Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

 Welcome back my wonderful weebs! This week I watched the first 3 episodes of the anime studio Madhouse's huge hit Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. This anime is rated in the number one spot of all anime on My Anime List (the IMDb of anime), so I went into this show with very high expectations. Before we begin the review, I should preface that this world is a fantasy, dungeons and dragons, medieval, type of land. Alrighty, now that we know that let's begin!

Plot:

The story of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End contains ideas on humanity, the shortness of life, losing those close to you, and the sadness that comes with it. It's definitely a tear-jerker. The first episode of Frieren opens up 50 years in the past with a seemingly immortal elf named Frieren and her band of companions. They had just defeated the demon king and ended their 10-year adventure. When they eventually part ways Frieren says she'll take them to a meteor shower that will show up in around 50 years. I know what you might be thinking: 50 years that's a long time! What I have to say to that is yes, yes it is and the show loves to remind you of that fact. By the time Frieren comes to meet her old adventuring party they have all grown old and one of her companions ends up dying soon after the meteor shower. It was a very emotional and impactful first episode that really shows how quick human lives pass in the eyes of Frieren. The rest of the show follows Frieren finding new companions and losing her old ones. In just 2 episodes years pass by and we watch as Friren's new apprentice and friend grow up from a young girl to a teenager. The show feels like it moves so quickly and yet you can only tell how fast it moves because of the things and people around Frieren growing and changing. It's both fascinating and devastating to watch.

Characters:

The characters in this show may look bland at first glance but the more time you spend with them the more colorful they become. In just three episodes I became attached to characters to the point that I would cry over them, even when I only got to know them through flashbacks. Each character is crafted with thought and love by their creators. Our main character Frieren, is an immortal elf who seems to, at the beginning of the show, go through her first true loss when Himmel, one of her friends from her old adventuring party, dies of old age. Frieren realizes that she never really got to know a lot about Himmel, and so begins her journey to understand humanity, people, and why she feels such sorrow at Himmel's death. Frieren is a very interesting character, although she can seem cold at first the more you spend time with her the more you see how vibrant she truly is. Another important character is a young girl named Fern, she was saved by one of Frieren's old friends from their adventuring party, named Heiter. Fern's parents were killed when she was young and she was about to take her own life before Heiter stopped her. Sometime later when Frieren comes to visit Heiter he asks her to take care of Fern when he passes, as he does not have much time left. Although Frieren refuses at first after spending many years with Fern (due to Frieren deciphering an ancient tome at their home) she takes Fern under her wing and so their adventures begin. Fern is someone in whom Frieren sees much of herself and their dynamic is pretty enjoyable to watch. Frieren has all the time in the world, but Fern does not. Frieren will often spend months on small things leaving Fern to feel that there is no meaning to what they do and that they're wasting time away. Even when Fern expresses these fears to Frieren, she never truly understands those concerns because time for Frieren is infinite. Despite that Fern never leaves Frieren's side and continues on adventuring with her. I could go on and on about all the characters in this show and their importance but I think I'll leave it at or else I'll be writing for an eternity. I highly recommend watching the characters and their complexities for yourself. 

Animation:

The animation in this show is gorgeous. The animators take the time to animate the multitude of complex emotions a character goes through in mere seconds (You really start to notice this in episode one 5:32-5:37, but the details continue throughout the 3 episodes). Something else I noticed right away is the graininess of the show, it's sort of like looking at an old photo of you're grandparents, however, this doesn't take away from the show at all in fact I think that it helps to add an old-timey, storybook feel to it. You can tell a lot of time, thought, and care was put into the animation, character designs, and backgrounds. The world around the characters is incredibly drawn. It truly is beautiful. 

Music:

The music is as equally gorgeous as the animation. The composer of the music in this show is Evan Call. Call has composed music for anime like Violet Evergarden, My Happy Marriage, Symphogear G, and many more. The music really made the scenes feel more powerful in this show, making already emotional or beautiful scenes that much better. It has a very medieval, olden-time feel to it which melds perfectly with the visuals on screen. There were many times when had tears in my eyes and the music just pushed me off the edge into a blubbering mess. 

Sub or Dub:

Moving on! Let's talk about Sub and Dubs, I think both versions are great, however, the sub is better. The voices fit perfectly to each character and the emotional scenes are voiced beautifully. The main drawback of the Japanese version is that the subtitles can distract from the animation, so if dub is more your speed go for it. Although the dub is good, I feel the voices don't match as much and the emotional scenes are much more powerful in the sub. 

Final Rating:

Now for the moment you all have been waiting for my final rating of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is a whopping....... 1/10. Just kidding! I think by now you know that I really enjoyed watching this show. The themes, animation, music, and characters were all outstanding. I cried and laughed while watching Frieren and her companions travel and go on adventures both little and grand. If you're one for deep shows that strive to find the meaning of human existence, this is the show for you. This show is a solid 9/10, it only lost one point because I hate crying and this show made me do that multiple times. Ok maybe it was a 10 and I'm biased against tears. I highly recommend you check this show out, it's truly worth your time!

Ps. If anyone wants me to cover a specific anime comment its name and I'll be sure to cover it! Thanks for reading!