The adventure is over but life goes on for an elf mage just beginning to learn what living is all
about. Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought
peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to
understand what life means to the people around her? Decades after their victory, the funeral of one
her friends confronts Frieren with her own near immortality. Frieren sets out to fulfill the last
wishes of her comrades and finds herself beginning a new adventure…
(Source: Crunchyroll)
>#####___This review is spoiler-free.___ >#####*(Note: If "Frieren" is italicised, I am talking about the series. Otherwise, I am referring to the main character.)* ~~~
Have you ever felt you are way too cautious when it comes to interacting with art, which, in turn, may have caused you to hesitate or even avoid starting books, movies, or shows that piqued your interest? Have you ever set your expectations rock-bottom low because you were worried the latest popular product would not be worthy of its acclaim, thus leaving you sorely disappointed? Have you ever given said trendy new thing a shot, only to view it with a ton of bias, which utterly doomed your first impression beyond repair? **I have been there and done that, and one of the best examples of this bizarre predicament is _Frieren_.**
But fret not, my dear reader, because my wild and turbulent experience with this anime ends on a surprisingly positive note. This review will not be yet another cynical rant where I trash-talk a show for a couple of paragraphs. **Well, not this time.**
I will not beat around the bush or pretend to be holier than thou... **I was initially super sceptical about _Frieren_, with heaps of negativity flowing through my veins.** I kept doubting if it could live up to the hype, and, worse yet, I tried to avoid the show like the plague. After watching the first episode, though my opinion became more favourable, I was not entirely sold on any of its ideas and struggled to see the appeal. __But as I dove deeper into its episodes, the show, slowly but surely, started growing on me.__ Now, having watched all of its twenty-eight episodes, I can confidently say it is one of the greatest anime I have ever encountered, and I feel silly for not taking it seriously from the get-go.
~~~img700(https://i.imgur.com/jmCdZf4.png)~~~First things first, we have to give credit where credit is due: **the team behind this project has truly outdone themselves in terms of visuals and sound, and they deserve all the praise they can get.** Hell, I am more than happy to continue complimenting their work till I can no longer breathe or the sun no longer emits light. [Keiichirou Saitou](https://anilist.co/staff/134254/Keiichirou-Saitou) and [his crew](https://anilist.co/anime/154587/Sousou-no-Frieren/staff) poured their hearts into this, and their passion for the craft and the medium itself shines through in every single frame, still image, second of animation, and note of the soundtrack—like a kid who was given a flashy new toy, I cannot stop gawking at their work in complete and unadulterated amazement. **But all of this commendation is very ambiguous and general, so we need to get down to the nitty-gritty.**
The colour palette was one of the first components I criticised when the show aired its first episode because I was not particularly impressed by it. Yet, as time went on, I finally came to my senses and concluded that my critique was unsubstantiated and narrow-sighted, as these seemingly commonplace colours consistently and relentlessly demonstrate how vibrant they are. **Every scene, scenery and scenario is bright and full of life, yet the hues that inhabit them are not excessively saturated or unnaturally radiant to the point of causing eye strain or discomfort.** In some weird fashion, despite the setting being anything but grounded in reality, everything on display teems with energy in an incredibly lifelike sense—thanks to these no-frills colours, the show is able to immerse the viewer in its vast, glamorous world and its countless distinct lands effectively and thoroughly. While you may see them as [just another generic collection of tints already seen a thousand times before in other shows with similar art styles](https://anilist.co/search/anime?genres=Adventure&sort=POPULARITY_DESC), when combined with other elements that constitute the visuals, __they infuse _Frieren_ with intense vigour and immediately make it stand out from the crowd.__
Speaking of the art style, it is undeniably straightforward, **yet that very simplicity is its most prominent strength.** Owing to the usage of brisk, crisp and quirky lines, designs and hues, the art style emerges as delightful to look at and spellbinding all the way through. By dint of its inherent beauty, the background art can easily blossom and become an exceptional sight to behold. You can almost smell and breathe the world the characters exist in. **You feel like you are a part of it, and, by extension, you get this tingling sensation of wanting to embark on a grand journey filled with numerous adventures, random encounters and memorable happenings.** The cities the characters visit along the way look grand in scope, yet the manner in which they are drawn makes them feel cosy and lived-in. Unlike [other fantasy tales](https://anilist.co/search/anime/Fantasy) that merely aim for a fantasy-like look without much substance, the anime actually populates its villages with town life and makes the buildings, roads and architecture look like they were developed and used by actual human beings. Rural areas are gorgeously serene and peaceful, while forests, mountains, plains and whatnot evoke a sense of medieval realism and enchanting fantasy. In the same vein, the character designs are memorable and full of personality, considering they bring out the unique traits of each person donning them with simple ornaments, lovely outfits and distinctive body features. **Altogether, the art style and everything surrounding it brim with this indescribable sense of wonder and magic, which perfectly captures the personality of the series.**
Nonetheless, as beautiful and majestic as these images can be, their charm will hastily fade away once the animation fails to match their quality and struggles to bring them to life. **An anime without proper animation is not going to cut it.** After all, a contemporary show is neither [a slideshow](https://anilist.co/anime/125426/Gokushufudou/) nor [a trip to a museum.](https://anilist.co/anime/101429/Katsudou-Shashin)
Luckily, there is no need to worry about that because _Frieren_'s animation does what is expected of it with flying colours. It does not settle for mediocrity or reeks of half-assery but instead executes everything flawlessly and constantly produces awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping scenes. **Simply put, it is fluid and stellar, and it never runs out of gas despite the exhaustive number of high-quality and constantly impressive episodes.** Whether it be a sombre moment where the characters converse with each other and contemplate their lives or a moment of high-octane and intense magical battle which involves countless blinding spells and objects flying left and right, the animation never stutters and always manages to deliver a mesmerising spectacle you can feast your eyes on. It is further complemented by the camerawork that makes sure the action is smooth, zappy and easy to follow, the lightning that enhances the ambience of every situation, and the editing that is not only sharp but also lets the scenes linger just enough for the emotions to settle in and take effect.
But a sincerely impactful moment is not just about what you can see; **it is also about what you can hear.** For a scene to deeply resonate with the viewer, their ears need to be treated to beautiful melodies that will strike them to their core. __Yet again, we do not have to worry about that because the music the series boasts is absolutely wonderful at every step.__ Both [the opening theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBODIPC_8Y) by [YOASOBI](https://anilist.co/staff/194287/YOASOBI) and [the one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkvWJNt77mU) composed by [Yorushika](https://anilist.co/staff/154702/Yorushika) fit amazingly into the atmosphere the show erects—they have a lingering feeling of melancholy within, yet are full of energy and positivity. [The ending theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r105CzDvoo0) by [milet](https://anilist.co/staff/144537/milet) embraces the other side of _Frieren_'s narrative as its saddening, delicate tone elicits a sense of sadness related to departure or loss, which is an ideal fit as the closure to every episode. **In conjunction, these songs will make you feel the urge to click on another episode, as you do not want these feelings to fade away.** You want to cherish every moment you have with the show by your side for as long as possible.
Tying it all together is the soundtrack by [Evan Call](https://anilist.co/staff/119999/Evan-Call). Through tracks like ["Journey of a Lifetime,"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgqb-sA6y-I) ["One Last Adventure,"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ5MJbrD7rc) ["Where the Blue-Moon Weed Grows,"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmx3CNjRUUw) and many, many more, the composer truly cements _Frieren_'s score as one of the most impressive and gorgeous ones in recent memory. **Tender, heartfelt, sorrowful, heartwarming and overflowing with a satisfying fantasy vibe all at once—these tracks feel grand yet so personal, majestic yet grounded, and sad yet hopeful**, and I feel my heart crumbling to dust just by listening to them.
~~~img700(https://i.imgur.com/5K2kgjm.png)~~~**Either way, with an extensive description like that, you could easily get the idea that pretty looks and catchy songs are all there is to _Frieren_.** Frankly, I would not blame you for thinking this way one bit. Whether we like it or not, [the medium](https://anilist.co/search/anime/popular) is populated by a constantly increasing number of [anime that value a single moment of visual brilliance over having a coherent, well-put-together, well-crafted and ingenious story and authentic, multi-dimensional characters worth rooting for.](https://anilist.co/anime/145139/Kimetsu-no-Yaiba-Katanakaji-no-Satohen/) But let me assure you that _Frieren_ is not one of those shows that present the audience with plenty of eye candy but nothing to chew on narrative-wise; **it is much, much more than meets the eye.**
**However, before I really dig into the narrative, I need to mention something that may not be so obvious but is definitely worth bringing attention to.** Though many, after witnessing the first few episodes, deem the story to be an emotional tale that will pull your heartstrings at every opportunity, I believe that approaching _Frieren_ with such expectations can and most likely will be extremely detrimental to not only your enjoyment but also your opinion about the show as a whole since you will expect such scenes to play first fiddle all the time. **While, at the start, the emotionality of the content is painfully apparent, these emotionally charged moments are not so chokingly defining and dominant that everything revolves around them. They are a part of the narrative and not the narrative itself.** The anime sights' are not set on merely being an evocative and meditative tearjerker that will force you to bawl your eyes out at every turn. Yes, the series is more than capable of doing that, which I experienced firsthand on too many occasions. Still, _Frieren_ is, first and foremost, about the adventures, making memories, random encounters, and various detours the characters encounter along their trek; **the emotions are a sweet and much-needed bonus.**
Now with that out of the way, we can finally get down to business and see what the narrative is about. As I said earlier, the production values are made with so much passion and love that it is nigh impossible to resist their allure. However, as top-notch as they are, **it is the combination of story, characters and themes that sets the show apart, puts it on the map and ultimately wins you over.** These three components are the driving force behind its success and the reason why so many folks, myself included, have utterly fallen head over heels in love with it.
In the beginning, we are introduced to [the hero](https://anilist.co/character/184311/Himmel)'s party, as they gear up to and eventually succeed in taking down the Demon King. Sounds quite familiar, does it not? Of course, it does since we have seen [stories with such a premise so many times before that it has become something of a cliche.](https://anilist.co/search/anime?genres=Isekai) **As we quickly learn, in the case of this anime, this is nothing more than a setup or a prologue to what is to come.** The quest is instantly taken care of off-screen, and time begins to blur as, in the wake of the constant utilisation of time skips, the years fly by in rapid succession. Before we know it, the group ceases to exist, and its leader passes away. What follows his death are tears, not only shed by those whom they helped throughout their numerous adventures but also by [the titular protagonist](https://anilist.co/character/176754/Frieren), as she realises that what seemed like insignificant, trivial moments to her meant the world to others due to them being a huge chunk of their life. __With the realisation that she will long outlive everyone around her, and her apathy and indifference towards the world will not make her existence whole, she begins travelling in search of answers, yearning to understand humans and how to treasure the memories she made and will make.__ Along the way, she revisits the lands she stopped by in the past, meets and befriends other people and enjoys the presence of her newfound companions.
**This is such a simplistic yet phenomenal setup that I am genuinely shocked I did not notice and appreciate it earlier.** Taking the tired cliche of a party of warriors, mages and priests that aims to defeat the generic demonic overlord and completely flipping it on its head is such a refreshing and satisfying sight, and the way the whole quest is depicted is nothing short of ingenious. You see, [Frieren](https://anilist.co/character/176754/Frieren) is an elf, which means she is basically immortal. Even though the quest spanned about ten years, to her (and, consequently, the viewers) it was merely a fleeting moment, like a gust of wind that comes and goes without leaving any signs of its presence. However, this skewed perception of time is not a one-time gimmick; **it constantly evolves and changes throughout the show's and the protagonist's development**, and it originates from one of the main motifs of the series: the preciousness of time.
**Time is a finite resource that we must use wisely.** If you wander aimlessly through life, you will soon find yourself running short of it. Before you know it, you have used it all up, and it is only a matter of, well, time, before you have to bid goodbye to everything you own and everyone you know. The immortality of an elf stands in stark contrast to the frailty of human life, seeing that elves can live for thousands upon thousands of years, and still look like they are in their twenties. Yet, their careless management of time can very easily be applied to humans or human-related activities such as memory-making. __Whether you have twenty, sixty or one thousand years, there is always the possibility that you are not focusing on the present and instead being completely oblivious to how fast and unrelenting the passage of time can be.__ _Frieren_ perfectly encapsulates the importance of learning to appreciate each little thing, moment and uneventful day and understanding the fleeting nature of it all. **It turns this incredibly straightforward idea/theme into one of the many important lessons it teaches not only its characters but also the viewers.**
The same applies to the concept of memories; they, much like the passage of time discussed above, constitute the heart and soul of _Frieren_. These snippets of the past kick off the protagonist's tale, drive most if not all of the characters' actions and are responsible for some of the most emotional, poignant and powerful moments in the whole series. **Just as they are essential to the narrative, memories are intrinsic to all of us.** While they do not entirely define our existence, as we can still carry on even if we were to lose them all, they are extremely instrumental in shaping who we are. **With them lingering in the recesses of our minds, we find solace in previous experiences, reflect on the present with the insight the past provides, and discover what makes us who we are.**
__However, what is head-scratchingly problematic about memories is the fact that what seems to be nothing more than an ordinary and everyday moment may become a vital, cherished recollection down the road.__ This notion is reflected throughout the series, as remembrances influence every character in one way or another. Although these simple moments might characterise these individuals, they do not restrain or torment them like shackles. Instead, as time goes on, the cast learns to use them as stepping stones toward personal growth and self-realisation. And therein is the reason why this show is so touching and relatable. **The theme is universal and easily applicable to anyone, yet it is the process of witnessing the characters uncover how to deal with their past and try to use it as a learning experience that makes it all extremely personal, heartwarming and therapeutic.**
Naturally, these two motifs are not the only ones that _Frieren_ wears on its sleeves. Grief, loss, regret, the importance of human relationships and connections, morality, death and its ramifications, the search for meaning, mentorship, friendship, familial bonds, heroism, good vs. evil, embracing life, accepting oneself and many, many more themes are vividly portrayed within the anime, and **are given just the right amount of attention and care to pack a really hefty punch.**
As mentioned numerous times throughout the review, _Frieren_ is all about the journey the characters set off on that can be equated to a collection of sidequests with plenty of goofing around, fighting, talking and exploring connected with surprising cohesion and creativity. __On account of that, the series could have easily stuck to these adventures for the entirety of its run, never going beyond its excellent worldbuilding, captivating magic system, believable setting, exciting battle scenes, charming character interaction or quirky personages.__ But, it decided to embrace and embody both sides of the idea of travelling, combining literally moving from one place to another with attempts to find your true self and become a better person, and the themes above are why it all successfully comes together to create this nearly perfect package. **The adventures are at the forefront of the plot as they entertain your eyes, ears and mind while the intriguing ideas that reside deep within the show's body touch your heart and make _Frieren_ an unforgettable experience.**
Nonetheless, every potent and contemplation-arousing subject needs to be conveyed and presented in an easy-to-digest package. This is where [the characters](https://anilist.co/anime/154587/Sousou-no-Frieren/characters) come in, as they are the ideal vehicles for these ideas. **But do not mistake them for mere carriers of the various concepts; they are fully fleshed-out individuals with their own interesting stories to tell.** Whether you look at the protagonists or the supporting characters, everyone brings something to the table and fulfils a concrete and important role in the story, no matter how much screen time they get. Surely, [some of them may be seen as generic and one-dimensional](https://anilist.co/character/246057/bel), but that is merely a surface-level observation that hardly applies to any of these folks; **even the most seemingly insignificant supporting characters are exciting, authentic, full of depth and flesh and blood.**
Yet, as is the case with every single story to have ever been written, it is the main group who are in the constant limelight. **Frieren and her companions, both old and new, are a diverse, sympathetic and charismatic bunch of goofballs.** They all possess distinct personalities, easily understandable and relatable motivations, and dreams that strike a chord with the audience. It is very hard not to root for them, appreciate their wonderful chemistry, enjoy their quirky interactions/banters/conversations, feel happy when they achieve their goals, and feel down when they encounter any sort of hardship. The way they develop and mature as individuals as the show progresses is extremely impressive on account of the subtle, small yet noticeable changes in their attitudes, outlooks and dispositions. __Not a single moment of character development is rushed, and the show allocates just the right amount of time to give these guys all the breathing room they need to grow, glow, and become great.__ And that is precisely what they become when the final credits roll around—a fun, organic yet deeply human cast of memorable characters, whose antics and adventures are charming beyond belief.
All things considered, I could easily praise the show's motifs for much longer and analyse the characters in much more depth by citing multiple examples straight from the episodes, but I prefer to keep this review spoiler-free through and through. **Well, you could say that I am leaving discovering these things to you, and I hope you do.**
~~~img700(https://i.imgur.com/Ob2Re8s.png)~~~All right, it is high time to wrap up this incomprehensible wall of text masquerading as a thoughtful review. **I want to end it by simply encouraging anyone who has yet to see _Frieren_ to cave in and give it a shot.** Worst case scenario, you will not be wowed by what it has to offer and either power through its episodes as a reluctant passenger or abandon ship entirely. __However, if it is your cup of tea and clicks with you, it will be an experience unlike any other.__
In any case, I sincerely think _Frieren_ deserves our attention and adoration and must be treasured for years to come. **It is a nearly flawless and intensely special anime that, I kid you not, excels in every aspect.** I feel fortunate to have been part of this joyful and adventurous journey for so long, and my love for it is as vast and endless as its world.
**Farewell, _Frieren_.**
What do people want when they watch anime? Some might view it for entertainment, some for escapism, some for good battles, some for philosophy or projection and some for vibrant worlds… In short the reasons are numerous but rarely does a story balances most of these aspects and creates a tale that speaks to the hearts of the viewers. However Frieren beyond journey’s end is such a tale. If there is a media piece that is the materialization of the word balance, it’s Frieren. ___ img(https://i.imgur.com/KkjBUs2.png) ___ Frieren is about a journey taking place when the greatest threat of the world is subjugated with Tolkien inspired elf who goes on a mere 10 year journey, a blink of an eye for their race and how those mere 10 years are the ones which inspired, changed and shaped her. Her present adventure is too filled with issues but whether its demon subjugation or getting lost in a winter blizzard, it’s all presented very intricately. ___ img(https://i.imgur.com/fzPaqY8.png) ___ We as viewers constantly learn about the world and the different mechanics or how our protagonist feels or thinks or how she is a different person from the past. In short there are 2 stories that are taking place simultaneously. The past and the present and the connection between the 2 is made. The anime illustrates all these events with consistent and aesthetically pleasing visuals which rival the best in the industry. However apart from the well-directed action, great visuals and overall pleasant ost, the biggest strength of this story lies in the subtle yet impactful portrayal of human relationships and the theme regarding the passage of time. ___ img(https://i.imgur.com/7r5iL91.jpg) ___ Apart from this many multitude of themes such as friendship, parental love, honour, pride, humbleness, the progression of civilizations, learning and overall the importance of peace itself or why being in the rush doesn’t exactly matter in the long run are presented and the story goes way beyond in illustrating how the relationships we form along the way can still stand the passage of time. Either in memories or the legacies. In addition the way this storyline executes different philosophies without being jarring is the first I have personally seen since in most cases, its pretentious or actually pretty basic. Not to mention the world just draws you in. ___ img(https://i.imgur.com/K3L0761.png) ___ Some general quotes to ilustrate my point further. >“Nobody who tries desperately to live would want to end up as nothing. This, would it not be better to believe that they would live in extravagance up in Heaven?” >“The purpose of life is to be known and remembered. Only a little. You just need to change someone’s life. That’s all, I’m sure.” >“Nobody sacrifices their life for things that don’t matter” >“People won’t know how you feel unless you tell them” The anime also lays emphasis on patience and appreciating the mundane nature of life itself. From Fern who in the beginning is constantly in a rush to Sein who delays his decisions for to long, this story teaches its audience a certain balance with which to approach life and doing what you love. It also garners towards how if given proper time every problem is solvable( which is explained by the development of magic itself.) The action simply put is detailed, colourful, fast, technical and very easy to follow and appreciate, the characters are vibrant and entertaining with each having distinct traits. In short Frieren beyond journey’s end is a story that has almost everything that a person would want. And hence why it’s an anime that deserves all the praise it has gotten. Thanks for reading
#~~~___This review contains minor spoilers.___~~~ ___ Before any discussion (or praise) of _Sousou no Frieren_ can start, it’s important to establish that it is fundamentally derivative. It's a fantasy, and it comes with all of the concepts that have been ingrained in pop culture since Tolkien published The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. While derivation is typically looked down upon, it isn’t necessarily bad. It has its benefits, like the audience already having a working knowledge of its tropes. That knowledge can be played off to pedal emotions and themes not originally expected of the genre. In _Frieren_’s case, it is used to convey how the human condition is affected by the passage of time. But we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Yeah, of course, I can say what the story does that makes it so unique, but those who haven’t experienced it for themselves can’t exactly understand it. So how does _Frieren_ utilize the fantasy genre in such a unique faction, and more importantly, why? ___ To start with the “how”, _Sousou no Frieren_ firstly sets a massive scope for itself. This comes in the form of an expansive world akin to most other fantasy sagas, but more importantly, the timeframe of its story is incomprehensibly large. While long sagas of years or decades are common, _Frieren_ takes it to an extreme. This saga instead encompasses centuries, and at times millennia. _Frieren_’s titular protagonist is an elf, whose lifespan is exponentially longer than anything else can live. Frieren is effectively immortal given what humans can understand. This one specific trait of this archetype ends up being the primary narrative framing device. The story starts with an 80-year time skip, and every time skip afterward tells how much time has passed since Himmel’s death at the end of Episode 1. The first season alone takes place over the course of 109 years. The audience is continually reminded of the sheer length of time that has passed since Frieren's original journey ended through story, dialogue, visuals, etc. And in all of that, we see most of it through Frieren’s perspective, as an elf who looks the same through the season’s 28 episodes. Though Frieren technically lives at the same time as the rest of the world, the world around her ages far more rapidly than she can reasonably keep up with. This disconnect isn’t something one-off, rather, it is something the series fully commits to showing. It is so committed to it in fact that a sizable portion of the show’s energy is dedicated to depicting it. The first two episodes show the most notable examples of this, due to them having the largest time skips in the series. To put off simple practical plot elements like the deaths of Himmel and Heiter and the initial growth of Fern, _Sousou no Frieren_ put in a lot of work by telling the age of its world through the visuals. This is something the manga of _Frieren_ already put heavy stock into, but the anime brings it to new heights. It shouldn’t be surprising that the show has the same director as _Bocchi the Rock_ because even if _Bocchi_ is more explicit about its visual detail, they are similarly dense with them. These visual details include locations becoming decrepit decades apart and marks of age like wrinkles appearing on older characters. They are pretty much everywhere, and many of them are so subtle that I doubt even a fraction of the audience would notice them. My favorite visual detail to show the progression of time is how Fern’s height continually increases as time passes. Aside from the first three episodes where time moves faster compared to the rest of the series, this is a gradual increase, so it may not be initially noticeable. But it is notable enough, that Frieren goes from the one towering in height to Fern being the taller one. ~~~img400(https://i.imgur.com/UWhHmN3.png)~~~ #__~~~Episode 2~~~__ ~~~img400(https://i.imgur.com/RUBXtYh.png)~~~ #__~~~Episode 27~~~__ ~~~_there is some very strong visual symbolism here that is pretty spoilery, but those who have watched the full season know what i’m talking about_~~~ On the whole, they lend heavy credence to the portrayal of a rapidly changing fantasy world. It is one thing to tell an audience about the passage of time, but it is far more effective to show it more than anything. It's no longer an orally told nebulous theory as it is now a strongly tangible fact. There is a (somewhat obvious) point of the story committing itself so much to showing an aging world. This whole commitment is the main draw of the show, and it is also probably the strongest part of it. The reason why it constantly flaunts the timespan of its story through the visuals is because it knows that it’s its driving strength. The worst parts of the series, like the First Stage of the Mage Exam arc, are the times when it is showing off the least. Committing to any direction of this nature to this strong a degree usually leads to fruitful results, and _Sousou no Frieren_ is no exception to this. And now that the groundwork has been laid for a story about age, it can now go into the deeper philosophical aspects of its story. Or, the entire “why” of it all. ___ For as much as the narrative stretches out its timeframe, it never is something that makes itself feel very long. It can go on and on about how time makes the world an ever-changing place and shows the aftereffects of it, but the show never wants to make its audience feel like that same time is progressing. And the feeling is very intentionally omitted. That is because _Sousou no Frieren_ is a hopeful story. For as much as it shows the degradation that time can have on humans, it never really shows a point in giving up. The passage of time is something that only weighs someone down if they let it weigh them down. But it is never too late to improve oneself. Frieren experiences the most intense example of this concept in the very first episode due to it being straddled across decades. However, she isn’t the only one to experience it. Although the further supporting cast is made up of humans, mostly everybody who has a minute of screen time and a hint of emotion goes through similar arcs. In a way, Frieren is passing on her wisdom from what she learned in the very first episode. Even as an individual has turned its back on its advancement, there is no such thing as a point of no return. Even as years and decades pass, everyone is always entitled to become the best versions of themselves up until the point of death. And even past death, the memory of what a person has done can even lead them to improve themselves even posthumously. These concepts also apply to the whole of society as well as the single person. The emphasis on a large timeframe throughout the whole series leads to a conclusion that the same time does not matter in the grand scheme of things. And that is beautiful. ~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/CPZXr8M.png)~~~ ___ _Sousou no Frieren_ can come off as conventional fantasy, but it goes off into its realms far beyond the expected capabilities of the genre. It is something that feels like it is made with all of its parts feeding into the singular purpose of conveying the blessing of the true flimsiness of time on human emotions. Because of that, it is far greater than the sum of its parts because of it. For anybody who can breathe, _Sousou no Frieren_ has a message that you can likely relate to. And it can convey it to you in pure grace and beauty. _also with occasional sakuga action scenes too, but you know, those are kinda hard to fit into a review like this. this show is amazing on the macro visual detail as it is on the micro-scale, but although it is more flashy it is also less important. go on_ [_sakugabooru_](https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=sousou_no_frieren) _if you want to look at them, i’m lazy at this point tbh_ ___ ~~~_oh and i can’t believe i went through the whole review without saying this_~~~ ~~~_but thank you evan call_~~~ ~~~_you were already my hero, but now you are my god_~~~ ___ _Thank you for reading to the end of the review if you did. If you have any criticisms of how this review was made, you are free to message me or reply to [_this activity_](https://anilist.co/) to critique what I had to say._ _Also, please don’t like or dislike the review without reading it._
Sousou no Frieren is a series with a great premise, it starts after the demon king is defeated and it is focused in what comes after that, the passage of time is very important as we follow an immortal elf that sees the friends she fought alongside with getting older and dying and she feels that she should have known them better, so she decided to go on another journey retracing her steps. This could have worked wonderfully, if only the protagonist Frieren wasn’t a Mary Sue, Fern wasn’t Frieren 2 but with some more human concerns and Stark wasn’t Zenitsu but somewhat less annoying. Honestly, I had such high hopes for this series, when I saw it was animated by Madhouse and it was directed by Keichiirou Saitou (who people surely know for his directing work in Bocchi the Rock), the fact I’m disappointed despite all the big names on it is easily because of the writing. This series tries to be an introspective series about the passage of time and relationships, but it gets very inconsistent and half-assed with that, when half of your episodes are focused on action arcs then you have a problem here because, as fans of the series will tell you, this series isn’t about the battles and so having as many battles as this does just ruin the mood and sour the experience, despite not being a fan of multiple parts where a scene happens and basically the exact same thing happens again in a flashback, it at least feels like it tries to tell you something, that maybe Frieren knew her friends better than she thinks and it is only understanding that now, some episodes manage to be meaningful in this aspect, but others definitely don’t contribute this at all. The worst offense of the series is that sometimes it doesn’t know what it wants to be, it starts as a slice of life but sometimes it will turn into a battle shonen, and I think there’s nothing wrong with having some battles here and there nor that I have problems with battle shonen themselves, the problem is that the series isn’t supposed to be this, you don’t have to look further from the PVs, the synopsis and what everyone will tell you about the series to know this, it is supposed to be an introspective series, not an action show. Just take a look at the arc where they face Aura and her minions, this is clearly formatted this way, I was baffled when watching episode 9, not because of the incredible animation, but because I was confused why this series was turning this way. You get many problems here going from Stark’s battle against Linie, which is stupid when you think about it, really, Stark is getting completely defeated by Linie until he has a flashback about his master and realizes that apparently Linie’s attacks have no weigh to them, never mind he has a lot of blood in his body from said attacks, and then proceeds to one-shot her, this kind of asspull is literally out of a battle shonen, it made me feel like I was watching Kimetsu no Yaiba. Then you have Fern’s battle, somehow it managed to be both impressive and unimpressive at the same time, it is impressive because of the quality of the animation put in there, if you check the manga you will see that the anime improved the battle scene so much it’s unreal, but at the same time it’s unimpressive because watching it makes me feel nothing, I’m not excited to see this battle nor interested in it, the fact Fern’s face looks like she is having the most boring battle of her life doesn’t help either. And you will see that things that were talked about earlier don’t make sense either, when Stark and Fern are hiding, Fern is the one that says that if they face the demons alone they will die, this clearly isn’t true because her battle with Lugner was pathetic performance on his part, why would she lie to Stark about this? It’s not like the demons are hearing them or something, honestly that episode annoyed me and I thought it was the worst episode of the series until that moment. The worst part about this is that the next episode was even worse, I was already worried when I saw the next episode title the week before episode 10 aired, because I knew nothing good would come out of it, this episode is something that made me roll my eyes, because not only the episode is horribly paced, it is also terribly done. The episode has 15 minutes of flashbacks about Frieren and Flamme, where they talk about how hiding your mana is a great technique to trick demons even if it takes hundreds of years to do it, and Frieren asks Flamme if demons can hide their mana, she very clearly says that they can’t but shortly later mentions that they actually can suppress their mana and sometimes do for some stealth, then she says that there’s no benefit to them if they hide their mana, and then says that they can’t control their mana when it was clearly stated that they can just a couple of statements ago, can you see how contradictory these four statements are? It’s like there’s no consistency in what they wanted to say about it. So, apparently this special technique that Frieren would use to beat Aura was hiding her power level, no, really, just think about it for a second, oh yes, she has been training this ability that was never mentioned before for a thousand years and coincidentally works perfectly when put against the gimmick of this gimmicky enemy. Saying that the writing in the “battle” against Aura was stupid is saying too little, actually, I remember that the very season this ep came out an isekai anime called Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou was airing and a couple of weeks later than this episode in Frieren they mentioned a battle with scales, and I remember doing a remark that it will surely go the same as Frieren’s episode, and as it just so happens it was exactly that, honestly it was my most disliked part of that series because of how stupid it is and I can’t believe I predicted it perfectly using another series as an example, because in both cases it was stupid. Surprisingly, by making the pacing of the episode completely suffer by making such a long explanation of a basic ability, it makes me feel like this series doesn’t trust the audience’s intelligence to get it the first time it was mentioned, if I wanted a series that did the hiding your power level bit better and without so much redundant exposition I would go and watch Dragon Ball again. This moment was clearly used to make Frieren look cool by making the villain kill themselves in a completely humiliating way, sadly, it fails to do that because it only makes her look like a cringe kid on the internet saying to others that they should kill themselves. It doesn’t even have a relevant purpose, because if I wanted to know that there are demons still roaming around even after the demon king’s dead, we already had Qual to make this point and that battle actually had a connection to the series’ theme of the passage of time as it talked about how humans improved in the last 80 years because his magic was terrifying so they reverse engineered it and created a counter to it. Mind you, I’m not saying that Aura shouldn’t have died, I’m saying that the way she dies was terrible writing, I don’t think I was supposed to feel pity for her after the fact. I remember that I was watching the series with my brother because he was also interested in the premise and he dropped the series right after that episode and never watched anything about it again because it wasn’t what he what the synopsis had promised, and I can’t blame him, honestly, that’s my entire point here. Honestly the series would be so much better if it stayed like it promised it would be, a pretty comfy adventure that explores the world in the eyes of an immortal elf and how she sees her relationship with the people around her, and said theme actually returned in a way when Sein was introduced. In fact, I liked Sein, he was this jaded guy who was a drunkard and who had a friend that promised to meet him years ago but never returned to the town after he decided to go on an adventure, the catch here is that that friend asked Sein to go with him but Sein declined, so when Frieren and co try to make him go with them again and again, he eventually accepts because he started to feel that he needed to meet with his friend from many years ago, and actually I liked where this was going as he is a much more interesting character than Stark and Fern combined. Too bad that this series cannot keep itself interesting and decided that he should go after like 4 episodes, Sein was a good addition to the cast, but the worst part that came from this wasn’t letting Sein go, it was what came after it. The next arc is actually the worst part of the entire show, remember that this show was an adventure to rekindle Frieren’s memories? Well, it no longer is about that as they stay in the same place taking an exam for 10 entire episodes, and it is stupid from its inception, the fact that they wouldn’t let the legendary mage who defeated the demon king traveling to the northern lands is stupid, especially because the situation doesn’t look bleak at all because there are cities ahead, and literally some episodes ago Frieren was simply allowed to pass another roadblock because of her reputation. And the more you think about this the more stupid it gets, as you can’t go to the northern lands in foot unless a 1st rate magic is there, when there are only 50 first rate mages, so searching for one just to go there is absolutely stupid, in fact, Frieren’s group could completely skip going that way and just go in a boat, but nooo, they have to do this because Fern has to eat, because that is the justification given despite how little sense it makes in this context, so we leave one of our main characters behind, because Stark doesn’t fucking matter in this show, so we can introduce a whole bunch of new characters that will also be examinees. The first part of the exam is putting people on a dangerous forest where there are creatures that could kill them while they try to capture a bird and there is also the possibility of stealing the captured bird from other participants, which is straight out of a battle shonen arc, you name it, Naruto’s Chuunin Exams or Hunter x Hunter’s Hunter Exams, it’s as cliché as it gets. The second exam is literally dungeon crawling, and Sense decided this test because she supposedly is a pacifist, despite the fact that there is a monster that create replicas of the participants and has their exact abilities and the willingness to kill them, honestly, this series just keeps contradicting itself the more it goes. Ubel is a whole hell of a can of worms, but most notably has an ability that clearly makes the magic system stupid. She can copy other people’s magic if she empathizes with them, really, that’s it, she doesn’t need actual understanding of how that magic works, she just learns it. She has a spell that can cut through things as long as she is able to visualize herself cutting that thing, an example is given in the series itself, in a previous exam many people were incapable of making the first class mage leading the exam move because he has a magic cape with a gazillion of defense magics to the point no one has been able to damage him ever since he turned into a first class mage, so then comes Ubel who not only bypasses his defenses but also kills him in the process, which is because she visualized herself cutting through it as “they were just clothes”, which almost makes the defense magic look like a bluff because if a simple spell can cut it if the user visualized it being cut then why other people can’t do it too? The only explanation is that they are imaginationlets, because it has been mentioned across the series multiple times that magic in itself works through visualization, so why more people don’t just visualize themselves doing crazy shit? You would expect that since they have knowledge about this, they would practice it. This even makes previous scenes look stupid, take as an example the scene where Fern defends herself against Qual’s spell, Qual is completely sure that he is going to evaporate Fern and Fern thinks she might not be able to stop his spell, so under the logic of visualization, Fern should have been evaporated right there because Qual was visualizing himself piercing Fern’s defensive magic. This makes the magic system look stupid and the characters look even more stupid, as they literally just need some imagination and that’s it, they can do whatever they want. Honestly, Ubel’s character doesn’t annoy me as much as her abilities do. On the other hand, Serie is a nonsensical character, she is written to fit whatever moment she needs to fit in to be a foil to Frieren. Flamme implies that they wouldn’t fit in an era of peace because she is inclined to fight and she agrees, but she doesn’t actually fight anything, not even when demons are still fucking around in the current era, she didn’t even try fighting the demon king which I guess would have been the only good challenge to her. She is against magic spreading, but then also decided to create a magic organization that helps magic spread. She is just there to exist and antagonize others in stupid ways because she herself is stupid. I'm actually happy that Sousou no Frieren premiered across Christmas season, since the themes that people keep repeating around those times are pretty similar to the themes of this series and there was a video around social media that I saw and it was along the lines of "Christmas eve is finally here, and you prepare for the reunion with your family and you see multiple empty seats and now you finally understand what your grandmother meant when she said that the best gift she could have in Christmas was being with all of you" and when I watched that video I thought "isn't that obvious?" because for me understanding why you care about people even if they aren't there is something extremely basic if you have actual mental maturity, the message is pretty nice, yes, but it isn't something that you shouldn't know if you aren't a teenager. Last year I watched the Yuru Camp Movie and halfway through it I came to the realization that "hey, I haven't met with my high school classmates in years" even though we had a pretty good relationship, that movie actually made me think about me and my relationship with other people, which is something that not many anime can do, sure, it wasn't some kind of K-On! level masterpiece when it comes to being able to relate to what's happening on screen, but the feeling is still there. And it just so happens that while I was writing this review, I actually met up with my high school friends again as one of them was leaving the country, we had fun, they had drinks and smoked, I personally don’t do that but I liked seeing them having their fun and we talked about a bunch of stuff that happened in all this time and some things we remembered for hours. The reason why I mention this is because there wasn't a single moment across this entire series in which I stopped and thought about anything related to me, this show doesn’t actually make me feel anything on a personal level, maybe because it feels very artificial, as the world is a JRPG fantasy world that you could easy pass as something you would see in an isekai series, hell Himmel feels like he’s about to say he came from Japan any time we see him. I’ll give obvious credit where is due, the series is animated by Madhouse and with that comes the amazing quality of animation, anyone with eyes should be able to tell you about how Frieren’s animation looks great. Honestly, when I watched the first couple of episodes that premiered at the same time I wasn’t actually surprised, not because it doesn’t have great animation but because this is the quality I have come to expect from one of the biggest powerhouses of animation such as Madhouse, I would actually be more surprised if it didn’t look as good. The biggest improvement that came from this was obviously the battle scenes, because if you check the manga the battle scenes there are pretty bad, but the number of added details to these in the anime alongside the great animation makes them look fantastic. Honestly, Sousou no Frieren looked like a series that had with so much potential, only for it to squander it, no wonder one of the editors at Shogakukan said that he wanted the series to be the next Kimetsu no Yaiba as that’s what it feels like, but with that comparison I think there are two options of what happened here, either the author really decided to go on different directions that have no relation to the premise and themes presented at the start of the series or his editors made him do things that would obviously sell, but whatever happened there made Frieren not as good as it may have been, and that’s pretty sad. Also, the mimic joke isn’t funny at all, there’s no need to keep repeating it, please stop it. Thank you for reading.
webm(https://v.animethemes.moe/SousouNoFrieren-OP2.webm) *Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End* might very well be the new “fantasy gateway anime”, the first anime that one would recommend to their friend who has only watched the most mainstream action anime, who is looking for something a bit different. A first taste of a more subdued, subtle, slower-paced anime, the first taste of some character introspection, the first taste of some meaningful and thought-provoking character dialogue. It might just become the staple of fantasy anime in the modern age, and its beginner-friendliness really put it on the map. I am very glad that this has been such a critically acclaimed show, because to all the staff working on this, and especially director Keiichirou Saitou, they have done something that seems like a rarity in the current state of anime production - release a virtually fully polished product for two consecutive cours without fail, going above and beyond with their attention to detail. They deserve every ounce of praise from a production standpoint. This anime did a lot of things well, but the aspects I enjoyed the most were definitely the audiovisuals, the themes of the passage of time, and also this anime’s portrayal of demons. I do believe that this anime would not be half as popular if it were not for the brilliant animation and music. It has scenic shots, and also some incredible and fluid action animation. I can leave links to every beautiful bit of animation, but the thing I find even more impressive is the attention to detail. Little subtleties like hair movement, clothing movement that looks so realistic and fluid, and just the perspective shots stand out even more to me than the flashy action animation. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/7e4edd258d190f7acdbf21b8008ac170.mp4) #####
~~~__A new all-time classic has been born__~~~ ~~~_Few minor spoilers ahead_~~~ Once in a blue moon, amidst the endless stream of ordinary shows, a star emerges. A shining star that radiates through the whole anime industry and rewrites all the established standards for storytelling and whatnot. A star that commands everyone's attention to it - for a good reason. And that star is none other than this show right here. And while rewriting standards may sound a little exaggerated, we all, nonetheless, have just witnessed history being made, as it's truly rare to experience such high levels of storytelling in a fantasy anime. Let's begin by providing some context though. It all starts with an elf - Frieren. She is a mage in a party of heroes consisting of two humans, one dwarf and herself. Like usual, elves possess much longer lifespan than other known races, and that is also the point around which our story begins revolving around. Longer life expectancy naturally changes your perception of time. So unlike her comrades, she is yet to grasp on how valuable this concept is to them, often casually talking about waiting a few decades like it's nothing. And immediately, from the very first episode, both the viewer and our main protagonist are struck with cruel reality - time waits for no one, not even for the dearest friends of yours. But the life goes on, so just like that, an old journey has come to an end, immediately giving birth and purpose to a brand new one. webm(https://i.imgur.com/RpHkWjI.mp4) Time flies and we are gradually introduced to the rest of our new main roster, two center figures of which being Fern and Stark. While their personality types are rather opposite, together they form a great dynamic, which only strengthens the experience of watching their relationship grow. But honestly, the main appeal of this show, and the reason why I was so invested in these characters' daily lives from the beginning, is how alive they all feel. All characters in this universe truly feel human - much more so than in many other titles. They have goals, ambitions, strengths, and flaws, but most importantly, it's how they express themselves that stands out. You can sympathize with almost everyone, which is truly remarkable. It's not an everyday occurrence when you look at a 2D character and instead of admiring their attractiveness, depth, or writing, you find yourself thinking, 'I can feel you.' What's even rarer is experiencing this in a fantasy setting. Take one of my favorite examples of this - Sein. What do we know of him? Honestly, not that much. He comes with a rather short and somewhat generic backstory, few simple regrets and a goal in his mind. It's enough to establish him as a character and move forward, but not anything out of the box. But once again, what sets this show apart is how these characters interact with the world. Things they say, how they handle different situations, the way they influence other characters - it feels so real, as if they actually managed to put life in them. Watching him being a mediator between Stark and Fern's relationship was such a nice experience. There he also dropped one of my favorite quotes of his: webm(https://i.imgur.com/KItxP6t.mp4) Point being, you don't need to make every character complicated. Sometimes even the simplest of things done right can serve good for the show's well-being and perception. But enough about characters. Let's talk about story, narrative, production quality, and how it all ties together. Starting with the story and narrative. And, frankly speaking, there's not too much to say about the story itself. It can be easily described with just one word, also present in the title - journey. It's a simple journey from point A to point B, collecting spells, minding your own business, and solving different kinds of problems on the way. Yet it's the narrative that elevates this straightforward story to a new level. Even the simplest of episodes are directed extremely well. They don't mess with the pacing and all serve purpose. In addition to that, I have never felt any sense of boredom whatsoever, on the contrary - it was quite fascinating to observe all this set up happening, as it's done beautifully, often utilizing flashbacks, lots of clever flashbacks actually, which expand our view on certain situations, characters and the world itself. All of this in combination with amazing original soundtracks to complement the atmosphere. And what else is there to say when even build-up feels addicting? Actually, there is one more thing - and it's the animation quality. This season in particular has several peak points, which make use of all the earlier established build-up, and that's exactly where we get to see the animation team shine. To say that it's good - is to say nothing. I've always known that Madhouse studio do solid work when it comes to animation quality, but didn't expect them to pop off so hard in this particular case. And trust me when I say that there is so much more to it, as I'm not intending to spoil you on anything major in here, including some of the better parts of action sequences. webm(https://i.imgur.com/WsjULwp.mp4) So what can we make of it at the end? I say that this show is the best proof of an old saying - simplicity is the key to brilliance. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. What we instead need to do is to take proper care of that wheel, so it takes us further to the new heights. And it's exactly what this show did. And oh boy, was it an amazing experience.
Before I go too far, I want to clarify that I don't think the Frieren anime as an overall experience is bad, as reflected by my score. I think it's fine for shows to have both things that are very good and things that are not so good, and especially for something as highly acclaimed as Frieren I believe it's fair to point out the less shiny parts whenever you see them. I'll start with the good points, and that's basically everything related to the __production__. Madhouse did a phenomenal job adapting this. Frieren has both great action scenes and great slice of life scenes thanks to very solid character design and art, and clip-worthy animation through its entire run. The OST is also a crucial part of this, as it elevates both the action and the not-so-action scenes creating the perfect atmosphere. Especially in the first half, we were also shown a lot of detailed and generally very good looking sceneries. In short, from a production standpoint, this anime did everything it possibly could to elevate the source material. webm(https://media.tenor.com/JoZnYPWaswwAAAPo/sousou-no-frieren-clone.mp4) Now that was pretty much all of the good. The issue I had with this show was the __substance__. Through all of this first season, Frieren felt like one of the most backwards experiences I had watching anime. "Philosophical" shows usually go like this: you have stuff going on, the characters go through experiences while dealing with it, and as they do you're able to formulate your own thoughts about what they're going through, you try to interpret the messages, have your own takeaways and so on. With Frieren it's the complete opposite: stuff happens just for the sake of having those takeaways and slapping the message to your face. It's something that happens throughout the whole 28 episodes, and it gets so repetitive that I started wondering if the series simply assumes its audience isn’t smart enough to understand what the show is about unless it was reiterated to them every couple episodes. The result of this storytelling approach is that the show has no real plot for the entire __first half__: it's a collection of borderline irrelevant events leading to parallels between the present and the past, with barely any differences in what they're trying to tell us or make us feel. Frieren masquerades as a deep and thought-provoking series with a poignant message as it baits the viewers with a fake deep approach to give them a false sense of accomplishment as can say "Wow, I've finally understood everything about an esoteric anime", while in truth everyone gets the message since it's plastered to your face at every occasion. The __second half__ of Frieren does actually have a plot, but it still didn't manage to impress me as it feels pretty irrelevant to what the show has been so devotedly been telling us it's about. Does anything about this exam arc hold any relevance to Frieren's understanding of humans? The arc pretty much exists to show us how cool Frieren is as everyone is taken by surprise (me too, I'm surprised they're surprised. She is literally a legendary hero but barely anyone knows about her... aren't mages pretty diligent in their studies in most fantasy settings?). To complement the plot (when there is one), we have a main cast made of three __characters__: Fern the Pouty, Frieren the Cool and Stark (just Stark, it's not his fault). As the name suggests, Fern pouts. That's about it. Frieren is very cool, she barely ever shows any engagement with whatever is going on in the present but makes a cool "oh" to a "woah" whenever she reminisces about the past. Stark was a very interesting character when he was introduced, the parallels with Eisen were actually hitting me pretty well and his whole vibe felt like a real person’s. Unfortunately the focus shifts much more to the two girls in the second half so we don't get as much on him. img800(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDGSF6kWUAAVJ9G.jpg:large) The way the characters interact also gets tremendously monotonous, a stale compilation of misunderstanding leading them to figure out the other person just to proceed to have another misunderstanding in the following episode. Giving credit where it's due, there are some __worldbuilding__ elements I found interesting, for example the evolution of magic over time and the nature of demons in this series, and some of the side characters were actually interesting, especially Frieren’s former party and Sein. To __conclude__, Frieren the anime takes a monotone, overly simplified and overall mediocre base and polishes it to the extreme through the efforts of everyone involved in its production. It's a show that can go from extremely entertaining through the sheer power of animation to extremely frustrating in its monotony. __Truly So-so no Frieren.__
~~~[No Spoilers]~~~ ~~~__Frieren__ Will Make You Appreciate Life More.~~~ ~~~img350(https://64.media.tumblr.com/ad51cc302b3ab79a8022daf70479f9bb/047d17f844de6024-58/s540x810/7b599c4047556ac8e96ab8bf0801403089ee8e7b.gif)~~~ __~~~*A Tale Of An Adventure You Will Remember.*~~~__ --- # __~~~Story:~~~__ The story is around an elf girl named Frieren, who's life is very meaningless at the beginning of the so called story; and it proves to us that even a person that lives for eternity might only realize what life has to really offer for us, and we should appreciate it more than we do, which is a great message the story delivers, it also shows that people can change. Frieren seem to change her perspective of people through out the show, at the begging she didn't want to take Fern as her student, and in the end you can see that Frieren is more kind to Fern. also another great example of that is that when Himmel passed away she cried, it something she never felt; for us humans we cry through out our life time way way more than Frieren In hers. The story is a really good metaphor of we humans and dogs or cats, we live way more than them and they don't really have any time to waste while Frieren, sees us just like we see dogs or cats. ~~~img350(https://c.tenor.com/XlB4gKaIZMYAAAAC/tenor.gif)~~~ # __~~~Characters:~~~__ The characters in "Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End" are very unique, we don't see characters that act the same and all the characters we meet other then our main cast kinda comes and go and we never see them again, which is very surprising how much character development they put on every single supporting character outside the main group. the Main Cast is very different and adds a lot to the show, their interactions are gold, and they try to understand each other. We already talked about Frieren but she is a character that's main point is to change and so called become more "Human." she always look back at stuff in her past and understand what she has to do in a certain scenario. Fern is very Mature, timid and smart for age. Stark was basically a liar at the beginning, until Frieren realized that he is not much of a liar he believe he is. ~~~img350(https://c.tenor.com/lMwlMkmMJt0AAAAC/tenor.gif)~~~ # __~~~Animation & Audio:~~~__ the animation is great and really gives of the fantasy adventure story look, but when things get serious we can definitely see that as well, the Audio in my opinion is great and gives of the adventure fun we always want to go on as kids, but just like the Animation; the Audio team knows when to make it tone serious. ~~~img350(https://c.tenor.com/Ou_0xobjPOgAAAAC/tenor.gif)~~~ # __~~~Enjoyment:~~~__ to me "Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End" was very Enjoyable and if you still haven't watched it for some reason, wtf are you doing. it was very fun and i remember all the great moments, that's a good reason why i love shows that add the element of adventure because you feel like you are a part of the journey. ~~~img350(https://c.tenor.com/jRFZFVM8bY0AAAAC/tenor.gif)~~~ # __~~~Summary:~~~__ Frieren is a show that you should 100% watch since its an 100% rated anime, its fun, interesting and serious and it has great elements and a great message that it delivers which many stories don't really manage to do. i would recommend this show to everyone who wants to watch something that they will remember many years in the future. anyway 10/10 anime from me. it has been officially been added to be one of my favorites. ~~~img350(https://c.tenor.com/csQ5jd2CGPcAAAAd/tenor.gif)~~~
# ~~~Contains spoilers ~~~ ************ Time is inevitable; it can be both your greatest ally or your worst enemy, depending on how you reflect on it. Similar to money, it is also limited, but the memories you spend with it are priceless. If you had all of the time in the world, would you be wise enough not to waste it? Frieren has recently become one of, if not my favorite high medieval fantasy story of all time. It achieves a perfect balance of slice of life and action-adventure along with , amazing character writing, reflective dialogue, meaningful themes, immersive world-building, a unique take on magic as a power system, a crisp artstyle fitting for the show, breathtaking animation, and a transcendent OST. ~~~img220(https://media.tenor.com/hxo4SkFFe_EAAAAM/sousou-no-frieren-frieren.gif)~~~ ************ # ~~~Story 10/10~~~ The whole gist of Frieren is that she's a mage who spent a decade as a member of the Hero Party, who were responsible for slaying the Demon King and restoring peace to the world. As decades pass, her comrade begin to succumb to the passage of time, and prompting her to regret not taking the time to truly know them. Later on, she takes Fern as her apprentice who was previously under the care of Heiter before his death. Together they embark on a journey, filled with side missions with no clear overarching goal. Later in the story, Eisen encourages Frieren seek out Aureole, a land where souls rest in the Northern Lands, which was previously inhabited by the Demon King. The rest of the story becomes a series of side missions slowly leading towards the discovery of Aureole. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/EUvKqrUtjZoAAAAC/sousou-no-frieren-frieren-anime.gif) ~~~ Frieren is unlike a lot of fantasy stories, where the characters themselves are the main focus, instead of one huge goal or obstacle to overcome. There's no ambitious goal like becoming King of the Pirates, or becoming Hokage, there's no big obstacle to overcome like titans threatening to end the human race. Even though her main goal is to reach Aureole a land where souls rest, she doesn't lose anything if she fails, and can simply go on about her day without ever reaching that place. The purpose of this journey is to allow her to have a full understanding of human emotion, and to retrace her steps through an adventure with Fern and Stark (hopefully Sein comes back). It's like going to Disneyland with your family as a child, and years later, doing the same thing with your friends or romantic partner. And it's by reliving these adventures, that Frieren slowly understands her feelings towards Himmel, the importance of being remembered, and how lucky she was to have met the people in her life. Since the story isn't plot-driven, it often relies on characters' motivations, growth, personality, wisdom, and memories (flashbacks) as the narrative's driving force. ~~~ img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/_eX9oAfO_z8AAAAC/frieren-storming.gif)~~~ The anime uses a lot of flashbacks, and by a lot I mean nearly every episode, but I think this is one of the few anime that does it right. Flashbacks in this show are used to enhance the message the episode is trying to convey, info about a character that's relevant to the events of the episode, and connect events from the past to the present, giving it a sort of parallelism between the Hero Party, and Fern's Day Care Center. In fact, a large number of my favorite scenes are from these flashbacks, most notably: Himmel giving Frieren the ring of eternal love, Serie reminiscing Flamme's childhood, Frieren using the flower spell for Himmel, Himmel being a fake hero, Stark's brother being a true warrior, etc (wow most of these involve Himmel lol). Unlike other shows where flashbacks sometimes feel redundant due to them being used as filler time in an episode, every Frieren flashback adds something new to the table, and adds a layer of depth into the characters, and lore. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/sB_Pv0s-rP0AAAAC/sousou-no-frieren-frieren-beyond-journey%27s-end.gif)~~~ Another element I love is how often the series can completely subvert your expectations, while still adhering to the most logical reasons within the context of its world and characters. Frieren is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you're gonna get, and it would taste just right. ************ # ~~~Characters 10/10~~~ # ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/sE1IpH2URjgAAAAC/frieren-beyond-journeys-end-fern-hitting-stark-frieren.gif)~~~ Frieren's character writing is probably the biggest reason why I've grown so attached to this series. Nearly every named character brings something and have their own distinct personalities, yet these traits don't define their entire character. Unlike many other works that attempt to make characters complex by revealing hidden depths, Frieren's characters feel genuine and multidimensional from the start. They don't feel like archetypes that beat that one trait to death. The series showcases its characters through their actions and interactions with others, rather than keeping them mysterious until a major traumatic event is revealed. By presenting the characters' personalities upfront, the story achieves a sense of genuineness, allowing us to view these characters as real people rather than mere devices to keep things interesting. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/IAkYWBFYtX8AAAAd/elf-nonsense-elf.gif)~~~ ##Frieren: The titular character of the series, Frieren's an elf who's lived through centuries upon centuries of human history. She was part of a village that was slaughtered by demons, where the great mage Flamme took her under her wing. Centuries later, she meets the Hero Party where she spends a grand 10 years on a journey to -ah you get the point. What makes Frieren so special compared to every other human is her perception of time. Due to the short lifespan of humans compared to hers, spending time with them seems fruitless if they're just going to die in only a few decades. That is, until Himmel's death made her regret not spending enough time with a human that had a significant impact on her. It's this impact Himmel had on her that motivates her to understand humans more with her new party. The experiences from the past pays off as she slowly learns about what Himmel's words, and her own feelings really meant and applies them in the present. Additionally, she's probably the best example of how to create an overpowered main character. Sure, she can solve most problems, but she always gives Fern and Stark opportunities to shine in order for them to grow like what a good mentor would do. She's incredibly powerful, but she still has weaknesses or faults that her party members help balance out. In fact, she has lost plenty of times to both humans and demons in the past. At first, you may think she's a typical kuudere where she's devoid of all emotions, but finish episode 1, and you can see she's perfectly capable of expressing empathy and grief. In fact, I feel she's ironically the most expressive member of her new party. Lastly, I want to point out that some of Frieren's behaviors initially seem odd like learning a spell that creates sour grapes, an obsession for collecting grimoires, or having her favorite spell to grow a field of flowers. However, all these traits are linked to a previous memories she holds dear such as the grapes spell is her way of remembering Eisen, grimoires being the last remnants of Flamme's existence, and the field of flowers both linked to Flamme's own favorite spell and the reason why she met Himmel in the first place. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/m6vu-BLxRUQAAAAd/frieren-beyond-journey%27s-end-sousou-no-frieren.gif)~~~ ##Himmel: Probably the most important human in Frieren's life (besides Flamme), Himmel's both the hero in the story, and to Frieren herself. Himmel is a bit of a narcissist that thinks incredibly high of himself, but is compassionate towards others. Himmel honestly has the best dialogue so far, and is one of the main driving factors behind the show's themes. It's crazy that he's one of the most popular characters in the entire show, even overshadowing some of the main cast, and he's only ever featured in flashbacks. The fact that even though he never pulled the sword out of the stone, yet decided to defeat the Demon King as a fake hero just shows how much of a real hero he really was. The title isn't given to you, it is earned. I also love how one of his motivators is to be remembered in history, even if it's more a minor action, which is a selfish wish, but a goal people should strive for. Another thing I love about him is that the main reason he left behind statues of himself is so that in the future, Frieren wouldn't be alone *cries*. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/dMv3013YVjQAAAAC/fern-stark.gif)~~~ ##Fern + Stark: Fern is a war orphan who was adopted by Heiter, and later became an apprentice of Frieren. She is a skilled mage who started training from a very young age, and was motivated to assure Heiter that she can survive in this world on her own. Fern's presence gives Frieren a sense of urgency whenever they're stuck in a town for long period of time, and acts as Frieren's mother sometimes. She retains a calm, mature manner unless you anger her long enough until she starts, pouting My favorite aspect of her is how she represents the Era of Humanity arriving when she helped defeat the Frieren clone, and passed Serie's test. Stark is a warrior whose village was attacked by demons, and was under the care of Eisen where he trained him to become a strong fighter. However, they get into an argument which prompted Eisen to hit Stark, leaving him the scar on his face, prompting Stark to leave him. Stark's best representation is during his debut episode, where he thought how the dragon leaving the village was just a farce, his training in the ravine says otherwise. When they do fight the dragon, Frieren could've easily helped defeat it, but gave Stark 30 seconds because that's all he really needed to defeat it, proving it was just his lack of confidence holding him back. Also: img220(https://i.imgur.com/UKe04a9.png) ************ #~~~World-building 9.5/10~~~ Frieren's world itself isn't entirely new to the fantasy genre. Elves, dwarves, demons, dragons, they're all creatures that exist in thousands of other stories. What makes it standout, is how the world learns from the present, and evolves for the future. Qual's is a good example, where Zoltraak was a deadly spell that terrorized humans for years, but after a century, has become basic magic after being researched to death. This parallels to the real world where diseases like polio were once deadly, but has now become obsolete due to the creation of vaccines. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/hez-DlXeeWUAAAAC/sousou-no-frieren-elf.gif)~~~ The Era of Humanity is another element I love, where an age of dwarves, demons, and elves will eventually come to an end, and humans are poised to hold the reigns of the future. This progress of humanity mirrors how we waste no time in advancing due to our limited lifespans, which is why despite elves gaining the gift of longevity, don't use that gift to its full potential due to the lack of urgency to do so (why Serie looks down on Frieren). I feel there's still more this world has to offer, and I will be awaiting that aspect in season 2. ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/TEnU3HFQAOMAAAAC/frieren-ubel.gif)~~~ Frieren's magic system is one where power levels or numbers don't determine the outcome of a battle. Situations and matchups are what really determine the outcomes in battle as best shown in the mage exam arc, where a third-class mage like Ubel was able to defeat Serie, simply because the matchup is entirely one-sided. Due to the nature of magic only limited by what the user can visualize, how a mage thinks is another determining factor. ************ #~~~Directing (animation 10/10, Sound 10/10)~~~ ~~~img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/oSK7sPIyVR4AAAAd/frieren-water.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/Q_sRFdf8zwEAAAAC/sousou-no-frieren-frieren.gif)~~~ I would like to give my flowers to Madhouse for crafting this visual masterpiece. The art style they chose is so fitting for setting the tone of the story, giving it a medieval aesthetic. Many of the landscape shots are so breathtaking that they could easily be used as wallpapers. The world feels vibrant yet maintains a serene feeling throughout. What's remarkable is how the backgrounds change depending on the season, adding to the immersive experience. Even small movements like grass, hair, and even clothing are animated like it's real cloth, making the scenes feel incredibly alive. Seriously, who on earth took the time to animate Fern sitting on a stool at 60+ fps?! img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/JoZnYPWaswwAAAAd/sousou-no-frieren-clone.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/QrmCUjiybD8AAAAC/frieren-magic.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/v-JwFoN5eJ0AAAAC/frieren-fight.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/qj2KvLG4Q8gAAAAC/frieren-anime.gif) SHE'S SUMMONING BLACKHOLES. HOLY SHIT NOW THEY'RE THROWING GALAXIES AT EACH OTHER. Madhouse please come back for season 2...(Edit: THEY'RE SO BACK) Can I just say Evan Call's OSTs are some of the best in the industry. Although I still think Hiroyuki Sawano as the GOAT composer, if someone said Evan Call was better than him I wouldn't complain. The soundtrack brings immense emotional value to the hard hitting moments. It has a combination of celtic tunes for serene moments, orchestral crescendos for emotional highs, and crashing operatic sounds for fight scenes. Moreover, the selection of the right OST at the right time is executed incredibly well, further elevating the impact of each scene. Just goes to show how the execution of a story often proves to be more important than the quality of the writing itself. It's what separates a good show, from a masterpiece. ************ Halfway through the review I realized I've been __yapping__ a lot. If you read all of this all I can say is a erm why...(nah seriously you're a real one). This is my first review, so it's most likely a whole bunch of yapping, and hopefully I can improve in my writing in the future, but yeah I'd just like to thank this series for being a huge part of my anime viewing experience, and having an impact in my life by making me reflect how I spend time with the people around me. It's themes are universally applicable for any stage in life you're in, and if there's any anime I could recommend that don't exhibit all the bad tropes that give anime a bad rep, this would be one of them. Favorite quotes: >"There's nothing wrong with being a fake hero. I'll defeat the Demon King and bring peace to the world. Then it won't matter if I'm fake or not." >"Even if heaven doesn't exist, I believe it should...because it's more convenient that way." > Edit: Man even long after writing this lengthy review, it feels like I haven't said everything I wanted to say yet. No other series has ever made me feel this way... Story: 10/10 Characters: 10/10 World-building: 9.5/10 Animation: 10/10 Music: 10/10 Overall: 100/100
# ~~~__Review Sousou no Frieren sin spoilers__~~~ >Un grupo de cuatro componentes viajan en una carreta camino a la capital del reino, una longeva hechicera elfa, un poderoso guerrero enano, un poco ortodoxo sacerdote humano, y el gran héroe humano. Después de un largo viaje de más de 10 años han derrotado al rey demonio y vuelven al lugar del que partieron, toca ahora celebrar la gesta de los valientes héroes, pero una vez acaban los festejos la vida sigue, y el grupo se divide con la promesa de encontrarse de nuevo. 50 años después, cumpliendo lo que prometieron el grupo se reúne, pero ya no son los mismos que una vez fueran, el paso del tiempo ha hecho mella en todos ellos, menos en la elfa, Frieren, condenada a ver cómo se marchitan sus seres queridos delante de sus ojos... ~~~img720(https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.8af38ed4b914e8bf8774551b2e5e33f1?rik=UfXDdEVKE6TKNg&riu=http%3a%2f%2fanimeargentina.net%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2022%2f09%2fsousou-no-frieren-03-1024x576.png&ehk=eInGl2ykOZ6MqpnSfx4pX5Z61AFeT9FBstTHeLu4MKE%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0)~~~ ~~~El grupo del héroe~~~ --- Debo admitir que cuando salió este anime no le presté mucha atención, mirando por encima parecía la típica historia de magia y fantasía, con un diseño de protagonista (Frieren) especialmente bonito, pero no mucho más, sin embargo pasaron las semanas, vi algunos clips que subía la gente a redes y empezó a interesarme porque parecía algo más, y efectivamente así fue. He de decir que soy bastante fan de historias como el Señor de los Anillos, que se toman su tiempo es mostrar paisajes, dejarte disfrutar simplemente con la música, y eso fue lo que encontré aquí. Sé que hay gente a la que esto se le puede hacer aburrido, pero te aseguro que este anime nunca pierde el ritmo. --- #__- Trama (8/10)__ La historia sigue la vida de Frieren tras la muerte del héroe Himmel, que toma como pupila a Fern, una niña huérfana que su viejo amigo el clérigo Heiter había tomado en adopción, y ellas se dirigen hacia el norte, a un lugar donde se dice que descansan las almas, para poder despedirse de Himmel. Por el camino irán viendo restos del viaje que realizó Frieren para derrotar al rey demonio, del cuál iremos viendo flashbacks, para conocer mejor a este particular grupo de héroes y los sentimientos de la propia Frieren. Aunque no es especialmente innovador tiene enfoque interesante para una historia de fantasía, con un ritmo en general bastante tranquilo y más centrado en el desarrollo de los personajes, por supuesto con momentos de acción increíbles. --- #__- Personajes (10/10)__ De lo mejor de la serie. Como no podía ser de otra manera lo más importante es el desarrollo de Frieren, vamos viendo como aprende sobre sus propios sentimientos gracias a sus nuevas vivencias y los recuerdos del pasado. Es realmente bonito verla entender poco a poco muchas cosas y frustrante a la vez porque te enseña como lo que fue ya no va a volver… Es fácil coger cariño a los personajes en este anime, ya que todos se sienten muy naturales, ya sean principales o secundarios, como el grupo del héroe o los nuevos acompañantes de Frieren, Fern (besto girl) y Stark, a los cuales vamos viendo crecer a cada capítulo. También se irán encontrando con diversas personas, que con mayor o menor importancia aportarán al desarrollo de este pequeño grupo. ~~~img720(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1qR5GIZIMo/YFDRW0uYGqI/AAAAAAAAMRk/261yYXzo18MKJgcUFimu6V_zUMkmbEqDACLcBGAsYHQ/s700/5cea301r.jpg)~~~ ~~~Fern, Frieren y Stark~~~ --- #__- Animación (9/10)__ Imagino que como la mayoría de los animes no es que les haya sobrado presupueto, y aquí han sido muy inteligentes aprovechando para despilfarrar talento y calidad de animación en algunos momentos claves, y luego intercalar con momentos más tranquilos donde no es tan relevante la animación. Quiero añadir que tiene una de las peleas mágicas más espectacular visualmente que he visto nunca. --- #__- Banda sonora(10/10)__ Es uno de los grandes puntos del anime, la música es muy buena, sabiendo transmitir la sensación de mundo de fantasía lejano, perdido, misterioso, de lo mejorcito que he escuchado. Por otro lado, el opening 1, Yuusha (que dejo abajo) interpretado por YOASOBI es fácilmente de los mejores de 2023 y seguro ya lo has escuchado, una joyita. El otro opening y el ending se quedan un poco atrás, aunque personalmente el ending me parece bonito. --- #~~~__Conclusiones__~~~ Este es de los mejores animes de los últimos años (para mi gusto al menos). Es una serie tranquila (que no aburrida) que se toma su tiempo para mostrar eventos que hacen evolucionar a los personajes, buscando que tú simplemente te sientes, te relajes, y te dejes llevar por su historia y gran banda sonora. Espero que haya sido de ayuda y que si te animas a verla la disfrutes tanto como lo he hecho yo :) ~~~youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBODIPC_8Y&ab_channel=Ayase%2FYOASOBIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBODIPC_8Y&ab_channel=Ayase%2FYOASOBI)~~~ ~~~Yuusha, interpretado por YOASOBI~~~
El inicio de este viaje parte por el fin... (OBVIAMENTE HABLARÉ CON SPOILERS ASI QUE LOL ) # Pensamientos inconexos: Me prometí a mi mismo que no escribiría esto hasta un tiempo después de ver el final pero después de pensarlo por un largo rato, si no describo lo que sentí al verlo en todo su apogeo de inicio hasta el fin, siento que perdería mi objetivo original al escribirlas y con esto dicho comenzamos el viaje... ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/39b95e8844d55257fe8b3a3a4f7b3abd/fe567f55e35f2826-b2/s540x810/6698d7955fa422c9a472e8d367c1eafe32f31507.gifv)~~~ Frieren, mi querida Frieren, me di a la tarea de ponerme al día en el manga antes de comenzar a ver el anime que ahora después de terminarlo pienso que lo habría disfrutado así de bien de igual forma o incluso más, para MÍ este fue el mejor anime de 2023 (QUE SI QUE NO TERMINÓ HASTA MARZO ASÍ QUE NO CUENTA, LO SÉ) pero incluso si solo tuviera que contar la primera parte (QUE ES IGUAL DE BUENA) lo seguiría colocando como el mejor. De principio a fin le mantiene atendo es decir supieron adaptar de manera espectacular las escenas de la historia de Frieren que me gusta llamar "los momentos Frieren" ¿a que me refiero con esto? pues veamos, básicamente es encontrar belleza y significado a esos momentos en el día a día que usualmente se toman como irrelevantes o que se tomen a la ligera como dar un paseo por el campo hasta dar ayudar a alguien que encuentras en tu camino por pura casualidad y ese tipo de acciones quedarán grabados para la posteridad. "Volviendo al anime, que me enrollo solo" ~~~img220(https://ih0.redbubble.net/image.261648358.8582/raf,360x360,075,t,fafafa:ca443f4786.jpg)~~~ La parte que más miedo me daba al ver esta adaptación era los flashbacks de Frieren ¿Cómo podemos hacer una transición orgánica a algo que pasó hace más de 70 años? y muy a mi opinión pienso que la música fue la clave, el como nos trasladan del presente con Fern y Stark a el viaje con el héroe Himmel con esa nostalgia que resalta en esos recuerdos. Toda la música desde los op's, ending y ost que por cierto amo todos los ost de esta serie (Son los mismo que compusieron las de Violet Evergarden) esta encajada perfectamente con las escenas acorde desde combates hasta los momentos frieren y las transiciones entre escenarios. ~~~img220(https://www.clarin.com/2023/11/29/qCSEnihFh_360x240__1.jpg)~~~ Amé desde el principio como usaron el pasar de tiempo (que con la música queda increíble) más esa espectacular animación que me dejó boquiabierto que durante toda la serie nunca decayó a nivel de calidad en cada movimiento, cada hechizo, cada objeto inanimado y la dirección que convirtió escenas que en el manga son 2 paneles y ya a momentos espectaculares con movimientos de cámara tanto en las peleas cuerpo a cuerpo con buenas coreografías como las de magos aquí algunos ejemplos de mis favoritas: - Stark VS Dragon Solar ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/f169ef23be137390a553b34ac3190235/a389da2ca2800017-05/s540x810/dadb290a7c2196e0fd2e704d13a0780bfbf0de82.gif)~~~ - Fern VS Lügner (Esta ya era espectacular y le metieron un 500% más) ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/009bd19b7eac46b6042cd31c9bc3716c/d45011d89eb08af8-71/s640x960/0972d7f69c9e8c8c1b2b905a664d97a3e3653728.gifv)~~~ - Ubel Vs Ubel Clon ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/5aaa88b461547e9232901f7714d4d503/4d59b0e2489da236-68/s500x750/fdab342953096d2dcd37b4157aa80b8a62913d19.gifv)~~~ - Frieren y Fern VS Frieren Clon (Mi favorita de lejos y menudo show de luces) ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/8307e7a460f732a9cd7310a257c21e2e/d9abc9ebf7922749-02/s540x810/742f4c6ff805fd93598887d3e045be10db0f1ac7.gifv)~~~ En cuanto a la serie en general, animación increíble, ost de cada capítulo buenísimo, historia emotiva y nostálgica, el ritmo de los episodios muy bueno ya que ninguno se sintió pesado ni lento aún siento un slice of life que suelen tener así y sobre todo que transmita las sensaciones como cada escena es lo que más me gustó a pesar de ser un mundo de fantasía medieval te da esa sensación de un día común.(Creo que ya dije esto varias veces pero bueno xd). Respecto al final es precioso cerrar con un flashback de Himmel y con ese mensaje sobre despedirse de una forma casual porque sino "Nos avergonzaríamos cada vez que nos encontrásemos..." ~~~img220(https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1689514270ra/34465516.gif)~~~ ~~~# Personajes que me molaron de la serie:~~~ Frieren: Mi elfa favorita, habla como señora mayor (LO ES), le cuesta entender a los demás pero se esfuerza por cuidar bien de ellos, maestra de perder el tiempo (Licenciada en procrastinar), sabe dar cariño y de un beso volado te mata, está ultra OP, edad desconocida y cabe aclarar que estas no son criticas ya que me encanta Frieren sobre todo porque quiere conocer más a las personas que son cercanas a ella para disfrutar cada segundo con sus seres queridos y no cometer los mismos errores (Menos las mimic box, la curiosidad mató a la elfa). ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/024d00a2a0337cb55bb72a8d57aa3966/ba6bbdfb52ae0db0-5c/s540x810/18c4346b45d7a09c950ba34a8e63a5574c330c2c.gif)~~~ Himmel: Este hombre es un ser de LUZ, cada frase que dice en toda la serie podría ser un poema, su nivel de compromiso de ser un Héroe me inspira ya que no se limita a derrotar a los más fuertes sino que también ayuda a los demás por muy irrelevante que pueda ser para su viaje. El simp eterno de Frieren pero el más honorable ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/d7b847f7e78c10467337f6e989a8d687/70d140d558de63b2-3d/s540x810/62a5e055aabd59487e321c106a5c059ce6d40740.gif)~~~ Fern: La hija engreída de Frieren y al mismo tiempo su madre XD. Soy de los que piensa que sus enojos son más que nada porque prácticamente es la madre del grupo en cuanto a orden se trata pero a pesar de todo se me hace tierna además de disfrutar su relación con Frieren Maestra y Aprendiz. Agregando que la misma Frieren la ve como la próxima gran maga de la humanidad. ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/0e944c412dd4cb1e16aef5ea502cfddb/ccd58112f8bf9c8b-be/s540x810/94e9718fb676a2781c75e3f7309884a5cc53f418.gifv)~~~ Stark: La vanguardia del grupo, su inocencia está al nivel de un niño pero también tiene un don para ganarse el corazón de quienes lo conocen. Todos sabemos que será pareja de Fern ¡Ya háganse novios, por favor! ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/84a356643f762c46f2f8788104ad52d1/5de8415f58462821-d6/s540x810/463bf2b876ee8535dc206cb4ae6c5c744bdc5625.gif)~~~ Übel: Mención honorifica para esta chica que madre mía la de momentos épicos que tuvo en el último arco, no recordaba que resaltara tanto durante las pruebas pero sin duda se robó mi atención con cada aparición. ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/1ec490e46c95cf27d7e3b46838a6e64a/ad8b93a9eee03ee4-8d/s540x810/73d99f14056a5223f6f28b09179fb0854d454729.gif)~~~ Pues eso sería todo, me voy contentísimo con esta serie de principio a fin aunque ahora extrañaré los viernes de Frieren pero así es la vida las cosas no son para siempre y se deben disfrutar mientras puedas, esto lo escribo a las horas de terminar de ver el último cap para expresar lo máximo posible lo mucho que disfrute de esta serie y es vacío que se sentirá hasta que tengamos la continuación pero me alegra poder decir lo que sentí ¿Por qué? No sé LOL. Seguimos con la tradición monogatari fan pero luego de esto quizá me releo el manga por la emoción y por cierto Si leíste todo esto.... ESTÁS BIEN? ~~~img220(https://animeforums.net/uploads/imageproxy/ShamelessOrderlyElkhound-small.gif.00c97e2f7520c07af5d3874c2a775b8a.gif)~~~
Good show. Starts of great and still has really strong moments littered throughout, but overall, it's not as fantastic as I had hoped. It has a very good heart, but it never develops on it, remaining until the end far too obsessed with nostalgia and Himmel's basic live, love, laugh pathos and basic motto of being kind. It fails to develop any nuance, or enough character progression, even introducing lots of new characters. It gets stuck too much with it's repeated, similar rose tinted glasses stories. The stories are all good, but they're virtually the same and not that inspired, and it gets grating. The characters ultimately rarely change, spending half their life remembering near identical messages around memory and kindness. People constantly remembering other people but not enough time spent developing the people actually there in the moment. The show is almost one note, if I'm being harsh. The point of the show is to remember people and make memories to remember, but really it doesn't manage to execute that idea without doing it so formulaically and basic. If the point of the show is to be kind, and make memories, I'd rather we had some more concrete memories of the main gang, and I'd rather some of Frieren's flashbacks saw her learning from them and not just Himmel, and frankly the show could've at least had her learning from some of the other party members more than just with the Fern and Stark backstories where they were directly involved, and even other people, she's lived so long. The show fails to live up to it's message by not actually letting characters live in the moment and grow as often as I'd like. I think that's why the show manages to work so well for that first half, it has that variation and character growth and introduction, but then itngoes into the tournament arc with lots of characters and relies too heavily on modtly Himmel while not providing enough genuine slice of life moments and such. The show also gets utterly lost in it's battle shounen second arc, with it's pretty poor writing in that style being carried - but not nearly enough - by strong animation. Frieren managed to throw away it's strength, that sentimentality and healing nature as grating as it is at times, in those portions, to an extent, though every episode managed to have a Himmel flashback where he said the most bland positive message of all time, though I can't say the show didn't often pull it off somehow. Great aesthetic of course, Saitou is shaping up to be the most promising up and coming director in that regard at the very least. I could also complain about the weird handling of the demons, and somewhat uncritical dealing with fantasy feudalism, but those are more nitpicky and could change. To summarise, and probably ironically repeat myself after complaining Frieren does that as a show, it's a good show. However, I just wish it actually went somewhere rather than virtually the same place each time just with a slightly different hat on. It still manages to work quite often, somehow, it's very well made and has a good sense of tone and atmosphere at it's best, but yeah. I wish I could look back on the show and point to more cool memories Frieren had made with Fern and Stark and other people, like it feels counterintuitive to the show that what it focuses on to such an extent is past memories and memories of one person at that, and all just variations of be kind, and have fun, and enjoy life, etc. It needed to make more new memories. Plus, the battle shounen arc is honestly painfully misguided, the writing just isn't there, even if like the rest of the show it doubtlessly had it's strong points emotionally and impressive animation alongside the lovely base aesthetic. As I've said, the show is good. This review sounds very negative, and that's because the show IS good, but could've been much better if it had done more with what it gave itself. It's frustration not dislike.
We're all familiar with the hero's journey, where we observe a young sword-bearing hero rise from humble beginnings, gathers a party of allies, and travels the world to defeat a great evil threatening all of humanity. They've been around since the time of Greek myths, and even now, we still get stories about heroes fighting evil across all forms of media, because that premise is instantly recognizable. Some are done well, some are done badly. But recently, some writers decided to ask the question "What happens after the heroes defeat the great evil?" Most stories end right as the villain is defeated, but have you ever wondered what the heroes' lives are like after the fact? Do they retire, or do they still go adventuring for the thrill of it? Does the hero's party stay in contact, or do they go their separate ways? Somebody decided to try answering all those questions, but doing so from the perspective of an immortal elf and having the story lean hard into what it means to make connections and how important the time you spend with your friends and the memories you make together are, no matter how fleeting. That's how we got _Frieren: Beyond Journey's End_. Screw all those dumb power fantasy/wish fulfillment isekais, if you ask me, Frieren is where its at! Sure enough, everyone else seems to agree, as Frieren has become massively popular since its inception, favoring heartfelt, character driven drama over your typical shounen battle action, and it's all the better for it. But a story like this absolutely needs to be adapted by people who not only understand the material to the letter, but know how to really elevate it into an animated medium rather than just simply copying it from text to screen. Thankfully, the team at Madhouse exceed people's expectations, mine included, and managed to make Frieren truly shine. Based on the manga by Tsukasa Abe and Kanehito Yamada, the story is as follows: For a decade, the immortal elf Frieren traveled with Himmel the hero, Heiter the priest, and Eisen the dwarf on a journey to defeat the evil Demon King. They managed to do just that, and their efforts are celebrated and exalted by everyone all over the continent. The party decides to go their separate ways, and with Frieren being an elf who doesn't quite understand how time flows differently for her as it does for humans, she sets out on her own, just doing her own thing as she pleases. She reunites with them fifty years later, but not long after, Himmel dies of old age. It's only then that she realizes that even though she spent ten years with him, she never truly got to know him, and now that he's gone, she'll never get the chance to do so. Frieren begins to ponder the nature of connections at a time when it's already too late to say goodbye. This time, she sets out on a new journey, with a new band of companions, to see the world she had already explored with a new perspective, experiencing all the danger and joy that comes with it. It's been a while since I've read the manga, even though I own all the volumes that are out in the US right now, so I don't quite remember the nitty-gritty details about the manga's paneling and artwork. But like I mentioned above, Frieren is the type of story that absolutely NEEDS a good, proper adaptation that treats the source with respect, and bad adaptations often do the opposite. Remember _Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer_ and _Tale of the Outcasts_? Luckily, the staff at Madhouse absolutely understood the assignment. There's so much care put into the animation in this show, from the lush, gorgeous backgrounds to even little things like the movement of fabric and each characters' unique body language, not to mention the dynamic action scenes that actually feel like they have weight to them. Case in point, the scene where Stark kills the Solar Dragon. I mentioned before in my _Pluto_ review that being slavishly faithful in adapting a comic book to the screen isn't always the right call. If you're just copying the manga panels frame by frame, it can compromise how the anime adaptation looks, and there's benefits to experimenting with things like the storyboarding and camera angles. In Frieren's manga, the scene where Stark kills the Solar Dragon is just six manga panels, but the staff for the anime decided to make it into a [full-on action scene](https://twitter.com/Spammuele/status/1712889722526216455) that's packed to the gills with dynamic camera angles, experimental animation that favors fluidity, kineticism, and impact over staying on-model, and creative story-boarding that no static medium could imitate. One thing I did notice about the anime is that it really seems to like using negative space. There's tons of scenes where the background is just the sky and nothing else, whether it be framing a character's face or taking up 80% of the scene, and there's just something about the way its used in Frieren that just feels so atmospheric. Oh, and do I even mention that lusciously animated ballroom dance sequence with Fern and Stark? Eat your heart out, _Tearmoon Empire_ and your bad CGI models. Speaking of atmospheric, the soundtrack! I've only just started becoming familiar with Evan Call's portfolio, but he's been hitting home runs with all the soundtracks he's been making. Josee, _My Happy Marriage_, and now Frieren. I've heard his music for _Violet Evergarden_ is pretty good too, but I haven't seen that yet. But hot damn, Frieren might just be his best and most versatile soundtrack yet, mainly in that it makes really good use of folk music and Irish or Celtic sounds to really give it that Tolkien fantasy feel. The same goes for the action, which often times mixes folk music with epic choirs, which actually made a better combination than I expected. Whether it be subtle oboes and acoustic guitars or a full-on orchestra, Frieren's soundtrack goes hard, and I didn't find any moments where its usage felt inappropriate or out of place. That being said...I'm gonna get lynched for saying this, but I wasn't really a fan of the first opening or the ending song. The visuals and lyrics for them are fine, I'd argue astounding for the former, but...I don't know, every time I hear YOASOBI sing, I always wind up mistaking her for a Vocaloid, and the robotic-sounding voice she uses just feels...off for a series like this. Milet doesn't have this problem, but her voice hurts my ears whenever she tries to go for the high notes. Ironically, I liked her song "Bliss" more than "Anytime Anywhere," and I wish the former had been the ending theme song instead. I do like the second opening, though. But the characters are where Frieren as a show really shines. Even if they do start out as recognizable archetypes, the series really takes its time to show what they're like: How they behave, feel, and interact with each other, along with expressing their opinions on various matters and showing what they're like outside of whatever conflict they're facing, all done with a superb attention to detail, to the point where you can't sum them their personalities up in just one sentence. Having the series start from defeating the Demon King rather than ending with it probably helped in this regard, because Frieren as a show isn't about the epic monster fights or some grand journey to save the world, it's about how important making/maintaining friendships and connections are and how they can make an impact on people no matter how fleeting the encounter. It's kind of like _Natsume's Book of Friends_ in that its approach to characterization favors subtlety over excessive melodrama, and many of the post-Demon King adventures Frieren finds herself on lean more into being laid-back and heartwarming, exploring how Frieren's journey impacted her in both big and small ways. Even the minor characters Frieren and her party meet have their own stories to tell, and don't feel like just generic NPCs who just take up space. Frieren is a series that actually puts in effort to get you to care about our main party, and on that front, I think it succeeded with aplomb. Seriously, you have no idea how much I want to hail this series as an undisputed masterpiece. Alas, not even Frieren is perfect. I already mentioned my issues with the first opening and ending themes, but those feel more like nitpicking than anything. One thing even fans of the manga tend to dislike about Frieren is one particular tournament arc that puts Frieren's adventures on hold for over 20 chapters and embracing more generic shounen tropes that feel out of place in a series like this. While that particular arc isn't bad, I do agree that it's not as good as the stuff before it. The second half of the anime covers this particular arc, and now that I think about it, the whole arc and the justification the series tries to argue for it does come off as really silly, especially in regards to how one character approaches the third test and how she treats Frieren even though she's, y'know, the strongest living mage ever. Yeah, I don't like Serie. She's a petty brat who really needs a good slap to the face. There was one aspect of Sein's introduction episode that really rubbed me the wrong way, though that's a minor thing, and the English dub softened it a bit so it's not as off-putting. But really, those are the only criticisms I have of Frieren, and from what I've heard, there hasn't been a repeat of the mage exam arc since. I should probably get back to reading the manga. It's honestly a modern miracle that Frieren even got a high quality adaptation at all, especially since anime don't usually get full 24-26 episode runs anymore, and Frieren wound up getting 28, which really helped the pacing and story progression. _Frieren: Beyond Journey's End_ is a series you need to see if you like a more character-driven fantasy that favors subtlety and atmosphere over action and melodrama. For me, while Frieren didn't become one of my favorite anime of all time (If this had come out when I was much younger, it probably would have dethroned _Shounen Onmyouji_ as my favorite anime of all time), it did remind me of why I really love anime as a medium and as an art form, even if the current anime landscape is still overrun with soulless, corporate, substanceless isekai wish fulfillment power fantasies made only to cater to the lowest common denominator. But even beyond that, Frieren is living proof that it's the execution that matters, along with how an adaptation, if put in the right hands, can help a series thrive and become beloved for years to come. There's still more Frieren after the point where the anime ends, but it could very well stand toe-to-toe with greats such as _Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Clannad_, and many other anime that have been revered over the years. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is a series that absolutely earned its popularity, and here's hoping its success continues in the future.
_(spoilers, long review)_ Sousou no Frieren is an incredible anime that immerses you right into its world with its osts, its warm colorimetry, its scenes of contemplativeness and its believable dialogues. It's relaxing to watch but it also has the ability to leave you on the edge of your seat. The comedy is simple but there's also a sort of dry humor with how indifferent or emotionless the characters seem despite their situations. Overall, it's an extremely refreshing anime with unique approaches to storytelling and ridiculously polished visuals. It actually grew on me really slowly, I practically hated it somewhere around episode 7 to 10 and now I consider it as one of me favorite anime. This review is structured into 3 parts that could chronologically be seen as my gradual appreciation towards the story. The first section being centered around Aura the Guillotine Arc, the most flawed part in my opinion. The second section deals with the anime's unique storytelling and magic system usage. And the final section is a philosophical look into Sousou no Frieren and my personal general interpretation of it. ____ __Aura the Guillotine: Bland, script-wise__ In Frieren, characters really are anchored into their archetypes. You can sum up one in few adjectives and honestly, that wouldn't even be dumbifying them. They're quite simple yet the way they're characterized is very appealing. Fern is calm and disciplined which makes her react negatively whenever Stark or Frieren act inconsiderate. She's true to her feelings and will let people know she's mad but her seriousness prevents her from explicitely telling others why. Her diligence isn't so extreme she won't consider her feelings but it simulteanously makes her even more withdrawn when she's moody. Her main trait serves a double edged sword and it's very cute on top of making her likeable. Stark is a humble scaredy cat brave enough to face dangers despite his fears and ambitious enough to call himself a warrior despite his passiveness. Him being a 'coward' isn't pushed to the extremes like a Zenitsu and his 'simple minded stronk' side isn't as exaggerated as a Luffy, rather, it's incredibly mild in all aspects, making him believable, almost as a human being despite his character being absurd. In shorter terms, the characters being simple is justified, for it allows good characterization. img49%(https://i.imgur.com/zhhe0Ts.png) img49%(https://i.imgur.com/sMks5Eb.png) Unfortunately, this type of writting doesn't work all the time and if the scenario, which is what allows characters to be characterized, is a lackluster then the characters will suffer the same fate. Many series and books fall short when it comes to writting politics or at least inter-conflicts/large scaled strategies and Frieren is sadly no exception. Aura's strategy of lowering the barrier by faking peace with humans, all relying on demon's ability to mimic human speech is interesting but sending all of her right-hand men on enemy teritory was silly. They seemingly don't even really care about the mission since one of them go around and kill a guard even though they're supposed to act as peace convoys. When Granat, the ruler of the town, discovers the murder, the demons immediatly abandon the plan and kill every guard but Garnat. Then, their super plan consists of torturing him until he explains how to lower the veil. Personally, I wouldn't expect the responsible of a whole town whose family have been fighting demons with generational hatred for centuries to obey, even under torture. And since they don't even try to hide they'll kill everyone with Aura's army once the barrier is lowered, Garnat included, why would he ever do that? And it's not like it's an elaborated torture, he was quite litteraly dying with all the opened bleeding wounds. If it means dying he might as well die without revealing the secret that would destroy everything he and his family ever fought for. TL;DR: their torture plan was just lazy writting. It gets even goofier if you try to deep it: why are demons and humans even fighting for? I assume that, the demon species basically being human's predator, their battle is intrisic to nature. But then, if the conflict started out by demons trying to kill humans, luring them with human speech since begining of times as Frieren says, then why would humans ever trust them? It's not like they want lands or whatever, they litteraly just kill for fun and pleasure. What 'arrangments' was Lügner even going to propose? It's not a regular conflict about ressources, it's litteraly one group trying to exterminate another. I can accept that the leader of the small village in the flashback with Himmel and Frieren could get fooled, but Garnat who's been fighting with them for so long? Hard to believe. The character is also quite bad as most of his dialogues in this arc consist of him non-subtly explaining his hatred for demons or screaming 'LUGNERRRR' and he backtracks on his decisions every two seconds. It has to mostly be intentional but it still doesn't feel well executed regardless. All the events leading to the climax seemed desultory and nothing really seemed to matter in the plot, the plan, Frieren going in and out of prison, the killing of the guards and Garnat being a captive but NO ONE in the whole village noticed, including the other guards etc. I knew the story was tying to convey something more meaningful that its half baked scenario but I had so many critics against it that I genuinely couldn't enjoy the anime... That was, until episode 10 dropped. ____ __Frieren's formula & Magic System__ This scene left me with cold shilvers. The building up to the plot twist, the ost, the sound design, Frieren not even looking at Aura while she tells her to off herself, seeing the sheer despair of Aura being forced to cut her throat through her own POV with her head rolling off her neck and the last thing she sees being Frieren's back. Holy f#ck. That was cinema. In fact, this scene was so good that it absolutely eclipsed every single reproach I had with the anime. Litteraly. Of course, it's not just because the scene was cool but because it allowed me to watch Frieren in a light much more intersting than the one I was initially looking at. And I'll explain why in detail in this section. The way this scene was written made me remember the third episode with Zoltraak. Then, a similar plot pattern occured again in other episodes later on. After some analyzing, I concluded that this was so recurring that it deserved a name. I'm glad to present you what I call the Frieren Formula: - 1 __Fight OR event going one way__ (settings of a scene) - 2 __The story hints us that the fight or event going one way is weird__ (makes us question the settings of the scene) - 3 __Flashbacks gives us context as to why the fight or event goes one way__ (reveals the actual settings of the scene) - 4 __Leads to climax__ I'll take episode 10 as an example. Fern dominates Lügner and Frieren goes up against Aura. That's the __Fight OR event going one way.__ We're informed Aura can control her opponent if the latter has a smaller amount of mana than her. We don't understand why Frieren is so confident even though she knows about this and even though 'she has less mana than her'. Similarly we don't understand how Fern was able to spam her E skill against Lügner despite her 'not having that much mana'. That's the __The story hints us that the fight or event going one way is weird__ Frieren's flashback with Flamme explains the strategy Frieren has refined for centuries. She concealed her mana actively, everyday to the point it became a passive skill, unnoticeable to basically anyone. She enthrusted this secret technique to Fern who also acquired it. It explains why she was able to mess up with Lügner's strategies in their fight and it explains the confidence of Frieren. That's the __Flashbcaks gives us context as to why the fight or event goes one way__ And it __all leads to the climax__, Frieren overpowers Aura and kills her. This is what happened in the third episode. __1.__ Fern was able to block the Zoltraak attack with a basic defensive spell. __2.__ It doesn't make the slightest sense since the Zoltraak attack was so powerful back then it made him one of the strongest demon in history. Frieren's whole former party struggled against him so why is Fern able to block it so easily? __3.__ Flashbacks about humanity egearness to find a defense against the Zoltraak attack gives us context. __4.__ It all leads to Frieren & Fern defeating Zoltraak. Episode 26, __1.__ Übel is persuaded she can beat Sense's clone. __2.__ It's odd because Sense is much more powerful than Übel __3.__ Flashbacks about how Übel's perception of reality directly impacts her powers, notably for her cutting technic __4.__ All leads up to Übel cutting the clone of Sense's hair. Culture: ~~~img500(https://fictionhorizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Qual-1.jpg)~~~ Of course, this formula is tangible and what makes it actually good is what it allows the story to convey. In Aura the Guillotine Arc, the demon specie is represented as wild beasts that only use human speech to slay them more efficiently. They have no parents, they're left by themselves since birth. The only way they know to interact with the world is through violence and domination, making their whole culture revolve around strenght. Magic being the best vector of power for them, their hierarchy is entierly based around this and they dedicate their entire life to perfectionate their magic skills. Mana naturally develops the more they interact with magic, making mana the most reliable direct indication of their strenght. Mana to them is like money and ranks to us. Frieren partially hiding her own mana is the most treacherous thing she could do to them and it makes complete sense in the narrative given how much time it was said Frieren deceived her foes to beat them. I said the flashback comes in third but in reality most episodes are filled with flashbacks and call backs to previous scenes, making the whole episode a build up to the sole climax moment. The author managed to convey to us many informations about demon's culture and lore through, not magic itself, but the usage of magic. Seeing how magic shaped different species and affected history and understanding the different species with how they interact with magic is just crazy-creative worldbuilding. Similarly, the Zoltraak episode makes us learn about humans and their relationship with magic. 'The idomitable human spirit against fatality' would be a good way to dumb down the informations relayed to us in this episode. Humans, due to their low longevity are actively forced to leave their mark before their demise. They're more pressed and eager to achieve things than other species because they don't have much time. They communicate more, they live more closely, they share more knowledge and experience, they build and conquer more. This behaviour is translated into their ability to catch up and surpass other species with magic. Rock-Paper-Scissor powerscaling: Talking about powerscaling in Sousou no Frieren might seem like insane shonentard chronical behaviour but I don't actually care about x being stronger or weaker than y and... It doesn't really work like that here. Battles in the anime are all about deception, strategy and using spells efficiently. If I wanted to make a comparaison, I'd take playing football, for instance. You have to surprise your opponent, make your intentions unclear with numerous body feints and false indications. Having random skills is useless if you can't actually apply them efficiently in-game. In that regard, the powerscaling is quite realistic. ~~~img500(https://i.imgur.com/j2zF65U.png)~~~ One of Übel's power is to cut. The effectiveness of her power against a target depends on if she can picture this target being cut. This is completely broken or absolutely useless depending on the situation. If she's up against a magic user that uses water or earth, this skill is negligible since cutting such things is not feasible. However, it's an entirely different story if it's a magic cloak or mana incrusted hair. As soon as the flashback with the cloak guy began I instantly knew where this was going. This not only deepens our understanding of the psychology of Übel but it also introduces the Rock-Paper-Scissor powerscaling mechanic. In football, someone who can run fast and make use of big areas will be completely useless if he's cornered into small spaces. One spell can be more effective against another depending on the nature of the spell rather than the power behind it. Magic users have the responsibiltiy to ameliorate their chances and manipulate their match ups in order to always win even if they're 'weaker' than their opponent. Übel intimidating Sense with her pair of scissors in the flashback is one of the coolest thing I've watched and it's really peculliar because if I were to explain this scene to someone who's never watched the show there really isn't anything crazy about it. The same for Frieren concealing her mana, it's actually quite common in fiction. It only works within the story. It's the very definition of simple yet effective. The execution of the Frieren formula is just too strong. Scenes that would've made me sleep with different execution made me go OHHHHHHHHHH. I can't explain the sheer hype and interest I had watching a simple dialogue in episode 27. Ideologies: img49%(https://i.imgur.com/LTXKeuA.png) img49%(https://i.imgur.com/CmBffql.png) The Frieren formula also works for dialogues. The penultimate episode shows Serie being disappointed with her humans students. The double edged sword of humanity's greatness with magic is that it's mainly true if we consider human as a specie that evolves. If we take each individual, their potential is very limited due to their longevity in contrast of the robustness of the human race as a whole. There's a scene about her human student being one of the only creatures capable of seeing fluctuations in Frieren's mana. According to Serie, his potential would've only been reached if he was able to last longer. The scene ended with her revealing to the audience that she herself conceals her mana and he never noticed it. This scene itself follows a mini Frieren Formula pattern but it's only the first stage in the bigger Frieren Formula picture. What you're supposed to understand from this scene is Serie's values and interests: she wants to see how far magic, through magic users, can go. Hence why she's disappointed in human individuals that have a defined finality. Since we know for a fact Frieren doesn't actively try to upgrade her skills as a mage, Serie doesn't like her and intends to fail both Frieren and Fern. Those are the settings. What makes viewers re-evaluate the settings is Frieren saying to Serie she'll be impressed with Fern and make her pass the test. The scene with Serie's student, Frieren and Serie's conflict & theming coherence (since the begining of this sets of scenes starts off with Serie dissing humans, the logical conclusion would be to prove her wrong in the narrative): everything led to Fern passing, but how? The flashback introduces the notions of beauty and relatability. Series thinks the flowers spell is useless since it won't make a magic user improve. However, we learn that Himmel originally wanted to become a hero because of Frieren's flower spell. Knowing that Serie actually respects the Hero's Party for defeating the Demon King, an immensly talented magician, it cracks a hole in her logic. A useless spell was at the source of one of the defeaters of the Demon King. Knowing that Himmel chose Frieren for his party because of the spell Frieren herself showed to him in the past is interesting, was it fate or coincidences? I think it was a bit of both. To make it concise, they liked the same thing about magic and it eventually reunited them. Serie's vision of magic created many talented magic users but the thing she really wants is to find a magic user with potential as close or as greater as hers to see the very heights of magic. She doesn't relate to any of the magic users she failed and she doesn't find beauty in ephemeral things like flowers. The climax is when Fern tells Serie she can see her mana fluctuating. Series tries to endorse Fern but she intends to stay with Frieren. To me, thematically wise, it's because they share the same vision of magic and find the same beauty in things. Frieren inherited Flamme's ideologies and the same goes for Fern with Frieren. Symbolically speaking, Serie has the very thing she wants right in front of her eyes, Fern, but she can't have it because she doesn't understand what's beautiful in the flowers spell (they don't share the same values). The mage she's been searching for is the heir of Frieren's teachings that she hates so much, isn't that ironic? (That's one interpretation, there're definitely other and better ways to look at this scene) Despite not seeing much of the world for now, the way the magic system is executed allows great levels of worldbuilding, despite Sousou no Frieren not being fight-oriented, the powerscaling and fights are rich and interesting & despite the story being quite simple, the execution and the storytelling elevate the quality of the plot. I'm glad that I was able to to guess some plot twists with the Frieren Formula and I sincerely feel like I have a good understanding of the story and its purpose which leads to the next section. Needless to say, I still stand by everything I said in the first section, the flaws didn't magically disappear. It's simply that I was only focusing on the flaws so much so that I couldn't see anything else until the LowTierGod scene has made me focus on the good aspects so much so that I don't really find the flaws this important anymore. ____ __The usage of Frieren past for her character arc__ In Sousou no Frieren, time can be seen as an antagonist. And at the begining of the story, the antagonist already won against the protagonist. The scene that marked me the most in the first few episodes was when Frieren outright told her former party to their face that they were inconsequential existences that weren't even worth one one hundredth of her life. This scene actually kind of hurt me for Himmel because he loved her but she couldn't even see him as a potential partner due to their longevity difference (https://anilist.co/activity/659692929 more on that stuff on a post I made some months ago, where I compared Frieren with Omni-Man, if you're interested). She will long outlast any human she ever meets, making her devalue her relationships with humans and others in general. Time took away her yearning for relationships. She was similar to a nihilist finding connections futile since they were bound to vanish. It makes Frieren a sort of superior existence, insensible to everything and always composed. The thing she hadn't anticipated was the deep sadness and bitterness she experienced when Himmel died. If this existence didn't matter then why was she crying? Why did she felt regret? The longevity of something doesn't always dictate its value. One one hundredth of her life spent with her friends might have been the most important out of the thousands of years she's lived. Unfortunately, time can never go back. She realizes she never really knew Himmel and she never tried to deepen their bond. All she has now is memories and regrets. A second chance is given to her with Fern. This time she has to enjoy the moments they share while living together before it's over. The former party of Frieren are like shadows, present in many episodes in spite of most of them being already dead. They're a reminder of Frieren's mistakes so that she doesn't repeat them with Fern. Every of their apparitions echoes with the present and at times it almost feels like watching two storylines simulteanously. It's kind of cruel to make us attached to dead characters. It's a way to make us accept what's unchangeable while also making us look forward to the future with Frieren, Stark & Fern. img33%(https://i.imgur.com/8sXp7Uy.png) img33%(https://i.imgur.com/pYabhpV.png) img32%(https://i.imgur.com/zesAZhB.png) The past is the past and the future has yet to exist. The only real thing is the present. The chill and cozy vibes the anime gives off is a testament to that. It's all about appreciating the little moments in life. Here's a quote that really marked me when reading Witch Hat Atelier 'Instead of focusing on the satisfaction gained from being able to do something new, she's fixated on the apprehension she feels over the things she's not able to do yet.' Being in a loop where you waste time on instant pleasure and things of the sort is a type of hell but with self improvement comes another type of hell: disatisfaction. Not being able to enjoy the process of working on yourself and on your skills in x areas towards your goals and only wanting the end results is missing the whole point of living. If the only thing that matter is the results, your life is a living paradox. The results depend entierely on the actions taken to create such results. Your mindset will directly reflect on the outcome of your work. If you do not enjoy the path towards it then you will not enjoy the prize. When I was younger, I had the luxury to just enjoy things as they came but as I'm growing older, the results are getting more and more important. Frieren is a sweet reminder not to miss out on my own happiness. I don't want to look back at my past regreting not enjoying things enough when I could and I refuse living anxious of the future as if the present didn't exist. In that sense, Frieren reminds me of what's really important. ____ For the conclusion, I'll focus a lil on the things I haven't talked about: The sound design is excellent. In this scene, if you wear headphones, you'll hear Lügner voice in your right ear as he walks away. webm(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/711862997638971486/1220872102811533482/Project_1.webm?ex=661084c0&is=65fe0fc0&hm=1aa7741368e3957f5f7cc0dc6b577a46e2160fea889750b7798669c4002cd890&) The animation is smooth and the animation of scenes that wouldn't normally be animated that carefully like someone putting clothes on and someone getting off their bed only further accentuate the immersion. img43%(https://media1.tenor.com/m/6FOwrW3mHTYAAAAC/stark-frieren-sousou-no-frieren.gif) img56%(https://64.media.tumblr.com/1e2b2944ccdc435c247cccdb20b7effc/0839d97c43f89a5c-c4/s640x960/cb14ada3793007cd4e567c26f52616120d2a4b82.gifv) Couldn't make a Sousou no Frieren review without mentioning my GOAT, Sein, I hope we'll see him again. That's the end of the review, thanks to @adrx24 for unknowingly feeding me with perfect Frieren shots. Also self promoting moment but I made a comedy skit with some friends on Frieren you can check that out and leave a like but it's in french lmao ~!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kluzusHkehg!~ ~~~We'll be waiting for season 2.~~~ ~~~img500(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/684405431686267115/1220861383290257458/5LYzTBVoS196gvYvw3zjwKFPOOVdayOXqbaTmaSjPVI.png?ex=66107ac4&is=65fe05c4&hm=5e94c71b4b55e9bcd79b8e106b852a96574c4aeafa4c9d9f444d81355217335a&)~~~
Attention: This review may contain spoilers and everything written here is about my experience with the work. • Sousou No Frieren Another season ending and today it was also time to say goodbye to Frieren. Nowadays it's very rare (at least for me) that works come out that make you talk: This anime looks like it's going to be really good and that's what happened with Frieren. img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/hryq37.png) Sometimes the anime can have the best animation, but if it doesn't have a narrative that captivates the viewer, what good will the first option do? I've always been more in the mood to watch something that hooks me from start to finish and that's what happened with Frieren's anime. img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/ulnhod.png) I may be talking nonsense, but for something as great as Frieren to come out, I think it will take a long time. Frieren's story is very good, even though for some it has a simple basis. But, when a story is well told and presented, you can be sure that it will hardly have any errors. And no, I'm not saying the anime is perfect. The fantasy genre is still super ALIVE, Frieren came to show us that the genre still has its place, even if it is super rare to happen. Everything can work out when an anime has the combination of good animation, story, characters and a soundtrack that is present at almost every moment. I like how all of this manages to flow magnificently in Frieren's anime. img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/l7ztlw.png) • Fern and Stark img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/v919ry.jpeg) Sincerely? I don't think I can ship these two together, not that that's a bad thing lol I just feel like they're much better off the way they are. No, I don't know what else happens between them in the manga, but I prefer them this way. • Lessons for life img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/p1u5k9.png) There are a lot of things that can be taken from Frieren and one of them is how you should value your time more, enjoy life in the best way possible and pursue your goals. Everything passes quickly and what's left are just memories, if someone remembers your existence... Everyone wants to be able to go on a journey and they can't, few have the pleasure of feeling what it's like to truly live, sometimes what we lack are people who want to go on a journey. img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/4cmegy.png) I find it very incredible how Himmel always wanted to show Frieren how good life is, even with the thousands of problems that lie ahead. Without a doubt it is one of the best things the anime shows. img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/aiymfm.png) Sometimes all we need is a push, doubts will always exist and this is part of being human. Even with several doubts as to whether it is worth it? Should I go down this path? Am I capable of going out and exploring the world? img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/ahgfl2.png) Even the NPCs in Frieren have stories that in some way will be very well explored and that is what makes everything very good, well no... everything very well constructed even if it is simple. Frieren's journey is not over yet and mine is just beginning, it will be another incredible journey to have to look forward to the continuation of this masterpiece. img1000(https://files.catbox.moe/hpbceg.png) So that's it, I think Frieren is already in the top of the best anime ever made, maybe that's an exaggeration? Maybe, but what matters is how incredible my experience (journey) was watching Frieren. The smile I have while writing this review
__Life after the Great Adventure. __ Frieren is one of the most refreshing anime in recent memory, especially as a contrast to the oversaturation of unremarkable Iseaki anime that has run rampant (that said, there are some good ones like Mushoku Tensei). I came across the manga for years at this point, but I never took the plunge despite adoring the art style of the volume covers, so I was excited to see this adaptation. Whatever issue Madhouse has had in the past decade, after the departure of a lot of their key staff, seems to have been ironed out. If the production of BOCCHI THE ROCK! and Frieren is a testament to its quality in the foreseeable future, both shows are directed by the extremely young and talented Keiichirou Saitou. After the commercial and critical reception of both of these shows, I’m extremely excited to see how he will grow as an artist. So, what is the general premise? It starts where a conventional fantasy show will end. The great adventure is over. The Demon King has been defeated, and there’s peace in the land. So, what’s next? What’s next is Frieren dealing with her immortality. She’s beginning to learn what living is all about, or at least is attempting to understand. Her companions, who defeated the Demon King with her, are slowly dying with age. Some of the core themes are about time, regret, old age, and the importance of connection. The genius of the narrative is the framing device. As Frieren embarks on this new adventure with people (watch the show to find out the reason), it entwines both the past and present seamlessly. Often relating to each other both thematically and through character progression. It also brings the world to life. The show is a hybrid of some of my favourite genres and tropes fused together. I’m a huge Tolkien fan, obviously, so dealing with immortality and death has always been fascinating to me, especially when you have entities who cannot die by old age. It’s a fantasy world like a general JRPG, it’s a grand adventure while being a full-on slice-of-life. As a whole, it makes the experience feel alive, immersive, comforting, and melancholy. I wouldn’t say action is the focus, but whenever the anime depicts it, it’s brilliant. Some of Madhouse's best talent and production after years. The soundtrack is beautiful and fits the anime and its themes so elegantly. The animation, from subtle character expressions to subtle dance animation to bombastic action sequences, is all handled with care. It has been a comfort watch for the past 24 weeks. Of course, what ties this together are the wonderful characters. The dynamic of the cast is brilliant, a lot of moving and sweet moments throughout. The new and old characters that feature prominently do have depth. If I were to mention one thing that I adore about the series, it is its depiction of the passage of time. This is either from depicting a landscape and how it has changed or retained certain landmarks after 1000s of years or even the adventure itself and how Frieren's party has to be in place for months or sometimes longer. It oddly feels realistic how long you are in a location for, it doesn’t blitz through it. It is often within those moments that the characters feel the most realistic under those circumstances, experiencing the mundane tasks of just living. In Conclusion, it’s a wonderful fantasy show that is worth the hype and your attention.
================================================================== ~~~__Frieren: Beyond Journey's End__~~~ ================================================================== Frieren: Beyond Journey's End has concluded and the biggest accolade I've seen attributed it that, not only has Frieren revived the fantasy genre, reinvigorated Madhouse's position, but most notably, that it is an anime free of tropes/clichés — but the last point isn't reflective of reality. What makes Frieren special is how it handles tropes that makes it free from cliché. A common take I dislike is that tropes are inherently bad, they aren't. Many tropes can vibrate with the essence of said character, it is just the lack of characterization associated with the trope that makes many meaningless, and thus, cliché. Frieren can be argued, at least in the beginning, to be a Mary Sue, but the more you learn, she isn't _exactly_ one. Her power doesn't come from _just_ because, but rather, her immense dedication to her passion of collecting magic for the past millennium. Stark has the trope of an overpowered character who doesn't believe in his own strength, classic.. but he suffers from impersonator syndrome, he doesn't even believe in himself. Instead of that notion coming out of nowhere, he has, albeit flawed, a reason nonetheless. The use of a trope is of his character itself, not as a cliche. ================================================================== In fantasy shows, elves are generally very long-lived, and you will not believe who is an elf.. Frieren. To an elf, a lifespan such as ours is very short lasting, as time is essentially distorted. What is 10 ENTIRE YEARS to us may feel as if it was a month for her. What's a reasonable time for an elf to visit a friend is almost an entire generation.. or 3. But this is what establishes the beauty of Frieren. People have called Frieren a “kuudere”, which is an archetype of a character who is outright detached from emotions; in essence, yes, Frieren is reminiscent of such an archetype, yet, she is not. She experiences emotions, and throughout my life, I've evolved too. From crying at an embargo of chocolate pudding and being isolated in my chambers for hours on end (mom said it's bedtime and no snacks); but, if for whatever reason, my mother repeated that, I, in my love for chocolate pudding, wouldn't shed a tear, it’s a bad example, but I've grown up. How I experience and express emotions has matured, and who knows through the experiences of a mage who has lived for over 1,000 years, how she expresses and experiences emotions has evolved? – The biggest issue with kuuderes, to me, is you cannot attach your emotions to most of them, you cannot empathize, you cannot relate to them. They are seemingly emotional androids, but you can and do with Frieren -- unlike a kuudere, she isn't _emotionless_, she's __emotionally distanced__. The show and its beauty isn't about experiencing emotions for the first time, she has already shown an abundance, and clearly, it couldn't be her first time, but it is to value _why_ you can and do feel those emotions and the time associated with the memories/present that evoke such emotions. To value the people you have in your life and to be empathetic to those around you too. Frieren is shown many times, even if she has difficulty understanding emotions, to care and worry just as deeply. `` `` img1000(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OTuOBfvni0U/maxresdefault.jpg) `` `` `` `` With this, I took as a message to appreciate time, to live life for what it's worth, even if you feel you have the time to laze around, there is also much more you _can_ do in your life – and the lack of appreciation can snowball into regret, Frieren thought she had all the time in the world, and she was correct, but her beloved did not. It has helped me realize how limited our time is, without the existential crisis, and to appreciate who we have, when we have them. Animes have moved me, instead of idolizing values preached, this anime has spurred me into action to actually.. do. I've spent more time with my family, I've started to apologize a lot more, as the time spent with negativity, with what time we have, are ill-spent. I already knew it, but Frieren pushed me to do it. ================================================================== Shows, in their purest forms, have two things: intention & obstacle. One Piece? Luffy (main character, if you somehow didn't know) wants to be the pirate king -- that is his intent, now the obstacle is the government, who hates pirates; and other pirates. But where is this formula in Frieren? Of course, we have setbacks, but setbacks aren't exactly obstacles, just as going to nana's house and there being a roadblock (very rude roadblock!) doesn't mean it's impossible, it essentially just requires a detour that may delay you. The episodes are so compact with details and an undertone of pure enjoyment, episodes can feel like they flew by, but you’re left satisfied feeling you’ve actually learned about the world, its magic, the characters, all of it. The show, for me, hasn’t dragged out once. People can enjoy shows who do that, hell, I watched all of One Piece. But, there are times when I am anything but fond of it. Frieren allows you to love it, if you, of course, so choose to. But the show is about and focuses heavily on the present and not, “when will this happen?” or “this is the goal we’re going to accomplish btw!! :3” – For example, while I am interested in seeing what this "heaven" thing is all about.. the fact I have rarely put that much thought into seeing the goal and more into the journey.. Its ability to accomplish such a feat of keeping you enthralled is a testimony to its paramount storytelling. ================================================================== One thing many animes preach, with Frieren not being an exception, is that collectivism is better than individualism, yet, their execution makes the messaging fall flat. A character can be so insanely overpowered or always lucky that it ruins the idea of actual group work and learning _together_. While some animes can execute that part successfully, some further fall flat as the character can still end up remaining self-centered/individualistic. Frieren, however, doesn't make this mistake. In many instances, the characters have to work together, independently, but for an overarching goal and to fight in an accommodating way which accounts for each other's strengths and weaknesses; most notably in episodes 8-10. Even if Frieren can probably win without much difficulty, she is both an ally and a teacher, and whilst those under her care may doubt their strength, Frieren knows they can endure & succeed and encourages the working-together aspect. Which we see even more within the Mage Exam Arc. img290(https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/11/e98a0-16990407362441-1920.jpg) img290(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/U0LNjYBH-fg/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLD9VxQZ4axLqaeU45mwX9Cq21bhuA) img500(https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/01/be201-17050807479091-1920.jpg?w=840) I love almost everything about Frieren, especially the visual storytelling, there is almost, if not any, unnecessary dialogue just for the sake of it. You can see communication in people's visible expressions, their pause, their hand gestures, etc., which communicate people's emotions and change. Take the ballroom for example, we see Fern initially apprehensive at Stark's hand, then comfortability, then happiness. And while it's nice to learn one's mindset and characterization, internal monologue aren't always necessary, and in my opinion, takes away from the scene and focuses on the character instead of the moment. Frieren balances the dialogue, allowing for truly amazing moments. It develops relationships between people, Fern & Stark are the highlight of that. We see characters get closer and learn to confide in one another, have banter, mess around, it not only feels, _it is_ organic. img1000(https://i.redd.it/56qed6j8zo6c1.jpeg) I've seen arguments such as "who's the better couple? Deku x Explosion-Guy or Deku x Guy-Who-Couldn't-Dodge-The-Kettle" and to me, it feels like a cop-out, just "oh. my. god. he works hard? i am in love" WHAT DO YOU MEAN? THAT'S IT? - I've been in love before, it can feel as sudden as that, but there are building blocks that set the fundamental foundation to allow yourself to properly fall in love; to trust, to love, to feel comfortable, everything. Instead of showing us a random loaf of bread, it gives us crumbs that build the bread itself, you see the dough form and mold into the bread itself, that you can see. Additionally, with the characters, we have huge differences. Characters actually feel like characters, and I love all of them. We actually see growth and characters mellowing out as the series progresses. There are some people I haven’t seen or spoken to in years, yet, they were awesome people, even if I knew them for a short time, but y’know, the world is small sometimes, I am sure I’ll meet at least one of them again in the future – but this is also what’s beautiful about Frieren, we have outstanding characters we may or may not see again, but the fact we were able to be introduced to such characters is what I find special and realistic about Frieren. Also, reasonings. Stark started his journey with Frieren as his master requested it, and he wanted to give great stories to his master. To Fern, on the other hand, who lost her family in war, and Heiter, who saved her life, Frieren is essentially the only family she has left. With the juxtaposition of their reasonings and chemistry, plus love for Frieren, I find it very special. ================================================================== People generally give accolades to a talented creator for their music composition in a series, which Evan Call, by all accounts, rightfully so. But no matter how good a soundtrack is, if the anime studio uses it improperly or doesn't let the music truly take its form, bringing a scene to the emotional place we need to truly appreciate the sentimental aspects of the show to even greater heights, the music is then, tragically, equated to jack when misused. Madhouse, in practically every instance, used the soundtrack properly at every perfect instance, they let it play out and let the emotions hit deeply, and it works. The soundtrack is my favorite from Evan Call, and I cannot imagine one more fitting for Frieren. I give my props for Madhouse giving the respect Evan deserves by utilizing his music so skillfully and efficiently, and Evan for composing it as masterfully as he has. Lastly, the visuals. There’s not much I can say which can articulates the appreciation it deserves, but it is genuinely an amazing fest on the eyes, how amazing the backgrounds are crafted, which can be appreciated, from things as simply being seen as a hand behind the flower, you can appreciate the beautiful world that Frieren lives in and you are, alongside her, on a journey on. For a show more philosophical and somewhat laid-back, it genuinely may be, especially as of Episode 26, the best animated show I have ever seen. The visuals are insane during fights, with beautiful colors bringing and the power that can truly be felt in your room, and it truly brings out the heart and soul of the animators, voice actors, and every component that is in the show. img1000(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1174177728300322836/1220909164499304508/image.png?ex=6610a744&is=65fe3244&hm=2c5c8af220b7f93e5b406f906780ad2aef734d29653619be74f394fa7820f639&) ================================================================== Frieren is at its strongest with characters, and while I wish to fangirl in the most masculine way further, and would’ve given more specific examples, but I do not want to spoil the show further for those who read my review without having been exposed to the show previously. I encourage you to watch it, it may take a bit or be strong during the first episode, but it will become a soft, if not, all-time favorite. It has touched places in my heart and pushed me forward to places that I never expected to be moved from a piece of media, it has opened my eyes even further. Thank you to the amazing staff who made the show as great as it is, the mangaka & their artist, voice actors, and everybody. For all of this and how it spoke to me, this is the greatest show I have ever watched. Even though it just ended, I’ve watched over 75 episodes of Frieren due to how many times I’ve already rewatched it. Additionally, thank you to all who have read my review too. This anime is a perfect 10/10; in characters, story, animation, art, sound, everything. For Frieren, in the genre of what I see as lackluster, is currently the exception, but as genre-defining as Sword Arts Online was, Frieren too, shall, while not presently, be the example. `` `` `` `` img1000(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_uZQqavUe58/maxresdefault.jpg) __P.S__: One thing I see many people didn't take note of is how dedicated the sound team was, when Frieren jumps or tilts her head, you can actually hear the sound of her earrings moving, I thought that level of detail was genuinely so amazing. :^)``
With an overwhelming number of recent entries in the fantasy genre shoved full of metahumour and other undiegetic elements, Sousou no Frieren stands out as is the one of the few with a sincere tone. It is no surprise that this breath of fresh air in a genre made stale by the prevalence of isekais has attracted much praise and attention. Yet it promises to be a high fantasy Violet Evergarden but ends up being a Critical Role campaign. That is still something praiseworthy but presents a major issue since it was not what was advertised. There is quite a lot that both sides of the spectrum seem to miss in their examination of Frieren, so bearing with me on this rather detailed analysis is appreciated. Though if only a brief overview is desired, the next paragraph also serves as an introduction to the points before they are substantiated. Despite the refreshing return to an earnest fantasy story without many gimmicks, Frieren is still fundamentally limited in that it sticks closely to its genre’s conventions without breaking much new ground, if any. To the show’s credit, opening with its more profound character elements and themes is putting its best foot forward, demonstrating there is more to the narrative than just the usual fantasy tropes or spectacle. The degree to which it has explored its characters already placed it well above genre expectations. However, much of Frieren’s deeper questions and thematic ideas are still underdeveloped, especially when compared to what the show promised in its opening hook. It is certainly resonant relative to the average expectations of a shonen action-fantasy, and at least gives the appearance of profundity, but much of its narrative resources are still spent relishing in tropes and spectacle instead of furthering the emotional and character elements that could make it stand out. What thematic ideas it presents certainly has the potential of depth, but currently amounts to merely provoking the viewer to infer possible meanings from its smattering of tidbits instead of the text doing anything concrete. While this could be argued as subtlety, the show has gone on for a significant length of time without unpacking or elaborating on of its ideas, such that it raises doubts about its capacity or intent to explore them instead of just using it as an emotional aesthetic. Instead, an inordinate amount of narrative time and effort is spent expositing about its world and “magic system”, only for it to undercut a lot of its sincerity and suspension of disbelief with how tropey and incongruent it can be. Frieren is not a poorly executed or meritless show by any stretch of the imagination, far from it, but it is also apt to question how much of the exceptional praise is warranted on closer inspection. The first complication with any good faith discussion of Frieren is establishing what the show’s opening promise to the viewer truly is. The initial episodes set this up to be the story of the character of Frieren reflecting on how experiences of her last adventure have subtly changed her. It takes on the framing of a more pastoral and introspective story told mainly through her changing her perspective on the world and how she interacts differently with the new people in her life. Intersecting all of this is the implied examination of themes like the perception of time, memory, loss of loved ones, the nature of religion, even more metaphorical ideas like what mana and magic symbolize about the human condition, just to name a few lofty ideas brought up, or perhaps only hinted at. While this is the dominant tone in the first few episodes, it is juxtaposed, sometimes quite jarringly, with a gradual increase in tropey worldbuilding and growing “anime-ish” tone. Perhaps most concerning of all, there is an escalating importance of action and spectacle as the main means the show uses to entertain the viewer and derive meaning from. The two halves certainly can exist in the same show, and already do to a degree within Frieren despite the inherent tension. However, beyond the problem with tonal whiplash and suspension of disbelief it creates within the narrative, it also stifles a lot of discourse with how easy makes shifting the goalpost. Any criticisms of Frieren being a rehashing, albeit an effective one, of D&D or Pathfinder tropes is unceremoniously put down with the argument that its world merely serves as a setting for a deep character study. On the other hand, criticisms of the characters and themes being underexplored are dismissed as snobbery, with the pretext that the more tropey elements, growing focus on action and occasional juvenile tone mean it is expecting too much from what is obviously a simple action-adventure romp. Obviously, these two ideas are incongruent with each other and demonstrate how easy this sophistry is. How can something be both profound enough to warrant high praise while being shielded from closer inspection by pleading itself as merely popular entertainment? Like most things, much of Frieren lies somewhere in between these extreme positions, falling more to one side or another depending on personal perception and preference. However, prima facie, Frieren’s promise to the audience is a focus on its more serious and profound ideas, with the more tropey elements implied to be there merely to further this end instead of supplanting it. This is how it is sold via its various synopsis, how the MAL summary has elected to pitch the series, and how an overwhelming number of preliminary reviews have interpreted the series and praised it based on this. Even the vocal minority who concoct rather disingenuous reasons to deride this show have it as a core assumption: that Frieren is boring because it is, ostensibly, a show where characters just talk about their feelings instead of blowing each other up for their entertainment. While there are some grounds to see Frieren as just an another action-adventure fantasy, it is clear that this is neither the intuitive nor intended way to perceive the show. There are elements that are indicative of its later change in trajectory, but these are only apparent in hindsight or to a viewer who was actively seeking them out instead of the narrative emphasizing them. This is a crucial distinction to make since it is neigh impossible to discuss whether the show fulfils its expectations if what its objectives are ill-defined. With that established, Frieren’s issue is that the trajectory of the show eventually takes on the trappings and structures of a standard shonen series despite announcing an intent to go in a different direction. This is not necessarily something detrimental to its entertainment value or narrative integrity. In fact, there is a brilliance to having the show’s premise centered around the aftermath of a traditional narrative. It has been done before, but it is far from common and Frieren’s execution of it was excellent. This setting gives the show a strong emotional and thematic core right off the bat by drawing on potent feelings of sentimentality, nostalgia and loss. This allows Frieren to proxy the emotional weight of the sequel without the baggage of fan expectations around it or having to go through the relatively trite initial narrative of a quest to defeat an archvillain. It gives what would otherwise be a relatively generic fantasy shonen a better capacity to balance between characters and action while delivering emotional punches that take comparable shows years of cultivating nostalgia around their own series to achieve. The real pain point lies in how Frieren undergoes this transformation gradually by stealth. It goes against the initial promise, even tone of the series, to be point of arguably stringing along the section of the audience sold primarily on a more introspective character driven narrative. This is most clearly seen in the whole premise of the later Mage Exam Arc, which is simply a tournament arc of sorts by another name. It is still relatively well executed, but it has the same pitfalls of its ilk in other shonen series: The focus on spectacle as the primary source of entertainment, minimal or surface level tie back to the characters and themes, and a few of the usual tropey irritants like characters monologuing exposition or their backgrounds mid-battle. There is a steady escalation of battles, organizations, “magic systems” and nebulous “lore” built atop D&D tropes becoming the main driver of the show, all while feeling like these elements are interesting primarily for the sake of it and nothing much else. Despite this, and to Frieren’s substantial credit, the character work as it stands is still of a relatively high quality. Many of the subtle character interactions and little windows we get into their inner thoughts during quiet moments already demonstrate some level of substance or complexity. However, it is apparent that this has more to do with how shallow many competing shows are than any proven depth delivered by Frieren. While having these fragments, tidbits and musings might pass for character depth in other shows, it is still asking viewers to do most of the hard work by filling in more gaps than ought to be expected. Not only does this potentially distort the vision the writer has for a character too far, but it also suggests that there might not be much beneath the surface to beginning with. Surpassing this standard is certainly a high bar, but Frieren has received high praise to match that expectation and has firmly established a promise with its text that it should be aiming to achieve this. The issue is that for all the insight into the characters that the show provides, they are all still mainly relegated to being flashbacks kept to themselves, or short conversations that mostly talk around any substantial exploration of the issue. While some of this is appropriate, perhaps even subtle or sophisticated in exploring the character’s inner life, the show has gone on for a substantial amount of time while only brushing up against what was promised to be its core themes. Frankly, a significant part of the profundity attributed to the show’s meaning has been contributed by generous viewer inferences or them bringing some of their personal history and feelings to the table. This is not necessarily a bad thing since it is indicative that the show has delivered compelling ideas with enough literary ambiguity to engage the audience. Nor can the viewer be blamed for reading too much into things since the ideas the show presents are designed to encourage this response with their obvious potential to be unpacked further. However, the issue remains that none of these unpackings are within the text. Some of this is to be expected and even encouraged, but so many ideas have been left unelaborated for too long, to the point the constant tiny reminders to them have come to feel like surface level repetitions or truisms instead of showing the audience anything. While a viewer is expected to start off giving media the benefit of the doubt in order to establish a suspension of disbelief, there is still a need to renew and earn further trust as things progress. A series can only go so long hinting at big ideas before it eventually must prove that there is something to back it up. This is not to say that Frieren should spew everything all at once in some ham-fisted way, but there is a distinct lack of elaboration at any level on the greater themes and how characters feel about them in detail. Put more directly, we know only in general what characters like Frieren feel, have some concrete idea of why, plenty of interesting suggestions, but can only make weak inferences that are more parts speculation to what any of it reflects or changes about their view of the world and beliefs. What this has led to is the steady erosion of the viewer’s confidence in the intentionality of the writer. That instead of deliberate ambiguity to demonstrate the complexity of an idea and build towards a larger point, it is there as almost a red hearing of sorts, that possibly there is nothing deeper or more coherent than this. It could be argued that not every theme, especially ones tackling emotional experience, need to be organized and interrogated to be presentable or meaningful, yet there is never any direct indication by the narrative that this reason for their lack of elaboration. Imagine an action show that only shows snippets or brief sequences of fights, never fully entering a prolonged scene that requires any real choreography of the characters or demonstration of how one of them beats the other. These short flashes of action might be dramatic and compelling, a way to abruptly and violently boil over tension or create a memorable subversion of pacing or expectations. Yet it is hard to say the show really delivers on its promise of being about action since it never proves it knows what stakes, character motivations or framing makes a compelling fight scene. In the same vein, there is always this constant hope that Frieren will use some of its many quieter moments to have the characters actually explore their feelings or ideas. It certainly does not need to reach a definitive conclusion, but merely problematizing only one of its many themes would have been sufficient to earn the trust of the viewer. It is an indicator that the writer is aware this is an important part of the show’s promise, has the means to meaningfully explore these themes, and the lack of proper discussion on these ideas while musing about them is a stylistic choice instead of fleeing from it. The problem is that there never is that deep heart to heart talk or direct introspection. What compounds on this issue is that show demonstrates it is willing to dedicate time to direct exposition and elaboration, just in service of a completely different end. Frieren spends a substantial amount of time, from as early as episode 3, elucidating about the history of the world and how magic functions. Much of this background knowledge is frankly tropey and incongruous, drawing more so from D&D and RPG systems than other fantasy narratives. The idea that the worldbuilding of Frieren is comparable to Tolkien is laughable, but perhaps also speaks to how well executed its emotional storytelling was since it smoothed over its flaws to such a great degree. Although it is usually the coherence of the world that supports the believability of its characters, Frieren is exceptional in proving that the reverse can be done. Of course, vague or even incongruent worlds are hardly the dealbreaker some people make them out to be. Having a setting serve the characters is a perfectly legitimate way to tell a story, especially one focused on exploring ideas instead of some grand plot. Yet drawing so much attention and dedicating a substantial amount of narrative resources to explain parts of the world only makes any incongruence harder to overlook. And more importantly, it begs the question of what purpose any of it serves beyond being done for the sake of it. For instance, a significant amount of dialogue and narrative time has been spent attempting to explain magic: The suggestions of some kind of distinction between magic of human or arcane origin and that of being drawn from the divine; the suggestions on the nature of mana and how it can be manipulated; the suggestions of rational principles behind magic spells yet also an instinctual way to produce magic; the then somewhat contradictory suggestion that magic is reliant on imagination; even a rather tropey video game style distinction between the magical and physical nature of forces. Yet for all the ink spilt on this matter, it does not create any systematized magic system that has the benefit of making the world feel more concrete. They are all vague notions of how magic works, which still leaves no inferable or understood parameters of what is possible or impossible for characters to do. This is not necessarily a problem since magic is after all precisely that, magic. But it begs the question of how much magical technobabble was really necessary or meaningful since all it amounts to is the rule of cool with a sprinkling of some nebulous metaphors on top. Nor does any of this effort do much to further depth since most of this is used to justify the conclusions to fights instead of furthering characterization. While many colourful, poetic inferences or symbolism can be drawn from the magic, they are all still rendered weak by the questionable intentionality behind any of it. Only the surface level connections like matching certain styles of magic to the personality of a character are concrete, and it is hard to praise this level of symbolic depth when so much more was promised. Perhaps this will all amount to some payoff further down the line, but that seems to be too far off and too late relative to how much time is spent on the matter now. Yet perhaps the most jarring examples come from the world building side, the most obvious of which is the existence of dungeons. Instead of these being explained as the occasional ruin or place of significance that have attracted monsters for one reason or another, they are quite blatantly framed as something straight out of a video game, designed to be explored floor by floor with secret rooms and treasures. Similar instances of lifting from D&D and calling it world building appear as early as the introduction of Kraft, who announces himself as a monk for no apparent reason. What significance or meaning that would hold is hard to discern since the title alone tells us little. It lacks to mention some sort of holy order that would give the viewer or characters some insight to his specific beliefs and shape expectations. It is easy to overlook earlier instances of characters functionally announcing their class as if this was a video game. For the Hero’s party, it is natural to assume the titles were something tied to their personal renown. In other instances, like Fern saying she is a mage, it is easy to see how this information has immediate contextual significance since it is an uncommon vocation with special skills, more akin to announcing oneself as a medical doctor. On the other hand, when Stark is introduced to Kraft as a warrior, it is hard to see how that designation carries any significance beyond being a man with a weapon, something that ought to be commonplace and hardly worth mentioning in a medieval fantasy. In retrospect, the idea that Himmel is using the title of Hero not because of some renown he earned prior to their quest but because it’s his “job” or “class” is disappointing to say the least. This fault alone might be more of a minor contrivance in other shows, or for some even a feature since the use of D&D tropes as narrative short hands or an aesthetic is apparently popular these days. However, the issue is that Frieren dedicates a significant amount of effort to explaining all its lore, draws significant attention to it, only for it to still be found lacking. All this at the expense of time that could be used to elaborate on its promised, and frankly much stronger character elements. This is perhaps one of the cases where the world is better off being left vague since a poor attempt at definition has had the opposite effect and undermined the suspension of disbelief. D&D created many of its game systems and concepts as an abstraction of a fantasy narrative to allow for players to interact with a story instead of being railroaded along. Passive media telling a fixed narrative has no need for this, such that using many of these conventions only highlight to the audience the hand of the writer. While this might still be tolerable to some since suspension of disbelief has a subjective component, it is still hard to give Frieren a pass when it so obviously and unnecessarily places it under strain. It calls into question the consideration, effort and seriousness the writer has about the narrative if they are willing to use tropes without much thought to them. A writer who is ostensibly dedicated to exploring the deeper ideas they brought up would have been cognizant of this and would have at least adapted these tropes to have them feel less blatantly incongruous. All of this serves only to harm the believability of the characters instead of supporting it. This is to say nothing about the occasional tonal lapses of the show which disrupt the earnest and serious framing of the narrative. Most of Frieren’s camera work and animation is as unintrusive as possible so as to minimize jarring reminders that the viewer is watching a show. However, when it comes to many of the comedic moments, there is this double shift where both the tone of the characters and the framing of events become almost that of an anime style sitcom. The abrupt cutaways that use the camera to aid in the joke combined with the voice acting taking on a highly exaggerated style really takes the viewer out of it. This does gradually improve, with the show only using either exaggerated tone or camera work to land a joke, such it does not overwhelm suspension of disbelief, but the damage still remains. For all the subtlety the show has with its quieter character moments, very little of that effort has been put in with its humour. This issue with the overall tone only compounds as the series goes on, with many new members of the supporting cast being introduced taking on a tropey and even caricatured personality. While there is certainly room for characters like Ubel, Kanne and Lawine to be developed, much of the immediate depth the show displayed with the core cast is conspicuously missing from them. While still serviceable, and sadly still relatively good when it comes to the expectations of most shonen series, it is a noticeable step back from Frieren’s initial character work and the quality it promises to continue delivering. All these tonal issues creates a pattern of questionable effort or thought that only serve to further undermine suspension of disbelief and the intentionality of the writer. None of this was said to detract or ruin the personal experience. That is frankly something no review, no matter how objective, can really take away from someone. Sometimes the themes and tone of the show just connect with someone’s personal experience in such a way that the emotional experience surpasses what the actual contents of the text can back up. Yet it is also disingenuous to say that this personal lens renders an objective assessment non-existence or unimportant. Absolute objectivity may be impossible, but that does not eliminate the rest of the spectrum where views and opinions can certainly have more or less bias. Despite its merits, it is hard not to feel a little cheated by the show. It promised to be a character piece with occasional action but inverted this dynamic as the show went on. In some ways, it speaks to Frieren’s effectiveness at storytelling since many viewers seemed not to have noticed or cared. It has onboarded and retained a significant audience who would otherwise be uninterested in more traditional shonen fare. Perhaps it is a testament to the genius execution of Frieren’s introduction that its emotional punch still lingers this far when they’ve done relatively little to reinforce it. At the same time, it is also eye-wateringly ironic that many viewers who would presumably like Frieren at its current stage could not get past or were in contempt of its first few episodes. While it remains easy to dismiss a lot of their complaints as made in bad faith, it is still notable that both camps technically do share the same premise of what they expected Frieren to be yet still mostly do not recognize that it has strayed from that. It is then even more remarkable that how much discourse around the show on both sides centers around a promise that is never quite lived up to. Overall, it’s hard to say Frieren is outstanding when it deviates quite far from the promise it makes to the viewer. It is still of high quality, especially relative to the genre and demographic it ultimately falls into, but that is all inspite of its opening being misleading rather than because of the strengths it builds off it. There is much more that can be said about the myriad of other cracks in the worldbuilding and lore, but those are only major issues relative to the expectations the show wants to be held to rather than the standards that are actually appropriate for it as a fairly juvenile action-adventure fantasy. With that understanding, Frieren is a good as show as any to be well liked and is of a quality many others should aspire to. The flaws brought up here are only meant to highlight the serious pattern of how they undermine one crucial element, the promise of Frieren to focus heavily on characters. Given how critical setting viewer expectations accurately is, the dizzying level of praise the show receives seems hardly deserved. While some will parrot the idea of liking a show for what it is, the saying’s true meaning is that one ought to discard preconceived notions that unfairly taint an experience rather than an insistance that a viewer is obligated to make lemonade out of lemons. Perhaps it is somewhat contradictory to give the show a high numerical rating of an 8 out of 10 while still not fully recommending it, but unfortunately, that is the only reasonable way to square the circle of a show that does not give you what was advertised but provides something else of a fairly high quality. Though I was led to expect something more subdued and meditative, I like Frieren well enough as it stands. I will admit it is a genre and type of story I have somewhat outgrown, but not something I cannot appreciate as seen with other shows I have watched. The failed promise might have simply been an author having a brilliant idea of a short, more contained series but had to find a way to force it into a serialized format for an entirely different demographic. But even with that benefit of the doubt, there is still a sour taste in one’s mouth when so much of the show feels like it wants to have its cake and eat it. To explore the psyche and experience of a long lived, immensely powerful character, yet also draw drama and tension from trials of raw combat instead of testing their feelings or beliefs. It wants to be this great, profound character study while also being easily digestible and having the mass appeal of flashy entertainment. My only wish was that Frieren would have opened with letting me like it for what it eventually becomes instead of pretending to be something it was not.
img2220(https://sm.ign.com/ign_za/gallery/f/frieren-be/frieren-beyond-journeys-end-gallery_sekw.jpg) Finshed Frieren this morning and absolutely adored this series! I firmly believe this is a fantastic series that deserves all the praise and more, it's a generational leap forward for the anime industry and creators alike; a resounding and deeply human story that borrows elements from Tolkien's _Lord of The Rings_ and where the journey is the precipice of the story. Frieren starts off in a very unique setting and storytelling perspective, beginning at the end of Frieren's journey after she and her group have already defeated the demon king and have set in stone an era of peace to come. It's a very unique jumping off-point to Frieren's character and her involvement in this world, despite living for hundreds of years she is still in some ways detached and closed-off from others, and it is because of this that Frieren ends up stumbling on another journey with a new group of friends. All past events are revisited through important character beats and story developments, it's one of the few animes I've seen that effectively use flashbacks to heighten the emotional moments and create a beautiful cyclical form of storytelling. I think the story here is really phenomenal and has incredible pacing, each episode is in service of the grand narrative and many moments feel small but they're purposefully done in that way. It's extremely Tolkien-esque in the way the journey matters more than the result, it's the experience you have with those around you and the memories you share that you remember. Above everything Frieren is a story about connection and memories and grief, and how they all culminate together and redefine what it means to live and carry on, it's an extremely simple and endearing story that is one of the best I've seen in this medium so far if not the best. img2220(https://static.animecorner.me/2023/06/Frieren-trailer-1024x576.png) I have to highlight the staff and their incredible work throughout this masterpiece, from the music to the animation to the voice acting and more, every bit of it is done on a pristine level of excellence that I rarely tend to see excel so well. I feel generally really lucky and grateful to see this piece of work in a time of my life where I've grown fonder of quieter and subtle stories that don't focus on grandiose set pieces or complex intrigue plots but rather ones that focus on character first and story second, and that's ultimately what Frieren is about and what it excels at. Talking more about the technical aspects of the show it has fantastic music and animation, you can feel every pore of passion brought into this with Madhouse at the top of their game, and don't let the simple story fool you because the action set pieces here are some of the best I've seen, magic feels weighty and devastating and characters get hurt. It's a peaceful story for the most part and it's why when situations get tense you feel that energy deeply. The tone is masterfully balanced throughout and expectational all-around. I really believe we're seeing a landmark moment in anime history with this one, it's rare to see something that is so universally beloved and rightfully so, and I believe Frieren hits so hard because it strikes at our fundamental aspects of ourselves: our memories and connection and identities, our fears and hopes and regrets, and our love and hate. Despite the effervescent magic systems and otherworldly beasts (all extremely cool in their own rights) Frieren is a deeply deep human story, where characters come front and center and the story is pushed and pulled by them and not the other way around. Especially in an age where I feel we're surrounded by animes that focus on large and complex stories it's extremely refreshing to see something like Frieren thrive, in fact I would even say because of the overexposure of other action-focused anime it makes Frieren all the more fresh and unique. Incredibly exciting to see this come to life and realized so incredibly well, I'm grateful to see stories like this being told and received so well. An endearing stunning masterpiece that is an essential viewing for all and one that I can't recommend enough. Thank you for existing Frieren, I can't wait to see the rest of where your journey goes from here. img2220(https://butwhytho.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Frieren-Beyond-Journeys-End-Season-1-But-Why-Tho-2.jpg.webp)
~~~___"I won't ask to see you, so at least Let me remember the past, just for today So, if we were to meet again No more hesitations, I'd choose the present."___~~~ ~~~ _Non-spoiler review for Frieren: Beyond Journey's End_~~~ ~~~__Madhouse's adaptation of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is THE definitive way to experience the story of Frieren.__~~~ As much as I'd love to talk about the passage of time, what it means and how it affects our main protagonist Frieren compared to everyone else in the series, there's not much I can say that hasn't already been said better - countless times by other people. This also isn't going to be a review about the elements that made the Frieren manga great (that includes story, narrative, characters, writing, setting, etc). I'd rather spend that time talking about what Madhouse did to elevate their adaptation of the manga go far and beyond what the original manga was able to achieve. When you think of Madhouse you usually think of faithful adaptations of classics that stuck true to their source material. Rarely does Madhouse put out an adaptation that is unfaithful or worse than the manga that it is adapting, in fact most of the time their adaptations are on par with the source material. It is that last part that I'm gonna be focusing on, "on par with". Madhouse has always put out great adaptations that faithfully adapt the source material but almost never risk it and try to go above and beyond and create something better than the original. As an example I will take their adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's legendary manga series "Monster". Madhouse's adaptation of Monster is critically acclaimed and adored by fans for it's "near perfect" panel for panel adaptation of the manga. In fact it is such a good adaptation that the manga and anime are even interchangeable (which is pretty rare). If you prefer movement and voice acting - you watch the anime, if you prefer reading and page flipping suspense - you read the manga. You don't miss anything either way. But beyond the media differences (the addition of voice acting, animation, music, among other things), there's nothing in the anime adaptation that makes it stand out and make it the definitive way to experience Monster. Now, enter Frieren. Frieren is a major stepping stone for Madhouse and the anime industry as a whole. It will hopefully set a new standard as to how anime production should be. This is the first show Madhouse has made (maybe Chihayafuru?) that has truly elevated the source material above and beyond to the point where it's THE best way to experience the story - no ifs, ands or buts. Madhouse pulled out all the stops for this one, hiring Keiichirô Saitô - the fastest rising new director to direct the show, Evan Call - the composer of the legendary Violet Evergarden OST, and assembling the Avengers of animation. This combined with a healthy production cycle is great but it's not like there aren't any other shows with a healthy production cycle that have great staff. What makes the adaptation of Frieren so great is that while it DOES perfectly adapt every little detail of the manga into animation, the pacing never seeming too fast or too slow, what really sets it apart is how it turns the manga's weaknesses into one of the shows biggest strengths. For reference, the arc of the manga that is considered the worst of the series is an action heavy arc with lots of fight scenes. The fights are often confusing in the manga and often mess with the series' tone and tempo. Madhouse transforms this arc into one of it's strengths and turns it into one of the best arcs in the show with mind blowing animation (possibly the best animation of the year might I add) and fight scenes with powerful moments all fitting together like a puzzle, nothing seeming out of place, unlike the manga. I wish I could talk more about it but I'd be entering spoiler territory - which I don't want to. The Frieren anime is the closest we've gotten to a perfect adaptation of a series, a show that doesn't just adapt every panel into animation, but transforms the manga's weaknesses into the show's strengths. It is in my humble opinion tied for the best anime of 2023 (along with Vinland Saga S2) and so far the best anime of 2024. The anime is THE best way to experience the story and I can't stress this enough. The only reason you should be reading the manga instead is if you don't have the patience to wait for a second season (which is all but confirmed). __Do yourself a favor and watch Frieren: Beyond Journey's End__
To keep it short and simple, Frieren is an exceptionally poignant and beautifully directed and animated series. The overall theming of this anime is a heartfelt exploration of the passage of time and how we can learn to love life in our own unique ways. In these senses, it's a complete masterpiece. The plot conveys to viewers how Frieren is learning to live life and cope with the passage of time in the wake of her grand adventure. The journey is enjoyable, and the different people Frieren meets with her adventuring crew of Fern, her apprentice, and Stark, her frontliner, all have something to say and some wisdom to add to the philosophical meat of the theming. But really, I have some complaints. I don't want to be too negative because I really liked this anime but there are some things that frustrated me about it (please scroll down, read this, and look at my score before downvoting this thx). Firstly, these characters can be exceptionally boring and static (not all the time!). Frieren is just a complete god of mages and the hero of her era (yet somehow nobody has ever hard of her?) and therefore her character is comprised of deadpan reactions to literally everything that happens and completely obliterating whatever threats come in the way of the party with zero resistance. This is not bad in itself; the appeal of a "New Game+" type of character that is busted from the outset is obviously fun, but for an anime about a long journey featuring plenty of magic duels, this is not a recipe for interesting growth. There are no stakes, and maybe that's the point, but as a result I just don't feel... excited when I watch this anime. It's a different type of enjoyment, one that is far more chill and cozy, but there's not a very good sense of any progress or growth, strength-wise or emotionally, from any members of the cast. Again, I do really like Frieren and her hilariously relaxed hand-wave reactions to everything that might be shocking to a novice mage, but I can only watch something like that so many times before I, too, begin to become bored and dismissive with every event that unfolds. The rest of this cast doesn't help with this issue - Fern is essentially just Frieren 2.0 with a little bit more emotive juice, and Stark is just kinda there. Thankfully, the more chill vibes of this show definitely help with this, since most episodes are comprised of a small quest that explores the themes and character arcs of each party member in a meaningful way. But still, I really had the feeling that this show was seriously missing some compelling juice, especially in the second half. I love the dynamic of this cast but I can't help but feel that, at times, things are way too monotone and dull with their actual substance as characters that the audience is supposed to be excited about watching. The sense of momentum just isn't always there. I love that the anime doesn't have to tell people how to feel for moments to be impactful, and in that sense I really appluad the fact that Frieren has such a high level of trust and respect for the ability of the viewer to infer and take away what it is trying to say without being obvious. But, like, also not really sometimes. The emotional core of this anime is Frieren's relationship with her past party members, who have all passed away while she continues to live on as an Elf with an exceptionally long lifespan. In particular, her memories with the great hero swordsman Himmel seem to take up the most space in her reflective moments (after all, their entire journey is to go to Ende, a location where the spirits of the afterlife live, in order to talk with Himmel's spirit). This unfortunately has a bit of a nasty side effect in the progression of the anime - we see flashbacks of Himmel and Frieren so goddamn much that it actually lessens the impact of the rather despair filled longing of Frieren's character. The first few times this happens, it is incredibly heartfelt and touching to see Frieren slowly realize how much he meant to her, and that she really treasures the days she spent with her adventuring party. The catalyst for Frieren taking on an apprentice, going on a journey, and reinserting herself into population by adventuring across the countryside lands with aplomb and really makes you actually feel something in your heart. However, by the 20th or so (I chose a random number here) time it happens it's actually a little bit eye roll inducing. We've seen flashbacks of Frieren and Himmel making fuck-me-eyes at each other for like 26 straight episodes by this point and the amount of emotions I feel watching these moments have nosedived. I understand that it is something that is so exceptionally important to her that it makes sense she would reminisce so frequently, but from an actual viewing standpoint it becomes stunningly repetitive. It is in these moments that it feels like the anime has no trust and respect in the ability of the viewer to infer meaning from what is occurring onscreen. We are beat over the head with these moments over and over, the show telling us "HEY REMEMBER THIS GUY? REMEMBER HOW IMPORTANT HE IS TO FRIEREN? HERE I CAN SHOW YOU AGAIN IF YOU WOULD LIKE!" Like, yes, I do remember actually! She talks about him all the time! Sometimes simple mentions in passing or perhaps a lingering shot of a statue of him is enough to imply meaning. Still, this is really the only time that the anime is this heavy handed with any of the meaning it tries to convey, so please don't think that this lone (albeit lengthy) paragraph means I hate everything about how this anime goes about unfolding its plot. Please don't think I hate this anime. I had an amazing time watching it from week to week. It is a masterpiece of animation, expertly directed, and the paragon of worldbuilding in a fantasy setting. It has a novel concept and emotionally resonant writing, and is probably one of the best, most consistent anime releases in recent memory in terms of all of these things I just mentioned. There are just some things that bugged me, and I really had to let them out. They aren't dealbreakers, or else I probably wouldn't have finished this anime. But these flaws definitely make me feel a little less passionate about what I'm watching on the screen, and that can be a little unfortunate.
~~~ #__Sousou no Frieren a thought, a review.__ img520(https://imgur.com/Vk2TXR4.jpg) ~~~ _Frieren, or how to appreciate the time you spend, not forgetting the time you spent with previous people, a beautiful tale enchanced by its adaptation._ ~~~ __TW : The review will contain spoilers__ ~~~ --- ~~~ __Story__ ~~~ The plot is simple, yes I agree, but sometimes you don't need the most complicated plot twists or shenanigans to make a great story. Yeah it's not a faced paced story, a lot of people discarded the show for this reason, but they missed the whole point. Frieren is about this, enjoying the time, take it slow, doing some detours here and there. I glady recommend the show to even the people that only watches high paced full of action show, it will pay off. ~~~ img420(https://imgur.com/aQHrBOP.gif) ~~~ --- ~~~ __Characters__ ~~~ I absolutely love when a story makes good use of their supporting character, and Frieren is how to do it right. Not only by reviving the ones that passed away, but every other character will touch you. I don't really know myself how this series exactly made the characters so important, maybe, again the time passing you see them grow, evolve, their relantioships changing in such a natural way due to do the perfect pacing. ~~~ [img420(https://imgur.com/6EvJ07l.png) ](https://twitter.com/ve_0ekaki/status/1771319736787452092) (by [@ve_0ekaki](https://twitter.com/ve_0ekaki) on twitter) ~~~ ~~~ __Frieren :__ ~~~ It's the main actor here, and her favorite hobby is collecting random spells ? This seems pointless at first, but every characters in Frieren are made, by those little moments, traits. Again everything she says, does, is linked to something, to a memory, to someone. Her love for the spell that grow flowers for example, came from Flame, she showed it to Himmel later on. This makes what could be a not so special elf mage in a fantasy world such a unique and well tought character. As time goes on, words from Himmel are having a meaning in what Frieren is experiencing now with Fern and Stark. ~~~ img420(https://imgur.com/gJ55VUD.png) ~~~ ~~~ __Himmel :__ ~~~ Maybe the most outstanding character in the series. Frieren managed to create someone dead but yet so lively. Himmel continues to live throughout memories, statues, people that our new group encounter. All by those moments where he decided to make a detour, help a town, help somebody, all those moments, they're not gone, no they are still alive. Everything about Himmel is built arround this, he gave us some of the most touching moments, I can't forget this moments where you see Himmel kneeling for Frieren in such a beautiful way. Yes Frieren Himmel will be here forever if you need someone's shoulder to cry. ~~~ [img420(https://imgur.com/hZUxa6e.png) ](https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/6845781?q=laubun) (by [Laubun ](https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts?tags=laubun&z=1) on danboru) ~~~ ~~~ __Fern :__ ~~~ She's the first new companion that we met, she grown training to become a mage after being adopted by Heiter. Fern is probably the 3rd most important character yet with Himmel and Frieren, because how huge the impact she had on the 1000 year old elf. With her attitude she achived what none tought possible, change Frieren. She will be the future of humans in this magic world, she will be on the top of magic one day. ~~~ img420(https://imgur.com/cAKP69g.png) ~~~ ~~~ __Stark : __ ~~~ The second addition to Frieren's new party, he's the warrior here, trained by Eisen the former Demon's King party. Unfortunately it's the main character we see the least, since the second cour is mostly focused of the first class mage exam. However that doesn't say he's meaningless. We have to talk about Himmel again that had a certain relationship with Frieren, and there you can see some similarities with Stark and Fern. Meanwhile Fern plays a big role in changing Frieren, Stark does the exact same with Fern. If I had to chose one moment with him, it'd be obviously the fight with the Dragon, at long last after all this years, it all ended in 30 seconds of pure and magnificent action with Stark using his years of training to defeat him and save the village. ~~~ img420(https://imgur.com/FnD5G2Z.png) ~~~ --- ~~~ __Passage of time__ ~~~ The most important part about Frieren, and it got it right. Frieren uses the most ingenious ways to let us know how the time is progressing. It all starts on episode one when Frieren first was insensitive to the passing away of Himmel, but then she realize and starts crying, it's the first major breaking point in our adventure. Time will still be needed for Frieren to completly change but from now on her perception of time won't be the same. The arrival of Fern, is the second breaking point. She bought her a gift, food, agreed to watch the New Year's Eve sunrise. ~~~ img520(https://imgur.com/dsKdlAh.png) ~~~ Frieren is probably one of the best stories at telling two stories in one with the use of the time passing, everytime you hear a sentence it'll have a meaning on both the past and the present, every little moment, detour, character has a purpose unique to them through the passage of time. An important part, is the abondance of statues across the world of Frieren than emphasize how her and her companions put their names, their faces, their legacy into History. It is gift through time about their story. ~~~ img520(https://imgur.com/U0jzs4j.png) ~~~ --- ~~~ __Love__ img420(https://imgur.com/hElNDmg.png) ~~~ Frieren is definitively one of the best non romance series as doing romance. As said previously when talking about Stark, there's some relationships in the show that probably would relate to romance, but it is very untold. The slowly growing relantionship between Fern & Stark is just so mesmerizing, at first she just sees him as random guy and him seeing her as the annoying spout girl. However due to this unique perception of time we get to see a one of kind slow progression between the two. From being completly ignorant to each other, to care about the other, buy them a gift and Fern is going to Stark if she has a problem with Frieren (she's kinda tough to live with). Meanwhile we see the other untold, romance between Himmel and Frieren as they slowly get closer in her memories. Very touching. ~~~ img420(https://imgur.com/iqJ272u.png) ~~~ --- ~~~ __Production / Animation / OST__ ~~~ I'll get straight to the point. It's just perfect everything is done right. You recognize a passion project when you see one and this is one of them. The art fit so perfectly to the tone and pacing of the original story, from the color palette, to the drawings. It's a series that calls on you to take the time, and the calm, serene, peaceful atmosphere they managed to create works perfectly. Also I want to point out all the little animation details that are grass, clothes or hair, when you see them you feel this little breeze it's so suttle but they did an amazing job to such little details. ~~~ webm(https://imgur.com/AESaVXF.mp4) ~~~ When talking about annimation I cannot not talk about the point that blew my expectations the most, I didn't even knew there were fights in Frieren. Then I saw episode 6, episode 9 and so on... The direction on the fights is agrguably one of the best in the industry. Every detail has been tought so deeply in those sequences. Of course I wanna talk about episodes 25 & 26 .. yeah how about I say, I litteraly cried on the begining of episode 26 ? It completly took me by surprise, the fight was just on another level, it was just so elegant ? It just worked so perfectly, it's hard to describe my exact feelings about it, but it's for sure one of the best fights we'll see in 2024 if not the best one and one of the moments of the decade. ~~~ webm(https://imgur.com/Zzy4PPs.mp4) (Credits to [Vercreek](https://anilist.co/staff/183674/Vercreek)) ~~~ Finally let's talk about the music, oh my god. Thank you Evan Call you're such an amazing composer and you're the final touch that made this show this special. The final touch to grab the serene vibe from the manga and translate it to anime. On the other hand Evan Call provided such great combat OSTs ... Zoltraak, it's as powerful as the spell named after itself. ~~~ webm(https://imgur.com/EPv6cbD.mp4) ~~~ --- ~~~ __Conclusion__ ~~~ Frieren was and will be one of my favorite show, I know there's some recency bias, but everything about the production value isn't affected by it, and looking how beautifuly is this anime was made I won't change my mind. This show was pure breathe of fresh air every Friday, teaches us how to appreciate time, I felt some vibes of time passing like in Barakamon (one of my absolute favs) by times. Frieren is a lesson about love, caring and time, I hope people will grow with the show. ~~~ img420(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GJSK8nzakAAF_MU?format=jpg&name=large) Thank you Frieren, the journey isn't ended. ~~~
_"Travel not to find yourself, but to remember who you’ve been all along."_ Set in the midst of a cold winter morning during my first-grade year, it unfolded at a one-story house. Sleeping in a pitch-black room, buried under blankets. As I wriggled during slumber, I eventually woke up from the cooking racket in the kitchen, then gradually arose from the bed and sat on my knees with my eyes closed for a prolonged moment. Next, my mother called me to eat breakfast in a gentle, but direct, voice. I got up and started walking towards the shimmering light with squinted eyes. When arriving at the vibrant kitchen, I sat on a chair and partook of breakfast as my mother was making more food. Finally, my imagination snapped back to reality. Although simple and short-lived, that memory was scenic, heartfelt, and, above all, endearing. These moments can resonate in numerous ways that reach a far more profound experience than most people presume it to be. This grants me to preserve them, since they are dear to me. In any event, this is an instance of myself reminiscing. My recollection booth of nostalgic memories that could cause me to reflect, evoke emotions, embody the atmosphere, and, most importantly, recognize the joyful times of life. It is delightful to reminisce about cherished memories of the past. Adorned by the wreckful hardships, we come to a realization that there has eternally been a profound sense of mournful sorrow going through a nostalgia phase. Not that I am stuck in the past, but rather, I try to live every day and value my youth to its fullest, as time is finite. When I adopt this sentiment, it comes with two merits: it offers me contentment, and these sincere moments grow into a beloved memory afterwards. So that way, in the future, there will be no regrets looking back at the yesteryears wholeheartedly. _“Youth lives on hope, old age on remembrance.”_ Initially, youth represents an emotional state: a delightful locale of unabashed enthusiasm, fab talent, imaginary notions, innovation, and unbridled passion naturally evoked in the endeavor. They have the potential to achieve aspirations that hold a promising future. However, it will not be the same for everybody—personal circumstances realistically are beyond their control—without maintaining a purpose, they are incapable of cherishing and sincerely appreciating the sheerest joys. Regrettably, people often underestimate time’s worth until later years. It flies by and depreciates in considerable quantity, but acquires value as the day-to-day cadence ticks. When we are in senescence, there is an overwhelming realization that death lies inevitably around the corner. It becomes crystal clear that time remains an invaluable asset that we have wasted away chasing after trivial things that possess no considerable importance whatsoever. Life is precious for the opportunities and liveliness it brings. This is where journeys become the main focus of the theme and story. Beyond Journey’s End explores one aspect of this appeal, a long journey conveying potent feelings like melancholy, nostalgia, and happiness. Where one is able to grow, learn about oneself, others, and the world around them. ~~~img220(https://nichegamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/frieren-03-08-2023-1-e1678319874875.jpg)~~~ Shifting us back to their historical roots, we are promptly introduced to a cast of characters: the party of heroes that originally defeated the demon king. Starting with Himmel, an enthusiastic dunce that takes pride in being an ideal hero, but is often gentle and caring. Next we have Heiter, a priest who is an alcoholic enthusiast and is a drunkard. Even so, there are delightful times when he too is sincere. Moreover, there is Eisen, a witty and serious dwarf. He is stern, but undoubtedly possesses a genuine heart for his longtime companions. Lastly, we have Frieren, an elf with a dreadful sense of time that ultimately demonstrates her poor comprehension of how it passes for humans. As the noble heroes' lives of humans come to a close, the distant elf stumbles upon a realization. Knowing completely, she could have developed a deeper bond throughout her 10 years with them. Adorned in regret, Frieren, out of the blue, sheds countless tears for her beloved friends as they pass on one after another. There is continuous pain she endures, such as undergoing deceased friends resting peacefully in her gentle hands. The insular girl ponders deeply about an everlasting life, yet cannot express it in bewilderment. A wayward elf, scrutinized by passersby, begins anew. To grasp deep relationships, she sets out on a lifelong journey to understand others. Despite being regarded as cold and frigid, Frieren, too, can be poignant. Due to her lifespan, Frieren considers time as trivial as her daily routine. Attaching oneself to others requires a significant time commitment. In particular, these moments are often handled by Frieren reminiscing as she recalls these memories from her journey with new acquaintances, using framing, faces, gestures, and body language to convey their expressions. In the bittersweet moments of the series, Frieren’s thoughts are given diminutively, trusting the viewers to know our main character well enough to empathize with her, and form their own reaction to the happenings, finding their place in Frieren’s journey. It instead dials back to the core reason for why someone might cherish these things in the first place. An understandable position once you peer into the headspace of our main character, Frieren; an apathetic elf who can barely reciprocate to people, despite her devoted fascination for magic and collecting spells to show endearment to others. ~~~img220(https://theglorioblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/frieren-sunset.jpg)~~~ Additionally, Frieren takes time into consideration for those around as she slowly tackles her past wasted opportunities. Beyond Journey's End will resonate with older viewers. As time goes by, things alter. We, ourselves change or adjust the way to achieve things. Values changed and our perception of life has altered. Everything about this story resonates powerfully. The show frequently puts the cast all together and allows authentic interactions that highlight the unique traits that ultimately define them through flashbacks. Which is exactly similar to an intimate group of friends in any school environment. Hence the resonating effect. When Frieren reminisces about a companion as she joyfully casts a spell that would make that person joyful, we can recall doing similar things with family and friends. The most frequent criticism I hear with Frieren would be that they are dry archetype characters. You can provide a potent argument about that. Could the characters be simple archetypes? Sure, but at most Beyond Journey's End put enough care into the casts' back stories to flesh them out instead of solely discarding the characters as dry archetypes. Frieren is repeatedly referred to as a kuudere. The biggest issue with kuuderes is you cannot get attached to them, this was exactly the problem I had with Violet Evergarden. Although Violet is not unemotional late in the show, she is practically an emotionless humanoid throughout the series. Frieren has shown many times that even if she has difficulty understanding emotions, she cares and worries just as deeply. This ultimately encapsulates the importance of cherishing every solitary moment and day. Undoubtedly, it is one of the many significant life lessons it teaches to the viewers. ~~~img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/e9ab1b729ca081d17c0110c883fbc994/854c042a97eafa52-a5/s540x810/a93cf36df80c9442109a0b07303f241c7f6c85b8.gif)~~~ In a general sense, Beyond Journey’s End’s worldbuilding is not exactly unique in fantasy media. There are various species but nothing new such as dwarfs, elves, mages, demons, dragons, you name it. What makes it standout, is how everyone familiarizes themselves with other species and grasps their values, concerns, mannerisms, customs, traditions, etc. Frieren and her companions travel from each location having its own interactions with both historical and recent events. Various characters offer their own unique experience from unfamiliar parts of the globe. The world is alive, organic, and beyond political boundaries. We are provided relevant information with appropriate timing, while other facets could be explored along with the cast. In addition, everything was structured well. Beyond Journey’s End’s combat system revolves around experience, wits, knowledge and situational awareness. Power scaling does not dictate the winner, but more so the match up and how to overcome tribulations. ~~~img220(https://i.redd.it/wqslq0cgdcec1.gif) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/df78e4235d1501620a45ffca3960e1f6/f839a0c00f66bcd6-b4/s540x810/a44e1892a4a4234241417e1a914ccac93d9324e4.gif) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/5a493c1e5da9e7fdd331fe3d201acde5/17d675a4128201ea-b4/s540x810/a8168cf848ed98a08cf3e5fa4f9ba93479f7747c.gifv) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/c207ee5568c90403ec0ee315a6d2b12f/a389da2ca2800017-76/s500x750/fcdc52548019aa2bc3a215c25a9845e67d25b757.gif)~~~ Without a doubt, Beyond Journey's End has furnished me with joy that is difficult to describe. Here, we have a slow, atmospheric, and soothing story that does not attempt to bombard fight scenes or try to attach you to some dull premise. Rather, it speaks from its audiovisuals. This allows the episodes to expand by executing its time with gentle exposition, visuals and music, which make everything come together near the moment that the characters climax. A superb team enlivened the manga staffed with their expansive imagination. With vibrant earth color tones protruding through nature, a bright, yet polished look; everything displays refinery, crafted from people who have passion. Directed by Keiichirou Saitou, the person that contributed to Bocchi the Rock! It all makes sense with the fluid animation and visual direction of his experience as a key animator. Evan Call, his composition gradually intervenes as the underpin, with the gentle stroke of the harp, the melancholic vocals, and the footsteps' presence apparent for its immersion; all the instrumentals and sounds serves its purpose. Apart from this, this soundtrack does not display actions in a simplistic manner, but instead corresponds with it. Every particular frame, note, sound, and animation radiates a life affirming subtlety. The production merely achieves what it desires. ~~~img220(https://theconartistsblog.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/stark-puts-on-his-jacket-suit-up.gif) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/39b95e8844d55257fe8b3a3a4f7b3abd/fe567f55e35f2826-b2/s540x810/6698d7955fa422c9a472e8d367c1eafe32f31507.gifv) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/d59cac44e23f787644423d84e1306d83/28c1a82bef0d4d6b-44/s500x750/bb76d01581aeb421aa7ff5a995d5f34f3a2aad1f.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/QrmCUjiybD8AAAAC/frieren-magic.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/qj2KvLG4Q8gAAAAC/frieren-anime.gif) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/52963785b6fb3045e3551e0d0f852613/1a4d91d64ef229c0-da/s500x750/2ee5a43691b106f2ff5a0c6e7251b772eff6bb6c.gif)~~~ Unfortunately, there were a few nitpicky points that the audience could have an issue with. Beyond Journey’s End wants its content to strike a broad demographic, so it is not fearful of being too exuberant, but that can cause the audience's respect. With characters such as Frieren, who is the mage from the party of heroes, her fascination with magic to entertain the group while additionally utilizing it as a way to express herself openly. I praised Beyond Journey’s End for its transitions but possibly, the chibi facial expressions or jolly flashbacks on occasions were there to help alleviate the monochromatic tone. By all means, perhaps the journey should deliver these light-hearted moments, but personally, it was distracting, but the intent was still sincere. Whenever the show was at risk of being extremely dull, this became its defense maneuver. But when they had to present genuine emotion, it sometimes sidetracked from having to do so. For instance, whenever our leading character finds herself moved by what someone said, the show adopted the uncomplicated route by having a flashback relevant to what is stated in a span of one episode without devoting enough screen time to deeply reflect and act upon them. Even though this is a way for the audience to reminisce, they also squandered sufficient opportunities for any genuine relationship to blossom and climax. Moreover, it encourages us to leisurely perceive things that we might have imperfectly grasped back then. We are not just overhung in the past, but we learn to move on and cherish these microscopic moments in the present. Therefore, there will be no anguish adorned with regret. For a show dealing with the passage of time, immortality, and relationships with a main lead that depicts an ideal character for this setting, these flashbacks are satisfactory but not impactful enough. Two members of Frieren’s party have a potential romantic connection, but it holds no significance to me. For no favorable reason besides comedic purposes, the girl treats the boy unfairly despite his kind nature. We see this same dynamic trope from shoujo anime numerous times and it has grown stale to me. ~~~img220(https://media.tenor.com/EloqEPT0SNYAAAAM/frieren-owo-moment-lil-cat-face.gif) img220(https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f9de0f1ae0bbfc4c855394f11580100/0787edd8968045cc-3d/s640x960/9c53925debed2a956f22c548165fba450f4a5492.gif) img220(https://media1.tenor.com/m/EC6mBMhIRugAAAAC/frieren-beyond-journey%27s-end-sousou-no-frieren.gif)~~~ In brief, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End was a pleasant surprise and sets a new standard for fantasy anime. It mesmerizes the audience, drawing them into its emotional depth and thrilling action. Regardless of your preference, the show is worth experiencing at least once. Despite being underwhelming, this is a steady self-discovery story that I wholeheartedly recommend to slice of life or battle shounen fans. Thank you sincerely for reading this review.
#
~~~img(https://ovicio.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/20231007-frieren-anime.jpg)~~~ _Frieren_ is nothing short of a sensibly grounded venture, despite its genesis taking place after the end of a journey. One which seems all too archetypal, familiar, and one-dimensional at first glance, yet manages to be just as compelling, nuanced, and human as the “now” once it patiently unravels its innermost secrets. Not merely in terms of complexity - quite the opposite on occasion - but rather how the decisions the series makes throughout its course defies infamous narrative traditions occurring within its genre at every twist and turn. This applies to the recurring parallels it draws to the past, although it’s just as remarkable to mention that viewing the story’s revelatory growth in self-awareness has never felt like a chore. _Frieren_ emanates innovation because the way the world functions feels distinctly real in its own distinct way. It’s an insatiable mesh between refreshing simplicities, unexaggerated drama, and high-octane storytelling for when the moment becomes ripe. Episodic-esque narration fuels its sense of exploration, simultaneously being a humbling appreciation of the past, whilst gradually recognizing the invaluable treasure that is the present moment. Each episode directly showcases a different adventure from the next, although every present dilemma holds “stark” correlation to Frieren’s memories as we evocatively live through them. Loosely tied scenarios on the surface, yet they are all meaningfully relational to each other. The chemistry, whether between characters or their individualistic relationships with the world, becomes systematically believable thanks to ideally simplified dialogue and natural social cues. Director Saitou’s grasp of interpersonal relationships and character dynamics can only be labeled as exquisite - a model example capable of being applied to Fern, Stark, and their distinguishable outlooks on life. The series encourages pure sensibility and depth through structural competence, avoiding common pitfalls within the carbon-copy fantasies we’ve become desensitized to. The story’s undying sense of everyday simplicity enables its emotional moments to feel all the more grand, genuine, and memorable. Though, what I find most remarkable about its structure is that it gives you a plethora of reasons to deem its world as actually and believably intelligent - one worth taking seriously at every narrative development. However, this isn’t particularly in the context of showcasing an attempt at excessive mind-game displays or metafiction, but rather, in its unmatched intimacy. One that takes form through the moments in-between, capturing cherishable glimpses of the tale before, and after. It’s as if those seemingly inconsequential moments are the ones Frieren, her companions, and potentially those beyond the screen, remain susceptible to overlooking its invaluable merit once they become memories. These memories are known to be taken for granted once time voyages without a moment’s notice. Perhaps this ultimately signifies the importance of creating them in the first place, as a means of being able to simply reminisce the joys and difficulties which have molded them into the heroic individuals they’ve been hailed as. It is through the collective effort of _MADHOUSE_’s redemptive production - composed of its diverse, mystical score selection, flowy visuals, and organic cinematography - which ultimately enables its mastery over emotional transitioning. The shifts in tone are spaced and balanced out appropriately according to its themes, but it’s just as notable knowing one can praise the nature of the content, dilemmas, or even lighthearted fun we see the characters experience from time to time. The show has proven it doesn’t necessarily rely on dialogue to convey a telling message. Interactions are either preferably rationalized, thematically nuanced, or un-presumingly complex - a seldom feat among numerous titles today. It’s no doubt _Frieren_ balances these elements throughout with unfaltering consistency. The show’s exponential portrayal of Himmel’s contagiously transparent simplicity acts as an alternative to his archetype. And his transparency reflects the charm of his comrades and their adventure. Heiter’s un-priest-like personality is what makes him all the more genuine. Eisen, the frontline warrior, doesn’t hesitate to admit his fears and vulnerabilities in the midst of difficulty. They quite literally move in the opposite direction of what is expected of them - which is a refreshing sight to say the least. In addition, the narrative’s method of imbuing comedic solace works in its favor. The soft-pedal, under-expressed gags are as contagious as Himmel’s conviction, converting redundant fantasy platitudes into what are essentially cherishable moments worthy of looking back on. More often than not, the source of conflict varies by the episode or arc. Sometimes, the foe standing before them is none other than themselves, or natural disagreement among the party; other times, it’s the fleeting nature of time, or the inability to remember fond memories once age catches up. Even the changing seasons. The atmosphere is more so organically comforting than it is fantastically romanticized. Consistent shots of medieval realism, and the interchanging folk scores play an indispensable role to this. It isn’t merely a medium serving its purpose of an inviting welcome; it allows one to truly engulf themself into the world in which the characters reside. Let it be mentioned the intentional choice of lacking visual color saturations aids the story in its attempt to humanize and ground itself. The charm of its fantasy elements, particularly the magic system motif, lies within how its definition varies by the individual. Rather than for the purpose of shock value or one-note ulterior motives, it’s regarded as an instrument for characterization and occasionally its theme structure, and every episode explores this through variegating perspectives which incentivizes one’s investment. Even the differing predicaments we see the characters go through are rich in narrative consideration and thorough in layering its structure. Beyond the technicalities, Kanehito Yamada’s opus is one derived from the privilege of introspection. There are innumerable thematic outlets within the show for one to resonate with, whether those emotions have been personally experienced or not. The world is as methodically crafted as its characters, reaching artistic realms far beyond what is normally expected from its genre, and I’d go as far as to say it’s managed to impart a profound sense of individuality. The story takes us through both ends of the protagonist’s imaginative revelations, dualistically linking to even the two-sided nature of time itself. We traverse through an ever-changing era, viewing man’s habitual adaptation to it. ~~~img(https://images.mubicdn.net/images/film/388826/cache-904566-1707001272/image-w1280.jpg?size=800x)~~~ The essence of _Frieren_ lies within its detours. Rarely does a story convey this level of narrative intimacy where the perception of time largely differs by the character; it is no different than an ever-changing fluctuation. And this is part of the reason why the show’s recurring callbacks to the past are completely different in nature from the traditionalized, often forced utilization of “backstories" we've become accustomed to. These glimpses into the journey before stand as the other monumental personality of the show which ultimately completes itself. They aren’t mere means of exposition, nor are they overdramatized, redundant sob stories; they are homages to the passage of time - characterizing the lasting impact of past characters and memories left to the world and most vitally, the protagonist who’s known to have taken time for granted. To its innermost core, _Frieren_ is a historical retelling of the past, and a simultaneous telling of the uncertain present. Dualistic tales, like yin and yang, which naturally compliment each other as two distinguishable parts of a whole. These reminders, which live within Frieren, serve as proof of her companion’s undeniable existences; they were anything but mere superficial fairy tales. And going deeper into the show's web of thematically rich narratives, perhaps they were more believably human than we thought them to be. Ultimately, discovering the inherent value of companionship exists within the ability of growing to thoroughly appreciate the memories which established it in the first place. Yet, it simultaneously requires the will of being able to embrace its eventual, bittersweet end.