"It was a mere ten-year adventure"
Frieren is an elf mage who has lived over a millennium, and therefore is no stranger to embarking on her own journey once she outlives her human companions. After Frieren and her victorious party of heroes gain fame for the defeat of the Demon King, as expected, she outlives them and travels to collect new magic spells. Her attachment to this group is wonderfully illustrated in the first episode, offering a foundation to the parallel flashbacks to her past, and her present. Most notably, her former companion Himmel the Hero is a prominent influence on Frieren's conduct. Supposedly, her journey becomes a solitary one, that is until the legacy of her late party members join the adventure. For me, the most rewarding aspect of the series was its found family trope; Frieren takes in Fern, a promising young mage who grows as her apprentice, and later joins Stark, a young boy in the warrior class. This trio's relationship was easily my favourite plotline.
It was a perfect balance of slice of life and action scenes, both playful and mature. Frieren subverts the expectations of what a thousand year old elf may act like, by often acting the way a child would, providing comic relief. She maintains no structure or self-discipline in her day to day schedule, shocking Fern, who learns to chastise her mentor for her lack of understanding. The difference in outlooks between elves and humans is a constant theme; Frieren often fails to understand other people's emotions and the value of time. Yet, Frieren's perspective also teaches her adoptees on patience and appreciating the banal tasks of life. And so their adventure tends to maintain a peaceful balance; some episodes follow a simple plot of resolving an adolescent argument between Fern and Stark.
In addition, there is action with striking visuals. I find that the strongest points of the story were the battle sequences with demon villains. The showcasing of Frieren's magical power and development of Fern and Stark's abilities was outstanding. The only reason I have rated Frieren one point away from a 10 is because of the pacing, I reckon that the second half of the series could have been more succinct. Usually I am quite fond of trials and training arcs, but the mage tests in this series did not have me as compelled as I was with the former plotlines. Despite this, it still had its spellbinding moments, it certainly exceeded my expectations.
