Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Sousou no Frieren is without a doubt the pinnacle of the Fantasy Adventure genre as far as leaning into Slice of Life and Drama is concerned. Animation / Art / General Visuals - 9/10 ----------------------------------------------- Frieren takes a beautiful approach to the visuals. It is kept surprisingly simple in most aspects most of the time. Only to then grab your attention with beautifully animated and illustrated scenes where it matters most. Whether it's important facial expressions or wild expressions of fantasy magic and combat, the show knows how to look amazing when it needs to. It is as beautiful of an anime as I can imagine withoutit being an obvious focal point of the show. The visuals truly fit into the whole and augment the entire package, instead of trying to carry the entire show by themselves.
Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 9/10
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Beautiful emotional soundtrack. Great voice acting. Nice sound details across the board. As with visuals, the show doesn't try to go out of its way to dazzle you, instead, everything simply fits into place and augments the whole package beautifully.
Story - 10/10
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A lot of people might disagree with me here and say that the story of Frieren isn't particularly special or noteworthy. And it is true, at its most basic, it is nothing overly special. Just some fantasy slice of life travelling with occasional action. Something you've seen in hundreds of fantasy shows that have come before.
However, the beauty of Frieren's storytelling lies in the subtleties and the depth. It's not about the face value. It's about what's underneath and how it all contributes to the greater concept of reflecting on the past as you move towards the future, discovering your place in the world, and how your actions in the past came to affect your present, and how your present will inevitably affect the future.
The way the story is presented through past flashbacks and present moments, gives us insight into how even the smallest of things can have profound impact on the future. How even the most mundane, or straight up silly and useless activities can change the whole world for the better or for the worse.
It's sad, it's funny, it's inspirational. It is everything it needs to be and more.
Characters - 10/10
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Frieren boasts a small cast most of the season, but every single character has great value.
Frieren, the titular character, is the focal point of the story. She, an Elf, is by human standards an ancient being, yet by the standards of her race and her own perception, nothing special. This is the very foundation of her personality and entire character. Her inability to relate to most of the world around her, because the passage of time simply does not touch her the same way as others. What's a hundred years but a mere moment that passes before you even notice?
But she is not static. She does change. And this whole show is about how she goes through that change. How she finally realizes that events that seem incredibly short relative to her long life, can still be incredibly impactful. As she makes these discoveries about herself and the world, she finds other characters from both past and present, that further help her evolve as she reflects on her actions across time. Even though only part of her journey is covered in this season, we can already see profound changes in her character.
Fern, a new companion and disciple to Frieren, steals much of the show with her multitude of pleasing character traits. She's cute, she's serious, she's tsundere, she's protective, she's a humble genius and a hard worker, she's at times like a child, then like an adult. We see her grow up from an actual small child, to a young adult. We can see her growth as a person, as she learns about her master, about the world around her, and how she interacts with a male companion. It's cute, it's adorable, and very relatable.
Stark, a second new companion and disciple of Frieren's old companion, acts as a great counter-balance to Frieren and Fern. A male warrior who is naturally likeable and a little dense, works wonders to augment a party composition featuring two socially inept female mages who over analyse most things. Stark also fills the role of comedic relief in just the right amounts. Bouncing hilariously off the otherwise more serious tone of the show. The interaction between him and Fern is also extremely enjoyable. The deepening friendship and subtle romance undertones add depth to both characters and another layer to pay attention to in the story as a whole.
Aside from Frieren's present travelling party, we are also given great insights into her past party. Both in flash-backs and present encounters. Every character is explored in fair depth, either through their actions or secondary storylines.
Furthermore, a variety of new and interesting characters are introduced in the final major arc of the season, and every single one deserves praise. They're all interesting and well written. Nobody feels out of place, everyone contributes.
It's rare for a show to have this many well written characters, and I'm all for it.
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Total - 10/10
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It is hard to imagine a better Fantasy Adventure than Sousou no Frieren. Even though it focuses a lot on Slice of Life, it is beautifully woven into fantastical adventures and dramatic reflections on the past, as to never get boring.
Even as simple of a thing as sitting down at a tavern to eat a piece of bread, can lead to a fascinating flashback of an event that provides plenty of food for thought.
Sousou no Frieren is so good of a show, that I'd give it a blanket recommendation no matter what genre you are into. If nothing else, it's worth watching simply to have experienced something that will inevitably go down in anime history.
And if you're a fantasy fan, you NEED to watch this. Period. It just might become the greatest show you've ever seen or ever will see.