Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
At the time of this writing, Sousou no Frieren is still ranked no 1 on MAL. So should you give it a shot? Here are a few insights to help you decide: You should watch this anime if: - You appreciate the beauty of nostalgia, meaning you have gone through (possibly brief but) unforgettable experiences in your life that you look back upon with fond memories. Frieren goes through such an experience and you will be able to relate to her if you have had such an experience too. Although her experience lasted 10 years, it was relatively brief to her due to her (implied) immortality. Thisis not about how old you are, but whether you feel nostalgic about anything in your past. If you can't relate to the song "Good Old Days" by Macklemore ft. Kesha, you might not relate to this anime.
- You are drawn to emotional and introspective stories with lots of feels and heart-to-heart dialogue that may not seem particularly 'exciting'. In other words, you appreciate subtlety of expression on-screen and know how to read between the lines.
- You enjoyed the music of Violet Evergarden, because the same composer (Evan Call) worked on this anime too. So expect a similar feel. It has a strong Celtic thread running through all the music pieces (like The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit).
- You are looking for well-written female main characters who are not there just for fanservice.
- You appreciate Slice of Life anime, because there is a bit of that going on in this anime. Don't expect something flashy and exciting to happen every episode.
- You appreciate Cute Girls Doing Cute Things (CGDCT) anime, cos there is a little bit of that too.
- You appreciate both drama and fantasy genres, but don't mind fantasy simply being used as the vehicle to flesh out the drama. That said, this anime has a well-developed, thoughtful, and coherent magical system which helped me better enjoy and appreciate the scenes involving magic.
- You are looking for strong character development and a well-written story. There aren't many ass pulls, plot conveniences or unexplained coincidences here.
You should NOT watch this anime if:
- You are looking for a shounen level of excitement and fast-paced action (like Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, etc). Don't get me wrong. There are some well-crafted and exciting fight scenes; they don't rely on plot armour, the strategies make sense, and there are real stakes. But they are NOT the main attraction of this anime. Instead, they are used to advance character development and plot points in a meaningful way.
- You are looking for wildly expressive and melodramatic characters.
- You are looking for fanservice and ecchi stuff. There are some attractive female characters but they are not sexualized at all.
- You are not interested in pondering existential questions like what is the purpose of life, what gives life meaning, and what brings happiness in life.