I've been keeping an eye out for this one months before it released and now that i have rewatched it three times in total I feel ready to convey the feelings i have for this show.

The Story (without Spoilers)

To give a brief summary of what Frieren is about for those who have not already seen it. It's a story that begins when others end. The Demon King, enemy of all that is good and proper on the continent, has been defeated by the group of heroes, Himmel the hero, Eisen the warrior, Heiter the priest and lastly Frieren the mage, who now return to the capital and their well earned celebration. They make up their mind about what to do with their life from now on, having to look for work and a place to settle down. Of course they would, because their journey has taken them ten years to complete, a long time for humans like Himmel and Heiter. Even Eisen the dwarf feels that way. Everyone but Frieren. She is an elf, and one that's been alive for longer than the others will ever imagine. For her, ten years are just a mere blink of an eye. This is a story about her, told through her eyes and how her perception of time and life changes as she meets different people on her journeys. She wants to find out more about the humans she pitied for their short life spans and discover what makes them who they are. ->It's hard to give a better summary without spoiling the best parts. If you're interested watch the first episode.

The Animation

Another thing i can talk about without spoilering the show is the animation. The quality of what is being portrayed on screen is some of the best I have ever seen in my entire life. I really liked how they made their facial expressions as lively as possible which added to the characters personality in many scenes. But one thing that stunned me is how they animated the clothing of all of the characters to look as realistic as possible. When they move the clothes and fabric behave realistically and there's one scene when Stark puts on his coat and you can see every fold move and fall into place. It was really amazing to see how much quality was put into small details like that to make the show feel more fleshed out.
Here's a video showing what I talked about:

▶ In the video you can also find another hint of the great animation quality. It's the stunning fight scenes, especially in the latter parts of the show when battles between mages occur and they cast a hail of spells on each other. It looks so good it could very well compete with all these "hype shows" out there like "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Solo Leveling" and even beat them in that regard. When Stark is fighting in some of the scenes it looks like a martial arts movie with amazing movement scenes that all look like they were upped to 60 frames per second to make them look more fluid. I could very well talk about more animation details but that would make this review even longer than it already is but I think these two examples show how much effort Madhouse put into this show. # The Art You can't talk about Frieren without mentioning its fabulous art. I really enjoyed the art style, because while many modern anime set a focus on a clean picture with clear edges, shows like Frieren, and also recently, the two seasons of "Shoshimin" (if you have never heard of it, look it up) went for a softer approach around the edges. You will notice this at many points during the show. Here's a small comparison between JJK and Frieren in that regard and I agree that it depends on the scene you show, but on a broader level comparison you will find the difference to be quite significant. Another thing that you can spot in the left picture is how vibrant and dynamic the coloring looks. Especially when the rising sun shines upon Frieren and the shadows are portrayed perfectly on the back of her head. I don't know how they did it, but the colours feel neither too strong so it would stress your eyes to watch them nor too weak as to feel dull and lifeless. Rather the coloring has a certain warmth behind it that underlines the general image of the show perfectly. The other thing I want to mention when talking about the art in Frieren is the thing the show really excels at. It's backround art. When I look at it in some of the images in the show it feels like Iam being directly transported into the world I see in front of me. Every backround has so much depth and details that you could look at them for minutes straight gushing your eyes out over the beautiful use of colours to make the scenes feel alive. It sometimes feels like I got transported straight into an art museum showing off a mix between "Romantik" and "Biedermeier" (two German art eras) paintings with an extra touch of warmth. But maybe that's just me. Nevertheless, Frierens art rivals that of shows like "Violet Evergarden" (my favorite show to date). I can't praise it enough. # The Music Before we're getting to my personal views and the spoiler part of the review, I briefly want to speak about the music which to me is one of the things that anime can't survive without and that can sometimes even make the difference between a great and a mid show (or good and bad). First of all I liked both openings even though "Yuusha" by YOASOBI at first didn't seem to be a fitting opening for the show I came to like it. The better one of the two has got to be "Haru" by Yorushika a Band that I've come to like a lot in the recent year. The second one felt really refreshing and I liked the Artstyle and animation way more than that of the first one and it also fitted its part of the show really really well. We now come to the only critique point I have for the entire show. The ending should have been the opening song for the entire show. "Anytime Anywhere" sung by milet is the best ending song I have heard in my entire life and if you look at the lyrics couldn't be more fitting for the show. It's absolutely stunning and gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. It's emotional, it's breathtaking, it's simply fantastic. Evan Call Now to the second part of my music review. The actual OST by Evan Call, the man that brings anime soundtracks on a whole other level. I've fallen in love with his music since I first heard it watching "Violet Evergarden". Since then I also have seen "Josee the Tiger and the Fish" and in both these shows he did such an amazing job that I doubt that "Violet Evergarden" would have become my favorite show without his music. I want to try to show of his musical genius with three tracks taken from the show. 1."Song for the Beyond" ▶ First of all I have chosen "Song for the Beyond". In this track the violins and the piano work together to create a really emotional and melancholic feeling that for example underlines Wirbels brief but heartfelt backstory told in the last episode of the show. It is one of many emotional soundtracks taken from the show but especially the middle part when the multiple violins stops and gives way for the piano solo and eventually a piano violin duo. It's the scene where young Wirbel looks at his destroyed village and comes to the same realization as Himmel the Hero, namely that the heroes and their great deeds and battles he read so much about and admired were worth nothing, if they didn't help the people in their small towns and with their small needs, because even if they did save the world eventually, these people wouldn't be there anymore to see it happen. That's what a hero does in Himmel's eyes. He doesn't leave anybody behind. What I want to say with all of that is that the piece of music matches the scenes in the anime perfectly, which means extra effort has been put into certain tracks to match exactly with what's seen on the screen. These tracks tell stories themselves and aid the way the show wants to convey it's feelings. I had to tear up a bit during the scene i just mentioned. 2."Zoltraak" ▶ Next up is a piece that many of you might already have heard of. "Zoltraak" consits of a beautiful mix of engaging flute music (maybe even pan flute) and percussion ensembles. The singer hits all the right notes. It's the perfect music for engaging fantasy fight scenes that makes your blood run faster and your pulse go higher everytime you hear it. In the scene where Fern fights Lügner the music describes Ferns rapid way of attacking with the spell that gives the soundtrack its name. It's amazing. 3."Time Flows Ever Onward" ▶ The final track is not one that's reserved only for a few special scenes but appears a lot throughout the show. It's a calm sound that makes you feel like you've been on a journey for quite sometime. The landscape flows by as you walk step by step to your destination. The guitar and flute combination at the beginning are really iconic. It's a song that can be used every time the characters travel or do tasks and errands from the people they meet on their journey and it never gets old and relaxes me every time I hear it. ->In summary I want to show that Evan Call basically has a perfect soundtrack for every given scene. It doesn't matter if it's a sad scene, a happy one or an exciting one. Evan Call always finds the perfect way to enhance the stuff shown on screen with his composition and fill your heart with so many emotions. Every time I listen to his tracks, the Anime scenes they play in immediatly pop up in my head. That's how iconic and great these music pieces are to me. Now we come to the spoiler part of my review. # The Plot/My Opinion Frieren is one of the greatest shows I have ever seen and a big part of why that is, is the plot or rather the message it conveys for me. The first episode, one of the best first episodes in the history of anime, immediatly sets the tone for the entire series. Frieren the mage that had given so little interest in the people around her given that in her eyes they only knew each other for a brief time, snapped at the funeral of a man she had only known for a bit more than 10 years of her life and broke down in tears. The death of Himmel had made her realize she didn't understand humans at all. For them, time runs different. She vows to go on a journey to really understand what makes humans humans. She wants to understand their feelings, their personalities, their dreams and their way of living. With Fern and Stark, the first two humans she finally tries to get closer too, she goes to backtrack the way she went with the party of heroes and remember as much as possible of the time she had disregarded too easily. On the way they meet many characters and like the main trio and the former party of heroes, they all have really fleshed out personalities and apart from the characters we don't know the backstory of feel lifelike or rather alive itself. With that the world that is portrayed in the show feels like a living breathing one even though compared to shows like "One Piece" or "Attack on Titan" the worldbuilding isn't that deep. And the funny thing is that it doesn't really matter because although the worldbuilding isn't that deep the characters give it the necessary depth. Through their backstories and the travels of the heroes group we as the viewer get taught many valuable life lessons. I wanna just share the most important and really obvious one in my opinion. Every moment counts. It's not only a Buddhist teaching but a way of changing how you look at life itself. The life span of humans is truly short. But that also means that we have to live our every moments to the fullest. Take in every second, doesn't matter if it's a happy holiday or one of these dragging days at work. Even those count up till our final moments and I'd like to live them without any regrets because we don't know what happens after. And so even though life is short, we can do a lot. Frieren shows us that many times in the show when she talks about how fast humanity changes and how far it has come in such a short span of time (for example her explanation to Qual about Zoltraaks analysis through humanity or when she talks to Serie about the age of humanity having begone). We humans have the chance to have a lasting effect during our lifespan on our sourroundings and the world, for better or worse. In times like these with war, famines and global climate crisis ravaging humanity, it sadly seems to be the latter. But Frieren and especially Himmel, as the moral anchor of the show ,also show us what good we can accomplish in our lives if we choose to do so. There are so many great things you could mention when talking about this show. People will interpret the specific parts I refer to differently but among many other things I learned through watching Frieren the mentioned part is one of the most important lessons I was reminded of. This show truly is a love confession to life itself.