Frieren Beyond Journey's End Season 1

Review

I remember when I first heard of this anime and how much the community “raved” about it, I knew that when I would start watching it I would enjoy it but I wasn’t aware of how much I would fall in love with it. The first episode was interesting since it starts with the celebration of the fall of the demon king, we got a glimpse at the party of heroes interacting and at that moment it didn’t feel like much to me. Later in the episode we watch Himmel’s death and since we had just been introduced to the character it still didn’t really “hit”. However, as you watch the rest of the season and you truly begin to understand the character through the multiple flashbacks we get, we start to understand how heavy that moment was - and of course on my second watch through of the first episode that funeral truly did “hit”.

The part which captivates me the most about Frieren is watching the main character - Frieren - experience how short and fulfilling a human life can be, even if it’s insignificant. The show has a slow burn but it really does drive that home. It also shows what it means to be a hero - Himmel was always willing to help those in need, regardless of how insignificant the help was and it truly does show what a “Hero” should be.

Another aspect which surprised me is how amazing and well thought out the fighting was (also the music). I was not expecting a slice of life anime to have such beautiful fight sequences. The magic system is definitely “soft” magic, but that’s fine because the intricacy of the magic system is not important to the plot and does not matter to us as the viewer.

What I Loved

• Pacing
• Story
• Music
• Characters

What Could Be Better

• Not enough episodes!

Final Thoughts

One of the better anime I’ve watched and one that I will remember for a long time. Hopefully the later seasons will keep up.