"Travel not to find yourself, but to remember who you’ve been all along."

Set in the midst of a cold winter morning during my first-grade year, it unfolded at a one-story house. Sleeping in a pitch-black room, buried under blankets. As I wriggled during slumber, I eventually woke up from the cooking racket in the kitchen, then gradually arose from the bed and sat on my knees with my eyes closed for a prolonged moment. Next, my mother called me to eat breakfast in a gentle, but direct, voice. I got up and started walking towards the shimmering light with squinted eyes. When arriving at the vibrant kitchen, I sat on a chair and partook of breakfast as my mother was making more food. Finally, my imagination snapped back to reality. Although simple and short-lived, that memory was scenic, heartfelt, and, above all, endearing. These moments can resonate in numerous ways that reach a far more profound experience than most people presume it to be. This grants me to preserve them, since they are dear to me.

In any event, this is an instance of myself reminiscing. My recollection booth of nostalgic memories that could cause me to reflect, evoke emotions, embody the atmosphere, and, most importantly, recognize the joyful times of life. It is delightful to reminisce about cherished memories of the past. Adorned by the wreckful hardships, we come to a realization that there has eternally been a profound sense of mournful sorrow going through a nostalgia phase. Not that I am stuck in the past, but rather, I try to live every day and value my youth to its fullest, as time is finite. When I adopt this sentiment, it comes with two merits: it offers me contentment, and these sincere moments grow into a beloved memory afterwards. So that way, in the future, there will be no regrets looking back at the yesteryears wholeheartedly.

“Youth lives on hope, old age on remembrance.”

Initially, youth represents an emotional state: a delightful locale of unabashed enthusiasm, fab talent, imaginary notions, innovation, and unbridled passion naturally evoked in the endeavor. They have the potential to achieve aspirations that hold a promising future. However, it will not be the same for everybody—personal circumstances realistically are beyond their control—without maintaining a purpose, they are incapable of cherishing and sincerely appreciating the sheerest joys. Regrettably, people often underestimate time’s worth until later years. It flies by and depreciates in considerable quantity, but acquires value as the day-to-day cadence ticks. When we are in senescence, there is an overwhelming realization that death lies inevitably around the corner. It becomes crystal clear that time remains an invaluable asset that we have wasted away chasing after trivial things that possess no considerable importance whatsoever. Life is precious for the opportunities and liveliness it brings. This is where journeys become the main focus of the theme and story. Beyond Journey’s End explores one aspect of this appeal, a long journey conveying potent feelings like melancholy, nostalgia, and happiness. Where one is able to grow, learn about oneself, others, and the world around them.

Shifting us back to their historical roots, we are promptly introduced to a cast of characters: the party of heroes that originally defeated the demon king. Starting with Himmel, an enthusiastic dunce that takes pride in being an ideal hero, but is often gentle and caring. Next we have Heiter, a priest who is an alcoholic enthusiast and is a drunkard. Even so, there are delightful times when he too is sincere. Moreover, there is Eisen, a witty and serious dwarf. He is stern, but undoubtedly possesses a genuine heart for his longtime companions. Lastly, we have Frieren, an elf with a dreadful sense of time that ultimately demonstrates her poor comprehension of how it passes for humans. As the noble heroes' lives of humans come to a close, the distant elf stumbles upon a realization. Knowing completely, she could have developed a deeper bond throughout her 10 years with them. Adorned in regret, Frieren, out of the blue, sheds countless tears for her beloved friends as they pass on one after another. There is continuous pain she endures, such as undergoing deceased friends resting peacefully in her gentle hands. The insular girl ponders deeply about an everlasting life, yet cannot express it in bewilderment. A wayward elf, scrutinized by passersby, begins anew. To grasp deep relationships, she sets out on a lifelong journey to understand others. Despite being regarded as cold and frigid, Frieren, too, can be poignant. Due to her lifespan, Frieren considers time as trivial as her daily routine. Attaching oneself to others requires a significant time commitment.

In particular, these moments are often handled by Frieren reminiscing as she recalls these memories from her journey with new acquaintances, using framing, faces, gestures, and body language to convey their expressions. In the bittersweet moments of the series, Frieren’s thoughts are given diminutively, trusting the viewers to know our main character well enough to empathize with her, and form their own reaction to the happenings, finding their place in Frieren’s journey. It instead dials back to the core reason for why someone might cherish these things in the first place. An understandable position once you peer into the headspace of our main character, Frieren; an apathetic elf who can barely reciprocate to people, despite her devoted fascination for magic and collecting spells to show endearment to others.

Additionally, Frieren takes time into consideration for those around as she slowly tackles her past wasted opportunities. Beyond Journey's End will resonate with older viewers. As time goes by, things alter. We, ourselves change or adjust the way to achieve things. Values changed and our perception of life has altered. Everything about this story resonates powerfully. The show frequently puts the cast all together and allows authentic interactions that highlight the unique traits that ultimately define them through flashbacks. Which is exactly similar to an intimate group of friends in any school environment. Hence the resonating effect. When Frieren reminisces about a companion as she joyfully casts a spell that would make that person joyful, we can recall doing similar things with family and friends. The most frequent criticism I hear with Frieren would be that they are dry archetype characters. You can provide a potent argument about that. Could the characters be simple archetypes? Sure, but at most Beyond Journey's End put enough care into the casts' back stories to flesh them out instead of solely discarding the characters as dry archetypes. Frieren is repeatedly referred to as a kuudere. The biggest issue with kuuderes is you cannot get attached to them, this was exactly the problem I had with Violet Evergarden. Although Violet is not unemotional late in the show, she is practically an emotionless humanoid throughout the series. Frieren has shown many times that even if she has difficulty understanding emotions, she cares and worries just as deeply. This ultimately encapsulates the importance of cherishing every solitary moment and day. Undoubtedly, it is one of the many significant life lessons it teaches to the viewers.

In a general sense, Beyond Journey’s End’s worldbuilding is not exactly unique in fantasy media. There are various species but nothing new such as dwarfs, elves, mages, demons, dragons, you name it. What makes it standout, is how everyone familiarizes themselves with other species and grasps their values, concerns, mannerisms, customs, traditions, etc. Frieren and her companions travel from each location having its own interactions with both historical and recent events. Various characters offer their own unique experience from unfamiliar parts of the globe. The world is alive, organic, and beyond political boundaries. We are provided relevant information with appropriate timing, while other facets could be explored along with the cast. In addition, everything was structured well. Beyond Journey’s End’s combat system revolves around experience, wits, knowledge and situational awareness. Power scaling does not dictate the winner, but more so the match up and how to overcome tribulations.

Without a doubt, Beyond Journey's End has furnished me with joy that is difficult to describe. Here, we have a slow, atmospheric, and soothing story that does not attempt to bombard fight scenes or try to attach you to some dull premise. Rather, it speaks from its audiovisuals. This allows the episodes to expand by executing its time with gentle exposition, visuals and music, which make everything come together near the moment that the characters climax. A superb team enlivened the manga staffed with their expansive imagination. With vibrant earth color tones protruding through nature, a bright, yet polished look; everything displays refinery, crafted from people who have passion. Directed by Keiichirou Saitou, the person that contributed to Bocchi the Rock! It all makes sense with the fluid animation and visual direction of his experience as a key animator. Evan Call, his composition gradually intervenes as the underpin, with the gentle stroke of the harp, the melancholic vocals, and the footsteps' presence apparent for its immersion; all the instrumentals and sounds serves its purpose. Apart from this, this soundtrack does not display actions in a simplistic manner, but instead corresponds with it. Every particular frame, note, sound, and animation radiates a life affirming subtlety. The production merely achieves what it desires.

Unfortunately, there were a few nitpicky points that the audience could have an issue with. Beyond Journey’s End wants its content to strike a broad demographic, so it is not fearful of being too exuberant, but that can cause the audience's respect. With characters such as Frieren, who is the mage from the party of heroes, her fascination with magic to entertain the group while additionally utilizing it as a way to express herself openly. I praised Beyond Journey’s End for its transitions but possibly, the chibi facial expressions or jolly flashbacks on occasions were there to help alleviate the monochromatic tone. By all means, perhaps the journey should deliver these light-hearted moments, but personally, it was distracting, but the intent was still sincere. Whenever the show was at risk of being extremely dull, this became its defense maneuver. But when they had to present genuine emotion, it sometimes sidetracked from having to do so. For instance, whenever our leading character finds herself moved by what someone said, the show adopted the uncomplicated route by having a flashback relevant to what is stated in a span of one episode without devoting enough screen time to deeply reflect and act upon them. Even though this is a way for the audience to reminisce, they also squandered sufficient opportunities for any genuine relationship to blossom and climax. Moreover, it encourages us to leisurely perceive things that we might have imperfectly grasped back then. We are not just overhung in the past, but we learn to move on and cherish these microscopic moments in the present. Therefore, there will be no anguish adorned with regret. For a show dealing with the passage of time, immortality, and relationships with a main lead that depicts an ideal character for this setting, these flashbacks are satisfactory but not impactful enough. Two members of Frieren’s party have a potential romantic connection, but it holds no significance to me. For no favorable reason besides comedic purposes, the girl treats the boy unfairly despite his kind nature. We see this same dynamic trope from shoujo anime numerous times and it has grown stale to me.

In brief, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End was a pleasant surprise and sets a new standard for fantasy anime. It mesmerizes the audience, drawing them into its emotional depth and thrilling action. Regardless of your preference, the show is worth experiencing at least once. Despite being underwhelming, this is a steady self-discovery story that I wholeheartedly recommend to slice of life or battle shounen fans.

Thank you sincerely for reading this review.