May 12, 2024
If you don't understand the complex characters that elves are, then don't write a story about an elf protagonist.
People,
There's a reason why elves are portrayed as cold creatures devoid of emotions and empathy, it's because they've been around for hundreds to thousands of years. So while humans are slaves to their emotions which often compromises their decision making, elves on the other hand have lived for so long and have so much experience that they are able to see the bigger picture and remain objective no matter how seemingly cruel the situation requires them to be. Think of Avallac'h in the Witcher 3 for instance.
Frieren
...
is a THOUSAND YEAR OLD ELF (estimates have her at around 1400-1500 years). Just to put things into perspective that's the equivalent of 14 full human lives at the very least. Think about how much you managed to do in the past 10 years of your life, now multiply that by 100 and maybe you start comprehending the scale we're talking about here. She's not a teenage girl who has just left her parents' house and is starting to discover the world around her for the first time. And yet that's precisely what the author wants you to believe. It's as though Frieren's time with Flamme, her decade-long adventure with the hero's party as well as the thousand years in between were all absolutely insignificant. During that time she gained no wisdom, learned nothing about humans, felt no emotions and didn't care about anyone or anything except for learning about magic. But when the anime starts, she does in the space of A FEW MONTHS what she failed to do throughout all her life! Can people really not see how utterly absurd this is?
Himmel on the other hand is a teenager but somehow he's wiser than the wisest elf. He knows exactly what to say especially to Frieren, he can do no wrong and does exactly what he's supposed to do every...single...time. Of course Frieren never noticed any of that during the decade they spent together, nor the fifty years afterwards, that would've made too much sense. Instead she noticed only after he died because that's when the anime begins of course, and set out on a journey to revisit all the places the party visited during their quest to defeat the Demon king. Hence the title.
The premise looked very promising at first, and the first few episodes were enjoyable. Sadly, what followed was a repetition of the same formula over and over again AD NAUSEAM: we visit a location, flashback to when the hero's party visited that same location, Himmel displays his all-knowing wisdom, Heiter is drunk, Fern pouts, Stark tries to cheer her up, and Frieren discovers something so basic about life that we wonder what she was doing the first 1500 years of her life.
Visuals are pretty good, animations are fine, and the sound track is forgettable. But if you think that such an anime is anywhere near worthy of being hailed as the best anime of all time then I have lost faith in this community. I can overlook the plot holes and the inconsistencies which I haven't even bothered addressing because, well, there's a much more serious issue at hand. The author doesn't understand basic concepts on which their whole story was based, and instead of being reprimanded they have been rewarded.
Do better guys, much better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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