No one expected the intellectual Denken to resort to a physical showdown. Viewers reacted with comments like "Way too much guts, lol," "The gap made me burst out laughing," "I've come to love Denken, lololol," and "What a great character!!" At the time of broadcast, both "Denken" and "settle this with our fists" trended on X (formerly Twitter), showing how much excitement the scene generated.

Although the fistfight itself was not shown in detail, in a later scene, Denken is seen passing the exam, implying he emerged victorious. This episode revealed that the veteran mage is surprisingly capable in a brawl as well.

The anime "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" is based on the manga of the same name, written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe, currently serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday. Set in a world after the defeat of the Demon King, the story follows Frieren, an elf mage who has lived for over a thousand years, as she embarks on a journey to "learn about people." The source manga, which has won numerous awards, has exceeded 24 million copies in print across 14 collected volumes. The second season of the anime is set to air on the Nippon TV network starting January 2026.

(C)Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe/Shogakukan/ "Frieren"Project

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