Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

*Where's The Spell That Makes Me Care Enough For This Fictional Story?* ~ It's there. That's it. I see. Okay. To be honest, completing *Frieren* (the series) left me with no bouts of impassioned exclamations nor emotional gyrations that could chime in alongside the cybernoise of praises and love letters and analyses from years back (which I've only as much glimpsed as per my dogged evasion of spoilers). It's Frieren (the elf) pre-Himmel and co's indoctrination off to farewells without attachment; I've never gone past the zeroth episode in my inability to be hit by an anvil of emotion from journeying 11.2 hours with its people. The sheer disconnect from Internetweeb society is eerie, as watching this alone way after its reputation peaked rendered me oblivious to the public's thoughts as the episodes rolled, leaving me with questions and doubts. Perhaps, like how an adventure can be more meaningful with the brainwash of companions--like how Frieren learned through her party--I could have been indirectly propelled by the exposure of other people's thoughts to care so much more, I could have participated in the meta activity of honoring the existences of Himmel the Hero, Eisen the Warrior, Heiter the Priest, and Frieren the Mage, and everyone else in their universe by exercising displayed remembrance. The turnout unveils indifference instead.

Heart is evident in *Frieren* with its primary subject of communication involving the cherishing of one's encounters and the value of communion. It's more refreshing to know that a vulnerable-leaning show holding dearly what's sentimental rose to the higher ranks of belovedness in this day and age than actually engaging in the series itself, where all said components lie. Maybe I've had enough of my fill of episodic sappiness and environmental tranquility from *Frieren*'s adjacent blood relative *Aria*, but the former's involvement of **memory** naturally adds a set of other factors to be dependent on for the desired audience impact: cast exposure length and weight, omnipresence of influence, positive life-altering consequences, unfading footprints, effective interactions, and the persuasiveness to sway a watcher into crying at funerals, jolly bonding events, and immersed observation of the characters' intricacies. As a whole, *Frieren* feels potent.

Mostly touching on the first factor, the "random flash of Frieren memory" + "everyone step into the background" + "Himmel speak in solemn, foreboding tone about themes A to Z" formula for much of the anime easily loses steam when we only get convenient, cherry-picked snippets of Frieren's 10-year adventure with the gang. What's profound in essence feels ordinary in practice. It's as simple as not being able to be acquainted deeply with Himmel and his adventures with Frieren due to a lack of time spent with them. The passage of 10 years' worth of time didn't seem to reflect on their physical appearances as well, contrary to their conversation on the first episode, which would've been a helpful touch in order to have a better feel on Time's effects on Himmel and Heiter, reducing the stagnancy thickly layered on the atmosphere. Reminiscence would highly benefit from an overcoming of conflict, too: have Himmel preach the moral after we see the party encounter specific trials in an elaborate storytelling fashion to make the emotional bait more catching. An entire decade for humans is enough of an arc for some sort of heavy altering, and the way everyone just feels the same stales the adventure subconsciously for me. It's a fundamental flaw that needs a lot of rework.

I'm usually a sucker for *mono no aware*, so it's also saddening on my part that *Frieren* doesn't capture me. Once season 2 comes out, I'll be watching it weekly and see if being in touch with the community changes things for the better.