What a great episode this week.

• Denken gets to channel his inner Chumbawamba and gets knocked down, but he gets up again.
• Frieren gets to show off in an extremely showy way, basically announcing to all the entrants, the proctors, and even Serie that she is here and hasn't lost a step from her demon king fighting days.
• Kanne finally gets to utilize the rain that has been teased for a couple episodes now to basically spirit bomb Richter.
• Stark gets to live his best life with no rules.

The animation this episode was gorgeous. One thing I especially want to point out is that I loved the way they animated Frieren breaking the barrier. It was so colorful and dynamic! In the manga, it is drawn much simpler (ch. 45, pp. 4-5). Also, I loved how Sense has an umbrella at the ready while Genau is done in by his confidence in the barrier and is left standing in the rain.

Looking forward to round 2 of the exam! I haven't been re-reading the manga until after an episode airs, and I frankly don't remember a lot of the details of the next round. So, it's probably as close to going in blind as I can be.

Denken reviling his ultimate spell: Fists

Denken is a true chad. Facial hair that can make a dwarf jealous, doesn't kill when it's not necessary, is a mage but can still win a punch out against two guys despite being a senior, wants to become First-class Mage not for power but to visit a grave of someone he cares about one last time. I'm glad his team managed to get the bird in the end (sucks to be the two guys who lost a teammate and then got bodied by a grandpa, though).

Frieren is just so awkward, first she looks at Flamme and then squats to copy her.

Honestly Richter just gave them a good advice. Also note the shape of his "too complex" spell.

But she planned to hurt you without killing you.

We call it a reward over here.

Compare the complexity of Frieren's spell to Richter's.

Denken never misses an opportunity to advance his cause by holding Richter.

Their nod/smile to each other after both pass is so cute.

I liked everything in this episode except for Serie's male voice which I hated. She deserves better.

So many great moments. The fight between Denken and Frieren, Frieren analysing the barrier, Kanne's giant water ball, Richter being dragged by the water near Laufen and Denken, the "three generations of mage" flashback...

But the crown goes to the losers this time: Denken fighting not with his mana, but his fists. And never giving up.

Stark's attitude is so childish, so paradoxical (the barman is right - he got it rough because he got it too easy), but so real.