Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

9/10: deserving of the hype, amazing but not perfect Frieren can be described as an Ancient elf who's extremely Autistic, coming to terms with life after all of her friends and loved ones have all died. In the search for that legendary 10/10 anime, I have finally come to watch Frieren. Since this aired back in March 24', anyone and everyone who knows me and knows I love anime has recommended me this. Based on what I knew going into this I knew I would have to reserve one entire day in order to binge the whole thing, one 10hr tattoo session later and I must sayI am impressed and what a breath of fresh air this anime was.

I have to say, this show could have possible gotten that rare 9.5/10 or the mythical 10/10 if the show wasn't so... anime? There was a few things that kept pulling me out of the show, all the incessant head patting (this just isn't a thing outside of Japan), someone on the animation staff is obsessed with feet, the 1000 year old women are lollis, and over used jokes like Frieren and the mimics or Fern calling or thinking every male is a "perv". there are probably more but these are just some of the 'anime' things. As well as some parts of the plot either dragged or felt too short and of course the show isn't done yet (which is only a negative until its finished ;)
I also just wish that Fern and Frieren had more interposal moments to flourish their bond, felt a bit lacking especially since much of it was expedited from when she was a kid to a teen

Now for the parts I enjoyed and loved, Great example of Show don't tell, Amazing charecters, good plot, great story boarding, character development, Amazing Movie Quality Animation, An amazing LotR lvl music score, Decent Art direction, Great balance to fights and the slice of life aspects, So so many wholesome moments, devoid of many of the worst parts of anime: [fan service/etchi, screaming male protag, insert charecters with no personality, harems, nothing felt like filler, shouting attack names, power creep, weak female charecters/poorly written ones, Monologs for exposition]. And of course I enjoyed this, so so much.
Overall I would say I really would recommend this one, it really felt like an anime that wasn't too in touch with what current anime is all about and for the most part it being so refreshing almost felt like it was "old". I guess old isn't truly the best way to put it, an instant classic? Something that really feels like it could have come out in the 80/90's and been revered through time. Hopefully more anime will take from this and realize quality will always shine.

However something that I did enjoy that may seem a bit contradictory, were all the chibi faces to add comedic moments especially in some of the sadder or more serious moments, this really was reminiscent of Berserk and... well myself comparing anything to Berserk truly means I do enjoy it.

The show has a very melancholic tone, which I do enjoy immensely, and few shows or media do this as most come off boring, Unlike Frieren. Because of this the emotional parts and tear jerking moments really do hit right, unless you are a cold hearted monster inside.

All that being said, this feels like it should be a more Niche anime, and I am actually pretty surprised that it ranked so highly on MAL, let alone #1. Usually my taste in things is pretty far from the general consensus on these things, and most anime fans I feel like should find this "too generic" or "boring". But that does not seem to be the case? Regardless, if you are into classic fantasy / High Fantasy, and just want something that feels like it could belong in Middle earth, then you've come to the right place.
“It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.”