The Genius of Frieren's Magic System

frin is a very cool magic system when it isn't getting caught in its own complexity it doesn't reach the depths of a system like nen but for using more traditional magic it's one of the better magic systems out there and I think a lot of this is how magic is talked about and how the different characters use it as many characters know magic and Feen is based largely on your imagination if you can visualize it then odds are you can use it or make some magic out of it and this idea shows up prominently in two places the first is an example that's probably been written off is just the silly little rewards forone asked for when doing various requests but it's actually a pretty apt representation of how magic Works in their society most of the time we see frean and friends do a request usually get some grimoire with a spell like keep your body warm or turning grapes into the other type of grapes or making hot tea these various silly spells with no traditional combat usage or any combat usage at all but their magic that someone created with a purpose someone was able to visualize making hot tea or imagine having a spell that made hot tea and so they did the magic still has its mystical nature but it's also rooted in the head space of the person creating and wielding it it's tied to the characters of the story For Better or For Worse personally I like this idea because it gives us a nice overview of a character even if we don't learn too much about them their magic reveals how they think their strengths and weaknesses and then also their fighting style they refer to it as rock paper scissors but much more complex which is a way to phrase that and more than likely refers to how sometimes you just have a bad matchup and lose because nen uses a similar metaphor but focuses more on that matchup aspect of it whereas I think pran still has it but I think undersells the creativity of the Magic by sticking with that whole rock paper scissors thing and there's also frein who kind of is just like that fourth part of rock paper scissors that you make up when you're a kid where it's like force field and you just win everything I think a better image for the magic is focusing on that visualization aspect where if you can visualize it you can make it the only time that it's felt like there was a matchup difference was really in the exam Arc the rest has just been Free Running Company taking the win regardless of the opponent the other place the visualization aspect shows up is in ubil for magic being able to cut anything she believes she can cut is the perfect distillation of the magic system of for urine her two most notable opponents in the series so far ill you can just win by letting your imagination run wild logic of hair can be cut leading to be able to defeat sense makes perfect sense it doesn't matter if there's infinite defensive magic hair is meant to be cut so that's all that matters she can visualize cutting the hair and as such she can win beyond the fact that this rules and is basically the Ned win character of frein is the fact that is also an empathic person who can copy her opponent's magic once she understands them as a person which I think is just another perfect example of the visualization aspect of the system while also tying it back to the idea that a person's magic is a reflection of them as a person and once you understand them you can understand their magic orianted Hill is a little insane but for the world of Ren she is the best addition you could ask for to sell a viewer on the magic system of the world her backstory and fight against sense is what made me write this video because it rules she made this magic system fully click with me and also just made me like her a whole lot even if she is a whole lot of unhinged however there's also another aspect to the magic system and freom that appeals to my love for the determination of humanity and progress and that's with the two most Comon spells we should see in the show ZR and then the defensive magic spell ZTR is the simplest attack magic possible but since it's so simple it's also the most developed by Humanity originating from the demon qual to kill humans it was those same humans that took zre and reformed it from a human killing magic to a demon killing magic the anime uses a nice carnal black color for walls and then A Whiter color for the humans as if to symbolize Humanity has conquered the darkness in it and made it a light spell but its premise is that humans got together to work on making a spell that could defeat the demons that were giving them trouble by stealing from the demons and turning in into their own weapon and then you add in defensive magic a spell created solely by humans to combat soul track and by extension the demons progress invites progress and naturally while you're developing a spell to attack demons you also want a way to defend against it a balance needs to be achieved in order for Humanity to sustain magic otherwise Mage battles would just be single shot showdowns at High Noon my head cannon that I just came up with for defensive magic is that it has no formal name because it was just a collective human invention as in as such just doesn't have a specific person to Herald as the Creator it's the only prominent spell used in the series that has no formal name but I kind of love that it doesn't Humanity worked together to create the spell to combat a need and as such made one of the strongest defensive spells of all time there's this sense of innovation present in defensive magic and also in the magic system as a whole Magic responds to the needs of the individual as well as the needs of the world they can hone and enhance their unique Magic while also honing magic for the use of everyone most of the overlap comes in form of supportive spells while for offensive spells most characters have their own unique style and even among support spells there aren't too many that overlap if you don't include ubel or the goddess magic I always love a series that puts in enough effort to the magic system to give every character their own personal magic it's a very noticeable detail but it adds so much to a magic system because it shows just how personal magic can be a problem with some fantasy series and especially with isekai is that they borrow from the traditional RPG magic system that just uses the elements which can be used in interesting ways but it's also a lot more restrictive than just making your own magic system magic is suppos to be cool and fun and rein demonstrates this through those silly spells but also through the combat ones using the elements can make a good basic magic system but putting in that extra effort to be creative and remove unnecessary limiters is what can make a truly great magic system or really any power system the reason a power system like nen works so well is that it is so immensely creative every character has a uniquely personal nen created from their own mind that on a story level informs us of how they navigate the world where it's like kurpa shows his immense resolve Kila shows the extent to which he's been molded by the practices of his family and the list goes on and on bran is still a bit more limited but I think it Nails the personal magic of characters I don't know if there was any influence taken from Hunter Hunter well making the magic of freerun but I would easily believe you if you told me there was I'm probably being a bit unfair comparing the Magic in free run with nen but nen is just my gold standard for any power system in anything I'm not expecting anything to match up to it but I think there are countless areas to take from it while making a power system of any kind that give you a leg up on the competition and for me personally taking the personal magic aspect of it is probably my favorite one to take it's also probably the simplest to consider on an author's end because you just have to really think about making a character with their special power magic in mind and I think Fen does this really well while still keeping their magic fairly simple I doubt we have anything as complicated as knuckles then power but I'm okay with that my brain can only handle so much but it can very easily grasp the if I think I can cut it I can cut it line of thinking so basically Ron has a really cool magic system and you should watch it and then read the mang afterwards because it's also good it's up there some my favorite fantasy series ever which is saying a lot when the other two series I can think of that I enjoy more is berserk and dungeon meshy which is a very high bar to clear my last point in all this is if you want to write a fantasy series allow yourself to get weird and creative with it you're making the world don't limit yourself to just using the commonly accepted tropes or systems just make some weird stuff odds are your world will be remembered more if you just made something incredibly weird than if you just stuck to the guidelines and personally I'd rather be remembered for something weird than nothing at [Music] all [Music] down

Channel: Hagita

Views: 151,697

Keywords: Frieren, Sousou no Frieren, Frieren of the End, Fern, Anime, Anime Analysis, Winter 2024 Anime, Manga, Magic, Magic Systems, Ubel, Seasonal Anime, Freiren

Id: fcLBxUq8wbc

Length: 9min 4sec (544 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2024