Nov 5, 2024
Frieren is an interesting anime that I've been trying to get around to for a long time. For those deciding to get into it or to avoid it because it looks more of the same, I'd say both are true but it's still worth the watch. Frieren does things differently with how certain concepts are handled such as the handling of demons. It follows more of the Tolkein outlook rather than demons being these cutesy harmless people. They also have an in universe explanation to this that mirrors the outlook of many religions rather than the standard hack and slash isekais where they don't think
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at all and just want to kill everyone for no reason. This is one example where Frieren is very different from many animes out there that you could watch.
For those still skeptical, I'll talk about the cons first. The main characters, particularly Fern and Stark are very dull and tropey imo. This may change in the manga which I haven't read, but as of what's been released for the show they certainly feel that way to me. You see Stark in the beginning as a decently powerful warrior, but outside of the first few episodes of his introduction he literally does nothing else besides hang around as a generic character, yet he's literally supposed to be a main party character. His entire character is just being ambivalent and confused with Fern's outbursts. He kind of reminds me of like a Zenitsu for some reason but not as much of a simp. He's not annoying but his role feels similar in that regard as a background character. (I only watched s1 of Demon Slayer and dropped it, bear that in mind.)
This leads to Fern, who I tied in earlier. Fern is a complicated character in terms of likeability for me. Fern fits the tsundere trope in a really off putting way. First let me state that I understand that both characters are children and that's supposed to be the reason, but when you're watching a show hoping to avoid tropes, that doesn't make it any less difficult to watch. Fern gets ticked off over the most minor things that I don't think most tsunderes would even get ticked off with. It's very over the top, and instead of seeing other sides to her instead, it's mostly just her always being upset about something petty when she's not just breathing air in the background or fighting. (Where she shines) The sad thing is that I generally prefer the dwarf character from the og party of heroes over the actual main party. The characters in the exam arc are also far more interesting, and even some of the most dull exam characters are basically on par with their likeability with Fern and Stark, if not more likeable. Yet I know that after that final arc we won't be seeing them, we'll be stuck with Fern and Stark's development probably. This is a very difficult thing for the show to reconcile with, which I hope is fixed later on.
And like I mentioned with the dwarf from the og party, the show does the most unforgiveable trope of them all, which is remember when. Because the show is predicated on Frieren living a long time, it compares her past memories to the present to always give her an edge in present day cases. Not only is Himmel already a super generic and stock looking character for Frieren to do that with, how is it that with this trope the character always have to have the worst case of dementia ever? They always forget some life changing memory that shouldn't be forgettable. Like they supressed their whole life and forgot about the person entirely. Idc how old she is, it's not like she's physically old like humans get old, and it's always conveniently a crucial memory they forget that's always somehow the same exact specific case for what they're doing currently. There are very few cases where the memories are actually decent. Every time this happened which was a lot, I found myself thinking about when Tony Soprano said that "remember when is the lowest form of conversation." He's absolutely right in the case of anime. Animes need to stop doing this entirely unless it's a short backstory and not an actual memory. Sometimes it's applicable when a character is reintroduced to Frieren that we haven't seen before, but I think you get my point. I understand that a lot of the journey is supposed to be the same because Frieren is literally the same age as Yoda, but come on. It doesn't need to be a flashback at every conceivable opportunity.
The final con that I can think which may or may not be one depending on the person is the pacing of the show. As many others before have said, this show is meant to be mundane and slow. This is not a show that you should rush through all 28 eps. I really despise shows that hide behind purposeful slow pacing, but let me tell you that this is the one show where I think it works to its benefit. The show is meant to have a cozy fantasy feel. From episode one they tell you the demon king has already been taken care of, so the rest of the show is just picking off the wayward scraps many years later that have occasionally taken to attacking villages near the demon king's old castle. As such, the scraps are not really a match for Frieren who has since then expanded her magical abilities. Naturally this comes with her being one of the few people to have a near infinite lifespan.
This translates to Fern whom she takes as an apprentice mage. And this is where Fern shines and is a mixed bag character like I mentioned early on. While this exists in many animes, I never tire of seeing it. The best way I can describe it is how I got the idea for the name of my account in the first place. You see, Fern has this fighting style that's a very Darth Vader like fighting style. She's not skilled in some areas in magic, but she's good at overwhelming her opponents with attacks, speed, and power with one spell that is technically very basic level. Tons of isekais do this and sometimes it's somewhat of a repetitive trope sure, but it works with shows likes Frieren that get picked up because they usually have a decent combat system that other shows will likely copy. Fern represents an old school style of fighting that catches all her opponents off guard because it looks weak at first until they make that mistake of underestimating her because of it. Darth Vader is the same way for those who know what I'm talking about. Frieren is kind of like Vitiate in Star Wars being one of the most op characters as is while also having a wide variety of strange/uncommon yet absurdly op abilities. The difference being that Frieren and Fern are good guys and that Frieren likes collecting a lot of goofy spells, which is something I can appreciate.
Fortunately, the characters are also decently intelligent and there's not many moments where I found their rationale to be total ass pull or on the opposite end filled with holes in their logic. It's not amazing in this regard, but I like that the show doesn't insult your intelligence like a lot of other animes that try and fail to be smart. It's just filled with those dementia flashbacks like I said, so you're not doing much guesswork. Frieren will always find a reason to save the day. In that regard it's ass pull yes. This is more or less tempered with the fact that we see that Frieren probably isn't the most powerful character. We get Serie and that one old mage guy at the end, and at the end of the day Frieren acknowledges she's not a fighter, but a collector of spells and wisdom first. I really enjoyed this aspect of the show greatly, and it's even better with Serie's reveal at the end with the newer generation of mages. (Don't want to spoil everything about the show)
Overall the show is pretty tropey but it also does things differently. I can't exactly place what makes it that much different, but you definitely feel that way when watching it. It's a lot like the wave of Demon Slayer when that came out, the difference being that I think this anime is more or less deserving of the hype and won't age as poorly. Demon Slayer never really escapes the tropes, this one has them but at least tries to do more. The combat is also better fleshed out despite it not being a focal point or something to write home about. I definitely feel that it's popular because it has that dark sort of shounen feel that kind of flirts with seinen without going there. In that regard I can see why it's popular when it comes to riding that wave. In the age now where people overrate animes to high heaven I think that Frieren is worthy of its praise. I just wanted to focus more on those issues clearly for anyone that should read this but are still unsure about watching it. Because for me at least, the reviews didn't go into much detail about the negatives. Therefore my review focuses more on that because I don't want to sell you a show with that does certain things that might not be for you.
What I will say is this, while I did enjoy the show, it's definitely not a top anime of all time. Maybe the manga is different, but as of what I've seen so far definitely not the best ever or something. It might be a top couple 10s or 100s. It's more like a solid B for me that gets boosted for doing something different than the generic talk no jutsu, and it makes solid attempts to be larger than life itself. That said, this show is certainly meant to be mundane and most definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea. If you don't like slow shows, or the things I mentioned, definitely skip this one out. I'm not gonna be one of these people that overinflates every anime that comes out these days. If you want something else, just watch an irl western show because you're never gonna find things that are that much different in anime. With anime especially. I feel like a lot of people complain about this, when these problems are always specific to anime. But you have to give them some slack and understand that there are thousands of the same show in each genre and it's impossible to not have some tropes. One thing I can say is thankfully this is a normal anime anyone can watch, it's not perverted or anything like that with these Zenitsu archetypes. Stark like I mentioned as boring as he is isn't like this. There's some moments here and there, but they're all pretty much innocent and come across as genuinely humorous given Frieren's real age and the confusion that could come with that, but it's innocent and meant to be humorous like I said for the most part. There's not characters going after her or anything really. This definitely isn't some boring anime that flirts with some ridiculous title like "my wife got turned into a 9 year old" while having nothing in the show that's even that bad. (because it would never get picked up otherwise) It's not a show made for simps who don't just watch hentai instead of feeding into mediocre-garbage soft core shows. Frieren is at least a nice clean show if that's what you're looking for. It has an actual story to tell which is a breath of fresh air nowadays.
Final Score: 86/100
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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