Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a new anime that is already shaping up to be one of this year’s best thanks to its unique fantasy story!
If you’re a regular (or at least a semi-regular) anime viewer, chances are that you’ve seen Frieren pop up on YouTube or on Netflix. After all, the show has cracked the Top 10 TV Shows on Netflix in the Philippines on some days. But if you haven’t given it a try yet, you definitely should as it has all the makings of 2023’s best anime!
The show premiered just a bit under two weeks ago, and its premiere was unique as instead of just one episode, the first four episodes were released in an over one-hour-long anime special. Thanks to this, the anime’s interesting take on the fantasy genre was revealed in detail.
In a typical fantasy series, the main character is part of an adventuring party that aims to defeat the villain of the land. Frieren does things a bit differently. As revealed in the first episode, a party of four adventurers has already defeated the Demon King. Thus, this anime’s events are set during a time of peace after the Demon King’s defeat.
The elven mage Frieren is one of the four party members, and she serves as the show’s main character. Without going too deep into spoiler territory, Frieren has an incredibly long lifespan, so she ages much slower than her human and dwarven compatriots. This gives her a unique view on their ten-year journey. After all, those ten years were just a short amount of time for her.
Their journey was a memorable one for the rest of the party, but Frieren did not share this view. Soon after they celebrated, the four parted ways. Fifty years later, Frieren returned to mee them once again.
I won’t go into more detail about what happens next as you’ll find out in the first couple of episodes. What I can say is that it’s unlike most other fantasy anime out there that are either dark and edgy shows or are power fantasy isekais.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is instead a more contemplative and melancholic fantasy series that explores unique relationships, as well as the passage of time. After all, the main character Frieren has a unique view on time that contrasts greatly with the show’s supporting cast.
Speaking of cast, the characters introduced so far have all been interesting in their own way, especially in how they interact with Frieren. The human girl Fern plays a major role in the series, and she serves as an equally interesting character.
Along with the characters, the show’s animation by studio Madhouse is also a delight to watch. While it has some cool action sequences, the highlight of the show’s animation is no doubt its beautiful character art, smooth animation, and painterly backgrounds.
It also helps that the music is incredible in complementing the show’s unique mood. This is thanks to the composer Evan Call who is perhaps best known for making music for Violet Evergarden.
If that’s not enough, the show’s opening is another banger of a song by YOASOBI, the popular Japanese music duo behind the Oshi no Ko opening.
We’re only five episodes into the show at the time of this writing, but we can already safely say that Frieren is up there as one of our favorite anime of 2023. Based on how beloved the manga is, we expect the rest of the show’s episodes to be just as good, if not even better.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End gets new episodes every week which are streamed in the Philippines and other Asian countries on Netflix and Muse Asia. Meanwhile, fans in the US, Europe, and other regions can watch the show on Crunchyroll.
The best part about the show is that it will run for two cours, meaning it will have over 20 episodes and will air until March 2024!