Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Surprisingly good. I'll make this review short and sweet for anyone still on edge about whether to give this series a shot. I'll try to keep it spoiler-free and briefly describe different aspects of the anime, plus my overall thoughts. Art/animation: Some might consider it to be a mediocre or nothing out of the ordinary. However there is beauty in simplicity. Frieren takes us on a journey with masterfully made landscapes, meticulous and smooth animation and attention to detail. It may not be jjk, and the art style may not please anyone, however it is important to note that it fits the theme and overall atmosphere perfectly, any otherwould take away from the experience (9/10)

Music/VA/sound:
I'm nearly always pleased with Japanese voice acting. Thus there isn't much to say about apart from the fact that it's spot on.
Music however is something much closer on what I could give an opinion. It's great. Pleasant, medievalish music in the background fittingly sets the tone. The sting instrument in the foreground creates a very distinctive cohesiveness. I'm so glad we don't get an average background music like so other anime tend to give, especially in the fantasy setting. It's something we should praise as apart from a handful, most orient towards a very non-descriptive modern ambience music rather than something that appropriately sets the mood and further immerses us into the world.
(10/10)

Story/characters:
If you're looking for action, this isn't it; and it's a good thing.
It is far more resemblant of iyashikei genre, rather than shounens or seinens. The pacing is slow, only picking up speed in the second half, if not the final quarter of the show. We shouldn't try to rush it, watching a couple episodes might feel like an eternity, but it's the feeling of nostalgia, sometimes melancholy, the serenity and joy, sadness and regret that separates this show from so many others. Spectrum of emotions, tactfully ingrained into all episodes allow us to reflect and heal our own feelings. All characters are well written, perhaps apart from a couple side characters that felt as if they were supposed to be more important and left us wondering more about them. First couple of episodes might scare of many viewers and I honestly wish we got some action pad time just to ease us into how what the anime wanted give us.
Despite that, the story itself isn't complex, albeit the world is. I wish to know more about it, yet the shot left me without giving enough to satisfy my curiosity.
(8/10)

Overall:
I feel that my review is vague enough, not to ruin anyone's watch.
Yet gives enough information to decide whether it's something for you or not.
For me the initial 6-8 episodes were mediocre, and only after a while I came to appreciate it. Music and the pleasant animation are definitely the string points of the show, soon after the story and characters, albeit it takes a while to appreciate those. I strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys slow paced shows, perhaps lotr fans will especially find it enjoyable as it does remind me of those books. (9/10)