Why Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Became the #1 Anime on MyAnimeList
Apr. 8, 2024Why Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Became the #1 Anime on MyAnimeList
The anime industry has been filled with mediocre Isekai, intense battle Shounen and Rom-Coms for many years now, with only a select few anime managing to break through the norm to create something truly unique and interesting. Frieren managed to become one of these masterclass animes by taking a classic fantasy world, and completely changing the expected direction of a normal fantasy anime.
The first and most unique aspect of this anime is the direction that the story takes. Instead of being the typical tale of heroes becoming stronger to defeat an all-powerful opponent like a Demon Lord or some kind of God, Frieren focuses on theaftermathof that story, when the Demon Lord has already been defeated and the heroes have all returned to have a cold beer after a long 10-year journey.
Most people will wonder where exactly a story goes from here, and how it can be entertaining with the main events already happening, and that’s where Frieren’s second unique aspect comes into play. As an Elf, Frierens lifespan is magnitudes longer than the humans in her party, making her grand journey feel like a “measly” 10-year quest. As she watches her human friends slowly pass away with time, she can’t help but feel like she wasn’t as emotionally invested in them as she should have been. She realizes that her view of time made her take the most important 10 years of her life for granted, and she found out too late.
With that premise, the writer manages to masterfully craft an interesting story that has practicallyno antagonist, instead focusing on the intriguing character development of a centuries-old Elf as she comes to understand the limits of human mortality and how they value time. It’s honestly incredibly impressive how these 2 unique aspects can mesh together to create such a good plot without any main villains to keep it on track. Even though the start of the show is a slow burner and can feel aimless, the plot still finds a way to create a goal that Frieren reaches by developing as a character, without the need for a main adversary.
The story continues to add more around 10 episodes in, with Frieren’s interesting backstory as an Elf, how her personality was shaped by Himmel the Hero and the party, as well as the theme of history changing and how Frieren perceives it. A perfect example of her perception of history is how she carries around an antique, long-forgotten Mage Qualification that she hasn’t renewed for centuries simply because she sees things as forever changing, and too fast.
Just like the forgotten statue of an Elf Hero, to Frieren, things eventually change and don’t matter anymore in the grand scheme of things. As a result, she became an emotionally distant person who couldn’t really find it in herself to enjoy the moment. She begins to realize those moments in her travels with Himmel, and only truly understands how to live in them in her new journey with Fern and Stark, as she revisits her history with Himmel’s party and slowly recalls all the memories she made.
It’s an overall very mature theme that appeals to a wider audience, especially since the show doesn’t have any of the classic Ecchi moments or slapstick humour normally seen in anime that tends to drive away more casual anime fans. However, there is plenty of other humour that is pretty funny within the context of the plot, such as Frieren being called an old hag over a year ago, and remembering it like it was a few days ago.
Another reason why this anime reached the heights that it did was because of how it could appeal to the relaxed Slice of Life audience as well as the hyper Shounen audience by blending both genres in a way that manages to please both parties. In one episode, Frieren and her friends are trying to find a flower spell, then in another, a prodigy human warrior is going toe to toe against a dragon 100x his size and completely nukes it with just an axe. Then it goes from visiting a senile old man in a small village to an action-packed tournament arc featuring one of the most powerful beings in the world trying to catch a bird. It’s a back-and-forth that keeps the overall tone relaxing and comforting but also makes you excited for the next big action scene.
And the anticipation that people get for the action would not be possible without the amazing animation from Madhouse, who were incredibly consistent with the overall quality of the animation throughout the entire show. Whether it’s someone sitting on a chair or a barrage of spells being casted, it felt like a masterpiece with fluid and expressive animations. Regardless of if you are in the Slice of Life or Action club, anyone can appreciate good animation, which is really what ties Frieren all together and adds that little extra cherry on top.
With its unique setting, melancholic theme and the blend of slice-of-life and action audiences, Frieren has managed to reach out to many people by creating something that can be enjoyed by basically anyone. Most people fall under the bracket of preferring relaxing or action-heavy shows, and many people would rather avoid anime with emphasis on Ecchi or Slapstick humour, so Frieren manages to strike the perfect spot to appeal to anyone from teenagers to grandmas. Whether it deserves to be the #1 anime of all time based on the MyAnimeList ranking is definitely up for debate, but the fact that it has managed to captivate enough people to reach that ranking goes to show that it is undoubtedly one of the best anime we have seen in a very long time.
Tyr
て んじよ うてんげ ゆいが とくそん
