Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

After watching the final episode, I feel very conflicted on the series as a whole. I really think this series shines with thoughtful character moments and interactions. The overall message i find to be quite compelling. However, the battle scenes i find to be rather tedious. in my opinion, a lot of it feels unnecessary and almost contradicts some of the messages i think the series tries to convey. it's difficult for me to rate, as there's episodes i feel are 10s and episodes that are 6's... it honestly was hard to get through a lot of the episodes which relied on cool action. There'smuch better series for that- Frieren herself is far from an exciting action protagonist. The plot is basically sidelined for the sake of it though for a sizable portion of the season and the character who actually enjoys it (Stark) is sidelined for it, resulting in a run of episodes that just downright felt out of place. Still, it had some truly great qualities such as a very strong beginning and end, gorgeous art and scenery, and characters that are quite introspective and compelling. Overall, the series can be excellent at conveying emotions- though I find it to be heavily weakened by trying to introduce a "cool" factor. Maybe for broader demographic reach? I think it's worth a watch, though, for many people- especially those who are hesitant to watch something that's very thought provoking such as this. I can see this being a gateway to a whole different viewpoint for some people who haven't taken much time to stop and smell the roses- possibly the action helping to hold the attention of those who might need such a message most.