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this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2025
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I don't say this usually, but shit really ain't that deep bro, despite the whole amoral species thing, the allegory and subtext about the demons is pretty well intact; German aristocrats doing genocide and colonialism, that's their theme, yeah "it's in their blood", sure call that problematic, big whoop
Come back to me when their presentation is orientalized or is harking to racial caricatures from the west, otherwise your argument is standing on sand
Aside from the fact the context of the arc blows your accusation out of the water, Frieren isn't berating Macht for having the audacity to desire coexistence, she's pointing out his idea of "coexistence" seems to be nothing more than treating others around him as "playthings" and "curiosities" that are thrown away at the slightest inconvenience
So a creature with the goofiest German name, dressed like a noble from a Czarist court, treating those he deems lesser than himself with a colonial mindset, I wonder what the subtext could possibly be
Every element of a fictional work is placed with intent. The baby demon subplot invites one to ask what that intent is, and that question invites a certain answer, as evidenced by the fact that a large number of people from across the political spectrum all independently arrived at that answer.
Which gets muddled by the fact that their POV victim is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman with a German-sounding name. Who is it that always shouts about such people being victims of genocide by an ontologically evil outside race that superficially appears to share its culture but is only pretending to assimilate so it can destroy them?
The baby demon subplot invites an examination on the theme of "appreances can be deceiving" of mythologies surrounding creatures like changelings or the nature of cuckoo birds
If there's a real world racial allusion being made in that subplot, then you need to actually demonstrate it, instead of just endlessly implying that it's there
Except the fact all the characters are a variation of German runs against the grain of your argument, if the on-screen presentation made real world allusions to different ethinc groups, then the class allegory would be buried under the on-screen struggle between fantasy Germans vs fantasy some-other-ethinc group
It's the fact that separation can't be made that has already soured the series for many online chuds, who ironically (considering your argument) identify with the Demons more then they do with the Mrs. Freiren lmao, who according to you is an "Aryan princess"
Then we take into account the fact that memes like the one above are the most common interpretation among normies who seem pretty happy cracking jokes about how the Demons are "white people" or the millions strong Frieren TikToks where the most popular take is that the Demons are an allegory for capitalism
Funny how nobody (including the racists themselves) can't seem to detect this racism that is apparently oozing off the screen
That was never my argument. I don't make assumptions about the creator's intent. My argument was that people's readings of stuff like the baby demon subplot are going to be informed by the real-world context in which they live. You can tell people all you want that they shouldn't use real-world cultural context to inform their readings of fiction, but you might as well command the tide to stop coming in for all the good it'll do you. I have already talked about the real-world context behind "these things look like you but they think only of destroying your race, even the children, kill them all," so I won't relitigate that.
Then why in [CW: Nazi shit] the linked thread are the chuds posting pics of Frieren with captions like "the reason I look this cute is because I'm white" and editing the comic to replace the KKK member with bigoted caricatures of Jews, black people, and trans people?
EDIT:
Unfun fact: the general consensus among anthropologists is that the changeling myth arose as a way for peasants to excuse killing their disabled and neurodiverse children.
If you base your opinions on what other people hallucinate, then that's just you putting your baggage on a work, if you can't examine the work on its own terms then you're wasting your own time
Have you considered that the chuds are mad about the Frieren memes and are coping in the dumbest ways possible? You did really expect the chuds would react positively to all the "demons are white people" memes everyone from TikTok to the massive Frieren Subreddit are posting? You're tailing the chuds and letting them dictate your opinions on a work of fiction
When I say "real world context" I mean the culture and history that shaped and continues to shape our existence, not what some fascist losers are saying online.
No human being is capable of doing that because creative works don't spring from the ether and neither do we. If you think you can somehow partition your brain to engage with a work completely divorced of everything you've ever known and experienced of the material world, you're fooling yourself.
Why would they get mad about the memes if they didn't like Frieren to begin with?
"Many people interpret this work in a fascist manner" is evidence for the claim "this work lends itself to a fascist interpretation."