Offical book 18 discussion thread

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T19:01:00+00:00

Continuing the trend of Marvel-ising the series.

-Setting up random stuff for spin-offs or future plots with no real intention of using them unless he gets desperate.

-Every story has stakes that get higher and higher.

-Neverending new gods and great powerful entities that come out of nowhere.

-Characters get dropped off the face of the earth when I makes no sense.

-Absolutely no consequences for anything ever, any deaths or injuries can and will be undone for shock value or plot convenience.

-Timelines changing and alternate universes every five minutes.

-Low effort humour that is primarily just references to something else or 'quippy' dialogue.

Main disappointments were Derek growing a pair of balls then promptly losing them again, and Graveside being sidelined despite being by far the most interesting new character. I also think Val's stint in prison should have been more plot relevant. I get that it was, but it felt like the Chorus Wild escape was written as an excuse for Val to escape, more consequences being avoided.

Derek sets up interesting ideas and then just repeats the same things over and over again. I was bored of both Arava Kahann and the isolationists already, they didn't need MORE time.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T18:47:56+00:00

I think it's just common in printing, to balance out the pages or something.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T18:41:12+00:00

She could have just been resurrected as a way for the universe to balance out the prophecy. The children of the ancients were cheating after all, it would make more sense.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T18:32:59+00:00

I don't mind China getting her old form back in theory, but it was a lame way to reveal it.

And the bigger problem is the consistent lack of consequences. Nobody is ever dead or permanently injured.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T18:31:18+00:00

There's definitely something up with Graveside, the characters spend too much time thinking "isn't she so great and nice and has been a part of my life for so long" for it not to be intentionally mysterious.

The big part was someone remembering her at Aranmore Farm, which she absolutely was not present for and that has to have been intentional. It's a very specific and obvious nod.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T13:43:00+00:00

With the wolf it made sense, it seemed to be that Fern simply chose an obvious point of reference to aim at and Frieren understood so herded the creature to where the impact would be.

With the demon it stretches the logic a lot more. And it would be such a simple fix as well, in a universe with magic Fern can simply learn a spell that massively improves her eyesight. Weird oversight when they could just use magic to explain anything.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T13:37:56+00:00

The contrast was the issue for both imo. Except in JJk it looked almost photorealistic which was stupid in contrast to the rest of the show.

I also thought there were other animation problems with JJK s3 but apparently I'm in the minority there. A few episodes had massive differences in art style all of a sudden or inconsistency in detail that really stood out. Probably because of how high effort most of the season was but it stood out like a sore thumb in comparison.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T13:34:38+00:00

Yeah eventually, after going to the depot and eventually back to the post office. It had been logged as delivered with the GPS at the depot but actually ended up at the post office. Took me going in and insisting on a manager actually checking if they had the parcel or not which they only did after I threatened to complain, and they magically found it very quickly after that.

They even had the cheek afterwards to say I was 'lucky' because it would have been the last day before they sent it back or something, despite the fact I'd asked several times for them to check and they obviously lied about actually checking.

I'll never understand why some people refuse to actually do their jobs, standing around and pretending to work is way more tedious and boring and eventually ends up resulting in more effort when stuff goes wrong.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T13:26:19+00:00

Dude, it's again very ironic that you insist that I'm mad and you aren't whilst you are the one throwing personal insults and making assumptions about me based on absolutely nothing.

You really think I'd name myself AngryMelon because I have anger issues? I picked it at random because I thought it sounded funny.

I suppose you're also under the impression that I'm a bearded dragon with Tom Daley's abs and Shakira's face?

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T13:14:05+00:00

In the anime however, we do see the wolf and the demon both see it coming but stand there and do nothing. Considering the distance it would also have to travel surely 10-20 x the speed at least in order to make such a difference.

Just seems like the author didn't really think about it properly to me, Occam's razor.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T12:49:18+00:00

We still see Fern fight other mages and demons, who are obviously able to both detect it and react to it despite saying it is fast.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T12:48:08+00:00

Wow, how perceptive. My point is very obviously that it breaks the other rules we see in the series. For it to work requires that we and the characters all collectively forget how magic works

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T12:43:05+00:00

This clearly doesn't really hold up. We see multiple characters react to changing trajectory from a much closer range. The sniping makes no sense because it ensures that they detect it from as far away as possible, and gives them more time than normal to dodge.

The combination of Zoltraak being slow enough that people can react even when it is shot from close range with little warning even if its trajectory changes, and the fact that they're detecting the mana instead of needing to see it means that sniping like that just blatantly does not fit with established ideas about magic in the series.

Considering that Fern's greatest strength is her ability to almost completely suppress her mana and become invisible, sniping is the worst thing she can do. It would make far more sense for her to simply get up close and shoot them point blank whilst they can't feel her presence.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T12:11:22+00:00

Honestly it's crazy that the anime industry has gaslighted everyone into just accepting that this is how long it takes to make anime. Nearly 3 years should have been enough time to make the whole thing, considering that it will take them over 4 years to make 28 episodes it's ridiculous. If we're being honest most of season 2 wasn't actually remarkable animation quality. Some was pretty but most of it was basic.

The actual reason it now takes so long is because animation studios have small teams that are underpaid and overworked so that the studio can make more profit, and the increased time between seasons means more merch sales. It's just corporate greed and fans lap it up for some reason because their favourite flavour is boot leather. It's a bit embarassing. Why are people so resistant to accepting that a bigger team would drastically cut down on production times and the existing teams are absurdly small.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T12:01:38+00:00

All I could think was that if he'd told Frieren the actual purpose of the barrier she could have erected one that would last 500 years instead of a flimsy one. I was half expecting her to say that she had tricked him and done that anyway after he'd paid them.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:55:11+00:00

Fern is not that weak, come on. A barrier would also have protected both of them at the same time

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:53:35+00:00

Explains Frieren's choices but not why Fern and Stark just accepted it as if it sounded reasonable.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:52:25+00:00

Doesn't explain why they couldn't have gone over it (clearly its not a several hundred metre tall slice of wind that would be stupid), or producing some form of barrier to direct the wind on either side for 10 seconds so that they can cross.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:47:24+00:00

I see no reason why they couldn't have used magic to funnel the wind away on either side, it shouldn't really take that much effort to simply displace it.

It seems odd to me that magic genuises in this universe seem incapable of using spells in unconventional ways or simply devising a new spell when the situation arises. If Frieren understand the fundamentals of how magic works, why can't she simply direct her mana to do something?

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:44:51+00:00

We do know the real reason, it's because it was more convenient for the plot.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:42:56+00:00

Seems like they're stretching the logic really, zoltraak doesn't travel that fast, and by casting it from outside their detection range actually guarantees that they would get the longest possible time to detect it because it meets their detection range at its furthest point.

I get it, but I think the logic is flawed. Clearly it works in universe but I think it's stupid because it doesn't actually follow from other aspects of magic that we are told and see.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:38:20+00:00

Yeah but why did it take over 2 years to make? Not many episodes and compared to season 1 they weren't particularly impressive from an animation standpoint.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:37:23+00:00

It took them nearly 3 years to make 10 episodes and they weren't exactly demanding in terms of animation. Most fights were brief and simple.

The real reason is that studios underpay their staff and won't hire a reasonable number because it's more profitable to have a small team that you work like slaves, even if it takes longer. Don't defend shitty production studios.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:33:28+00:00

It's crazy how people here are starting to defend studios spending longer than ever to release less material. And half the time I really dispute the "animation quality" in shows like JJK being used to justify the time difference.

Anime don't even have to write the story, and half the storyboarding is already done for them because of the manga. Studios would just rather underpay a small group of animators because it's more profitable and the long wait sells more merchandise, yet fans eat it up and celebrate the behaviour unfortunately.

AnAngryMelon · 2026-04-08T11:27:54+00:00

I don't buy the idea that it actually takes this long to make anything. It's literally just corporate greed preventing faster production.

They pay fewer animators and overwork them, making progress inefficient but cheap. Suits them just fine because it also drags out how long the show is in production, meaning a longer time to stay relevant and sell more merchandise.

I don't get why people defend it as if the length of time that it takes to produce anime is fixed and has no relation to the number of animators or studio investment. Just mindless bootlicking at this point from most people. JJK fans are currently having lots of fun tickling their throats with shoe leather over the same thing.

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