God, what a fantastic episode. The fighting scenes were so excellently animated, and I love the whole "she's not as good at magic as me, nor is she as powerful, but she can beat me because she's faster" thing. That's so cool!

Fran was the real winner of this episode, and I have to assume the next episode will be Frieren's chance to get a really cool win again.

Poor Stark. He's super strong, but because of his nerves he's always been an underdog. Even defeating the dragon a couple episodes it was like "wow, I can't believe such a weak guy's so strong". And then this episode, he actually has a chance to show his strength with some confidence, but keeps getting knocked down because of his master's moves. He wins in the end, but easily comes out with the most hits of anyone, including the two losers of the battles lol

Great episode. When reading the manga, I never liked the action chapters as much as the slower, contemplative chapters. However, seeing it animated, especially with this quality, really elevates the source and gives the action scenes so much more dynamism. This adaptation continues to deliver and I cannot wait until next week when we see Frieren do her part of the job.

I really like this series for its depth. Every character has more than one layer, many things connect. The only thing I don't like is the one thing that stick out like a sore thumb: The demons are just one-dimensionally evil.