Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Frieren is one of those shows where its theme and pacing is almost entirely calm, there's no rush to get anywhere and no over the top shenanigans that can be considered common in many shows within the medium, it takes its time but isn't painfully slow where multiple episodes feel drawn-out. I first heard of Frieren in a conversation I had barely been listening to about how it had toppled a long standing giant FMA as one of the highest rated shows. I was especially intrigued by the premise of the show, and that was without reading any synopsis I just liked the idea of theimplicit question being asked with the main character being someone who lives an extremely long time, and it helped it didn't have 3+ seasons all of which were 20+ episodes.

I'm someone who isn't as of writing this review very into anime and the culture that comes with it, I'm not someone who has developed the sense of appreciation that many others on the site might have, but I am someone who loves to analyze and even over-analyze multiple different types of art and mediums (mostly books, games, movies/shows).

However with Frieren I find myself in a similar position for when I watched Ousama Ranking (Ranking of Kings), I can't really pinpoint anything I disliked, I'm not going to sing the praises of the show and pretend that I found the world building excellent or all the characters absolutely enthralling, it was just very easy to watch, fun and enjoyable, its pacing was strong, it doesn't overstay its welcome and it really likes to remind us to appreciate the little things and find joy in the things around us whether that be the mundane or the people we surround ourselves with. This is a great show for someone who wants something easy going but not over the top.

This show is also helpful to me as someone who is trying to get better at seeing the good and not be disillusioned or bitter it comes to easily to me at times, and it's nice to have something reinforcing something I'm working on.

I gave Sousou no Frieren a 9/10 a rank I only gave Ousama Ranking my favorite anime, and one of my favorite shows I've seen in recent years and for similar reasons.

I have a hard time ranking anything in any medium a 10/10 (Masterpiece on MAL) because for something to be considered a masterpiece for me it has to set out a goal, achieve that goal and possibly be genre defining in its execution.

As I implied above I'm not someone who has been around the fandom that is anime long enough to rate anything a 10/10 I think it's to early for that, but Frieren definitely sets a very simple goal and it achieves it with ease, its execution is excellent in my view because it makes the uneventful feel entertaining and beautiful at times. I'm not trying to rank it based on its "system of magic" or anything similar as I am not familiar enough with the tropes and the other similar commonalities between animes or the trade-offs and what not, although I am aware of them.

Of course there are some personal biases at play here but after I finished the show I wondered to myself "Do I feel like this is unfinished?" and I can honestly say, not really. I'm sure the Manga has some more to say but as it is I didn't feel like I desperately needed more this was great.