Spoilers for Sousou no Frieren (First Season):

TL:DR: The show is worthy of all the praise it has received. A truly compelling show about the past, our relationships, and our relationships to the past. Absolutely worth watching.

The first thing I would remark about Frieren is that my thoughts on it are incomplete; the anime ends about halfway through the journey, presumably to be picked up in the second season which hasn't released yet. I typically don't read the manga associated with the anime I watch unless I really like it; and this is no exception, so it's possible I might say something here that contradicts something that happens in the original text.

All that said, my introduction to Frieren could have been better. While I was passively aware of it's high critical praise and space in the zeitgeist during it's initial release, what actually encouraged me to check it out now was a classic case of toxic Twitter discourse about whether or not the anime had conservative political leanings. It was dumb; but that morbid curiosity did get me to see it.

To nip that in the bud before we continue; I don't really have an answer to that question. I think it really depends on what you already believe. Much of the discussion seemed to surround the three or so episodes involves demons, how they sometimes take humanoid forms and can speak but are otherwise inherently evil and only communicate to deceive or taunt people. Friern is especially merciless when it comes to demons, arguing that they must be destroyed by any means necessary. While the show can be quite violent, the coldness which with Frieren deals with demons is atypical for the mood of the show and shows a darker element to her character. It is at times very interesting and somewhat tonally dissonant.

Initially, the characterization of demons as monsters who are destined for evil regardless of circumstance, in particular highlighted by the flashback scene between Frieren's party and a demon child, did give me great unease. However, after the demon's deception is revealed, they kind of reverted into the unambiguously evil characters they are, even referring to themselves as beasts, which admittedly made me throw out my original reservations. One thing I did like is that while demons are shown to be straight-up evil, they are implied to have a culture that highly prizes dominance and showing off; a trait that often leads to their downfall.

Now, I haven't read the manga, so I don't know if demons are given some kind of empathetic characteristics or Frieren becomes super-hitler or anything, but based on the anime, it seems unlikely to me that demons are meant to be an allegory or metaphor for some kind of foreigner or minority group. At least I hope not; if they were, it represents a cartoonishly racist or ill-informed understanding of other cultures. I do feel as though these scenes are very "graftable" for certain idealogues, though; If I were say, a politically grifting video essayist who was trying to scare you into thinking everything was too woke, I think I could pretty easily make the case that _Frieren _ and its depiction of demons as well as its emphasis on traditions and the past represent a "good" Japanese anime compared to a "bad" piece of Western Animation with different political views.

Having seen the show now, such a discussion feels kind of petty and disheartening, however; it really is missing the forest for the trees. At its core, Frieren is far more a show about our memories, our relationships, our legacies, and how those legacies are not shaped by great deeds but the people we spend our lives with.

I really enjoy the premise; we start at the end of this big RPG, and we are forced to figure out what happens now. The heroes grow old and perish, and Frieren, the long living elf, carries their legacies by taking care of their apprentices, preserving their memories, and holding the loneliness from those friends being gone and living in a world that continues to move on. The show constantly examines how small, even seemingly insignificant interactions can have lasting impacts on our lives, even well after the person we had them with are gone, and how those influences can spread to future generations in turn.

While I'm very interested in the themes and ideas behind narratives, the show itself has a lot going for it that make it compelling even without them. The artwork is, particularly the backgrounds, are very beautiful and wonderfully convey the vastness of great forests or the bustle of medieval city spaces. It certainly feels more like a colorful fantasy world than a grimy and realistic one, but I rather like vibrancy in art, so no complaints here. The music is also superb; seemingly taking influence from folk and Celtic genres that helps to convey the emotions of actions as simple as eating dinner to as epic as a grandiose magic battle feel in tune with the world.

The world building itself is a little vague, but I don't think that's a bad thing. We are relayed information about the world as it becomes relevant to the current situation, but we are not given a big backstory on how this world operates or when it was formed, etc. I kind of like this; the story is taking you for a ride and it doesn't feel the need to explain itself most of the time for the benefit of an unseen audience when the character they're talking to already knows why things are the way they are.

Frieren is an interesting mix of genres. It is in some episodes a fantasy themed slice of life about young prodigal mage fern babysitting her master and companions, and in others is a more action-oriented Shonen type thing (complete with mage certification tournament arc). I suppose it's fitting; we often remember things like Lord of the Rings for its great battles, but most of those films are about walking. Both of these are done very well; the battles are exciting and visually stunning and the more casual interactions are humorous and often cute. There's a nice variety to that, that makes the show a bit unpredictable. When I was watching I had a general idea of where we were heading, but wasn't sure quite was going to happen next...rather fitting for a story with a set destination but a lot of stops along the way.

The characters in Frieren are very compelling; the only ones I had an active dislike for were the demons, and I'm sure that was intended. The show really likes to give characters surface-level flaws but then show their loveable traits as the party interacts with them more...a lot of nuisances turned allies in this show. Many of the characters are non-recurring; that is to say they appear for a few episodes then leave when that arc is over. Normally it might be kind of odd to have an inconsistent cast, but for a group that's always traveling, and for a show that is often about how even short interactions can have lasting impacts, I think it fits the story rather well. I think the mainstays of Frieren, Fern, and Stark are probably my favorite characters. I like that Frieren and Fern are these cool, powerful mages with an aura of stoicism who are undone and made human by their emotions and their general lack of knowledge when it comes to social situations and/or mimics, with Stark being the poor boy caught in the middle. Fern's face of "anger" always gets me.

While my introduction to _Frieren _ wasn't the best, I'm glad it sent me here. The anime is truly fantastic and the songs of its praise were not unfounded in the slightest. I suspect readers will already know this because I'm so often behind the curve, but if you haven't seen it already, I'd heartily recommend it. I'm quite excited to see how the story continues in 2026.