[I originally posted a portion of this on Reddit, in a comment thread praising Frieren. But for reasons that are beyond me, it got downvoted. With a little cleanup and added content, I present my thoughts here.
Light spoilers within. ]
Every season of anime, there is bound to be a top anime that you’ll enjoy above all others. Or sometimes it’s a close tie and you can’t pick. The qualities of each may mesh or maybe they are on opposite spectrum from each other but they are great in their own way. And then there are the standouts that surge to the top, squashing the rest of the pack. Then it opens up the past year and scoffs at them. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is not only my top anime of the year, it surged to the top of everything I’ve ever seen. Let me tell you why. But first, a quick summary for those who may not know what this series is about.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is the story of Frieren, an elven mage who has lived hundreds of human lifetimes in a standard fare Tolkien-esque fantasy world. In a particular sliver of her life, she joined up with three others: Himmel the Hero; Heiter the Priest; Eisen the Dwarven Warrior. Their quest was to take down the demon king and save all the land, a very common trope in the fantasy genre. It took 10 years but they were successful. However, this story doesn’t cover that time but the period afterwards. By the start of the series, Frieren is already 1000 years old. Over the course of this story, we come to find out more about her through flahsbacks intermixed with present time events. Now on to my whys.
First up, I relate with Frieren. This story is one of regret and she is doing everything she can to abate it. Just over a very long time. Right from episode 1, her eyes filled with tears as she and the other two still living heroes watch as Himmel the Hero is laid to rest. She wondered aloud why she didn’t get to know him over the possible sixty years she had with him. Fifty of those years she was out on her own though it has passed like it was a week where the concept of time is trivial to Frieren. Twenty years after the death of Himmel where during that time, she gets to know humans. She finds herself visiting Heiter the Priest where she learns of a young girl, Fern, he had saved recently. Heiter himself was also suffering from regret, maybe a bit of envy, watching Himmel the Hero be perfect in every way versus his corrupt drinking ways. He takes Fern in to foster her development to being the best she can be in an attempt to be more like Himmel. He wanted Frieren to take her as an apprentice but was struck down. Though with a clever backup plan, he succeeds but not after 6 years. Heiter dies of old age but not before Frieren is able to learn more about him. As promised, Frieren takes Fern under her wing where they travel together. Fern asks why they are doing the what seems to her miscellaneous tasks. Frieren says she is doing for herself. It feels good to see someone heal as where my own have scarred over, never to be fixed.
The story is built out beautifully. The use of flashbacks is used quite a lot. Each flashback is used usually to foreshadow how Frieren or the other characters will react in the current moment. We don’t need to know the whole 10 year quest the heroes went on. We don’t need to know every major thing in Frieren’s 1000+ year life. We get to see them as we need to know them. An instance of this is in episode 3. Frieren and Fern are getting desserts at an outdoor cafe. Fern knows exactly what Frieren wants to get and this triggers a memory for Frieren. At this point of the story, Fern has been with Frieren for about a year after Heiter’s death. Fern knows quite a bit about her master but yet, Frieren knows very little. The flashback showed the exact same thing with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen around a table sharing a meal. We return to the present to see Frieren wants to do better. These nuggets are doled out right where it’s needed and they all together give us a window into what makes Frieren tick, seeing her to be a better person. Someone that Himmel would be proud of. Every episode builds on the past and the future. Some of it is slow paced, just talking and slice of life things. Some of it bloody action with meticulous build action scenes, otherwise known as sakuga, finely craft to where I was cheering at several scenes. But everything is there to push the story forward.
There are details that are introduced early in an episode and then it pays out later. One such instance is when Graf Granat, the head of a city that Frieren and party was in, was surveying a field of empty armors after the final battle between Frieren and Aura (one of the more powerful demons that Frieren had battled with before on her way to defeat the demon king). These armors were the remains of soldiers that Aura had killed. They find his family’s pendant on one, showing it was his son. His son was mentioned in a previous episode in a tense standoff with the demons who more than likely killed him. He finally got closure. Another detail I’m dying to know more about Frieren’s earrings as in one of the flashbacks with the heroes’ party, she did not have them on. These earrings are in the shape of a elongated read tear drop. They are fashioned after her own master, Flamme, so I am hoping for some payout there. Flamme is humanity’s most powerful and well known mage but 1000 years from the present time. All but considered a fairy tale to all but those who were alive at the time. I noticed these details when doing a re-watch of the series up through 11 earlier this week. I hardly ever re-watch shows and I never re-watch during an active season. I so wanted to catch more details which I’ll also do with reading the manga (yet another thing I don’t normally do).
The music is top notch. I didn’t know who Evan Call was until I heard his music in Frieren. I have heard his music before though in Violet Evergarden and Josee, The Tiger, and The Fish unbeknownst to me. The music is epic when it needs to be and quiet when it needs to be. Strings, horns, and choir are woven together to compliment the visual tapestry of each scene. I’m a very big fan of the epic style of symphonic music which is most major movies starting for me with Star Wars. I put this soundtrack up with the the series that Kevin Penkin had worked on which includes Tower of God and The Rising of the Shield Hero. Whenever the OST is available to purchase, it will be bought and it will get a lot of listen time. The story and animation is already great. The music launches the whole to the next level. Music in shows has always been a feature that needs to be good for me. If it isn’t, the whole thing will fall flat.
I can’t leave out the OP and ED songs from YOASOBI and Milet, respectively. The ED itself is just an amazing motion mosaic of flowers and trees and bushes. It is brilliant in its way in showing the passage of time, the use of colors. It’s an ED that I don’t skip. Like you need to watch it. Now. Do it.
These are the highlights for me but every episode I have enjoyed fully. I have shed tears. I have yelled in triumph. I have laughed. Oh have I laughed. I wish nothing more to see Frieren succeed. To see her companions grow into the great heroes they are certainly destined to be. To know more about Heiter, Eisen and Himmel. This series hits every single note for me. I look forward to Fridays because of this series. It has been a shining star this year where everything else seems so dim.
A Wrinkle in Silver 