Review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

The title "Beyond Journey's End" does sound appealing, doesn't it? While I typically oppose altering the literal meaning of Japanese titles during translation, in this case, I make an exception. "Beyond Journey's End" more effectively conveys the essence of "Sousou no Frieren" manga/anime than "Frieren at the Funeral" does. The title indeed suggests that the anime serves as an ‘After Story’ for a particular journey of Frieren, the story’s protagonist. It’s important to note that Frieren is an elf who does not age physically and possesses a unique perspective on time, relationships, and interactions, differing from humans. These two pivotal aspects form the foundation of thenarrative, as we witness Frieren come to appreciate the value of the relationships forged during her travels and anticipate the journeys yet to come.

Plot(9/10):

As Frieren is several thousand years old, a significant portion of the story consists of flashbacks across various timelines. One timeline depicts her youth as a disciple of Flamme, while another showcases her time with the hero party. The narrative primarily unfolds in the present timeline. Throughout the anime, we witness Frieren reflecting on the past while assimilating her current experiences. It presents a form of redemption from a certain perspective. The central theme of this story is about ‘Living in the moment and not having regrets later.’ Each past encounter and memory with the hero party influences Frieren to cherish her present companions more deeply, as she harbors many regrets for not understanding the hero party members’ sense of time. Frieren, vastly older than the rest of the cast (excluding other elves), continues to learn—learning how to interact and empathize with humans whose lifespans are merely a fraction of her own. Setting aside all those travels, the final third of this anime focuses on the 'First Class Mage Exam' arc, which brims with action and introduces a substantial number of additional side characters. Each fight scene offers viewers insight to grasp the characters' depth and their underlying philosophies. Overall, ‘Frieren: Beyond the Journey’s End’ skillfully blends the central theme of the series with various elements such as the magic system, and the Demon-Human conflict.

Characters(9/10):

This anime features a large cast of characters. Not all of them play a significant role in advancing the plot, but that’s not a complaint though. It’s unreasonable to expect an anime to delve deeply into the background of every character introduced. However, the characters of Frieren and Fern had to be likable and well-written at the same time as they received more screen time and narrative focus. The author did more than a decent job in that regard. Watching the evolution of their relationship, enriched by mutual care, is particularly heartwarming. Additionally, there are numerous scenes that provide comic relief, each one is humorous and relaxing. Stark and Sein also have significant portions of their backstories explored. Their moments on screen never felt dull; Stark, in particular, had some 'Wow' factor in the scenes we see him facing opponents . The “First Class Mage Exam” arc introduces a bunch of new characters. Among them, Ubel and Serie stand out, capturing attention with their unique character traits. (Serie is actually a very important character of this arc)

Frieren’s former companions: Eisen, Heiter, and Himmel. They epitomize the ideal hero party members. Each one is portrayed as a ‘Good Guy,’ and rightfully so. Let’s focus on Himmel for the time being, as he is likely the primary reason we follow Frieren’s journey with Fern.

Hero Himmel is depicted as cheerful, brave, and humorous—a quintessential hero. He was a person who inspired others. His passing led Frieren to realize her errors in gauging time and in valuing relationships from her perspective rather than from the humans’ viewpoint, with whom she had spent a considerable amount of time (from their perspective). As mentioned earlier, it was Himmel’s influence that prompted Heiter to adopt Fern and care for her, as he believed Himmel would have done the same. This, in turn, led to Frieren assuming the responsibility of looking after Fern.

Animation and Visuals (10/10):

'Madhouse Cooked again!' that was my initial reaction while watching Frieren's first 4 episodes on the same day. The studio behind so many classics is still producing more of them. The manga already had good art and uniqueness in character design. So the production studio just had to do one thing and it was to not 'mess up' the adaptation. And they did that beautifully. Environment and atmosphere of 'Frieren: Beyond the Journey's End' anime turned out to be a lot brighter and colorful than my expectation and I loved it. The direction of the fights were top notch. They improvised in some of those and they never felt out of place. Whether it was Fern casting zoltraak like fireworks or Stark defeating a huge dragon, I enjoyed every fight sequence this anime has to offer. Kudos to the people working behind the scenes, specially the storyboard directors.

Audio and Soundtrack (9.5/10) :

I was actually surprised after seeing that they cast Atsumi Tanezaki to voice Frieren. (I always imagined Frieren having a more childish voice while reading the manga.) She did a fine job, actually. The rest of the cast also delivered commendable performances, leaving me with no complaints about the voice acting.

'Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ features three songs in its soundtrack. The first opening theme is ‘Yuusha’ by Yoasobi, followed by the second opening theme ‘Haru’ by Yorushika, and the series is rounded off with the ending theme ‘Anytime Anywhere’ by Milet. Each track is enjoyable in its own right, but ‘Anytime Anywhere’ stands out to me the most. It’s not only as catchy as the other two but also has lyrics that resonate deeply with the show’s themes.

Overall(9.5/10):

I am still quite surprised to see this anime garnering so much attention on the internet. It’s become one of those ‘Everywhere I go, I see her face’ moments for me. I had actually expected ‘Frieren’ to become one of the underappreciated, gatekept animes in the future, but that’s far from what actually happened. In fact, ‘Frieren’ is the most popular non-sequel release of 2023, along with ‘Oshi no Ko’ and 'Zom 100' . It also checks all the boxes to add itself to the list of all-time classics created by Madhouse.

‘Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ does almost everything right. It has a meaningful story, a protagonist whose journey feels exciting and emotional at the same time, just enough focus on the side characters, excellent animation and direction. Moreover, it blends all the genres involved extraordinarily well. That’s why you never feel anything is amiss when it shifts from the slice-of-life genre to the action genre in the last few episodes, or when observing some sort of romantic development in Fern and Stark’s relationship.

I will remember ‘Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ for a long time. The last time I was this eager to watch the next episode of an ongoing anime was when ‘Summertime Render’ was airing way back in 2022. Frieren indeed made my Fridays better. Therefore, this is an easy recommendation from me to anyone looking for a good, comforting anime. 'Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ is certainly one of the very best of its kind.