I like his mindset. Even if the liquor tasted horrible at the end, it was worth it! It’s like a lifelong dream finally coming to a close. Though, I do wonder if it’s alright to drink something that’s been in gathering dust in ruins for centuries… wouldn’t it be unhygienic? I guess that was Milliarde’s masterplan—she’s a troll despite her stoic and nonchalant attitude.
The second half of the episode follows along the theme of the abundance of grains, but that doesn’t mean that every place is resourceful. In fact, the trio is at a point where they’re eating hard bread. I’m surprised their teeth haven’t been broken yet. The reason for the hard bread is because the Norm company, a company that is responsible for logistics, is lacking money and resources due to stuff like demons and monsters roaming around.
The reveal that Frieren has been in debt for over 80 years was hilarious. The way she was forcibly taken to the mines is meme material—she’s just full of memes. Though, being taken to the mines was on purpose as Lord Norm wants Frieren to help excavate silver, which is a success. The way the whole sequence of her tracking down the location of the ore was amazing. Even if there is low action in this episode, the way Madhouse decides to flex and showcase Frieren using magic was breathtaking. It was like looking at a planetarium.
It’s been a few episodes since the anime casted big names for their one-off characters. Fass is voiced by Yuji Ueda who is known for voicing Brock and various Pokemon characters in the Pokemon anime. Milliarde is voiced by Mamiko Noto who voiced Sawako Kuronuma from Kimi Ni Todoke and Ine Saitou from Grandpa and Grandma Became Young Again. Norm is voiced by Akinori Egoshi; while he’s not a veteran voice actor, he is known for voicing Sosuke Shima from Skip and Loafer (They’re actually making a Season 2 for it). It’s kind of fun to see who they cast for named minor characters in Frieren because of this.
Anyways, there will be a one week break and then the latter half of the season will be focused on the Divine Revolte arc which there is a visual poster that was released on the official Twitter account. I honestly can’t wait to see how the anime will tackle the arc in terms of pacing and animation. It’s definitely going to be a spectacle. Let me know your thoughts on the episode!
