Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

So, I left Japan 16 years ago after spending 9 years there.  I've lost a lot of my ability to speak and understand the language in that time and I've recently been making a lot of efforts to try to bring my level back up to where it once was.  To that end, I've been trying to listen to Japanese music and watch Japanese movies and TV shows. 

I was never much of an anime fan in the past.  The shows that were recommended to me just didn't resonate and, if I'm perfectly honest, the zealousness of certain anime fans was a turn-off (seriously, they can make the most overbearing Trekkie nerd seem normal and restrained).

Anyway, I've started to come around on the artform and I've seen a few movies and TV series that were actually quite enjoyable.


Last month, I finished the last episode of a series I'd been watching since winter so I was looking for something new to watch.  I kept seeing the title Frieren pop up in various posts and even as memes in various posts that had nothing to do with anime. A story popped up about a man in Taiwan who stepped in to stop a knife attack because the message from the series inspired him to act.  I had a quick look online and saw that it's now the highest rated anime of all time so I decided to check it out without knowing anything about it.

I'm 15 episodes in and absolutely hooked.

The story is set in a sort of Tolkienesque, Dungeons & Dragons inspired high fantasy world with elves and dwarfs and the like  (Mimics are a running joke).  It's unusual in that it begins at the end of a ten year quest to defeat a demon lord.  The party of 4 adventurers; a human paladin, a human priest, a dwarf warrior, and an elven mage; returns to triumph and adulation.  Once the celebrations are over and the quest is at an end, the story really begins.

 Frieren, the elf mage, is the main character and the story focusses on her.  With a lifespan that lasts thousands of years, she's incapable of comprehending the passage of time the way humans do. A ten year adventure was, to them, the adventure of a lifetime but to her, it was nothing particularly noteworthy.  The passing of her companions from old age in what to her seems like the blink of an eye, hits her harder than she expects and she decides to try to retrace her steps in order to gain a better understanding of the human perspective.

The storytelling is excellent. The characters are well-written with a lot of depth.  The music and the artwork are beautiful and packed with detail.  Even the tiniest details and throw-away scenes have a way of coming back, imbued with deeper meaning as the story progresses.  The underlying themes is about the inescapable passage of time, regret for paths not taken, and carrying on the memories of those who have passed on.  It's in turns exciting, funny, and thought-provoking and somehow manages to convey an uplifting message while having a tinge of melancholy. 

Check it out if you have a chance.  It's first rate stuff.  You'll never look at a simple pat on the head the same way.



SOME SPOILERS IN VID