Just watched this, finally.

Interesting y'all could carry on about 4 pages of discussion about the mechanics of magic and storytelling after the show ended!

Overall, a good watch. It does have its own feeling and vibe, and I certainly get the shock/jar with the exam arc. I found myself slightly bored with the first ~4 episodes as Fern and Frerin make a low-power duo, but Stark brought the spark of levity and earnestness I was looking for and things got better from there. The variety of mostly well developed characters bouncing off one another is certainly the secret sauce of Frieren.

I think, in hindsight, I appreciate the tonal shifting Frieren does more than anything else. Slice of life mundanity cuts to life or death conflict and back, but naturally so. Fights were weighty, but certainly the 'rule of cool' prevailed. The 'usage of mana' slightly reminded me of how nin was handled in HxH where the emphasis is more on how you use the magic and how good a matchup the opponent's specialties are; that was fun.

The sentimentality of the hero party flashbacks didn't get nearly as grating as I feared they would, functionally serving as a bag of morality to pull folksy wisdom nuggets from when Frieren is unsure in the present.

Animation was a high point as there was great subtle motion and expressiveness that felt like a quality production.

While not an all time favorite of mine (and nobody else's goin by the discussion here), at least I'm ready to join the discussion for season 2, whenever that happens.