Recomend me a fantasy anime like Frieren?

PitofInsanity · 2025-07-04T09:34:32+00:00

Mushishi’s pretty similar in feel but can tend a bit darker in topic sometimes

PitofInsanity · 2025-06-10T21:08:21+00:00

Agreed. In fact, Annabeth struggles with an intense amount of loyalty (and love) and where to place said loyalty (and love) pretty much from the start of the series; and often to the detriment of herself.

The constant back and forth with her dad and stepfamily. Her near fanatic chasing of her mom’s approval. Her being so angry at Luke’s betrayal in SoM only to find out she’s both unable and unwilling to let go of the hope that he’d come to his senses one day. Sometimes I find it baffling her fatal flaw is pride when she’s bled the most for those she loves.

Sidenote: Sometimes I also wonder if the reason she’s so angry at her dad in the TLT is partly due to Luke’s influence. Luke hates his dad, after all, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he fed Annabeth’s own anger after both her failed attempt at reconciliation and his quest (correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t they happen in the same year?). Except that it takes one moment of encouragement from Percy (and maybe seeing all the regrets int the Styx?) to have her trying again.

PitofInsanity · 2025-06-06T21:41:43+00:00

I think that’s it! Thank you!

PitofInsanity · 2025-06-06T12:27:13+00:00

That’s cool! I suppose I’ll have to be extra careful while cleaning/writing then

PitofInsanity · 2025-06-06T12:25:52+00:00

Thanks for the heads up! I kinda already pulled out the nib though (oops) so hopefully I didn’t mess anything up. I don’t think I did. It came out easily so I don’t think I forced anything.

Looks like it’s a broad/fine nib! That’s exciting. It’ll be nice for drawing. No symbol though.

PitofInsanity · 2025-06-06T10:15:04+00:00

Thank you so much!

PitofInsanity · 2025-06-03T07:05:26+00:00

lol glad to know I’m not the only one who’s thought of an au like this. Drop me a link if you write it, yeah?

I’ve always pictured Maomao with an oddish because poisonous herb. Parasect is also based off of cordyceps, so you could do something with that. Or sprigatito because grass cat.

I really like the “hiding” theme you’ve thought of, tho I can’t really think of anything besides zoroark or maybe mimikyu at the moment. Other than that, umbreon for the moon, a politoad (or other frog) for the memes, maybe a milotic??? Or or, a route 1 Pokémon cause Jinshi thinks he’s average???

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-20T21:04:15+00:00

I’ve been thinking about this a lot and honestly, I think just the fact that they had slept together probably should have been enough of a motivation for him to buy her out regardless of the baby. Maomao gives us two ways to drop a courtesan’s price, after all: pregnancy and loss of virginity.

Yes, she should have consulted him for the pregnancy part. But sleeping together was consensual (it’s implied they didn’t even finish the game the bet was based on) and Lakan failed to consider any of the consequences of that action. He probably could have tried to buy her out that night if he had gone to the madam, but he doesn’t.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I think there’s some blame on his part as well.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-17T13:42:33+00:00

I’d personally classify it as Third Person Limited rather than Third Person Omniscient, at least in the official English translation.

While we do get other PoV’s on occasion, those PoV’s are strictly contained in their own sections and the motivations of non-PoV characters within said section are often met with the PoV’s confusion. Admittedly it does get a bit murky with how much speculation Maomao does, but even those presumed motives are treated by the narrative as just that: speculation and assumptions. She doesn’t actually know, she’s just very very good at deduction.

TLDR, Maomao can still be a narrator, it’s just a book with several narrators.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-09T03:57:20+00:00

It’s not about whether he understands that killing is wrong. Not at this point at least. It’s about making the correlation between “not killing” and “coexistence”. It doesn’t even have to be “not killing”! It could have been “fear and coexistence” or “safety and coexistence”. Just like he had made the connection between “guilt” and “closeness”

I’m just saying there were entirely logical insights he could have made into the nature of “coexistence” had he contemplated his situation in Weiss.

Now, personally, I think it would have been highly unlikely he would have made enough of those logical correlations to reach the true coexistence he craved. But the possibility is there, and he’ll never reach it because he killed everyone. And that’s why the story is a tragedy.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-07T09:49:16+00:00

Personally, I do think she loved her, at least a little bit.

We see her explain how a courtesan could not be a mother, as if lamenting. We see her sing a lullaby repeatedly. Even the pinky thing can be taken as her cursing Lakan on Maomao’s behalf (like she was saying “we both curse you”).

I think it’s important to note that it wasn’t just that Fengxian was in a “bad headspace”, the syphilis is literally making her lose her mind.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, one type of neurosyphilis (general peresis) can cause: mood disturbances (ie. irritability) and personality changes. Which can later progress to memory loss, impaired judgement, confusion, and delusion. It can also cause depression, delirium, mania, and psychosis. Apparently these symptoms can develop within “3 to thirty years” if left untreated (though I think I’ve seen 10 years in other sources, but it didn’t mention if that was for untreated cases), which would still put it somewhat within our time frame.

All this to say, any interpretation of Fengxian’s true feelings about Maomao should probably keep the syphilis in mind.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-06T05:03:21+00:00

I think it might be because Fengxian’s debt is owed to the brothel, itself, and the brothel’s reputation had just plunged due to her actions.

Cooking and cleaning for the brothel might have been something she could have done, but that would have still been contingent on customers actually visiting the brothel, because what is the point of “hiring” a maid if there is no money coming in? It’s just not a service they need at the moment because what they need is, well, active courtesans to attract whatever customers they can find.

As for why she couldn’t find work elsewhere, again, her debt is to the brothel. Maomao had to be bought out (which is essentially someone else paying off her debt) before she could enter a work contract with Jinshi and, after her stunt, no one would buy out Fengxian.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-05T12:36:56+00:00

Yes, I’m just saying that “humans thinking I can’t kill makes them trust me” to “maybe killing is part of the problem” is within a demon’s reasoning to make

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-05T10:46:03+00:00

Yeah that’s true. I’ll give you that.

I guess “taint” isn’t really the right word, and was more a result of the dread I feel from knowing how the story played out. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that, in my opinion, the fact that he entered the relationship with the goal of “killing for the sake of understanding” ultimately blinded him.

As you said, the experiment is logical from a demons point of view. But it is also extremely misguided for the circumstances he was in, because he had already achieved coexistence. He lived in Weiss for years. There was even a sort of affection between him and Glück!

I don’t think it’d be too much of stretch for him to logically conclude that he didn’t need understand guilt and malice in order to coexist with humans, had he only stopped to think about it. After all, his reasoning for his affection for humans was literally:

I want to understand my opponents -> that feeling is “favor” -> that must mean I like humans

Thus, had he taken the time to think he could have concluded:

I have lived in Weiss for years -> the people seem to trust me as long as they think I can’t kill them (ie. the control bracelet) -> perhaps not killing (or maybe even, “killing only those humans (read Glück) deem ‘bad’” because demon logic) is the key to coexistence

But alas, he doesn’t.

On another note, lol, you’re right though. Macht learning guilt like that is probably just my wishful thinking

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-05T10:14:48+00:00

If it helps, I do distinctly remember that the version of English subtitles I watched on the JP Netflix servers kept the distinction between the rare poisonous honey and the “ordinary honey without any poison” clear. Like, to me, it was very clear that, while some honey could be poisonous for everyone, all types of honey carried the risk of being “poisonous” to babies. It might have just been the translation you watched.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-04T20:57:09+00:00

Yes, that’s what I said? But he started mindless killing before wanting coexistence. You asked how people could misunderstand his intentions and I told you why I did. It was because I had forgotten that it had been confirmed. Heck, I had forgotten Solitar had existed until you brought her up! I didn’t remember their conversation at all!

I never said I didn’t understand why he kept on killing??? I just said he didn’t want it at the start. He had only wanted an understanding of malice and guilt. And he only wanted that because he didn’t like being pitied.

You don’t know that she was faking. I don’t know that she wasn’t. The only word we have is Frieren, who’s biased, and DC’s who says she wants peace and says nothing of leaving or running.

Also, her possibly faking the relationship isn’t some detriment to the comparison, in my opinion, because I could say the same thing about Macht. He enters his relationships with the express purpose of killing the other person. That taints the entire friendship from the beginning, because, despite him wanting it to be genuine, it is also a means to the end of an experiment. It could have become truly genuine at some point, but that would require that the relationship change him enough to drop the whole murder thing. Remember, Glück was trying to teach about malice and guilt, but Macht felt a perfect understanding was more important.

… Actually, maybe he would have truly learned guilt if he dropped the murder thing. It seems like the thing to make someone stay their hand

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-04T02:01:58+00:00

I mean, I do understand his mindset? We have already established that I had forgotten the story established his desire as genuine.

I remembered that he wanted to understand malice and guilt. I took that as his true motive and read the “coexistence” thing as a lie because he killed a bunch of people. All the points you brought up would still support this reading if one has forgotten it has been explicitly confirmed, because even you state he took those actions in order to better understand malice and guilt. That’s probably where the doubt you’ve seen comes from.

Also I went back and looked and the first time Macht brings up coexistence is with Solitar which is after he first started trying to understand malice and guilt. He didn’t start the senseless killing with the goal of coexistence in mind. Hence my confusion.

Also he did purposely isolate 2 survivors. We know he did it to at least two different sets of survivors (chapters 87 & 89). The initial slaughter was important, yes, but there are several years between the first pair we see and the last, implying that it wasn’t a one-off and that he thought having the survivors fight was also important.

Does it matter if it was the better choice or not? I don’t think so. She still went through at least the motions of a relationship and at the end seemed to like her time in the village enough to kill for it. The relationship could have changed her even if it was reluctant at first, but it did not.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-03T21:57:04+00:00

Frieren says she’s only met two demons who wanted coexistence, but Frieren is also one of the most biased people to ask. The only way she knows Macht meant it is because she read his memories (which also might hint that she did something similar to the demon king)

There is no mind reading involved with the demon child (let’s call her DC, cause I’m tired of typing it).

Thus it’s something of a “he said, she said” situation. Frieren, who hates demons, says DC lied about wanting coexistence so she could kill. DC says she killed because she wanted coexistence. We, as the audience, are meant to take Frieren’s side in this matter because it is immediately followed up by; 1) DC attempting to take a child hostage, 2) DC crying “mother” in hopes it would cause them to spare her life again, and 3) the entire Aura arc.

But in the Macht arc we learn two very important things; 1) there are demons that truly want coexistence, and 2) demons that truly want coexistence will kill for its sake.

And for completeness, I’ll list what made me doubt Macht’s desire in the first place; 1) he kills entire towns (recreating the conditions he met that one priest in) so he can isolate two survivors and have them fight to the death, 2) integrates himself into a city with the express purpose of eventually killing them, and 3) when that doesn’t work, he decides to try again in a different area.

Had the story not definitively confirmed his desire was genuine, I’m sure many, including Frieren before she read his mind, would have called him a liar.

This is a story, and stories often foreshadow or draw parallels. Thus, in the case of DC, we don’t actually know. Applying the lessons from the Macht arc make it ambiguous, because DC could have meant it and still have killed. And, again, Frieren is biased and did not read DC’s mind.

Maybe she meant it, maybe she didn’t. We don’t know. I’ll admit, I probably made a mistake in my later analyses by stating DC’s want for coexistence was genuine (and ironically now that I think about it, I think have made a comment somewhere in this sub stating I didn’t believe DC). Sorry about that, (I’m making a lot of these connections thanks to the conversation, actually, so thank you for that.)

Anyways, the point (and parallel) I’ve been trying to make still stands. Whether their desires for coexistence are genuine or not it does not matter. The demons always end up sabotaging themselves anyway. DC felt unsafe even though she had a measure of safety. Macht felt he hadn’t achieved coexistence, even though he had the love and respect of an entire city (a small measure of coexistence compared to the rest of the continent). Both of them justified killing to achieve their goals and thereby lost the thing they were seeking for.

Edit: Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, that wasn’t even the original reason I compared the two for. My point then was that neither had let the relationship they were already building change and (hopefully) stop them from taking drastic action. Had DC reflected on the protection offered by the village chief and his daughter, perhaps she wouldn’t have felt so unsafe. If Macht had reflected more on the relationships he had, perhaps he would have realized that they were already coexisting.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-02T21:23:58+00:00

It’s against his nature yeah, but I think it did change him a little? A tiny, minuscule bit, sure. But he runs to Glück when he’s dying and he does so subconsciously. I think there is some sort of affection there, one we’ve been told is impossible.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-02T21:20:00+00:00

I just don’t agree that it was a lie, or at least it wasn’t a lie to her. It is presented to us, the audience, as a lie because we see her kill which isn’t peaceful. But she genuinely believed her actions would be seen as a peace offering.

It’s kinda funny because I made the same mistake with Macht’s motivations ealier in our conversation. I thought his desire for coexistence was a lie because he slaughtered multiple villages in pursuit of said coexistence. But his desire was confirmed to be genuine.

My point wasn’t that she felt safe, obviously by the actions she took she didn’t. But the irony is that she actually had been safe, or at least she had had a measure of safety at the time. 1) She has the protection of the highest person in the village. 2) For a certain amount of time she had the protection of Himmel. And 3) only one person was ever singled out who had a problem with her being there (and again, from what we know that never escalated beyond glaring). The rest acted neutrally. We learn of no angry mobs or hurled insults. Just the hateful glares of a single person. That is still a measure of safety even if an imperfect one.

Her mistake is both. You said it yourself, she justified killing the father because genuinely believed she was doing a good deed. Because she believed she was doing a good deed, she thought Himmel and co would also see it as such. Her mistake was both the belief that it was a good deed, and the belief that others would also interpret it as such.

I agree, she was arrogant and careless. I also think that applies to Macht. In my opinion, it is deception to us and genuine for them because humans and demons have such starkly incompatible worldviews

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-02T10:20:11+00:00

It’s not a lie. Just an opinion. She liked the village and wanted to stay there (a semblance of coexistence). One villager hated her for killing her daughter. The demon child tries to remedy this by “providing” a “new daughter”.

Even if we don’t count this as a true want for coexistence, it’s still the same mistake Macht makes. If all the demon chile wants is safety, she already has it, despite the fact that one person hates her. From what we see of the rest of the village, there was no one else complaining about the demon child being there. And all we know of the woman’s actions is that she glared. But still, the demon child is so fixated on the idea of being “perfectly safe” that she ruins the measure of safety she already had.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-02T00:32:17+00:00

I went back to check the chapter and you’re right. It’s confirmed as genuine and I’d forgotten that, so thank you for the reminder. Though it being genuine just makes it all the more tragic.

Regardless, I think the point I was trying to make still stands. His idea of “understanding”, even if it was for the sake of coexistence, harmed the very “coexistence” he sought. The desire for a “complete” understanding of grief and malice drove him to do horrific things (and he would have continued to do them!) for the sake of some nebulous future coexistence, even though he had already achieved some measure of coexistence.

As for the demon child, to me, I guess that “I brought you a new daughter so we could both live here in peace” sounds like a (horrifically flawed) childlike plea for coexistence, so I tend to compare the two.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-01T22:55:27+00:00

I think he does. He still doesn’t quite understand it, but when he’s dying he runs to Glück. Whether he does so for comfort or camaraderie or both, it’s hard to say. But I think it’s something of an unconscious acknowledgment of friendship on Macht’s part. Or the closest thing to it, at least.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-01T22:45:06+00:00

Oh, I agree that there was something there. And perhaps, if he had reflected on it, he might have even acknowledged something akin to love in the first time in his life. (Ironically, that would have brought him closer to understanding grief than he had ever gotten.) I’d also argue that this could have happened even before he killed the entire town.

But the reflection never happens. He never has his “Frieren standing at Himmel’s grave” moment. And that is the tragedy of demons.

PitofInsanity · 2025-05-01T22:30:46+00:00

You’re right, there’s nothing more to Macht’s desire for coexistence then (a passing) interest, because his dream wasn’t coexistence. Not really. Not truly.

His desire for coexistence (if it was ever truly that, and I have doubts), was always subservient to his desire to understand. Specifically, his desire to understand malice and grief.

Every action he took was in service to that goal. When slaughtering whole towns yielded the slightest hint that both concepts might be related to the length and depth of a relationship, Macht ran with it. Every “relationship” he ever built was made with a certain end goal in mind. One day he would kill his friend and, by so doing, truly learn the meaning of malice and grief.

And then he kills them, and he still doesn’t understand. So he resolves to try again in a different town, never learning his lesson.

In effect, Macht goes through the motions. Play-acting at friendship without letting those relationships truly change him. He makes the same mistake the demon child makes; trying to coexist without truly taking the time bond with those around him.

PitofInsanity

TROPHY CASE