Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 13
葬送のフリーレン
Sōsō no Frieren 13

Spoiler Summary/Synopsis:

Frieren comes upon a man stuck in a bog. He tells her a bit about himself as a way to plead for her assistance. When Fern and Stark show up, Frieren remembers the spell to save the man, Sein. They escort him to his small village. Sein tells them to be careful as Frieren’s party continue their journey. However, Stark gets bit by a venomous snake and starts bleeding.

They return to the village, where the priest says it is too late for Stark. However, the priest’s little brother Sein shows up and immediately heals Stark, revealing his power. The priest wants Frieren to take Sein on an adventure as it had been Sein’s dream. Frieren isn’t sure, but Stark is. As such, Stark joins in a poker match that Sein is in. They both lose everything, forcing Fern to reacquire their items.

Frieren decides to recruit Sein, but he refuses. Time passes, but Sein refuses to budge. Even though Sein has a thing for older women, Frieren looks too young for him. As such, that’s not an incentive. When the priest hears the reason Sein won’t leave the village, he gets angry. The priest turned down a job from Heiter to stay in the village. However, he never intended to Sein to remain out of obligation.

Sein decides to accept Frieren’s offer. However, he stipulates that he will only stay with Frieren’s party as long as it suits him as he wants to find his childhood friend who took off 10 years prior for an adventure.

Thoughts/Review

And then there were four as of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 13. I already know Sein’s arc to the current chapter of the manga. As such, I’m going to limit my thoughts on his character until the story reaches a certain point with him. That way, those who might be reading these reviews as they also watch the series don’t get an advanced spoiler.

The Priest

Sein’s introduction in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 13 was humorous, but it really didn’t make sense. I mean, if you are up to your waste in a quagmire, are you really going to recount your life’s story to a bored looking elf woman? I checked the manga and there, Sein’s life is never in danger. He does reference the danger of the bog he’s in. And clearly, he’s stuck, likely due to the suction of the muck. But he wasn’t sinking while Frieren pondered what to do.

I’ve been noticing how Madhouse makes tiny, inexplicable changes here and there. And in this episode, they even tweak the source material. The manga shows Fern BUYING back Sein and Stark’s lost gear, though at a discount for the festival. She got the poleax for free. However, the anime just has the shopkeeper give the stuff away for free ’cause “reasons”.

Regardless, I do like how Frieren sees similarities in recruiting Sein to when Himmel recruited her. And this story does introduce the meme of Frieren blowing a kiss at a man, something Flamme also taught her. Still, the resolution to getting Sein to join Frieren’s party makes sense. Further, having a powerful priest in the party is useful.

I also appreciate why Sein felt obligated to stay in the village and help his older brother. He felt some guilt over his brother’s decision to turn down a promotion and serve the church in the capital. But now he’s finally moved on with his life, thanks to Frieren.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 13 is an okay episode with one minor change from the source material by Madhouse turning Frieren into a jerk.