Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

__Life after the Great Adventure.
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Frieren is one of the most refreshing anime in recent memory, especially as a contrast to the oversaturation of unremarkable Iseaki anime that has run rampant (that said, there are some good ones like Mushoku Tensei). I came across the manga for years at this point, but I never took the plunge despite adoring the art style of the volume covers, so I was excited to see this adaptation. Whatever issue Madhouse has had in the past decade, after the departure of a lot of their key staff, seems to have been ironed out. If the production of BOCCHI THE ROCK! and Frieren is a testament to its quality in the foreseeable future, both shows are directed by the extremely young and talented Keiichirou Saitou. After the commercial and critical reception of both of these shows, I’m extremely excited to see how he will grow as an artist.

So, what is the general premise?

It starts where a conventional fantasy show will end. The great adventure is over. The Demon King has been defeated, and there’s peace in the land. So, what’s next?

What’s next is Frieren dealing with her immortality. She’s beginning to learn what living is all about, or at least is attempting to understand. Her companions, who defeated the Demon King with her, are slowly dying with age. Some of the core themes are about time, regret, old age, and the importance of connection. The genius of the narrative is the framing device. As Frieren embarks on this new adventure with people (watch the show to find out the reason), it entwines both the past and present seamlessly. Often relating to each other both thematically and through character progression. It also brings the world to life.

The show is a hybrid of some of my favourite genres and tropes fused together. I’m a huge Tolkien fan, obviously, so dealing with immortality and death has always been fascinating to me, especially when you have entities who cannot die by old age. It’s a fantasy world like a general JRPG, it’s a grand adventure while being a full-on slice-of-life. As a whole, it makes the experience feel alive, immersive, comforting, and melancholy.

I wouldn’t say action is the focus, but whenever the anime depicts it, it’s brilliant. Some of Madhouse's best talent and production after years. The soundtrack is beautiful and fits the anime and its themes so elegantly. The animation, from subtle character expressions to subtle dance animation to bombastic action sequences, is all handled with care. It has been a comfort watch for the past 24 weeks. Of course, what ties this together are the wonderful characters. The dynamic of the cast is brilliant, a lot of moving and sweet moments throughout. The new and old characters that feature prominently do have depth.

If I were to mention one thing that I adore about the series, it is its depiction of the passage of time. This is either from depicting a landscape and how it has changed or retained certain landmarks after 1000s of years or even the adventure itself and how Frieren's party has to be in place for months or sometimes longer. It oddly feels realistic how long you are in a location for, it doesn’t blitz through it. It is often within those moments that the characters feel the most realistic under those circumstances, experiencing the mundane tasks of just living.

In Conclusion, it’s a wonderful fantasy show that is worth the hype and your attention.