Sousou no Frieren

[Ryllharu]

Sousou no Frieren
Frieren: Beyond Journey`s End



Description: For ten years, elf mage Frieren traveled with Himmel the hero, Heiter the priest, and Eisen the dwarf warrior as they quested to destroy the demon king. At the end of their journey, Frieren set out on her own, not quite understanding how differently time flows for her versus her human companions.


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First episode is out, and it is two hours long (or divided into four episodes depending on the streaming service).

This is the type of classic adventure fantasy series we've been missing among all the isekai flood.

[David75]

Hgh melancholy, might not be for everyone.
Everything feels pretty straightforward, not much to discuss about yet.
Regarding elves life expectancy, it feels a bit like human years are months to them. Nearly random guess.

[Ryllharu]

It's not a bad guess. The first split episode (from the four arriving in the city to meeting Fern) takes place across 70 years.

The central problem in the story is that Frieren is already really old and barely ages, so how long anything takes is never a concern for her. She'll stay in one town for a year simply they have a library, she doesn't realize the shopkeeper she keeps going to has aged 20 years and the entire ecology or economy of a region has changed.

Her character development is about becoming less detached and more engaged with the world so she can enjoy the fleeting time she has with those she cares about. Heiter basically had to trick her into becoming Fern's teacher.

Thankfully for Frieren, her friends do still know a lot about her, still care for her, and know how to manipulate her for her own good.

The series also has a well-conceived magic system. When Frieren first saw Fern training, she remarked about the importance of keeping your mana under control. The story with the demon and the Killing Spell is even better at showing thought into the magic system. Time advances, magic techniques advance, what worked one day may not work the next. Cool stuff.

[David75]

Sure, everything flowed well and it is easy to enter that world and understand a lot. Eventhough it might not be for me, since it's a little strong and melancholy, I have to admit the overall quality is very high.
I'm not found of Frieren's design and Fern dead eyes.
I do not like the recuring anime trope: old people are very short even if they were average to tall in height when young. I had to convince myself for all the ep that the old dude was Himmel.
But aside from these 3 minor details, I like what I've seen.

Somehow, Qal was probably the character I liked best, design wise. His appearance was too short, but I like that he was a genius mage for his generation. Many shows would need a vilain that good, funny he was just a 5 minute clip in a show that doesn't need him hahaha.

[Ryllharu]

Killing Magic is one of my favorite for sure. You had this super powerful demon who was nearly unstoppable, a genius at magic, and he had to be sealed away instead of defeated. His devastating spell made him unconquerable.

80 years later, you have a nine-year-old casting his magic in Fern's first appearance as normal practice. You just don't know it at the time.

The shock on her face when the spell she was quickly growing to fear was just everyday now, and then cutting to her reading the book is priceless.

Fern is probably my favorite character. Her dead eyes work for me for a couple reasons. She was orphaned at a young but important age, spent several years with a flat and generally emotionless elf and an 80+ year old retired bishop. She's not exactly a bubbly extrovert. But she's still much more of an adult that Frieren is because she changes and evolves. She went from a quiet shadow of a girl, traumatized by a war to stalking her mentor with puffed cheeks of disapproval on her 16th birthday. She's a stern and serious character but is opening back up slowly. The dissonance of Frieren who is truly ancient but emotionally stunted elf to a maturing and responsible woman in Fern is subtle but good.

Another detail I only caught with the anime: Fern wonders why Frieren likes collecting "useless" spells. They specifically mention one that makes grapes taste sour. An episode later, we find out that the dwarf's favorite food is sour grapes. Frieren is making up for her previous mistakes in cherishing her friends.

[David75]

I caught that detail too.
Somehow she found a way to extend a short time for her. Tuning that short cherished time to her time scale.

[DarthEnderX]

My favorite detail is how she keeps getting into "help me i'm stuck" porn situations.


But yeah, this show be depressing.

[David75]

Forgot to watch ep4, still stuck on my search for a lifespan estimate.
We now know she was there a millenia ago. Feels like she aged from a twelve year old to a 15 year old very rough estimate.
She mentions that 10 years is less than one hundreth of her lifespan. Not precise enough... We already know her lifespan is well over 1k
When she was stressing how short 10 years are to her, years might not even compare to months, weeks at best.
My bet is around 10k years. A human woman has a life expectancy of 78 to 82 and will often go 90 or more as 100 years though not that comon is becoming less of a surprise.
7800 to 9000 if elves live 100 times that with a less comon 10k as a possibility.

[DarthEnderX]

I do not like the recuring anime trope: old people are very short even if they were average to tall in height when young. I had to convince myself for all the ep that the old dude was Himmel.

It especially didn't make sense to me because, the priest was even older than Himmel. Yet old man Himmel looked WAY older than the priest. Even after ANOTHER 25 years, the priest STILL didn't look as old as Himmel.

Forgot to watch ep4, still stuck on my search for a lifespan estimate.
We now know she was there a millenia ago. Feels like she aged from a twelve year old to a 15 year old very rough estimate.
She mentions that 10 years is less than one hundreth of her lifespan. Not precise enough... We already know her lifespan is well over 1k
When she was stressing how short 10 years are to her, years might not even compare to months, weeks at best.
My bet is around 10k years. A human woman has a life expectancy of 78 to 82 and will often go 90 or more as 100 years though not that comon is becoming less of a surprise.
7800 to 9000 if elves live 100 times that with a less comon 10k as a possibility.

I feel like it's somewhere between 1000 and 2000 years. Because if it had been 2000 years, she would have been like "It's less than one two-hundredth of my lifespan". If it was 10k years, then she would have been like "It's less than one thousandth of my lifespan".

She wouldn't have said one hundredth if it wasn't actually close to one hundredth.

[David75]

I thought that too. But then I wonder why she never felt urge or anything like that when thinking about 1000 years in the future with Flamme, or now with Fern. Because if 2000 is her lifespan, she's past 50%.

I admitt I'm splitting harid and in the end the answer doesn't matter much, she outlives everyone the show started with and she started to deal with it.

Back to Himmel, it's true that the priest didn't follow the trope, even weirder Himmel had to. We have to think about it as a joke and pun, since Himmel was so fixated on his appearance and being the coolest and most beautiful. Somekind of payback

[shinta|hikari]

Is there any conflict or action or mystery in this show? Or is the whole plot just an elf.

[Ryllharu]

Is there any conflict or action or mystery in this show? Or is the whole plot just an elf.

Yes, Yes, Sometimes. No.

[MFauli]

First episodes were very boring, but I want to like it :/

Doesn't help that I hate the elf's attitude. That's not a difference in lifespan, she's simply being an uncaring asshole. The rare moments when she feels emotional? OK, manipulative asshole then. See it all irl.

Also Fern's design is the laziest in some time. I only realized at the beginning of episode 4 that she had grown because of her tallness. Her face, however, was the exact same from when she was a child. I'm so sick of anime who do this shit. 18 yos don't have the face of 8yos.

Hoping for some actual story to begin soon. Spending half a episode cleaning up the beach was not that.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm so sick of anime who do this shit. 18 yos don't have the face of 8yos.

This your first anime, then?

[Ryllharu]

Doesn't help that I hate the elf's attitude. That's not a difference in lifespan, she's simply being an uncaring asshole. The rare moments when she feels emotional? OK, manipulative asshole then. See it all irl.

Frieren has been alive for at LEAST 1000 years. Think of how many people you are still in touch with in-person after 5-10 years (without the internet, only letters, which Frieren does not use and she's also always traveling so has no address). Years are nothing to her, by her own admission.

And yeah, the character development promised is that Frieren needs to be better at maintaining connections with those she has grown to care about.

Thematically, lot of similarities with Violet Evergarden's character arcs. If you hated that series, you may want to skip this one.

Also Fern's design is the laziest in some time. I only realized at the beginning of episode 4 that she had grown because of her tallness. Her face, however, was the exact same from when she was a child. I'm so sick of anime who do this shit. 18 yos don't have the face of 8yos.

Fern's design is simple and awesome. She's got big boobs now (to Frieren's joking dismay), but Fern isn't sexualized at all, a rarity for a fantasy series. She wears her simple empire-waist dress and a big billowy cloak over it, and that's it. Any other ornamentation is on her staff or on her hair clip, because she is apparently fond of jewelry (maybe because of Frieren and her ever-present red earrings?).

And yes, babyface people exist.

[MFauli]

I didn't watch Violet Evergarden, because the artstyle was so off putting to me, lol.

Babyface exists, but it doesn't look like an actual baby, come on.

Anyway, age is an explanation for Frieren's attitude, not an excuse. The dwarf also lives long, she could be nicer with him. Or live with other elves. It's just exhausting watching her be 'whatever'. Hopefully something more pressuring happens soon.

This your first anime, then?

First one that egregious.

[KrayZ33]

I didn't watch Violet Evergarden, because the artstyle was so off putting to me, lol.

That's a bit weird, isn't it?
What am I missing, wasn't that cookie-cutter Kyoto animation goodness (with even more quality)?
Like Amagi Brilliant Park, Hyoka, Chuni and Kyokai no Kanata - which I'm pretty sure you watched some of them?

Not blaming you for not watching it, because I didn't even like the show that much. To me, the highlights were the music an animation. Even though I bawled my eyes out when she visited the novel-writer whose child died from cancer. That scene when Violet jumps over the lake with the parasol in hand will probably remain with me for the end of my life.
And it did well getting the point across that letters are an *extremely* powerful way of communication.

Welp anyway, WEIRDO! How can you shy away from that animation.

(edit: Lmao, I went to the toilet after posting this and now and close to crying because I remembered that scene, time to play some video games so I can suppress it again.)

[David75]

In all honesty, I'd love to have the means and be able to live as carefree as Frieren. But for some reason my mind prefers trouble, tricky challenges. My only saving grace is that I'm more and more of a misanthrope which saves me from lots of trouble by exiting flame pits before I get burnt

[DarthEnderX]

In all honesty, I'd love to have the means and be able to live as carefree as Frieren. But for some reason my mind prefers trouble, tricky challenges.

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[MFauli]

That's a bit weird, isn't it?
What am I missing, wasn't that cookie-cutter Kyoto animation goodness (with even more quality)?
Like Amagi Brilliant Park, Hyoka, Chuni and Kyokai no Kanata - which I'm pretty sure you watched some of them?

Not blaming you for not watching it, because I didn't even like the show that much. To me, the highlights were the music an animation. Even though I bawled my eyes out when she visited the novel-writer whose child died from cancer. That scene when Violet jumps over the lake with the parasol in hand will probably remain with me for the end of my life.
And it did well getting the point across that letters are an *extremely* powerful way of communication.

Welp anyway, WEIRDO! How can you shy away from that animation.

(edit: Lmao, I went to the toilet after posting this and now and close to crying because I remembered that scene, time to play some video games so I can suppress it again.)

Of those, only Amagi, and only because the girl was hot 🤷*♀️