It would be easy to say Frieren is a good show. It would be even easier to say that it's a great show.

But to me it's just strikingly reminiscent of the feeling Tolkien's work invokes. Watching Frieren, based on vibes alone, felt much like reading Lord of The Rings for the first time. It's really funny to think that Frieren visibly draws inspirations from TTRPGs, like Dungeons and Dragons, which draw inspiration mainly from Tolkien's fantasy world.

The characters fall anywhere on a scale from great to not so great, but rarely if ever are they reduced to the basic anime tropes one may be used to. Even Frieren's old party, characters we mainly percieve through Frieren's memories, are decently fleshed out for the minor roles they play.

Honestly the way Frieren herself interacts with the surrounding world is the most interesting thing about the show. Personally the main idea of a 'trip to heaven' isn't too enjoyable to me personally, but the journey there is handled so well and in such a fun way that I can't really complain.

I've heard the show be described as fanservice-y which honestly... what?? Did I watch a different show?? The way Frieren handles this sort of stuff is a welcome break from the oversexualisation of women's bodies anime often falls to. Neither of the two 'main' girls is ever put in any fanservice situations, closest we come to something similiar is Frieren getting a couple covered up non sexual butt shots when encountering mimics, and even that is on tone with the rest of the show.

My main issue is probably the prevalance of short petite girl characters, I 100% see why people would be throwing around the L word in regards to Frieren (and no, I don't mean lesbian, although we do get a couple sweet queer rep moments with two side characters!) Sein was right, _where are all the tall hot older women?? _Both Frieren and Serie, the only two elven women we get to see fall into the 'looks like a child but is actually 1398713 years old' trope. Still both of them are perfectly fleshed out and well written characters despite this, so I really wouldn't say it's anything but a minor red flag.

While I'm on the topic of queer representation I'll just slip in the note that all elves are essencially aroace in this! And they're not villanised for it! Frieren herself does get a (sad) romance subplot, which I'm assuming makes her an exception to that rule though. All the more content for future seasons!!

At the end of things, Frieren is a must watch for anyone with even a mild interest in fantasy. I really hope we can eventually get a second season to this absolutely outstanding piece of art. I didn't even get to mention the beautiful opening and absolutely jaw dropping soundtrack.
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