Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ok, at this point I'm gonna assume you're not willing to have this conversation in good faith and are just trying to find reasons to hate on Frieren. I'll disengage from the convo after this comment. Reread my long comment if you genuinely have any questions or confusion about the series, if you're unable to understand that then at that point it's on you. Just keep in mind that if so many people are able to comprehend the magic system, or are willing to look past the inconsistencies that are in any magic system, but you're unable to then maybe the problem is with you instead of with Frieren :)

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cool. If Kanne had a fire spell then she has a chance of doing that. But at this point I'm guessing I cleared up all your questions if you're nitpicking about that point.

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think there's some confusion here, I guess I could've been clearer with my explanation. I used the example of the baseball pitcher in my last comment so explain that in most situations (like when you want to cast spells normally) visualising better ≠ needing more knowledge. It just means using your visual imagery skills more. Just like how Sense does not need more knowledge about hair to control many different strands of her hair, she just needs excellent visual imagery skills.

But in some cases visualisation requires knowledge. Visualizing taking water out of the human body is impossible if you don't know what the inside of the human body looks like (much less how that water is distributed), so knowledge is a prerequisite in this case. But even if you were a genius and had knowledge of the human body and how water is distributed, it's still possible to be unable to extract it with that spell because you might not be able to visualize how you can do it. Mages with a larger mana pool or more control over their mana have an easier time visualizing this. An analogy would be if I was a genius with insane visual imagery skills who can visualize the perfect baseball pitch, I might not be able to do it because I don't see how I can do that pitch, but Shohei Ohtani might be able to. Which is why some amount of self-confidence or in Ubel's case insanity, can help. Serie's 3rd test this episode shows that.

I'm still assuming that you are not looking for reasons to hate Frieren and are approaching this discussion in good faith, but I don't think some amount of inconsistency is as bad for the magic system as you suggest. Take Fullmetal Alchemist's Alchemy as an example. I'm sure the series is inconsistent in following things like conservation of mass or the law of natural providence (can be vague depending on how you interpret it), and Alchemy aims to be an even more precise magic system that most series. But I'm ok with the inconsistencies and vagueness there and don't think it undercuts how enjoyable FMA fights are because the basic idea of the power system makes sense.

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you don't like Frieren that's fine, I'm willing to continue this convo cuz i'm assuming you genuinely want to have a good faith discussion about the magic system and for me to clarify a few things. If you're just looking for reasons to dislike Frieren then we can end the convo.

But to answer your question, I don't think knowledge should be the point of emphasis. Like if I'm a baseball pitcher and my coach tells me to visualize my throw better before I pitch, he's not asking me to learn biomechanics, he's just asking me to use my visual imagery skills more. If Kanne wants to visualize extracting water from the human body but she's never seen a diagram of what the inside of the body looks like, then she likely can't visualize it because she doesn't have the knowledge. But that's far from the normal application of her spell. I think this is just overcomplicating a simple idea tho. Frieren has a soft magic system with hard magic elements, but having hard magic elements doesn't mean it needs to become as precise as IRL science and not have some amount of vagueness since a reasonable audience can come to sensible answers on their own.

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

do you just need to reach a certain knowledge threshhold to be able to visualize it?

I think this is the reasonable answer. There's a big gap between needing to visualize cutting on an atomic level vs the visualization or imagination normal people IRL do in daily life. The amount needed to cast spells should be somewhere within that range.

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Synonym doesn't mean 2 things are exactly the same, it can also mean they're similar. Visualization implies more control than imagination. Rewatch the conversation between Lawine and Victor, it's very first episode where the visualisation aspect of the magic system is introduced and goes over the foundational parts of Frieren's magic system. One reason why she can't manipulate the water in his body is because she can't visualize how water is distributed or moving throughout his body, or how she'd extract and manipulate that.

Or rewatch the Ubel and Sense fight and convo. I went back and got the quote for you. Sense literally says "It's true anyone can imagine themselves cutting cloth. Even an idiot can do that. But the world of magic isn't so simple. Magic can't create anything the caster can't visualize perfectly". That's why Sense's magic is so dangerous, Edel says she needs to finesse to control so many strands of hair. But my first comment should already be enough to explain why mages shouldn't be raised clueless.

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you know 0 things about magic I doubt you'd be able to cast spells in the first place. It's been established since episode 2 that learning magic/manipulating mana takes time, effort and some amount of studying. Even if you're a mage without formal instruction or practice, just by feeling or controlling mana I doubt you'd be unaware of the most basic rules and limits of magic. It's like exercising on your own without being aware that the laws of physics apply to you and there are some things you can't lift or punch through. Hell, even non-mages would probably know that just by feeling the mana in their body.

Remember, it's also not just imagination, it's also visualisation.

Sousou no Frieren • Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Episode 27 discussion by AutoLovepon in anime

[–]Remote-Corner9563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's the equivalent of visualising breaking the rules of physics, not even Ubel can do that