My New Obsession - Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- Frieren has taken me by storm and left me unsure what to do with myself. This video is talking about the anime (I haven't read the manga chapters that the anime doesn't cover) and has mild to moderate spoilers. If you're not spoiler sensitive you should be fine
0:00 Intro
0:24 Frieren
14:01 My Favorite Episode
19:03 More Frieren Thoughts
23:00 Outro
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One of my favorite moments is when Stark looks at the hero's sword that can only be removed from stone by a "real hero" and he sees a glimpse of his older brother.
Totally agree, the whole thing with the "hero sword" and Himmel had me amased IMO.
Funny how this moment is totally anime original
to me it was implied that frieren could've pulled the sword
@@sebastianmv2069No the sword is a red herring. The whole point was to show Himmel was still THE Hero even without the sword.
A Heroes sword is the one thats weilded not the one rusting in a cave.
@@lisakulig3140the anime made the manga much better, couldn't imagine a better adaptation
This anime became so popular and Himmel is such a good person that "Himmel the hero would have done this" became a common saying among mothers and children in Japan lmao
Love this
Im gonna start saying that😂
@@goddog8139 Same 😂😂😂
Wait for real? That is crazy but amazing!
That conversation took place between a couple, I remember it being talked about on Twitter, lol.
The wife questioned her husband's unusually quick dishwashing and asked, "What's so good about it?"
'If I were Himmel the Brave, I would do it this way.'
Translator used
“I dropped the manga to watch the anime” woah, I didn’t think we would ever hear Merphy say something like that
In this case, the anime is a so much better experience though. The content is basically the same, but the anime adds so much terms of atmosphere.
Bro I swear I'd expect her to say she loves Caribou before she said she dropped a manga to watch the anime.
I saw that coming
The manga is better, but I always prefer the manga haha.
Yeah the music and vibes (and action) of the anime adds a lot to the experience, coming from someone who mostly prefers reading.
Merph hit the "what do I do now" phase of anime. Where a series is just so damn good that you have no idea what to do with yourself once it's over.
Good ol' post anime depression:)
Yeah same man, i thought slime could fill the void of Frieren Fridays but it was never the same. Still good but never had the excitement.
read the manga (but you'll probably catch up in like a week). Then you have to wait for new chapters to be released
You watch reaction videos and every summary or review because you want to keep those memories alive and not forget those faces or the sound of their voice.
@@StefKomGeekruI have watched several reactions to this series. It never gets old.
I got so emotional when Merphy was talking about Old Man Voll.
me too , because that is favorite episode too , is so sad for me went he say he cant remember his wife face
shddjshdkjkahs same
"When I save the world and bring peace, then it won't matter if I'm a real hero or not"
Himmel, the best character in this show. Such an inspiration
A true hero, with a pure soul.
Never seen, heard or read a better condemnation of imposter syndrome.
The dialogue in this show is so satisfying. It made for such a compelling watch, long before the action started to become more common. Anime of the season imo.
Anime of the year imo
Hell anime of the decade!!
@@josuecenturiondomaniczky9297 Chainsaw Man will probably contend for that title.
@@josuecenturiondomaniczky9297 nah, for me it's just a contender for the anime of the decade cause of vinland saga season 2
though I can definitely see why people will say that it is the anime of the decade
Of the year. I know there's a lot more of 2024 ahead of us, but I doubt anything will topple Frieren for me. Of course, in Awards Season the most popular shows will win, but I think THIS TIME, Frieren might make it.
@@thabokgwele5268 I feel like I'm going insane since I watched it and read the manga too but Chainsaw Man just feels like such an empty and meaningless story with absolutely nothing going for it. I don't even find the humor funny. The action feels like nothing compared to other already existing Shounen battle manga and the characters are all boring and I can't seem to care about any of them.
The combination of his design, how the anime conveyed his expressions and how the voice actor delivered his lines made it so I got tears in my eyes whenever Himmel spoke to Frieren
It is truly an achievement of a character
My favorite line in the show was Stein "Just date already !" Never have I felt a character was so in tune with the audience lol
That’s what I’m saying…THEY ARE SO CUTE 🥰
Frieren is peak.
From the writing to the animation to the voice acting to the pacing to the sound design to Evan Call's OST to the OP and ED
to the characters, themes, humour, action etc it is peak.
The little details like sour grapes and Fern not reading a book.
All Hollywood writers need to take big notes on how it masters "show don't tell"
Glad you enjoyed it.
My biggest surprise with this story is how much I love Wirbel. His character design and demeanor put me off him initially. But his reluctance to murder (despite being a seasoned soldier), followed by his exasperated sigh as he literally carried his 2 companions on his back made me a do a complete 180.
Finding out that he was inspired by Himmel's less legendary, smaller scale deeds really sealed the deal for me. Favourite character Frieren, followed by Wirbel, then a big gap to everyone else.
Yeah they intentionally made him look like the typical asshole character. Only to give him a twist and make him one of the most grounded and wholesome out of the group.
I love the fact that wirbel is a softie but looks tough. Totally makes sense he needs to look tough bcz he needs to fight against inhumane things in north
My favorite part in the whole 1st season was the flowers. How in the first episodes Fern is annoyed with Frieren because she takes 5+ years looking for a blue flower. Then you find out its connected to Hemmel's grave and she was looking for a spell to create this field of flowers. Then at the end of the season we find out her teacher's favorite spell was a simple spell to create a field of flowers. The way these small little things connect ever so slightly and once revealed shows so much I absolutely adore from the story. Its the smaller experiences in the beginning getting fleshed out later in the story that bears the most fruit like the episode with her ring and the bird, and the restaurant and the cook. I just love this story so much
it takes them like 6 months not 5 years , also she we find out the connection right away between himmel and the flowers
It did not take her 5 years, it took her 6 months. Also it was not connected to Himmel's grave, he mentions that the blue flowers were a type of flower that grew in his hometown. And we learned that Flamme's favorite spell was the spell to create a field of flowers in episode 10 during the flashback mid-Aura-fight, this is just reinforced in the end
Also how in that flashback when Frieren used that spell with the heroes party, Heiter and Eisen were jumping about in the flowers while Himmel only looked nostalgic because he saw that spell before when he was a child
Also the first time Himmel met Frieren as a kid, she used that spell to help him calm down when he was lost in the woods
You took "head cannon" to a whole new level. How did you just make up a bunch of plot points that never happened??? I get misunderstanding or misinterpreting some things in a story, but not to this degree
Himmel might just be my favourite depiction of "The Hero" in fiction. My favourite moment is the reveal that he failed to pull the Hero's Sword from the stone and just continued to defeat the Demon King anyway, fake sword and all. What a character!
What blows my mind about this series is the pacing. We essentially get two stories in 30 minutes and somehow they managed to not feel rushed but also not slow. It’s a refreshing anime
I really love how the other elf is a direct foil to Frieren, yet exactly the same. They are both looking for ways to fill endless time while resenting the other for the way they cope. But in the end they come up with the same solution of holding onto personal memories.
Serie does not resents Frieren for "the way she copes" lol, she doesn't like how Frieren "wastes" her life just fooling around instead of getting stronger and most importantly, how she views magic. Their views on magic is the biggest dichotomy between the characters.
@@lisakulig3140 I would argue her wasting her life is her way of coping. Not to mention, her life cannot truly be wasted if there is no end to it.
Serie is Frieren’s ideological opposite, Kraft is Frieren in the future
I say without joking that Frieren has improved my life tremendously. I used to just go through life not really doing much beyond getting by but in the past year I've started taking better care of myself, taking lessons to get better at hobbies that interest me, and spending time with friends and family. Human lives are short and I wanna take the time to get to know myself
Jesus, Merphy. This kind of review passion is why I give you ten bucks a month. And I'll give this anime a go.
i watched only 2 episodes so far but i plan to watch more. it's pretty great^^
Totally worth it
You won't regret it, its a fantastic journey and one of those rare occasions where the screen adaptation improves on the book/manga.
Goddamit. Crunchyroll premium required. I'll not give up yet though..
This anime is literally 20/10 imo
I'm sure there's plenty of media that does long lived characters well, but this is the best I've ever come across. The flaws, the strange emotions, the sprinkles of wisdom and knowledge. Frieren is wonderful and so it Frieren. Glad you're enjoying it!
This show is fantasy done right. It feels like a love letter to Tolkien's work. How humanity starts to change the world while the time of Demons and Elves comes to a close. As a German, I also appreciate all the character's names and how deep the meaning of some of them are. My favorite example is Heiter. His name means 'cheerful' but can also mean 'good weather'/'clear sky' and we often see sun rays whenever someone mentions Heiter or during flashbacks about him. On top of all this Heiter can also mean 'to be tipsy'. It is just so perfect
What I liked about the magic exam is that it explains the magic history and how it has evolved. But more than anything, how the magic system is more complex than it seems at first, where i's not only learning magic from a grimoire, and that's it, but also how personality and visualization affect the magic of each individual.
This series following an immortal elf in a classic-ish fantasy setting has some of the most inspiring take on humanity in fantasy. It gets more and more emphasised as the series goes on. Himmel and Serie are some of my favorite characters ever now. The way the story uses flashbacks is so good too.
Serie enjoyers, unite!!
@@lisakulig3140 SERIE MY FEET GOAT!!!
The immortal elf was the selling part for me. In much fantasy, we hear of elves that live for 100s of years and thus perceive the world differently but I've only seen that written in lore (mostly coming from D&D). Before Frieren, I had yet to see an execution of what that different outlook looked like and they nailed it here.
I loved seeing how Himmel inspired everyone around him, then learning that Frieren was Himmel’s inspiration
Also random side tangent, super excited for the next season if or when it comes, I’m fully caught up with the manga and can say that I’ve cried so many times to this series
You know when Himmel is a great character when he is regularly at the top of the character popularity contests that they run.
I am a 100% manga reader, but this anime was the only manga adaptation i have watched were I didn't feel like the translation to anime lost anything. It was truly a work of art.
Hmm, id argue that the episode/chapter of the hero's sword was done better in the manga, in the anime they made a Himmel moment, all lead to stark, and while both are similar, i feel that they moved the message of the chapter out of the way and made people think that stark could pull the sword, they completely changed POV during the flashback and didn't show Himmel expression as he didn't pull the sword, and they didn't show frieren smile as she is talking about him.
I feel like the anime has some downs in regards of expressions, another example is the ring episode, the bittersweet expression of Himmel after knowing what the ring means is better in the manga, even another example is in the episode where the exam begins (i think?), the expression on Himmel's face as he is told by Frieren "but it wont be as long before you die" is way better in the manga too.
But i agree that the anime is overall a better experience to experience the show, the ost, the animation, most of the anime original scenes, all fit and it's just simply better to feel everything more alive.
I really can't appreciate this anime enough. Words can't even express it. While watching Frieren, i started to realise how less time I've been spending with my loved ones, especially family. It made me understand how short lived we humans are and to appreciate every little thing and just enjoy life while we still can. This anime changed my life for the better
I love that Frieren, like Himmel, didn't like saying long good byes because it kind of implied you would never meet again. That was one of the most touching moments, beside the first episode when Frieren thinks she knew nothing about Himmel.
Episode 2, 10 and 16 are incredible in terms of storytelling, the amount of story they are able to put in a single episode, or even half an episode is astounding to me.
10 is a masterwork of pacing, and a wonderful use of flashbacks.
There are so many things I love about this story, but among them is the variety with which we explore remembrance. From the concepts of immortality and disappearance into myth explored through Himmel, Flamme, and Kraft, to the terror of forgetting explored through Voll, to the pains of loss explored through Frieren, Fern, and Serie, to the traps we build for ourselves through narrativized memory as explored in Frieren, Stark, and Sein, we just get _so_ deep into the crevices of this theme. And that's as we explore plenty of other ideas.
I also deeply appreciate that, while this is a "big feelings" story with a lot of trauma at its root, we don't get lost in the trauma. Notably, Frieren does not just overcome her regrets and traumas, she _heals_ from them in an authentic way. We get to see just how much she has changed and improved her wellbeing since before joining the party of heroes. At the end of the season 1 material, I feel like Frieren is self-actualizing. She's found a way of living that truly fulfills her needs and helps others.
One of my favorite details in the whole show is in episode 10. There is a time lapse of Frieren living in obscurity for 1000 years after the death of Flamme. Followed by the rest of the party of heroes picking her up. Then there are 5 quick flashes of still shots from their 10 year adventure. The time lapse of her living in obscurity for 1000 years is 50 seconds long. The flashes of the 10 year adventure are 0.5 seconds long. These lengths of time are to scale. 10 years / 1000 years = 0.5 seconds / 50 seconds = 1/100. It communicates subliminally just how short that journey was to her.
There is also a ton of meaning in the German names of all of the characters. Sometimes two or three meanings that fit the characters. I watched a 3 hour long video by a German guy that reacted to the show, and he broke down the use of every German word in the first cour. It was super fascinating. This story has so much depth.
What's the title of the video?
@@matthewglenguir7204 It’s a long title. Just look up “Frieren German breakdown” and it’s the 3ish hour long video by storieswithstyle.
@@matthewglenguir7204 ua-cam.com/video/v_QP06N1mnk/v-deo.html
The show is the perfect combination of character development, slice of life and fantasy action. Great pacing between elements with humor mixed in. Hollywood should look at this show to see how a great TV show is produced.
I love how you draw the connection to Lord of the Rings by calling her adventure party as a "Fellowship"
The old word for a party is a fellowship. So it's a really appropriate thing if you ask me.
@@user-pm2b47ar8d It is very appropriate. Love it.
Frieren is so much of why I love stories in general. It has this uncanny ability to to speak so much emotional and universal truth to how life should be appreciated. It is MIND BOGGLING to see an elf and go “man, this character is so… real” almost every episode of this series made me cry and I PRAY there is a season 2.
The way this show treats time is GENIUS! It made appreciate time itself in a deeper level, it's crazy.
It probably became my favorite anime of all time...
12:50 - glad to see I'm not the only one who can't simply talk about this show without having to navigate a turbulent sea of unexpected tears.
You know an anime is peak when Merphy says "I dropped the manga halfway through the anime and just focused on the anime".
16 is my favorite too. 25 is a very close second -- "It was only on a whim."
This is probably one of my favourite Frieren Review videos out there at the moment. Just because She describes the series soo well and knows what the story is trying to convey. The emotion is felt through her comments on How She loved a certain episode with just listening to it. Really need more of this types of reviews
It's Frieren time!
Such an incredible journey we've taken this past half year watching Frieren.
Looking forward to Season 2 adapting the next arc!
Everytime someone asks me what to expect in Frieren, I always say... "it is calm and comforting and the journey has heartwarming payoffs".
But Frieren is literally the best example of "it's not the destination, but the journey".
You will be happily surprised by how good things go further on in the manga. So many interesting characters and stories, along with much more lore to dive in, and of course more side quests that are actually the icing on the cake.
oh man. If el dorado got adapted I legit gonna cry. that arc was so bang. they introduced such a well written villain in a really short time. it was imo the best frieren arc to date (goddess monument arc climax was also amazing)
I think Frieren is a prime candidate for the hall of anime to recommend for beginners alongside Death Note, AOT, OPM and others.
Not too sure about Death Note considering it falls off so hard, the others are great though
@@Syco07-pm3iz eh, it's still a classic by now
Frieren will set the standard too high, there's only a few other series with similar vibes such as Kino and Mushishi
Intial d, berserk, eye shield 21, made in abyss, gto,
@@andriedhafri3754Aot ending was trash
And Himmel the hero wasn't able to pull out the hero's sword. That was a short episode, but it made sense to me, it brought more reality to the charactor.
I enjoyed listening how you think about this anime. Thank you!
The magic of the slice of life moments didn't even disappear during the mage exam arc. Episode 25 had Frieren vs. Frieren as the central encounter, and yet the highlight was a flashback to Serie mourning Flamme.
I think it just sells that all these people are actually people and not just plot devices. And man, I feel so much for Himmel. He was such a good guy and his relationship with Frieren is just so many things all at once. I loved that episode on the coast and the sunrise, I think it's really good at showing just how much and how little time means to Frieren.
I had exactly the same thoughts before the mage exam episodes, but they really did a good job of continuing what the show excels at while introducing new interesting characters. Frieren might be the anime of the year for me.
same here,
i was like "aw man is this the moment the story kinda fumbles".
but, it doesnt get bad.
it NEVER gets bad
i wake up everyday, remember Frieren exists and get baffled and cant fathom how f"ing GOATed the anime is.
the story has incredible pacing, consistently, despite often having two separate stories in 25 min episodes, despite having tons of flashbacks( which are perfectly paced as well). just how ?
My gf and I adore this show. She's an animator, it's so cool to see her gush over all the backgrounds and fights
I watched frieren with no expectations . So I was blown away with how good the story is. One of my favourite themes in art is passage of time and the anime shows it brilliantly.
10/10
i feel like the mage exams are much faster pace because it's not just frieren POV anymore,it's fern and the side characters POV's.
and for them time and events feels much faster.
it's the two young girls who team up with frieren and learn from her,it's the rest of the examinees dealing with her and the testers reacting to how she skew the exams because of how "overqualified" she is
the biggest obstacle of the arc(outside of serie,but in a different way) was the clone of frieren,and how everyone struggle to deal with it.
Noone could face Frieren's clone except Frieren herself, Denken and his group has to run on sight to survive.
@@DarkChaos1986okay powerscaler, when did the comment say anything different than that? But since you like to powerscale so much, I'd like to inform you that no one in the DUNGEON could beat Frieren's clone, but outside the dungeon there's a character named SERIE who would absolutely destroy Frieren in a fight.
@@lisakulig3140true, also Serie saying Frieren skewed the result is actually false as, the only reason there was a frieren clone to deal with was BC she participated and all she did was eliminate her own clone, and did not affect much, which is interesting
@@FantasyCat1 serie apologizes to Sense at the end and says that they had a bumper crop this year
@@lisakulig3140 My statement is only about the dungeon quest, and my comment was about the difference between struggle with and being overhelmed by, the participants were not struggling with Frieren's clone, they could not do anything besides waiting outside the clone's room to the arrival of the real one.
This is one of those series that hits me in the feels every time! I was getting chocked up at you talking about Voll. Just remembering the episode and thinking about the story. How she carries on his memory! I honestly love watching reactions of people watching my the series and watching them go through the adventure the first time.
I love the mage exams soo much, all the action had meaning and they actually used their brains and didnt just yell louder.
This was how a battle between mages should be imo.
So many great themes in Frieren. I really love the theme of flaws. It's so well executed. A fake hero, a disgraceful mage, a corrupt priest, and a cowardly warrior saves the world.
I cried watching Merphy get emotional about Voll. That was not among my favorite episodes, but I find that Frieren does such a good job of portraying life and different people's passage through life, that most people who watch the show will resonate with different episodes and characters based on their own experiences. All of the characters are so different and fleshed out that they all speak to different people and touch different chords depending on who you are as a viewer and what you want to take away from it. I think that's really beautiful.
Frieren is by far the greatest masterpiece I've ever seen. The music... oh my God... I've never had a score that has consistently made me bawl like a baby. Especially when the flowers were found.
It’s so cool how every character feels like they could be the main character of their own show
Frieren is one of the very few stories that I would consider life changing, in how it makes me reflect on my own life and ask if I could be spending my time to more appreciate those around me.
The anime adaptation is definitely one of the best manga to anime adaptation I've ever seen
The series is soooo good! I love it! I just started my rewatch (literally an hour ago)! I can't wait to read the manga, but I want to get the physical volumes first!
Also, as a German, the names in Frieren are so funny at times! But I love it!
The authors most prized possession is probably a German dictionary. Loved it though.😄
@@faultier1158 lmao, that's probably true! Surprisingly I think the words they chose were mostly pretty good as names. My favourite one is Gabel though, why was the idea to name someone "fork"?!
@@moellerchen93 Yeah "Gabel" got me as well. Its always cool when you can already make predictions about a newly introduced characters abilities or personality based on their name.
@@heibk-2019 Lügner was a bit of a giveaway though lol
I don't really know how to say it, I'm not an anime/manga "veteran". I'm still working my way through the popular greats, but Frieren is such a unique take on the fantasy genre and I love it so much. This anime might just knock NGE off of my podium for the #1 spot. The pacing is just so perfect, the action is there but it's not the entire story. There's enough down time to take everything in. I just really really really enjoyed this anime so much, so much more than I thought I would.
Great job keeping it together while describing episode 16. Probably also my favorite part of the story so far. Just listening to you describe it made me almost well up in tears too. This series will live long in my memory. Hope I don't forget their faces
Old Man Voll is also a somewhat parallel to Wirbel, both are still upholding their promises to someone they cant remember and are respectable characters who fight underhandedly
This story is absolutely beautiful. I love how in retrospect Frieren understands how much Himmel has changed her and helped her mature in her understanding of time and people
Spoilers (sort of idk). The best part of Himmel to me is how he loves frieren in a completely unselfish way. It’s seems apparent to me that he was in love with Frieren his whole life, but he never once pursued it. Maybe if he did he could have spent a couple decades with frieren, and slowly taught her about love. But that’s the way he wants to love her, not the way frieren needs to be loved. He loved her from a distance, never marrying until his death, leaving enough behind for Frieren to slowly discover for herself what love is. It is one of the best depictions of completely unselfish and devoted love I’ve seen.
honestly since reading it more i think about the exam arc the more i love it. It is so underated how it does so many things in a relatively short time (compared to other series, it's still seems long compared to the single chapter/episodes the series has accustomed us).
In it we are introduced to a lot of new, interesting and more importantly thematically connected character that still feel real and their own real people; we continue a seemsless work of worldbuilding about the magic system, the institutions and how the world at large has evolved in the "short" time that is passed from frieren POV. All this while planting subtle hints and seeds for the overarching story (this i think is the most underrated aspect of the story imho; it's criminal how few people seems to notice how good Frieren is at building it's overall story while narrating the simple,uninportant moments that are ironically so important in the end).
And that's before we start talking about Serie; ohhh how much i love Serie and every single of her iteration with every single of the characters and how every single one works relation of the themes of the story and compared to frieren's. The later half of episode 25(trying to avoid saying too much here for anyone that has yet to see/read) is probably the quintessential example of what i am talking about and is something that could have been written by Tolkien himself without anyone noticing it.
Then there is the finale of the arc/anime; the perfect conclusion that makes a lot of the characte arc and themes come full circle in what is probably one of the most climactic anticlimax i have ever seen that is still able to leave you fulfilled but craving more of this magical story.
The more time passes since i started reading this manga and the more i find myself thinking about it and what it is trying to tell and teach me; it's like reading Malazan or Lord of the rings for the first time all over again (Frieren is really the closest thing i can think of compared to LoR) and just as them no matter how much i appreciate Frieren it still feels like i don't appreciate it enough.
My partner had fallen out of love with anime until I showed her this one. We love how every episode has so much feeling behind it
Frieren is a gentle hug from a loved one, on a rainy day, remembering all the best moments shared.
I love that you’re talking about frieren! It honestly feels like the perfect anime for your vibe, since it’s all about the characters and it’s not too worried about the fights (but that doesn’t mean they don’t slap) and then there’s you who loves digging into the characters getting to see that focused on over fights must have been euphoric
This story is so insane. It seems so mundane but it just resonates with you. The author is a genius in making you feel how the characters feels.
Frieren at first seems to me like it was inspired from Arwin who married Aragon in Lord of The rings. But Frieren didn't marry Himel.
I mentioned on your Short about Frieren, but yeah, I originally didn't gravitate to this anime. There was so much hype online that I just thought of it as another Demon Slayer. When my friend mentioned to me the premise, it blew my mind. It kind of made me wonder about my own characters in my Pathfinder/D&D campaigns and it hooked me before I even started reading/watching. It is a Fantasy Slice of Life (with some action), in my eyes, and it does it so perfectly.
Sousou no frieren its the meaning of Masterpiece. The storytelling, the slice of life, the main theme of Life X Time, the sweetness of a show that its not just about grimdark storys, the mature fanservice, the main character being a woman and be so damn well written that hooked all the anime community, and the figths, the emotion, seeing the time pasting throw and see them getting older its so satisfactory at the same time so meaningfull... the best romance at a while with humans emotions, the sadness of think that frieren will watch fern and stark die of old age and be truly happy about knew that she is living the life at his full even knowing the destiny of both puppets... that hits you so hard that you close the notebook and just cry and go to call to your parents and schedule a visit to them. That its beyong the ranks and power list or nosenses about compare frieren to other shoneen battle crap animes.. Its impossible to put in words how hard the anime hit you, when you live enought to understand the mistaken already got be taken.
I find it interesting how we have different parts that we loved most about Frieren. I don’t think you mention the blue moon weed flowers, Flamme, or flower bed making magic, but those are my favorite parts of what the anime got to.
Frieren is in my top 3 fantasy manga series and one of my personal favourites ever from this genre...
There was barely an episode that went by that didn't bring a tear to my eye. Frieren, to me, is a show about its themes and where the plot exists in service to or is punctuated by the themes. It's so deliberately and lovingly crafted, and I cannot wait for more to come.
I must admit that I'm obsessed with Frieren too. Last time I connected this much with a story was over 30 years ago when I was reading the Lord of the Rings. I would say that a rewatch of the anime is a must. The Story often introduce you to things that are explained later on like himmel's ring, so on the rewatch you understand better the context and the caracters feeling in that given scene.
This anime came out just as my daughter turned one, and it felt like that first year went by so fast. This series connected with me and my wife right away
One thing I did not expected is how even though Frieren is really wise and has a frankly terrifying repertoire of spells, Fern acts as a older sister in the most unexpected and endearing situations.
Like when Stark slays the dragon and she says to Frieren: You can only take 3 objects. Or the incident with the clothes dissolving potion
I'm sure the source material is also so good. But I think many would agree that the anime just pushed it to a different level. The animation, music, and overall direction. This has got to be the best anime in terms of pacing. I have no idea how they can make a single 20-minute episode have two little stories that don't feel rushed. It felt like I watched a film's worth of content and I realize it's just half the episode. Like... forget Serie, I have to ask the production team what sorcery they used when they made this anime.
Also, I think a lot of us who loved the slice-of-life got a little hesitant when the mage exams came up. But then we well in love with all the new characters. And we realized that the core of this anime is still very much the same even though it's showing us a completely different side. For example (spoilers), the fact that Frieren was Denken's inspiration and Himmel was Wirbel's inspiration were very great surprises. Our first impressions of them were a little bit in a dark light but when the show peeled back the layers, they turned out to be really good people. And I feel for them.
Anyway, great discussion! Look at that. An anime adaptation so good that it made Merphy stop reading the manga. And no one can blame you for that.
There are 2 moments in this show that I particularly liked. I actually really love the 2nd half of episode 3, which is when Frieren goes to deal with the demon she sealed away 80 years ago, Qual. The fight with Qual itself was epic. They did an amazing job of showing why he was so scary 80 years ago, how frighteningly strong his new magic (Zoltraak) was, and overall how intimidating he was. But also how 80 years is a long time. He was completely outclassed by the progress humanity made in their magic studies. I've never seen a show do that before -- he was completely outclassed and was no real threat, and yet you still see how much of a scary and intimidating beast he is. Very, very cool.
The other moment I really enjoyed was in the last episode. The interview between Serie and Land. I just thought it was so cool and interesting how Land sent his magic clones to take the mage exam for him. He didn't even make the journey to the city. He's literally just in his hometown drinking tea, and yet he's defeating other first class mage candidates in the 1st phase of the exam, he's doing his part to conquer a previously unconquerable dungeon in the 2nd part, and in the interview he has enough self confidence to think he can trick Serie of all people. Land is a legend. The way they revealed it with the zoom out to him at his house in his hometown. Epic.
Serie being able to detect his real body MILES AND MILES away was insane too 😭
As a teacher, this series resonates so much with me. I'm new to this space and Frieren's desire to teach Fern from a position of companionship rather than strict master-disciple-ship mirrors a lot of what I want for my students. Frieren wants and welcomes the human age where she is surpassed and she's so appreciative of Fern as she sees that come to fruition.
There's also a deep tie between her and Flamme. She wears her master's earrings which, to me, symbolises how much she respects her master. She searches for weird spells that are seemingly unimportant, which starts with Flamme's spell to create a flower garden. She acknowledged that spell and how it brought her together with the fellowship that changed her life, and I think that's what Falmme wanted. Flamme told her about this spell because she wanted to give her student a reason to keep loving magic, to not be a "mage that only knows how to fight". I think this part of the story is just as important as the two journeys that pace the series.
The series does mentorship so well in so many ways and one comment definitely doesn't do it justice, but it is such a wonderful lens to use for a rewatch @Merphy, if you decide to do that
one of my favorite moments was Qual vs Frieren, its a battle where you feel that time is really powerful. To think that Zoltraak was once powerful and now just being a normal attack is such a good way to show that time moves.
There is another series that kind of explores a similar theme, but more focused on the romance side. Spive and Wolf. Incredible characters and all about the small moments
"Frieren and her fellowship" - that line really reminds me of LOTR
I loved this series, I loved all the characters, even in the silliest events there are profound lessons, like appreciating a sunrise, eating with friends, recognizing a student's effort, accepting affection, valuing the time we have with the people we meet in life. I never thought that an anime could make me cry as an adult, but Frienren managed to do that.
The richness of simplicity and everyday life is so well done. It's an epic slice of life fantasy, while describing the life on a practically immortal elf...
Rewatching and enjoying every episode, again
One of my fav moments is when Stark realises how much his brother actually loved him. How he always cared for him and how he would always cook him the special birthday burger.
My favorite parts were the fight with demons and the exams. I love the magic system, how it is written, the power of imagination. Also, how mana is woven into the demon hierarchy. But man, this series gave me so many gut punches so early too. Haiter...
PS. I hope to see Murphy talk about the manga too. El Dorado and the Goddess Monument are just... :x
I have been reading the series since it started coming out and holy crap am I glad they did an amazing job with the anime. When Old Man Voll tells Himmel about his promise to keep the village safe, and how he is fulfilling that even hundreds of years after her death, I think I saw a bit of understanding but also sadness in Himmel's face. I think at that moment maybe he fully realized the impact he could have on Frieren's life, and how much care he needed to take with that responsibility. I almost wonder if he had a thought that if he did confess his feelings to Frieren, and even if it was reciprocated, that in doing so he would tie her down in some way even after his death. God this show is so good and how is Himmel such an incredibly engaging and complex character with such little screen time!
I’ve been watching anime and reading manga for a long time now and Frieren is def one of those shows that you can tell is going to be a benchmark for years to come, it’s so god damn good. Ep 10 isn’t just my favorite episode of Frieren , it’s one of the best directed pieces of media I’ve ever watched. The flashbacks, the music, the cinematography, THE REVEAL!! All top tier and leave you with goosebumps. Absolutely top class show all around. I’m currently caught up on the manga and all I can say is that …..you ain’t seen nothing yet, trust me.
For me, my new obsession is Go Go Loser Ranger. Great video, Merphy.
Big, big fan of how the show explores what immortality actually MEANS.
In a lot of fantasy settings (especially in other shows and games, since novels usually give it a little more thought), fantastically long lifespans are just a number. "Oh, these elves are hundreds of years old!" "These OTHER elves we added are actually ten thousand years old!" "Oh, these new people we added? Some of them are over TWENTY thousand!" But what does that mean?
Usually, nothing much. Most often, it's just a vague suggestion that you should think that it's impressive, and that it's something that makes them Powerful and Dangerous. And then it matters exactly as much as the various other things that make some other [race] or [faction] powerful and dangerous: sometimes, it means they win the fight, and sometimes, they lose the fight, because the other side's different 'powerful and dangerous' traits outweigh them. Are they supposed to be winning, this time? Age and experience is now super important! They have thousands of years of martial training and ancient wisdom. Are they supposed to be losing? Being old just means being set in your ways. It's got nothing to do with strength. The world has moved on! Modern elves, as a trope, just swing wildly from incredibly powerful living gods, to getting crushed wholesale under the wheels of progress (sometimes repeatedly going back and forth in the same setting).
But... what actually happened in all those thousands of years? Often it's just 'nothing much outside of three or four big events!' Decades worth of backstory spread out over downright insane timescales. It's one thing to just casually toss out a number longer than all of recorded history to make a character or a faction sound cool. It's another to actually explore what living that long might be like.
Episodes 7-10 are absolutely fantastic. The ending of episode 10 surpassed the rumbling as my favorite scene ever in anime
I love how much you connected to this story. It's been hard to articulate what I enjoy so much about this manga/anime and you did just that. I enjoyed how you talked about Frieren. I like the slowness and being able to dive deep into characters. This story does it so well. I will be forever grateful for picking up the first volume when I did. I really think turning the story into an anime just enhanced the story as a whole. The music and animation just makes it that much more of an impactful story. Some of my favorite scenes in the anime are the ones where it is just showing passages of time. You just have music playing as you watch some scenes of what the characters were doing during the time. I like this way of going about the time skips. It never just skips time. It is as if the story is saying the little moments are still important and you should know about them. Which I think is a major theme in the story. The little things are impactful even if you don't realize it in the moment.
I am glad I wasnt the only person who felt this way about this anime. I gave Frieren a chance out of a whim and fell in love with this anime. Merphey you had literally expressed the very same feelings and way I see this anime. Frieren to me automatically my all time favorite anime, just because the story was in a category of its own. I have rewatched this anime twice over in English and Spanish. And each time I feel like I learned something new.
It's interesting how early on you seeemed to have a hard time finding manga you like, now you find something new you love constantly.
This show is so cozy and nostalgic I love everything about it. And the action scenes ARE INSANE when we see them. I think my favorite part of the whole show was when fern, stark, and freiren were each battling a demon and had to use their unique skills and abilities to outwit their opponents and the reveal that they were hiding aura. Also stark realizing she was a cheap imitation and he could tank one hit to get a good shot. Absolutely a masterpiece
The moment I love the most in this series is in episode 10 when Frieren is fighting Aura, after Aura uses the scales and Frieren's flashback ends we see the journey the 4 of them embarked in but with Frieren's POV, just 4 or 5 still images of the journey, that's how she percieved it, but nontheless, that one-onehundredth of her lifetime changed her, I am overjoyed you loved this anime as much as I did, thank you for putting out this video
Frieren tells its story in such a refreshing way. Love it so much
I love Frieren so much, I discovered it when it was just the manga and I was looking for something new to read and this manga with a cover where this little elf and 3 men rested against a broken pillar somehow got me and it is now my favorite manga and anime of all time
You made me cry again...
I cried many times while watching this and now I even cry when people are only talking about it...
I love the story of Frieren so much because it brought out all the feelings I've been experiencing when I lost my brother recently. Everytime they would have a flashback of the heroes party, it made me reflect and cherish the moments I made with my brother even more.
One of my favourite episodes was also 16. I recently had a dream of my brother and made me remember of episode 16. Was bawling my eyes out because I was afraid that the same thing would happen to me, I would start to forget what he looks or sounds like. Thankfully my partner reminded me that it won't ever happen since we're at a digital age.
I think you summed up the series very well :)