Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

It's amazing how we can go from Lord of The Rings, released in 1954, directly to shaping the tabletop RPGs that we know and love today. The archetype of the elf that we know and love today was inspired by such an old novel and eventually introduced to one of the earliest tabletop RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons in 1974. Later, this eventually spawned Record of Lodoss War, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign released by Group SNE as a published Dungeons & Dragons replay. This eventually became so popular in Japan that it became a franchise, spawning novels, anime adaptions, video games, and spinoffs. Deedlit, a pale-hairedhigh elf from the spirit world is one of the main characters in the novel adaptations. Similar to Frieren, she embarks on an adventure to defeat adversaries alongside Parn, a blue-haired human hero. Get where I'm getting with this? Frieren and Himmel are inspired by this classic series that introduced high fantasy to Japan, yet they couldn't be more different from each other. Rather than say that this anime is a copy or reskin of Record of Lodoss War, it's more apt to say that it's a reinterpretation of the series and paying homage.

I think one thing that we can all agree on is that Frieren's success as a series stems from the oversaturation of generic fantasy novels and franchises in the market. I'm so sick of watching Isekais where the lonely, loser main character gets transported to another world and gets the most OP abilities, gets women to fall in love with him, and overall just a very generic wish-fulfillment power fantasy. Even the classic story of a hero defeating the demon king is so old-fashioned. Who wants to read about a hero who has plot armor wherever he goes?

While this show takes the same setting as any other fantasy show, it's much slower-paced, focused on character development, and is an exceptionally solid series.

And it starts with characters. Deedlit and Frieren might be both elves, but I think Frieren is much more "human." And that's the whole point of this show. To show Frieren's journey on how to understand humans organically. Frieren is a likable character because she fits the bill of a long-lived elf who's extremely strong due to their age and wisdom, but also still at the core, a human who has emotion. She didn't get killed in a car crash and had a goddess effortlessly give her OP abilities. She just trained for centuries. And even then, she's not particularly talented. She's lost to many humans who have trained much less than her. She's not arrogant, and she's down to earth. She's not the nicest person and usually is quite indifferent to many things, but she tries to help out when she can -- or when she notices. It's not that she's got a standout personality that makes her special, but rather the time and effort the show takes to characterize her makes her special, and it shows. Similarly, the other characters in this show are amazing. Fern's a disciple that Frieren begrudgingly got tricked into picking up, and is also a bit aloof and indifferent -- mirroring her master in a way, but brings a lot to the table since she's still just a teenage adolescent girl with emotions that she's trying to adapt to. Fern's immaturity at times only serves as a reminder of how incompetent Frieren can be when she's thousands of years older than Fern. Stark, on the other hand, was a character that I thought would be over-embellished comic relief, but I was pleasantly surprised when it was extremely toned down: not a single character in this show is heavily archetyped.

Every single character in this show is good, even the side characters that don't get too much screen time. This is apparent in the First Class Mage qualifications arc where you're introduced to many aspiring mages, and throughout a mere 10 or so episodes, you get to know so many new characters that aren't at all generic. Despite the short screen time, each character has a personality that isn't simple. Characters that seem to be bloodthirsty and cruel turn out not to be. Characters that look simpleminded think more than you'd expect. Overall, the experience of watching other mages work together and fight each other usually ends up with some antagonistic group or no sort of investment into these characters, but just merely through good character development and pacing, this show manages to create very solid fight scenes and buildup.

That's the thing: there's no drama. This show does not polarize. Usually, when a show is generic, it doesn't attract anyone. However, this is an exception. Everything in this show is exceptionally done at a fundamental level. The pacing is perfect. The characters feel alive. The missions, circumstances, people, and environments that Frieren and her party encounter are dynamic and vibrant. The only way I could see you not appreciating the show is if you have a problem with some of the fundamentals of the show, such as the genre, setting, or main characters. Because simply, the show doesn't introduce too many variables. The story is a MacGuffin, and the coming of age is beautifully done.

Finally, let's bring up the actual art. It's amazing. I love it. I hate how Madhouse can output complete garbage like Overlord Season 4, but they have the talent to be making shows like these. The storyboarding is great. When people talk, they interact with the environment. The pacing is incredible. The dialogue and combat flow seamlessly, and the worldbuilding is done through good narration and cuts perspective. The sound design is equally impressive. The OST is reminiscent of LOTR and is like a trip down memory lane since such classical music, wind instruments, and arrangements remind me of the classic Dungeons and dragons campaign. It reminds me of music that would be played in the period this show is set in, which is medieval fantasy. I love the voice acting. No one is screaming in high pitches. Frieren and Fern speak calmly, in a normal voice. Their interactions don't seem fake, and that's so hard to do. I would say that combat is the most normal thing about the show, it's about the other aspects that truly bring it together to make for such an amazing show.

But yes, because it's not a polarising type of show, I can't say it enraptured me to the point of no return. But it's a show with nearly no mistakes. Just amazing.