Sousou no Frieren

Through 3 episodes, Frieren appears to be a unique masterpiece in storytelling and worldbuilding, a bright spot in the middling fantasy genre, and one of the leading anime of the season, no, anime of the year candidates; I do not recommend it to 70% of anime fans.

Don’t get me wrong, this show is absolutely amazing at pretty much every aspect of being an anime, and through 3 episodes, I literally can’t find a single gripe that I have about this series. However, I can easily see how the average anime fan would find the series “boring” or “uninteresting”. Frieren isn’t a flashy series: it ... primarily deals with character development, symbolism, and storytelling. There are few fight scenes, a whole lot of dialogue, not a lot of effort spent on comedy and a general lack of the “fantasy tropes” that people expect from the genre. However, if you have seen a lot of bland fantasy anime and are looking for a change, or perhaps you have a somewhat nuanced view or sense of appreciation for higher-level stories, Frieren will be nothing short of an amazing experience for you.

Frieren isn’t an anime that you would celebrate in the group chat “DUDE that episode was sooooooo hype”. It’s more of something that you would write a thesis paper for in English class. Our story follows Frieren: an Elven girl who seeks to understand the human perspective of life: one foreign to her as her long lifespan doesn’t allow her to see the value in most human endeavors. The only deep connection she has to anything is to her 3 friends and the adventures they went on together. When the friend she has the deepest connection to dies off, she is willed to reconnect with the other friends before they die off; collecting apprentices from each of them as she looks to retrace that adventure she took for granted. Any doubts that I had about this premise on paper were quickly washed away by the masterclass of storytelling.

The story is primarily told through flashbacks rich in symbols of Frieren’s previous adventures that develop our characters and give them a general sense of direction, followed by an actual storyline acting on these flashbacks. The flashbacks are all succinct enough to remain interesting without feeling long-winded, and each and every flashback has a clear story purpose: whether that be as clear characterization or setting up Chekhov's guns for later. These Chekhov's guns are used perfectly in a way that guarantees you an “oh, *that’s* what that was for” moment every episode. Both of these positive aspects of the use of flashbacks are commonly botched in other anime in the genre, making Frieren just that much more impactful.

*Lightning round of praises*

The story is amazingly emotional, yet nuanced as it tackles heavier-than-normal topics for the genre with a degree of tact. It doesn’t try to be overtly shocking with big *gasp* moments or overtly emotional with moments that make you want to bawl your eyes out, instead, it maintains a constant level of impact on the viewer: a factor lost on some anime that have a degree of variance to their impact.

The characters are deep to the extent simply not found in most fantasy anime. The original party interacts with each other in a way that makes their friendship feel genuine: almost in a Konosuba-esque manner. The new party has fluid dynamics that can even foster a bit of comedy that never detracts from the actual story.

The animation is high quality without being overly showy or bombastic: almost in a way that reminds me of the first season of Mushoku Tensei (minus the cool bread-tearing scenes)

The op is yet another Yoasobi op with depressing ass lyrics atop an upbeat score. It admittedly took me a long time to warm up to it, but by episode 4 I recognized that it was amazing.

Frieren does the Oshi No Ko thing of having a long-ass first episode(granted this one was split into 4 episodes but I digress). This helps the viewer get into the more convoluted premise more easily, and honestly, this should become common practice for anime of this nature.

If any of this sounds appealing to you, I suggest you check out Frieren. I personally see the series as a fantastic representation of what a true higher-level fantasy anime should really be like. However, I do recognize that for some, it simply doesn’t have that traditional anime impact that you need to enjoy a series. That’s perfectly okay, but just know you're probably missing out on something truly great.

Thanks for reading, let's have more Frieren-like fantasy and less vending machine isekai.

Someone recommended me to watch this title last year months before it began airing as a similar series to Mahoutsukai no Yome, and although it also has a mage and their disciple studying, training and traveling together, and the main characters share voice actress, I don’t see much resemblance beyond the premise. Concept wise, I find it to be more similar to Fumetsu no Anata E, since it is about a long-lived non-human protagonist learning about mortality and the short live span of humans while traveling around the world and getting some friends and new abilities.

The issues with that title are that the protagonist ... didn’t have a personality initially, it was full of emotional manipulation to make you cry, the main character was becoming stronger by acquiring the abilities of his dead friends, thus coming off as feeding off of them, the secondary cast got a lot of focus on their mini arc and then disappeared from the story completely, essentially wasting time and screentime, and the protagonist changed completely after a time skip. That’s where I dropped that show but from what I understand afterwards the series mutates from a road movie type of drama to a fighting shounen which in turn drops tremendously in visual quality.

Frieren doesn’t have those issues. To start off, the animation is pretty good for the most part, there are some weak moments in the artwork and backgrounds but they are usually consistent and very good, even if typical for a fantasy series. The lighting and shading as well as the rest of the special effects are very good, except for the offensive spell that some charracters use, I don’t know why but that looks very outdated. The character designs are very simple and even kind of childish, which are not bad but kind of unfitting at first with the melancholic feeling of the show. The motions are very good at every moment, even the most relaxing ones, each character even has their own distinct way of walking, the facial expressions are very varied and well done, and the action scenes tend to use dynamic movement, like Burn the Witch, Majo no Tabitabi, Akudama Drive and some others did in 2020, and Trigun: Stampede did last year. Overall it’s pretty good in that regard, even if it doesn’t compare with Shangri-la Frontier and Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, which were airing at the same time.

The presentation is good, it’s just that the aesthetics are nothing special. Same thing applies to the audio department, the sound effects are really good and impactful and not too loud and not saturated, the voice acting is ok, nothing special. The soundtrack is really fitting, it’s just typical background music for a fantasy show but it’s very well done and at times even absorbing. The ending song and the insert song (to my understanding, used as an ending for an early screening), both by Milet fit the series really well and are quite beautiful on their own, and the lyrics go very well with the anime. The openings are not as good but the second one is better than the first, which although it had good lyrics for the story, it was strangely upbeat for this time of anime, and thus didn’t fit very well. The second one had a little more energy as well, but at least it felt more appropriate for the second half of the series.

Characterization is not the strongest aspect of the anime, the main characters have a name with a specific meaning, and their whole characterization is based around that, in anime terms, the two female are basically kuuderes and the male is the typical kind hearted but misunderstood and poorly treated harem lead. No, I’m not saying nor implying this series is a harem, I’m just saying that the characters fit some of those archetypes, and although that makes them easy to remember because of that, they don’t have very elaborate nor complicating personalities for the same reason.

What they do have, however, is backdrop stories good enough to flesh them out instead of just leaving them as dry archetypes, and they more or less serve to explain the way the characters are. More and more background information about them is revealed and they also come to learn more things about the previous important party, as it also does the audience that way.

People really seem to like the possible romantic dynamic between two members of the party, I personally don’t give a shit about that, the boy is kind but treated poorly by the girl for no reason besides “comedy”. I’ve seen the same dynamic in anime from the 90s and 00s and got tired of it. At least she recognizes later on that she was acting like a brat and they become friendlier with one another afterwards, and for some people they seem to be “couple goals” or some shit like that, I don’t really care.

What’s important is that even the basic main cast here is better than the rock turned wolf turned boy from Fumetsu, he couldn’t even talk, he had no personality nor backdrop, and he changed completely after a time skip, thus that doesn’t count as organic character development.

This anime has time skips as well but they are nowhere near as big, they don’t skip the scenes of characters learning new things, especially for the main one Frieren, who comes to realize, she knew and was closer to her original party than she always thought and she gains a purpose in life by doing what they want her to do after they died at the beginning of the story, and it all happens on screen, not between time skips.

It’s even related to the themes, despite being one of the most important heroes in history, Frieren never stood out and never truly cared for anyone else, she never had ambition and never understood how brief a human life could be for an elf like her, until she found out when trying to reunite with her old party, that’s when it clicked in and when she notices that she always took that time for granted and regrets not spending more time with them or getting to know them now that there is no going back. The rest of the series she dedicates to fulfill the last wishes of her old party and recall old times in their adventure, thus coming to realize she knew and cared more about them that she ever considered to, while also collecting some more magic here and there.

That way, the series also has the chance to flesh out the older support cast that dies early on through flashbacks, and I also realized where the main appeal and value of the series might be, as a sort of company of sorts for people who have recently lost someone and regret not spending enough time with them.

Sousou no Frieren is not a tearjerker however, the drama is presented more in a melancholic tone than anything else, which is something I appreciate about it, considering that there are so many shows out there filled with emotional manipulation.

The other mains are fine on their own, they also get flashbacks and learn new things and like I said they become closer with each other, it’s just that the focus is clearly on the protagonist, so they come off as simpler and more inferior characters, especially the guy who gets completely sidelined in the second half.

Also, compared to that other series, Sousou no Frieren is clear about what it is from the very beginning. There is some action here and there and is usually well animated, directed, choreographed and has some tactics here and there, but for the most part it’s a lighthearted road movie type of fantasy adventure where the character we follow through for the whole show is the strongest, thus the stakes are low. She might not be the most powerful in-series, but we only know that thanks to some throwaway lines, we never really get a sense of urgency or that Frieren might lose or struggle against someone. It’s a show meant to relax to and look back at some of your past relationships, with some magical beams thrown around from time to time for flavour.

Some other things I want to praise the writing for is caring about some very specific things that add to characterization and world building despite being such small details. First, since elves are so long-lived, they get easily emotionally detached from everyone else, they don’t have strong feelings for anyone, neither romantic nor sexual, and that’s why there are few of them and why the protagonist herself is so cold at first. It also helps to explain why, despite being one of the most well-known heroes in history, no one seems to recognize her at first, like Luffy in One Piece, but here is far more believable because the setting doesn’t have the same technology and the main character herself does as much as she can to keep a low profile.

Another good detail is the explaining for why there isn’t any transportation magic and for why flying magic is limited, which also forces the main cast to actually travel through the fucking setting, whereas other series have several ways for the main cast to be where they need to be when the plot requires them to. This also helps in making the anime feel like, well, an adventure, because how can you have a proper adventure if there is no adventuring, no travelling, no exploring the setting? It’s not like Sousou no Frieren has a world that needs much building nor explaining, it’s a very typical fantasy setting with typical classes, creatures and archetypes, but at least is properly written and established, and it is actually explored, while it also doesn’t function like an RPG, how many other modern fantasy anime can claim the same, eh?

That’s why the characters can’t just go wherever they want and in any ways they would like, every city and every place has its rules, and since Frieren herself knows the route well, you get a bit of lore or history from them, having the rest of the party going on their first adventure also helps, since that way the author has a reason for all the explaining to be done, the exposition is excused.

Not to say that this anime is perfect of course, since there is no clear reasoning why, despite magic evolving so much for being studied for decades and even centuries, basic spells still work the best against newer, supposedly better instructed mages, or why the only mages that know how to control and repress mana in-series are the ones related in some way to the main character.

Then, the whole thing about Frieren kind of falls apart when you consider, “wait, wasn’t her teacher a human? Doesn’t that go against her whole character arc and the main theme of the show?” And the answer from me is yes, I have no excuse for that, and consider it a big flaw in the writing.

Likewise, the second half of the show is inferior than the first, exactly because it falls for the same issues as the series I compared it to. It is a tournament/exam arc that you would find in an action shounen instead of this one, it completely sidelines an important character, and although needed for the characters to keep going, the plot stops progressing completely for a lot of episodes instead of the mini adventures from earlier, and there are a lot of unimportant secondary characters getting a lot of rushed focus.

Other series do that as well (Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho) but being long fighting shounen, their characters don’t disappear completely from the story until way later. I’m an anime only here, thus I can’t tell if someone from the second cour is coming back at some point or not, but I hardly doubt it and I’m sure they don’t join the main party, essentially meaning that for at least this first season, they work against the plot by killing time and taking screentime for no reason.

With that said, it’s not straight up bad, since there are still moments to flesh out the two main girls and see them interacting, and there is still some cool action from time to time.

And also, well, there is hardly any plot in here, it’s just low on action and stakes basic traveling and adventuring with an overpowered protagonist that goofs around before solving most things thanks to how powerful or experienced she is, and although I like that she is kind of like Maomao from Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, neither an idealistic hot headed idiot typical shounen protagonist, nor an asshole that doesn’t give a shit about people like Elaina from Majo no Tabitabi, she still doesn’t actually do or not most things on her own wish, that’s why she says things like “Himmel would scold me if I did that” or “Himmel would praise me if I do this”.

Thus, despite part of me respecting the value and appeal it might have for some emotional people and for how mostly well established the writing and presentation are, the cynical bastard I am only finds boredom in here, because there isn’t much plot, the characters are simple, the stakes are low because the protagonist is overpowered, the plot devices are not the type of which I’m usually thrilled about, the setting is basic, the energy is low, the aesthetics are simple, and the second half, although it still fleshes out two of the main characters, is inferior than the first by falling for the usual meh writing of other shows. In the end I consider it a decent relaxing time passer that can be very appealing for some viewers, but nowhere near as good as the general consensus says it is, and a complete chore to watch for part of the audience, myself included. At least I can say that this anime doesn’t have recaps neither inside nor outside the episode count, which is more than I can say about the other shows I was following at the same time.

So when exactly is this supposed to get interesting? Admittedly, I haven't watched that much, but so far we have the main character with a personality rivaling ChatGPT, an orphan whose entire tragic backstory is summed up in a 10 second flashback, and some other side characters that are entirely defined by the single quirk they possess: character A is a drunk, character B is overly confident, and so on.

All of this would be somewhat acceptable if there was a lot going on in the series, but there isn't. It's supposed to be focused on the characters and their interactions, yet they somehow managed ... to make the dialogue incredibly dull and generic. Take the encounter with the ancient, powerful and wise demon in episode 3 for example, who greets the protagonist after 80 years with the jaw-dropping line: "Hey, it's been a while, what happened to my boss? Now you must die".

The art is nice and beautiful to look at, and the animation is mostly good except for the characters faces which I think is lacking in expression. The soundtrack is pleasant to listen to but doesn't stand out in any way.

I have nothing against slow-paced series, but it needs to be built on substance and depth, and so far this doesn't cut it. I might give this another try later so see if it grows on me.

Re-post (because evidently Currently watching does not actually mean currently watching..?)

This show is certainly overrated, but still not a bad show, although given its incredibly overly high rating, I will focus on the negative in this review.


Story:

It has no story, and is just small sub plots that are generic at best.

Seriously, there are entire episodes about random pointless nonesense. for example , there was an entire episode about 'trying this really good food that frieren had 100 years ago' There is no story progression(not that there even is a story or reason behind any of what they are doing) This entire show is more like ... a slice of life than an action adventure show.

There are many problems in the show that feel like the solutions are just made up on the spot, with no back story to support it. for example:

Frieren's weakness (spoiler I guess?) is that she stops focusing on her mana detection while casting a spell, and that shows up for the first time on episode 26 after many battles prior such as with the demon king, and first class mages and other demons. this weakness only shows up becasue, again spoiler, they are fighting a copy of Frieren, and need to come up with an excuse for why they can beat her. (literally earlier in the same episode they find the weakness...) Things like this are constantly happening throughout every episode. Its poor storytelling at its best, and feels like a cheap filler anime.


Characters:

Sure the characters are good, but they have no meaning, for example:

Fern is a mage who just so happens for literally no reason to be as strong as frieren, the mage who has studied for thousands of years....? sure a fking 16 year old just can become as strong as the multi-thousand year old who has done nothing but collect grimoires and study magic their whole life. this would MAYBE make sense if Fern was had some kind of special talent to allow her to do so, but she was LITERALLY BORN A NORMAL HUMAN, and had 'determination' as a kid.... LOL... on one epsisode, she had a 1 minute training montoge, and suddenly became strong enough to become a 'first-class' mage (highest level mage).

The warrior on the team, who I forget the name of because he only shows up in like 1 out of 5 episodes, and only actually does anything in any of the episodes he does show up in like 1/10 times? He helped save a town, horray, and since then has done literally nothing else but be a companion for Fern.
Basically I guess he is just there so that we don't think that this is supposed to be a girls-love show between Fern and Frieren, because I know people would think that if this warrior character didn't exist.

The healer / priest on the team, who was kicked off the team because he was so un-special, and served no purpose that Frieren didn't already have a spell for.

Frieren, the only character that makes even a lick of sense, is also the most unlikeable trope, Dandere. She is just an overpowered mage (or at least that's what the first 20 or so episodes made it seem, until Fern's 1 minute training montage that made her as strong as Frieren.) Other than that the story just follows her because she wants to relive her old memories, or some demented thing like that.

Why anyone follows her..? no reason given... why would you ask such a basic question?

Other
The show is not all bad, it is well drawn/animated, and does have moments that make you feel comfortable, or maybe have a chuckle. Although this is definitely not a comedy, and certainly does a barely above average job at being a slice of life / or an anime that is meant to cure your depression.

Overall i would give it a 7.5, which here is another complaint, specifically for MAL, why can't we just rate things on a decimal system, because there are many times I want to rate things between integers.

For anyone looking for an action packed adventure with a story, and good world building, this is not for you, and in terms of that, its probably about a 4/10 anime.

For anyone who is depressed, and looking for a comfortable show you can just sit down and turn your brain off, this is for you. (perhaps this explains why it has such a high score? I pray thats not the case..)

The show is rated 9.37/10 on MAL at the time I am writing this review. Guess I should be grateful to all the Frieren fans for not ganging up on me when I posted on the discussion board of EP28 that "sorry, but this show is not going to be my anime of the year". To imitate what a YouTuber said, it's not Frieren, it must be me at fault here that the anime did not quite work for me as well as it did for the rest of you. But for the sake of discussion and for your entertainment, I will try to describe ... my experience and thoughts on Frieren after finishing Season 1.

Expectations before watching: As a huge fan of Madhouse Studio, I was very much hyped to watch Frieren before it aired last year. Never read the Frieren manga, I only vaguely knew the story as an "after-adventure" for LOTR archetypes. Having also watched Record of the Lodoss War, I could kinda appreciate the aesthetics the Japanese "high-fantasy" would go for, including the "longevity drama" everyone was talking about.

Actual experience: Yes, the stellar production value warrants my weekly following of the show. It was also fun to participate in the discussions with all the enthusiastic fans and Easter-egg-hunting YouTubers. However, somehow the harder I try to savor the story, the drama queen moments, the melancholic flashbacks and all the heavy-handed talks about magic talent/philosophy, the more I felt like Bilbo in his twilight years--"thin, stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread". At the same time, some elements became weird distractions for me in the show...in an annoying way. I will try to list out some notable things that worked or failed to work for me.

Recommended to: I am recommending this anime to Violet Evergarden fans despite myself. Frieren in many ways offered me a similar "vibe" and experience. It's honestly not quite my cup of tea, but I am sure the Violet Evergarden fans will find something to like here.

What worked for me:

++ Stellar production value. It must have cost Madhouse an arm and a leg to produce and refine this most ambitious package in recent years. 28 episodes aired across 6 months with almost every frame rendered like a classical oil painting. Fluid character animation and detailed character movement even in the most intense action sequences dwarfs even the equally impressive Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 (though Jujutsu Kaisen's action scenes are far more energetic and dramatic). It would be a no-brainer winner for all the best production design/costume design awards in "anime Oscar" (for whichever existing annual anime awards you most respect). I really cannot fault the overall audio-visual presentation of this show. It warrants a watch no matter what kind of anime audience you are.

++ Ending theme song by Milet. It's one of the most mesmerizing anime songs in recent years, and I have been a fan of Milet since her song in Vinland Saga Season 1. It's part of the show's audio-visual presentation package, but I think the song deserves a special mention.

+ Some well-written story arcs and nuanced characters. The initial 4-5 episodes form the beginning/embarking of Fern and Frieren's journey, which is a testament to the thoughtful composition of now and then, new and old in this show. There are subtle subtexts reverse-nested into the current plot/story, e.g. Frieren's former team discussing the meaning of "boring" adventure and taking on a disciple paralleling her new team. I really appreciate similar narrative techniques in movies. Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon and Bong Joon Ho's Madeo come to mind as masterpieces utilizing this technique. EP5-10 roughly form the "Demon's ploy" arc which discusses nature of beings and magical prowess in the midst of intense magic battles. This arc introduces the audience to probably the best written character in the show, The Great Mage Flamme who was Frieren's master. EP11-17 roughly form the "Team bonding and myth reconstruction" arc, which highlights the "feel-good" vibe of the show. For these first 3 story arcs in Season 1, I generally had a great time and would rate the show no less than 8/10.

+ Ambitious. If nothing else, an anime attempting to build a LOTR-type high-fantasy world and reconstruction of mythology in 2024 gets my respect and a slow clap.


What did not work for me:

-- Characterization. Having subdued main characters driving the story can be a tremendous asset to one's artistic vision instead of a liability. Brad Pitt was nominated for best leading actor in Oscars for his reserved and subtle performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 did similar magics with very few words. And I found both characters and performances phenomenal. Unfortunately, if Frieren went for a similar outcome with how it handled Fern and Frieren, I really cannot honestly say they succeeded. To quote a friend who really appreciated Frieren, the titular character is a "1000-yr-old teenager going through puberty". (*Holding my pukes back*) That premise can be fun, goofy, tragic and beautiful all at the same time, but Frieren's characterization just keeps falling apart for me. There is dampened melancholy, regret from past lives and her own way of reconciliation with her history all juxtaposed here, but the whole is less than the sum of all these parts. Case in point, Frieren gets trapped by the treasure chest mimics quite frequently. So OK she's got a goofy side. But that goofy-childish side never come together with her serious side to form a robust whole. At the end of the 2nd test for the mages (EP26), the mimic got her again, which should create some desirable levity for the conclusion of one of the gloomiest arcs so far. But all that sequence did for me was making me roll my eyes hard. Fern has similar problems. OK, she's an attractive and introverted tsundere with a heart of gold and enormous potential...who shoots "pew-pew" lethal sorcery at bad guys...and...occasionally punches her boyfriend...Uh, what else? Just some gal with a permanently empty gaze. Side characters sometimes have interesting backstories, but their exploits often creates annoying distractions for me.

-- Worldbuilding crumbles under the weight of the show's ambition and its glaring lack of substance. Medieval allegories and LOTR homages aside, Frieren's world feels...surprisingly empty. If the show meant to deconstruct/trivialize classical fantasy tropes/archetypes while also retroactively reconstruct them for a new generation, perhaps spend more time substantiating both the deconstruction and the reconstruction? This problem made the "feel-good" portions and the teary-eyed flashbacks a bit too forced and wishy-washy for me, almost as if they should feel good for the sake of feeling good. I guess just like Violet Evergarden fans, Frieren fans would argue that it's a "soft" worldbuilding which allows the characters to poetically emote or resonate. Unfortunately that did not work for me because main characters keep falling apart. In the show, all the talks about magic talent/ personal magical philosophy are a bit too heavy-handed without much substance. The magic system can be quite abstract or out of touch with reality. We got some jargons like "total mana", but the system never becomes robust enough to be regenerative (such as Hunter X Hunter's Nen system). For comparison, I am never the biggest fan of Harry Potter, but at least magic is interesting and intuitive in Harry Potter with its own regenerative logic. In the end I just found it the best to understand Frieren's magic power equivalent to Dragon Ball's power level. Frieren and Flamme are really just magical Freeza who happens to be "on the good side". Sorry, but I am honestly not impressed by that. While Frieren's cosmology superficially resembles LOTR, I find the author's view on power (and cosmic powers) very cynical and Nietzschean. That might not be a problem in itself. After all, many great manga/anime have similar cosmologies. But for Frieren, a show about retroactive humanistic reconstruction, that is a huge problem. I will discuss why in the following paragraph.

-- Pacing among other problems in the mage test arc. For an arc spanning 11 episodes which makes up about 40% of Season 1, it taxed my patience out while magnifying all the aforementioned problems and introduced new issues. Blatantly ripping off Hunter X Hunter's Hunter test arc, Frieren's mage test arc is hilariously inferior to the Hunter test arc in almost every way. In the Hunter test arc, the worldbuilding is phenomenal as it immerses the audience in the semi-anarchical world of Hunter. Survival is not guaranteed in the Hunter test, yet there are great mentors, reliable and loyal companions among various fleshed-out saints and scoundrels to befriends with or fight against. The audience quickly find many things to love about Gon, Killua, Netero and even Hisoka despite some of them having very limited screen time. But Frieren (and its author) just wants everything in their show. Semi-anarchical world like Hunter? Check. Feel-good conclusion? Check. Half a dozen sociopaths and yanderes among the competitors? Check. Chicken-soup style life-affirming messages? Check and check. Test rules which do not make much sense? Check and check. The main tester, the 2000-yr-old grandmaster mage who is just a gloating A-hole and downright unlikeable jerk because she wields absolute power of destruction? Check! (Note to the author: you do realize Serie is not that different from Sauron, don't you?) See, in my dumb understanding, the author is essentially saying that almost all the top mages are murderous psychopaths, but it's ok and life is good simply because they stop to smell the same roses on the roadside and listen to the same fairy tales like the rest of us. I am sorry but I honestly cannot buy into that sentiment, no matter how much chicken powder the author adds to this messed-up, deeply cynical chicken soup.

-- Annoying distractions. Like I mentioned above, dangerous sociopaths have a disturbingly high correlation with top mages in the world of Frieren. This means the mage test arc is flooded with unlikeable and cringey characters. To name a few, Ubel, Sense, Serie, Wirbel, Lernen and Denken. The author wants the audience to believe that beneath their murderously pragmatic side, they are all "deeply caring and sympathetic characters carrying their own regrets and torches". I am sorry but again I cannot honestly buy into that. Another annoying distraction might be my imagination, but am I the only one who find the exposing gothic lolita outfits for many characters overdone, distracting and at dissonance with the tone of the show?


Again, like I have always said. What did not work with me might work wonders for you, and there is no shame loving something that speaks to your heart in a very personal or private way. I just listed out some reasons why Frieren did not work for me, and I am open to concessions and future corrections when my anime-watching friends shed more light on Frieren's flooring brilliance for me. But for now, allow me to just say that maybe I am just weird and cannot vibe too much with Frieren.

Imagine a granny going on a Pokemon adventure, hopping from one town to another with companions joining along the way to collect gym badges (grimoire) while reminiscent of past connections - that’s Sousou no Frieren, except there’s no Pikachu, no Team Rocket reciting their cheeky motto, and no ‘gotta catch ‘em all’ jingle to sing along with. In fact I dubbed it as the wannabe adult version: a thousand year old elf regreting why she didn’t spend more quality time with her mortal comrades in the ‘good old days’, similar to the lecture your parents/grandparents bombard you with when you’re stuck in a car with ... them. Look I get it, everything sparkles ten times more in youth, I’m no spring chicken either and getting old sucks. We’ve all seen dozens of anime series where the MCs want a do-over to fix themselves (i.e. ReLife and Koe no Katachi, to name a few), but what makes Sousou no Frieren so spectacular to secure the top anime spot? If you ask me that’s still a head scratcher, eighteen episodes later.

The real kicker is in the first few episodes when Fern asked Frieren whether their journey had a purpose, and her response was “not particularly” - at that moment I literally laughed out loud and applauded the candor. What is the point of watching this anime? Beats me, the protagonist had no clue either. Consequentially after the aforementioned dialogue I dropped this show, only to pick it back up during the in-between season gap with nothing else better to watch. As the story progressed it did improve a bit about a third of the way in due to it occasionally sprinkling some words of wisdom. For example, Frieren hid her mana to one up her adversary as suggested by her mentor, who probably read 'The Art of War', that is, “to appear weak when you are strong”. The flip side is “to appear strong when you are weak”, which strangely enough describes the essence of Sousou no Frieren - an anime that tries very hard to be sophisticated but turns out lukewarm. With the average human attention span shortened to a quarter of what it was a decade ago, it’s inexcusable for a series to be barely watchable until a third of the way in, and only mediocre at best. Did Sun Tzu save the show? Perhaps, at least he kept me from dropping it the second time.

This is a slice-of-life show that focuses on character interactions and themes, but the individual stories that are often half an episode long are weak. An episode usually presents some idea, but does little to explore it and create an interesting "mini-arc". It's as if it goes through the trouble of setting up a story while forgetting to actually conclude it, which leaves the audience unsatisfied. Even the part where they fight demons just felt like set up for a later arc. To be fair, it seems like the show is trying to establish this overarching theme of things that aren't finished, but the result ... is very dull at times.

The best part of the show is watching Frieren learn to become more compassionate over time. However, the way her character is explored is a bit repetitive. She usually does something thoughtful for someone else, and then we have a flashback of how her memories of others influenced her. It kind of sucks though that Fern and Stark are shit characters. They barely have any characterization or meaningful interactions. Fern at least has some sort of relationship with Frieren as she often pushes Frieren to be less nonchalant, but Stark basically doesn't have a relationship with either of them. This show could have explored more unique character dynamics with how Frieren acts as their guardian and knew both of their masters, but it fails to make Fern and Stark feel like significant characters. There are probably four dead characters that are more interesting than these two. Sein probably got so sick of them which is why he peaced out.

Animation is stellar, though I don't care for the art design. I would have given this show a 6/10, but it lost a point for turning into an awful version of a battle shounen for an arc. To be fair, it could have earned the point back if it animated Denken fistfighting.

=====TL;DR=====

STORY (Review adjusted based on show length)

Complexity: 3
World-Building: 6
Pace: 2
Direction: 4

CHARACTERS (Review adjusted based on show length)
...
Quantity vs Quality Ratio: 6
Development: 5
Depth: 4

Art, Animation & Music (Review adjusted based on air date)

Art Style: 9
Art Quality: 8
Animation Quality: 8
Soundtrack & SFX Quality: 8

ENJOYMENT LEVEL 6/10

=====Introduction=====
I'm aware that sometimes MAL scores can be overrated, but man that was underwhelming. I don't get what makes it so popular or rated that high. We're talking about No.1 of all time! Surely there should be some redeeming qualities, right? RIGHT? NO! There are so many issues with this series that I had to force myself to finish it and not drop it, in case I missed some incredible story arc. And there was NONE! I thought that many recent mediocre anime releases were subject to unnecessary hype, and it's nice to see that I'm vindicated in my belief. Sousou no Frieren is the culmination of everything wrong with modern anime.

=====Story===== 4/10
The story is easily this anime's weakest point. Though, the core idea is not bad at all. Having a plot revolving around the aftermath of a hero's journey, looking back at those moments in a new light as Frieren travels with her new companions. It's not a style done too often. But it's not because no one's thought of that or because it's incredibly complex, but because it makes the core story boring. And it shows its weakness here. There are no noteworthy intense high-stakes action scenes. Especially scenes that generate a sense of thrill since it's established that Frieren is unbelievably OP. There is no drama present, which would've been nice since it's a slower slice-of-life-ish-styled show. But the worst of all is, there are no mind games or any form of 'clever outplay'. Every encounter in the show is as straightforward as it gets. There are no 'big brain' moments or anything that makes you go, 'Woah....that's so smart!'. There is nothing noteworthy at stake since the era is peaceful, and at most, it's a random town. Why would the viewer give two fucks about a random town anyway? So tell me, what on earth does it have? Nothing! Just pure sentimentality as they go from one place to another. Everywhere they go it's always, 'Oh, we visited this place when I came with Himmel.' Nice, did you guys fight some big monster? Did you guys have a hard time? 'No, we did some chores and ate some food.' There are barely any fighting scenes of the previous journey, which makes it more like they went on a long vacation together instead. And every single episode is filled with backstories and events of the past, way too much of it. It doesn't even have world-building significance, and events are built up as they go on the journey without any foreboding. For example, a town referenced in ep 15 won't be referenced again or referenced earlier. The foundation for the whole journey is weak as well, I forgot their purpose for it midway through the series. One of the most criminal things is the fact that this show has 28 episodes. All the runtime is ABSOLUTELY WASTED on some random chores and meaningless sentimental drivel. The pacing is the worst I've seen in a long time.

=====Characters===== 5/10
A lot of people had issues with Frieren herself, for being bland and calling her a waifu bait. I don't mind having a plain & straightforward protagonist so long as the story compensates for it. A good example would be Mushishi. But having plain characters and a weak story is just a horrible combination. Another issue is how sort of similar Fern & Frieren are. Both are characters that don't talk much & while Fern is more meticulous, the difference is only seen in times of 'comedic relief' (which is a literal joke on its own, since I guess acting like children constitutes that). Stark is decent, but many times he's put to the side, especially near the end of the season where he barely has anything to contribute and any screentime. I found Himmel & the previous members the most annoying, particularly because they don't seem to want to let go of their dumb archetypes. Himmel acting like Jesus wherever he goes, gets old and annoying really quickly. And they don't have any qualms about shoving his gracefulness down your throat either. Why not make it realistic and make it seem like he had a dark secret or a weakness, no he is Jesus and you have to accept it. The characters are not only shallow, but they don't change over time either. They work hard to keep up with the archetypes they are given.

=====Art, animation & sound===== 8/10
The art style, art quality, and animation are genuinely good. The little action scenes that it had were brilliantly animated. The colors are very vivid. The soundtrack matched the fantasy vibe that the show was going for. But guess what? Putting fresh paint over a Kia and a change of wheels doesn't make it a Rolls Royce. All this is garnish for what is, a weak Entree. But credit goes where it's due, this section was really good. Especially the spells, the sound, and the colors were so good, I wish it had more action sequences solely due to that. Sometimes I wish older shows were this good, combined with their amazing stories. Man, they'd be unforgettable. But sadly, that isn't the case.

=====Reasons NOT to watch=====
Anybody who watches this and genuinely likes it is just weak in my opinion. As I said previously, this show has no drama, not many action scenes, definitely no high stakes or thrill, and no mind games. Hence, I can only conclude that anybody who likes this just wants to watch some OP protagonist oneshot everything and everyone and dominate everything while occasionally being quirky for the camera. Oh, I don't want a complex plot since I don't have the brains to understand it. Oh, I don't want drama, since I don't have the heart to bear it. Oh, I don't want mind games, since I can't think too much. Great! Soon I can't wait to witness car driving tutorials & airplane instructions anime to be the top anime in the next four years.

=====Overall===== 6/10
BOREDOM. Exemplified. I hope we don't see more of these generic af mindless anime. Seems like both the creators & the audience don't want to use their brains these days. Sad to see the disrespect to all the cult classics by rating this mediocre garbage above them all.

Frieren is a show thats saving this fantasy genre.. with how dull every fantasy animes are frieren is a mind fresher.... Its really calm so captivating and after a long tiring day friren is what i need ... something dreamy, calming and its so reflecting which makes you realize how fleeting life is.. its so relatable.. frieren isnt an adventerous anime where you go to save the world. No its the story what happens to the heros after peace is bought in the world. its so humane even tho she is an elf.. If you want something different friren is definetly recomended... the visuals, the ... background music, the story and evrything its truly a master-piece and another thing i love is how cruelness of time in portrayed in frieren

After squinting really hard for a very long time I have determined that Sousou no Frieren is not an isekai. I think.

Sousou no Frieren is about a cute elf coming to terms with her autism as all her friends die.

I've always been fascinated by the concept of a show taking place after the "main story" has concluded. In this case an elf named Frieren and her companions set out to defeat the demon king with the story picking up long after their victory. With the villain defeated and the world in an age of relative peace the story shifts focus- all of Frieren's ... mortal friends are dying of old age. Regretting having taken her time with them for granted, she sets off on an adventure so she can know them better. She starts her journey by unwillingly taking on a young apprentice named Fern as they set out together to reach Aureole, or "heaven". Conveniently, Aureole lies just past the demon king's old castle so Frieren and Fern can retrace the steps she took all those years ago. This creates a setup where in each episode Frieren can relive some of those memories. What a beautiful and restrained premise- but things are never so easy.

It's not long before Sousou no Frieren sabotages itself and becomes a tonally inconsistent mess by adding conflicting shounen tropes. It really starts with the introduction of the demon characters around episode 8. They are basically throw away villains just to show how strong the three main characters are. A dramatic battle ensues with the heroes looking down and out before the power of anime and friendship gives them the resolve to pull through to no one's surprise. There's even a point where Fern has one of the demons cornered dead to rights and lets them get away because there's "not enough time" or some other very contrived reason. As it turns out, we needed all of this to learn that hiding your power level or mana is important because demons are dumb. In the later half of the season we get the Chuunin Exam arc but with magic. Frieren and Fern enter a trial to become 1st class mages, but it's essentially a tournament arc where every character shouts their jutsu's name and explains to their opponent how it works in painstaking detail.

Ignoring these are the same tropes that have been done to death, and even ignoring they aren't particularly done well, why even have them in an otherwise slow-paced calming story about appreciating the people close to you? Call me old fashioned, but I enjoy when everything in a show- story, themes, atmosphere, aesthetics, etc. work towards a singular goal. I feel this is something most anime have forgotten how to do. I mean I get it, from a writer's or studio's perspective mixing multiple popular genre elements together, regardless of whether they fit, is probably what checks the most boxes and appeals to the largest demographic. I suppose it's hard to trust the audience will pay attention without action, fan service, or some other kind of unnecessary hook but I really wish they'd give us the benefit of the doubt sometimes.

There's a handful of other issues I had throughout Sousou no Frieren. Sometimes the slice of life antics, while not as conflicting as the shounen elements, can be just as predictable, the world building is your typical fantasy fare, and the fan service, while minimal by today's standards, isn't as seamlessly integrated as I'd like. The art, while well done when it comes to the "moe" aspect of the show, conflicts with the action and darker fantasy elements, tying back to the tonal issues. In particular the demon designs aren't threatening or very inspired. They are not scary and some I actively want to stick my dick inside of. Compare that to the demons in Berserk, where only one of those things is true.

The characters are certainly what elevated Sousou no Frieren for me, at least enough to keep me watching. While not exactly groundbreaking, most of the show's strengths revolve around their strong characterization. Frieren is perfectly depicted as an unmotivated and aloof genius mage. Likewise, Fern is perfectly depicted as the serious, responsible, but kindhearted prodigal student. The same goes for the rest of colorful cast which consists of a degenerate priest, a stern warrior dwarf, and many more, all of which I found to be endearing and charming. If I had to pick a weak link it would be Stark. Whether that's because I found his brash young warrior persona to be too trope-y or because he's not cute like Frieren and Fern I'm not entirely sure. Even then, he's not that bad and has his moments. For example, the romance between him and Fern is a fun dynamic.

At times Sousou no Frieren is a thoughtful look at the passage of time and the nature of relationships. Too often however it's the same shounen and slice of life shenanigans we've seen a hundred times. Admittedly it takes a lot skill and nuanced writing to make a story where action is not the centerpiece while still having enough of a satisfying overarching plot so that it doesn't come off as a meandering slice of life. Maybe there's no one in the industry with the talent to pull that off, maybe that's just me wishing the show was something it's not, maybe I'm in the minority for wanting that to begin with, but hopefully one day that niche will be fulfilled. So in the end, Sousou no Frieren is much like a sunrise- it's very pretty but not worth waking up early for.

1) Not saturated
Although I do not gravitate towards such genres, it is easy to see why Frieren got to be loved by so many watchers. The fantasy genre had suffered for many years, since such anime were usually lackluster videogame adaptations that were just going over the events of the game with no care for pacing or character appeal. Even worse, the isekai plague had led to a dozen fantasy-themed shows each season, most of which were slight variations of the same, lazily-written power fantasy tropes that usually involve harems and slavery. Frieren didn’t belong in either of these two types. It was not the ... adaptation of a videogame, thus it was not limited by whatever gameplay mechanics and dialogue infodumps the source had. It was also not written to be sleazy escapism for depressed people yearning to flee from reality into a realm where desires could be fulfilled instantly, and women could be conquered with little to no effort.

2) Aesthetic allure
Obviously this is not the first thing most people will realize about Frieren. Your average watcher is just going to notice it has good production values and a waifu-level elf on the cover, and that would be enough to please him. Even with this completely surface-level approach, Frieren manages to have a mainstream appeal by catering to the most basic desires of a casual watcher. Just pretty colors and cute girls. And nothing degenerate that usually alienates a big part of the audience, such as a harem of one-dimensional bimbos, or slavery where the protagonist is forced to do it but it’s otherwise okay because he cares for his slaves.

3) Uncommon premise
Once a viewer manages to see past the most superficial elements, he will be presented with feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, meaning that the show begins with heavy emotions and an elegiac type of premise. In fact, you could say that Frieren begins where most other shows conclude and that it’s akin to an epilogue. All the conventional tales you would get regarding the gathering of allies, leveling up and fighting the demon lord, are over by the time the show begins. We are given the aftermath of such stories, which by itself is something very few stories touch upon. The glory days are over and now we mostly get to see the aftermath of the heroes winning and what that means for the world.

4) World building
Because of how the premise is structured, the plot is heavily based on world building. Since the heroes’ journey concluded, every location bears the scars of their battles and triumphs, thus you are constantly let to know the main characters have impacted their setting. They are neither disconnected from it, nor forgotten as soon as their deed was done. The show places considerable effort in a mostly slice-of-life type of plot, where rarely action or major conflicts takes place. This approach lets the viewer to mostly glimpse into the daily lives of the people in the settings, instead of the wars they had with monsters. It enhances immersion despite being completely tensionless.

5) A protagonist you can get behind
Speaking of tensionless, Frieren is one of the most powerful beings in her world from the very outset. After centuries of training and fighting and getting stronger during the campaign against the demon lord, she is now at epic levels and nothing can be considered a threat to her. Although this could easily turn her into another trite power fantasy akin to the ones in isekai (broken powers right from episode 1) in this case she grinded for centuries to get where she is now, and has a long history of battles and people that interacted with her, instead of being a bland self-insert. Thus she is powerful (thus nobody can complain about being a weak loser), she earned her power (albeit only because of her race), and she has an actual personality and backdrop instead of being an empty vessel for the viewer to self-insert.

6) What the show isn’t about
Obviously, no show caters to the tastes of all audiences, and Frieren is not for action or adventure fans. It is a cozy slice-of-life show about a cute elf and her pouting apprentice, having wholesome vignettes as they travel around and fixing the problems of each area with mostly tensionless fights and stupid-strong magic no opponent has any chance against. It can become dull if you get too much of it, and you are never going to be biting your nails, wondering what comes next. It’s an anime you watch to relax and sometimes feel sad with the elegiac atmosphere, or laugh with the whimsical antiques of some characters. It is a mostly cute girls doing cute things anime, than a Lord of the Rings variant. In this regard, there are bound to be a lot of people who will not be interested in it, but even they are likely to find little to be overly negative about it, since it doesn’t have many elements it can fail at.

7) Personal thoughts
Even I who am not a fan of it, the worst thing I can say about it, is that both story and characters are simple. They don’t provoke contemplation or investment in their fates. Frieren, for all its merits, remains something you watch to relax, and I was never that kind of a fan. I favor action, adventure, big explosions, an inclination shared by the majority of anime fans who seek hype and excitements. It’s why fighting shonen are always the most popular anime, despite being filled with dumb plots and mindless fights. But even that does not mean I dislike the show. I just don’t consider its plot interesting, and thus my enjoyment of it remains anchored at a base level.

With this being so highly rated, I had to give it a go. It's good at first but then... UH!
I got very invested within the first 3 episodes. It set the stage to be a very heartfelt and deep story with some interesting character tropes and development.
The first 12 or so eps are quite slow paced which is quite nice as most animes go full force and it allowed the characters to show their personalities a little- this is good, I thought.
Frieren is a seriously OP mage who doesnt show any emotion or power- at first- but teaches Fern the fundamentals of being a ... great mage, whilst still being a little quirky.
Fern is a little to reserved but overly opinionated.
It introduced Shtork/Shtark(?), who I liked, very OP but immensely unsure of his own abilities. None of those annoying character tropes.

Then after around ep 13+ the test came and boy was I wrong.
It didn't take long for the annoying characters to come out in full force with all the annoying personalities that shonens bring. The usual 'will they succeed in this testing time'- yes, of course they will!

This arc is essentially the most boring part, everything that happens is easily predicted and could have been shortened down to continue the story more productively. The fights are not really suspenseful and the outcomes are again predicatable, although the side characters are always questioning whether the 'plan' is going to work. Yes- it works :/

How people put this at the top is beyond me. The power system isn't really show cased as well as other 'lesser' animes, some of the characters are not really developed very well or enough and its not even a complete story at this point, like... what!?

The best thing about this anime is the background artwork

I've watched all the episodes that came out as of this review's date, so I hope it'll be as precise as the readers need, but I could update it in the future. Here we go!

[STORY] (7/10)
The story starts off rather conventionally, there's a hero, a party with mixed fantasy races, and a demon lord that needs to be defeated in order to save the world and bring an era of peace. The real twist is the point of view: not that of the hero, but that of a quasi-immortal elf mage (Frieren) who helped him defeat the demons, in her eyes, an adventure that lasted ... "measly 10 years" of her millenary life span. Most of the facts about that adventure are discovered as flashbacks during her current one, which is rather slow paced and ordinary (as most real adventures are), but often evocative of past interactions that helped her grow as an individual.
In fact, while humans are forced to grow due to the limited time at their disposal, elves feel no rush to mature in any way, and other than day-to-day survival they have little to worry about since they always have the option to procrastinate their decisions. This is why Frierel is intrigued by humans, despite her not understanding them fully, and the whole anime is basically about her growing up to be a wiser and empathic individual thanks to her friendship with the hero's party.
That's good and interesting for the first 8 to 10 episodes, but after a while it starts to get old, since the story structure repeats itself over and over in the same way and there's barely any progress made, both in her character development and in the story: Frieren is lazy, she decides to do something of secondary importance, a random narrative expedient conveniently makes everything fit together, everybody follows her cause she's cute and hopeless, random flashback that shows how the hero was gentle and had already understood everything about her, cute emotional ending. Repeat 5 or 6 times with different characters, and you get this anime.


CONCLUSION: It's a very good idea, but a bit poorly executed after a while

[CHARACTERS] (5/10)
Pretty much the same as the story section. The whole point of the anime was to shine a new light on an epic story, giving new meaning to the ordinary that resides in the extraordinary, so it would make sense that all the characters are rather "normal" in essence. The hero acts like a gentle hero, the depraved priest is a drunkard, the warrior is brave and masculine, and the elf is apathic and reflective. The real problem comes again with repetition: the hero is ONLY gentle, the priest is ONLY drunk, the warrior is ONLY indestructible. The priest and the warrior get some slight character development later on, which aims to show some flaws they have, and obviously the same goes for the elf too, but that comes to be repetitive as well after 10 episodes.
To be fair, Frieren's stability is the least worrysome, since the whole story is centered on her time being "infinite", and it would make sense that she changes at a slower pace than the humans around her, but even her new young companions (a young mage and warrior) are just a repetition machine: stark (shtark?) is pathetic but strong and good willed, Fern is cute but tsundere and lunatic, they fight over random shit that is not problematic at all, they make up, and back to square one . The good news is that I rarely found any of them to be super cringe, which is a big plus.

CONCLUSION: They completely failed at giving characters proper depth, other than the protagonist which is "fine", but at least in the beginning they're credible

[ART] (7/10)
The animations are good and modern, although not spectacular (not even close to a Jujutsu Kaisen), and the drawing style is ever so slightly recognizable. The scenery is a bit bland, nothing that isekai enjoyers haven't seen a million times already, and same goes for the aesthetics of all characters (both heroes and demons). The character design is also rather poor: there are a lot of lolis and other classic fantasy anime archetypes like the mature lady, the old mage, high-society well-mannered villains, and so on.

CONCLUSION: Doesn't strike as excellence, but isn't bad either

[SOUND] 6/10
I'm not really into OPs so can't judge on that one, the in-story music was barely noticeable, so a not-good not-bad middle ground.

CONCLUSION: At least it wasn't annoying I guess

[ENJOYMENT] 8/10
Even though the singular elements did not reach an 8/10 grade, as a whole the anime was rather enjoyable, although not constantly through its development. I really liked the idea of playing with time perception and the translation of the main story to the past; it's rather original (at least for me) and mentally intriguing, and it helped me immerse in the narrated world.
That brings ups another good point to the anime's favour, that sadly doesn't fall in any main cathegory, which is the detail and the credibility of the world the story takes place in. The magic system is complex and well-rounded, tasks take a realistic amount of time to get done, social status actually does influence characters' reactions in a credible way (both of protagonists and not), and overall there's little idealisation to the humans' and the world's nature. Not everything is set out to be good or to have a good ending, it's the power of the characters that brings those forth.
In conclusion, while it retains many aspects of a light work meant for a younger audience, the anime carries out a subtle, but deep reflection over the meaning of time, experience, memory, remorse, regret, mortality, and all the emotions that characterise the life of older people, making it an occasion for the viewer to reflect upon, walking side to side with Frierel as she's brought to do the same by her interaction with mortals. The slow-paced ambience of the anime, I think, has been carefully designed to support the viewer's meditation, which is always low-intensity in nature, and to set him up to a pervasive nostalgic optimism, which can't help but make him wonder. - "what about my adventure?"-

CONCLUSION: A weird middle way between a shounen and a seinen, but definitely a good work in essence. It's a shame that they couldn't keep up the initial pace, it could've been an easy 9/10, but I have to give it a 7. Hope the second season will be better!

Is this anime overrated? Yes.
Was it still enjoyable? Yes.
Would I watch it again? No.

Sousou no Frieren is an anime that tells the story most other anime don't - what happens after the villain has been defeated. The focus of the anime is almost entirely on the character (or, in most cases, lack thereof) development of Frieren. I think there's a good portion of the plot dedicated to exploring the emotional responses a long-lived species, such as the elves, have compared to the shorter-lived species and the complications that can arise from the conflict this can create. Yet, this doesn't make for an ... entirely entertaining anime.

As an emotional exploratory series, it's still relatively boring for me (I prefer action over contemplation in most cases). However, with that in mind having an apathetic Frieren as the main character really kills this anime for me. There is often not a whole lot to explore emotionally with our MC considering she's so apathetic and while in many cases little views into the past show that maybe she might have a heart somewhere in there, it's not appealing enough to make it stand out or gain empathy from me. I like apathetic characters, they're funny and enjoyable, however, I think Frieren is perhaps too apathetic for this series to work well for me.
There is some action here and there, but I'll be honest many of these episodes started putting me to sleep.

It's got pretty art, a decent ost, and a fairly new type of plot (at least for me). However, I'd never give this series a second watch and I have no idea why it's rated as high as it is. It's good, slightly above average in art, at best.

Not for everyone, not even SOL enjoyers.

This was probably the most hyped show of the season, and probably my biggest disappointment. Don't get me wrong, depending on what you are looking for in an anime, Sousou no Frieren has the potential to meet all your expectations, and you may come to enjoy it thoroughly. Here, I will try to explain why this show may not be for everyone and implore users to give it a chance and the decide whether they want to continue with it.

This story is about an elf named Frieren who lives an insanely long life. After her ten year journey ... with the hero's party, they are lauded as heros for defeating the demon king. However, those ten years which would be considered a long time to most other life forms are a drop in the bucket for her. The story progresses from here as we see Frieren's perception of the world differs from those around her, and we see her have regrets about not making closer connections to those around her. By the end of the fourth episode, the premise of the show is set up as Frieren wanting to make the journey back to the demon lord's castle, which will take her another ten years.

First, I'll attempt to explain why this show doesn't really work for me. In essence, this show has no conflict. There is nothing in the way of Frieren making it back to the castle besides the time it takes to get there(which is negligible for her). She faces no major opposition from anyone, and no other characters have any major conflicts with her at all.

Your mileage will vary with the characters, but so far in at least the first four episodes, nothing really stands out about them to me. With Frieren in particular, we see that she want s to make more connections with the people around her, but we only see her struggle with this in once scene, and then it feels like she just gets over it and her character goes back to having no problems.

People who find this show boring are often portrayed as shonen lovers who can only enjoy a show with tons of action and violence. However, I think this perception is a tad unfair. Even by slice-of-life standards, this show is particularly uneventful and directionless. The main characters have a goal they are striving for, but there is pretty much nothing in their way besides the time it takes to get there. Even the most simple slice of life shows have the "struggle" of characters going through the trials and tribulations of learning new skills, or showing the comedy that can come with just hanging out with friends. But at least through these four episodes, Frieren faces very little challenge with anything at all, and even her regrets about not getting to know her teammates barely lasted a full scene before the show seemed to move on from it.

Now let me discuss some reasons why you might decide to watch this show. Essentially, this is a slice of life in a fantasy world. If you are particularly drawn to the characters, world building, or art this show may have an appeal to you as a relaxing escape. But if you want to see the characters struggle with and overcome emotional problems, ideological conflicts with others, or engage in self-improvement, then this probably isn't the show for you.

As an SOL enjoyer, I wanted to like this show too, but to me it just didn't seem to have anything that made it stand out. The characters didn't seem too special, they didn't face any actual conflict, and anything that they did actually struggle with seemed to be forgotten by the next scene.

Score: 5 - I rate shows mostly based on how I enjoyed the experience. If I were to give it a more objective and comparative score, it'd be higher, but I want to tell you what to expect.

Why would you watch the fantasy show Frieren?
You'd do it for the relaxed pace and storytelling, the high quality and care put into the stories within the 28 episodes.
The animation quality ranges between simple and exceptional, but never bad and the music is quite good. It's quite wholesome when it's good. There are some great action scenes.
There is an undercurrent of deliberate emotion put into ... things without being dramatic.

Why wouldn't you watch Frieren?
In the latter part of the show, it goes from being an adventure to a dragged out tournament arc that overemphasizes the value of a single magical trick, it rushes to introduce characters and adds a ton of exposition and mouth-flapping (panning stills with no animation except for mouth movement). For me, this is the mark of a bad show and trying to fill animation time. I cannot express how much I can't stand it when a show wastes the viewer's time.
The delivery of nearly every character is monotone and while they'll have childish reactions to insignificant things, their reactions to getting stabbed through the body is to look regretful and then immediately move on. It feels janky and it gets repetitive.
There are a lot... and I mean a *LOT* of unlikable characters and there's a bad habit of the show wanting you to be engaged in who they are by telling you things about them but rarely showing it.

The worst part for me, besides the exposition, is that there's a hollow feeling to it all, like nothing and no one matters. You can tie this into some of what the story is about, the main character's long life span, but it permeates everything, as if no one cares when they should.

There are slop shows I'd recommend over this, because at least when I watch those, I have fun and don't get frustrated. Do not get it twisted, it's not a terrible show, but Frieren is not a masterpiece and its extremely high rating on this site is not deserved.

Objectively a 8 (On a 1-8 scale, anything higher has to include a degree of personal enjoyment for me), personally for me it's a 4. It's a mixture of my not understanding, my not resonating with, and some genuine detractors.

Praise: Animation, Art, Ost are executed perfectly, no flaws in what it's trying to present. It just doesn't it adds too much to the presentation either. An apt comparison would be drawing photorealistic pictures of things, definitely requires skill, but doesn't add much of a personal flair. No major issues with the story, the dialogue was realistic, I'm sure if a fantasy world like Frieren actually ... did exist it would be basically identical (except for that one thing I mention in the detractor section). It's very life-like and real. I also adore the first two episodes, the themes are also extremely well executed.

Understanding: I don't get the praise for the setting, characters, or worldbuilding, the power system isn't full of holes like many other shows but it's boring, it has an existent fantasy setting but it's boring, it has realistic characters interactions but it's boring. Like, it doesn't do anything really that sets itself apart from any other show. They're all fine but just very inoffensive, realism is good to an extent, but too much and it's just not a story anymore. A second gripe is that this show is not about a stoic emotionless girl learning to feel things like Violet Evergarden, that theme was only present in the first couple of episodes before the journey with Fern started, and then Frieren's personal character never progressed again as she became a more mentor-like figure. After the jouney starts it becomes a very basic slice of life / shounen with episodic plots except for the second theme it presents, the passage of time.

Resonate: I do not resonate at all with the passage of time theme. I'm not very old, I don't think very many people who watch this anime are very old. I don't know what it's like to be immortal and have zero personal situations that are analogous or frankly any interest in it. Unfortunately with the flashbacks and a lot of the interactions after the journey starts, I think this is where I was supposed to get most of my deeper connection to the show had I actually cared about it; this probably took the biggest chunk of my enjoyment out of the show, with nothing else to really carry it since the comedy, dialogue, or character development weren't emphasized enough to replace it (These elements are fine to me by the way, a lot of typical story elements are completely fine). Some minor themes like Stark's insecurity or the implications of taking a life were interesting enough to keep me going.

Detractors: Every character acts like Frieren. I mean I get it, stoicism is cool, but my god I'm pretty sure if every single character in the show had their arm sliced off, they would look at the stump on their arm for a couple seconds then look back with a marginally more serious expression. This is genuinely takes away from the realism it masterfully presents otherwise.

Final thoughts: I actually originally intended this review to be a Violet Evergarden shilling session since I think they're very similar shows, but I actually had more thoughts on Frieren than I thought. That being said, if you just finished Frieren and you love it, more power to you, sorry I don't share your opinion, but you should definitely watch Violet Evergarden if you haven't already 👍.

Story: Just wandering from place to place not much story just a gathering of random events
World building: every place is the same the world is as generic as it gets the most 5/10 to ever exist which in itself is impressive i guess
characters: pout fern so cute please marry me omg booba 10/10 most beautiful series to ever exist this is a piece of art you just can't understand it. Frieren is so funny and relatable and cute and seductive she just wants to sleep and take it easy haha that's literally me 10/10 most beautiful series to ever exist this is a piece of ... art you just can't understand it. Stark is so interesting when i think about him i think about coyote starrk from bleach, it's honestly so interesting that a character is so boring you can't even think about him when you think about him does that make sense or maybe it's just that I can't understand it
humor: suicide
art: fire 🔥
music: the ending song is cute

Pros : 1. Frequent wholesome candid scenes with peaceful artwork + great music melodies. 2. Funny female main characters 3. Feels like you are in the journey with the characters strolling nature and making memories 4. Unique fight animations/scenes at times

Cons : 1. Too slow/monotone frequently all throughout the series. 2. Weak Male characters (No personality,forgettable,generic,looks bad too) 3. Series felt dragged on (too long) , it was ramping up nicely in the middle but crashed towards the end in my opinion in terms of satisfaction. Just felt too repetitive and boring , how many times can you do the uwu ... face emoji on Freiren? The show should have been only about 15-16 episodes in my opinion.... felt like filler often towards the end , 28 episodes was way too much.

Why this is above a 7 is beyond me. Starts off strong with a theme of mortality and the passage of time, and loses sight of that and devolves into standard fantasy schlock with nothing new about it. I assume fellow zoomers think it's a masterpiece because the characters don't have cartoonish overreactions and expressions. People praise the character development, but I saw Frieren and Fern devolve into trope characters with their entire backstories disregarded and only reused when relevant to plot progression - they do not feel like real characters, but instead like caricatures,"hehe Fern likes food", "hehe Frieren is so silly", which increased ... as the show progressed, though I think straight up calling it Flanderization is too much. I didn't mention Stark because calling him a main character would be disingenuous given the fact of how he's not in half of the show.

I understand that modern anime is shit and it is indeed great in comparison to some of its contemporaries, but you are probably not viewing this anime in the vaccuum of solely modern releases, there are other, older stuff to compare it to, and in which case this is nothing special. Its lackluster plot is a shame, considering how gorgeous the animation, character designs, and soundtracks are.