Summary
- Frieren conceals her mana for survival against demons, but it challenges cultural pride and the essence of magic.
- Demons see mana concealment as shameful, Flamme critiques it as a deviation, and mages find it dishonorable.
- Frieren’s mastery of concealment is a controversial shortcut to power that undermines traditional mage principles.
Quick Links
The Demon Perspective
- Pride in Power
Flamme’s Philosophy
- Betrayal of Magic’s Essence
The Mage Community
- Undermining a Lifetime of Work
Frieren’s Self-Reflection
- A Lifetime of Losses
A Necessary Evil
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a show where mana is the universal measure of a mage’s power and pride. It’s their greatest metric for gauging opponents, but its concealment is perceived as a lose-lose situation. In Frieren’s case, its mastery makes her a formidable mage, yet at the same time, it’s also a cultural and philosophical affront to both demons and mages.
However, Frieren’s reason for concealing her mana signature is more profound, and practical, and is a feat she deserves credit for. Yet, for elusive reasons, the mage community just can’t wrap their heads around accepting it, because they deem it to be “cowardly”, and a “disgrace.”
Related
Frieren: How Time Breeds Complacency
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End deals with the passage of time, and as a result complacency is a major undercurrent of Frieren’s journey.
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The Demon Perspective
Pride in Power
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For demons, mana is more than a tool and can be considered as a declaration of identity. The more mana you have, the more status and respect you command. Concealing mana for them is like hiding their wealth when their society expects them to flaunt it.
To demons, masking one’s mana isn’t just deceptive, but utterly shameful. It undermines their deeply ingrained belief that strength must be worn openly, as a testament to their pride and superiority.
I despise geniuses. They lack the beauty of accumulated effort.
Frieren’s concealment directly insults this value. It’s not just that she hides her mana; she has perfected the art so well that even the most perceptive demons, like Aura the Guillotine, cannot detect her true power. This makes her victories feel like cheap tricks to her enemies, a sucker punch rather than an honorable duel.
Flamme’s Philosophy
Betrayal of Magic’s Essence
Flamme, Frieren’s mentor, introduces a more nuanced critique. For Flamme, magic is about beauty, expression, and sharing—values rooted in the peaceful and creative applications of magic. Concealing mana, however, is a skill born from violence and necessity, used solely to counter the demons’ mana-sensing abilities. By dedicating centuries to refining this “cowardly” technique, Frieren strays from Flamme’s ideal of what magic should represent. It’s as though Frieren has prioritized vengeance over the wonder of magic itself, a path Flamme subtly critiques. This conflict comes to the fore when Flamme teaches Frieren the spell for growing a field of flowers—a stark reminder of magic’s peaceful origins.
The Mage Community
Undermining a Lifetime of Work
Among human mages, mana concealment is divisive. Many mages dedicate their lives to increasing their mana reserves, proudly displaying the fruits of their labor. Frieren’s mastery of concealment, which allows her to appear weak while wielding enormous power, feels like a shortcut—a betrayal of the traditional mage ethos of hard work and open strength.
When Frieren defeats Lügner using her concealed mana, his reaction encapsulates this frustration. To him, it’s not a fair fight, but a calculated trick. For traditionalists, Frieren’s approach cheapens the art of magic, reducing battles of skill and power to deceptive ploys, and while it gets the job done, it’s a shortcut that undermines the effort a regular mage must put to reach that point.
Frieren’s Self-Reflection
A Lifetime of Losses
Even Frieren herself is haunted by the implications of her choices. She reflects on the times she was defeated by mages with less mana than her, realizing that sheer power isn’t everything. Her reliance on concealment has made her a survivor but not necessarily a stronger mage in the traditional sense.
She has been dedicating centuries to this skill, and has sacrificed opportunities to develop other powerful spells or techniques, leaving her vulnerable to those who take a more balanced approach.
| Group/Individual | Perspective on Mana Concealment | Reasoning |
| Demons | Cowardly and shameful | Mana represents pride and power; hiding it undermines their cultural values and sense of superiority. |
| Flamme (Mentor) | A necessary but tragic betrayal of magic’s essence | Magic should be beautiful and peaceful, not reduced to tactics born from violence and deception. |
| Human Traditionalists | Dishonorable and undermining to the mage’s craft | Concealment feels like a shortcut, disregarding the lifelong effort to accumulate and display mana. |
| Frieren | Practical survival technique | A pragmatic response to the constant threat of demons; prioritizes victory over tradition. |
| Lügner (Demon Opponent) | Frustrating and unfair | Believes concealment exploits the opponent’s misjudgment, turning battles into tricks rather than tests. |
| Modern Mages (e.g., Fern) | A new-generation technique worth mastering | Seen as innovative and effective, marking a shift in how battles are approached by younger mages. |
However, that isn’t a weakness in the traditional sense, since as an elf, Frieren has all the time in the world to develop, and complete her mage odyssey.
A Necessary Evil
Frieren’s use of mana concealment is a pragmatic response to the existential threat posed by demons, but it comes at a cost. To demons, it’s a slap in the face of their cultural pride. To Flamme, it’s a deviation from the essence of magic. To traditional mages, it’s an insult to their way of life. Yet, for Frieren, it’s the skill that has kept her alive for over a millennium, allowing her to honor her comrades and continue her journey.
And at the very end, it is this determination, and willingness to adopt any method necessary that allowed her and her party to slay the Demon King– a feat, which even the great mage Serie has yet to accomplish. Though, considering how different Serie’s goals are from Frieren’s, it’s unlikely for it to be happening anytime soon.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
AnimationAdventureDrama
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is an animated adventure-drama series based on the manga series created by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe. Following her parties’ victory against an all-powerful demon king that threatened to destroy their world, Frieren, an elf, attempts to find her place in a new world with an undetermined future fifty years later.
Release Date
September 29, 2023
Seasons
1
Studio
Japanese Title
Based On
Creator
Number of Episodes
Streaming Service(s)
Crunchyroll
MyAnimeList Score
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Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
