To be fair, i think Frieren can appeal more for older audience, not for the maturity per se, but for the feeling of "regret" and "wasting" time. Still i've been following the manga for years and i wasn't expecting an adaptation, i glad they did it.
It seems that 99% of anime watchers like wasting massive amounts of time also - as the entire show can be explained in literally 8 episodes... But instead drags out the boring, slow, plodding, emotionless, cardboard cutout story over 27+ SLOWWWW Episodes.
@@centripetal6157 because..it's not a counter argument to begin with? im just pointing stuff that i think is stupid. Im not gonna argue with someone who only know 99% "99% of frieren are flashbacks and fillers", "99% of anime watchers like wasting massive ammount of time" "99% deez nuts" also here's a point, if you think that 99% of anime watchers like the show, and there's only 1% (you included) dont like it, it sounds like a you problem. Im not gonna pretend i know shit about story telling. But if an anime manage to make NINETY NINE PERCENT of the audiences think that it's good, IT PROBABLY IS.
I don't think the show ever tries to act like there was any doubt Frieren was gonna win against Aura. Other than Aura's name and title, the first thing we learn about her is that Frieren is stronger than her. Frieren herself confidently says so. This is even before we had any idea about Aura's ability. This "fight" was less about a high-stakes event, and more a vessel for worldbuilding. This is the first time mana and its significance towards mages and demons are thoroughly explained.
Yeah, Frieren outright states it in episode 7 (or beginning of 8?) when she is talking to the first demon in the prison cell. It's then repeated by the show. For Stark and Fern, it's not about the fighting itself, it's about their character growth, and learning their strength and that they don't need to rely on Frieren. For Frieren's side of the story, the fight is an excuse to learn about her history and who she is. We see a side of her that's been completely unexplored until this point. We learn about her time and training with Flamme, and her approach to fighting. We learn Frieren's history and that of the elves. And on the demon's side, we learn more about how they think, their own culture, their approach to magic and combat. We learn about how Aura ran away from the party, only to emerge again once Himmel had died of old age... There's so much more going on than the fight. Beyond that, trying to make it seem like Frieren could lose a fight she's had (checks) 88 years to prepare for would just be disingenuous. It would come off as dishonest and imho take away from the episode instead of adding anything to it.
The real shocker of this fight is what happens after Frieren had the upper hand. THAT was unexpected. How do you believe that the main character of a 28 episodes season could lose at episode 10... It is obvious who is the winner, but it is interesting how she wins
@@pierluigidipietro8097 yeah, you go in expecting some more magical fighting (as we heard from their first encounter) only to have Frieren calmly dispell the magic on the fighters around her. That alone shows that she was prepared for this encounter. We expect that once Aura falls to her own spell that we'll see a quick Zoltrack, ending things like Fern just did, or like she did with Qual, instead we're presented with a surprising insight into her character, and a good dose of karmic justice.
@@TheBaldrickk it seems that Frieren takes a real cold revenge on demons making them die on their own spells and tecniques. Qual killed by its own zoltrak, the wire demon having his body parts cut, Aura falling on her own spell and beheaded like her victims.
@@pierluigidipietro8097 it seems that way, but arguably, Qual was just taken out by her default combat spell. Draht had those pesky wires that needed to be dealt with first, and if you're already using one spell, may as well keep using it to finish the job, likewise, why waste the effort of killing aura yourself? So arguably, she's just being very practical. I can't think of any other karmic deaths by Frieren's hand in the manga. In fact, Frieren herself doesn't do much killing, though she does play a very central role in multiple arcs...
The point you made about not knowing anything about Himmel at the start (and therefore why you didn't feel sad) is actually the point: Frieren herself knew very little about him and regretted not learning more. As they travel, she learns more and more about him by reflecting on their time together, and Fern and the audience learn more about Frieren at the same time.
@@LessonsFromAnime but the thing is, you weren't supposed to be upset at Himmels funeral. You were supposed to empathize with Frierens reaction to his death and the lost opportunities that came along with it. Himmels death wasnt the emotional payoff, it was Frierens reaction to it
@@LessonsFromAnime I'll tell you this though, rewatching the first episode the second time did make me cry because I knew so much more about Himmel so the deep loss Frieren didn't really know she suffered hit so much worse.
@@TheLycanStrain She will magically time travel back to when he was alive... Because everything in this awful and pointless garbage dumpster fire story of a show can be solved with overpowered and cheap magic spells.
At first I was also skeptical, then I finished it and realized why it was the only one to surpass FMAB in a website that was prominently known for keeping that anime at the top spot for eternity, one seemingly simple and "boring" anime changed the game. Frieren is a masterpiece without a doubt, no matter how you defy that word, highball or lowball, still a masterpiece.
What a joke of a review... Masterpiece my ass... This generic, copy pasted, 90% filler stories and flashbacks, bland, boring mini stories, with half braindead characters following all the standard basic anime tropes and same old generic story lines as a billion other fantasy anime: "WITH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP" cliche might actually make this... THE WORST SHOW EVER... Because AT LEAST other anime shows DONT WASTE the viewers time HORRIBLY on useless GARBAGE like cleaning statues, cleaning litter from a beach, planting flowers or shopping. What an actual mindless lobotomy of a show... Cardboard characters, paper thin 'demon king' quest, everything is absolutely pointless in the show due to the overpowered robot main character with instant win magic powers. Lazy and horrible writing in every single episode. Actual garbage story.
@@hish33p32 She's not quirky... She's lame as hell. In any other show she would be a minor side character that would show up every 10 episodes for a 1 minute cameo.
@@hish33p32 Unfortunately, you don't know what a masterpiece is either.... 28 episodes of garbage story, boring, braindead overpowered characters and sleep inducing lobotomy story with a bunch of filler episodes or flashbacks is not a masterpiece. Thats called trash writing and trash story telling.
What I learned the most from Frieren is its magic system. Magic lives in the realm of imagination. This means mages cannot do something they think they aren’t capable of. In certain ways, this applies to any skill you might want to acquire in real life. If you can’t visualize yourself earning more, doing more, or learning more, the outcome will always be you in the same place. For the mages, this doesn’t mean they just need to visualize themselves performing a miracle and, because they imagined it, the outcome is possible. The system goes beyond that. Mages grow when their imagination, confidence, and skills align to produce the outcome, but the first step is believing it is possible.
Great point! This aspect of the magic system is expounded on quite a bit for a gd reason, and you might have discovered it. It wasn't obvious at all, so gd job. It's a great insight!
Exactly! The Magic system is a alegory to our own reality. Its blow minding because estimulate the watcher believe first in himself and when you can believe that you are capable you indeed is! The shows talk with our most deep feelings and blow up them to the surface that is why have so much emotion. Impossible not love this masterpiece ❤
@@pabloruansabino3933 exactly this manga/anime can be packed as a small adventure/ slice of live but is full of lessons. Sometimes I think this manga is written by a really wise and old person, because of Hummel's philosophy and way of thinking. The part where he always ask for a reward, because in that way people who received help from him will not feel in debt is mind blowing as well, they received an assistance but by providing a reward they were the ones who found a solution to their own problems.
Great job for realizing the importance of visualization, but not exaggerating it. What I mean is that visualization is a necessary, but on its own is an insufficient condition to accomplish a certain task. The problem is that many viewers/readers fail to realize this and say something like: "you just need to visualize it and it will be" In case you're interested and haven't seen it, consider checking out my post on "r Frieren" titled " Important lore that a lot of people get wrong".
I don’t think you are really supposed to feel that much at the start. The manga for me is a memoir for Himmel. You learn about him and what he meant through frieren as the story goes on as she connects the dots of the meaning that short time meant to her. I think that’s part of the beauty. You slowly learn more and more and connect more and more and everything is revealed slowly similar to looking back at life. I think that’s what makes this series beautiful.
Yeah, and the tragedy of learning is you go from 'alright they were chummy companions' at the start of the show, to 'holy shit, they went through so much together and she took it for granted at the time'
The tragic beauty of Frieren as a story is that you aren't really supposed to miss/feel attached to Himmel and the rest of the party in the beginning. Just like Frieren seems to. It's the rest of the story that makes you grow fond of the members of the Hero's Party. Just like Frieren realizes she does.
The fact that the story works either way is what makes it so good. Sure, it' fine if you don't feel too emotional or sad about Himmel's death in the first episode since you barely knew him - just like what Frieren thought. So it's fine if you only feel a bit melancholic at the start since you can probably relate to the feeling of time passing by and wasting away without purpose at times and how you regret that. However as the series goes on we learn more and more about him and her other comrades and it retroactively makes the deaths in the first and second episode sadder. After watching all of S1 and rewatching episode one you feel roughly how Frieren would feel if she could "rewatch her life" as she is at the end of S1 at which point she learned how impoortant other people and their time are to her.
Frieren is a nice break from the traditional fast-paced, always having an insane plot point kind of stories. It just made me appreciate the little things in life. It may not be perfect, but it does come pretty close to it.
Its a giant waste of time with characters and story that make most people sleep. But i guess that's the "point" of the show - wasting as much time as possible and slowing everything down to a slugs pace crawl.
@@centripetal6157 ok bro just because you don't like a show doesn't mean you can act condescending to people that like it. Time is not wasted in the show. Instead of spending it on flashy fights it focused on the characters. My favourite anime is Monster. It's slow. Like really slow. Often there are multiple episodes after each other where nothing actually happens. But I still enjoyed those episodes because they were building the characters and the villain mainly. People like different things. If you like fast paced action filled anime then go watch demon slayer or other shounen. Frieren is not that. Doesn't mean it's bad
@@luxage595 actually Frieren is horrible story writing. Its only empty time wasting filler episodes and pointless minor stories which dont affect anything. By definition thats complete trash story design. Writing a 9,000,000 page book about pooping in the toilet does not make it a masterpiece. Some stories don't deserve attention. Frieren is that. It doesn't deserve a story. 26+ loooong, slooooow, drawn out episodes for a wet fart of an ending just makes it a horrible viewing experience. The story goes nowhere. Its actual garbage from the bottom of the barrel, thats being overhyped as the hottest, best, perfect fantasy story. Its not even close to average, it sucks hard
@@centripetal6157 nah. Every episode is written in a way so that Frieren or other characters grow as characters. That's not filler. It's a slow story. More of a drama then fantasy honestly. You just don't like drama.
Just like the fight against the clone, the fight against Aura wasn't about who would win. It was used as a vehicle to explain narrative. For Aura's fight it was about her past with Flamme, and with the clone, it was her discussions with Serie and the Fern's potential/future.
when my friends first recommended me frieren, it sounded quite not to me. they highlighted a lot of things I didnt care about and I didnt really grasp from what they were saying anywhere near a realistic perception of what it was like. as soon as I watched it I absolutely loved it, the calmness of it all.
I can totally see how someone that likes big, bombastic fights that have actual stakes would find Frieren's fights to be a letdown on even a small level. I loved them because there isn't a single fight that is actually about the fight itself. Every fight is just a backdrop to do more character exploration or world building. Early fights exist to show us that Frieren doesn't really need to try. The mage of the Hero's Party could erase nations on a whim it seems like. The Aura fight exists to shift the tone a bit and show us the OVERWHELMING power and tactical efficiency efficiency that Frieren can bring to bare on something that angers her, like the existence of Demons. The later "fights" in the last couple of arcs show us where Frieren stands when you gather many of the most powerful and educated mages currently alive into one place, while also letting Fern show both her growth and her potential to people that believed that everything worth seeing had already been seen.
Of note at the end of season 1 is that Fern is youngest person to ever achieve the status of "First Class Mage" at the point. As Frieren would point out, only a handful of people have ever been granted that status up to that point as well. Also of note Lernen was Serie's student, and the first person ever granted the status of "First Class Mage". As such the Magic Association created by Serie as per Flamme's will a thousand years earlier is a relatively recent system implemented after Serie realizes the "Era of Peace" has arrived and the era of conflict she is most comfortable existing within has ended. Frieren being one of the instruments of the end of the era of conflict along with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen, Serie has been forced to reevaluate her position, and follow the vison of Flamme to organize and train mages since the dire threat of demons has significantly reduced in the age of Himmel and the hero's party.
What I got out of your video was that a show like Frieren is not quite your cup of tea, but that Frieren is so damn good that it convinced you to like it anyway. While it certainly is my favorite show currently, I really like that you didn't back down from criticizing it. Criticism is a good thing! Don't let any "fans" of a show convince your otherwise!
I still remember the first time I watched episode 1 of Frieren. I started crying as soon as Himmel passed away, then wailing when Frieren started crying too because as someone who has been moving for a long time, its a feeling I know. My favourite scene though was when Frieren and Fern encounter this ghost who mimics relatives based on the memories of the target in order to ensnare them. Frieren's ghost turns into Himmel and instead of saying anything nefarious, it asks Frieren to shoot it because Frieren's perception of Himmel is so pure even the ghost couldn't harm Frieren. That scene says so much and more about Himmel its insane
And then in a great moment of 'show, don't tell' she blows the illusion and half the forest away with an artillery-sized blast of zoltrak because she was genuinely, absolutely, fucking pissed that it chose HImmel, when she was expecting Flamme (again).
To me, the biggest thing is going to see if Frieren has the same legs as FMAB. Full metal is over, had a great story characters and ending . Frieren so far as season one concludes is the #1 ranked MAL anime ever, but it’s not over. It has to be able to keep that level of excellence and most importantly nail the ending. otherwise I think it will topple from the top. My hope is that Frieren remains at the top anime by nailing the ending.
As a manga reader I can say that at least the next season should have the same if not even better content, at least as far as the story is concerned. The manga however is still going, so who knows if they will drop the ball somewhere along the way
I Don't think it's the best anime ever but it will stay on top FOR A WHILE because nowadays seasons are split so if the second season airs and isn't as good it'll get rated like an 8.9 while the first season will stay at 9.3 or whatever it is. It's why there are so many AoT and Gintama in the top 50.
@@dacolib The next arc is gonna blow everyone's expectations out of the park if Madhouse is still in charge of it. My favorite arc in Frieren so far and god damn man that character was so well written.
The beauty of frieren is that we view the story from frierens pov, thereby we tend to feel her pov. Those deaths didn’t mean too much at first, neither for frieren thereby neither for us. But remembering small moments in the long time frieren and we as viewer had gave it slowly meaning. Throughout the show we are, alongside frieren, realising life’s momentum and that’s the beauty of this artwork that justifies the ranking, it is the mundane and trivial storytelling that effects into something powerful
on the topic on frieren vs aura. I think they did it really well, because it goes really well with her backstory, and her masters idea of slaying demons. In that sense it was perfect because she fooled the demon and gave no mercy.
They did yeah, I just think they would have made it a bit more interesting at least if they hadn't shown Fern doing the exact same thing at the same time
@@LessonsFromAnime thats a good point, but then again. It does make sense that fern is taught to slay demons similarly to frieren. Still, even though the way they kill them makes sense, it is a tiny bit lackluster as you say ( rewatched the fight)
@@LessonsFromAnime Frieren vs Aura is certainly the weakest "fight" in the series, as it isn't much of a fight at all. As you mentioned in the video, it was really obvious how the fight was going to end as soon as we even heard about Aura's technique. Usually, especially in shounen manga, flashbacks during a fight is there to somehow enhance the fight, whether to raise the stakes somehow or explain a technique. While the fight certainly seems like an attempt at the latter, I'd say it might be the opposite. The flashback is not there to enhance the fight, but the fight is there as a thinly veiled excuse to show the flashback. That the two episodes showing showing how Frieren was going to win the fight is the reason why the fight is there to begin with. In my opinion, Aura is probably the weakest written character in the entire series, in a show known for its incredible character writing. In a show where almost every character we meet is interesting, Aura just... isn't. How did she survive fighting the heroes' party the first time around? How did she survive her young years of demonhood before she built up her mana reserves? I got no idea. All I know is that she's almost perfectly built for Frieren to counter easily, and that's it. It was not even a fight.
@@LessonsFromAnime Not wanting to be shown Fern doing it, is kinda missing the point of what was done with the way this part was told. During the episode you get ever more blunt hints until it is directly in your face how the fight will go down. So it is not the point to get to the climax in a revelation of some point of plottwist of a final action, but in deriving satisfaction from anticipation. It is a structural different way how to build up a climax from the general formula. For that it holds tension rather then building it up for however soon you pick up with what will happen. And there is no relaxation after. The episode ends in the climax, which is not the action of mana aura size comparrison, but is Frierens grim way killing demons in a manner that resembles their forte to rub it in. Qual the inventor of soultraak getting soultraaked. Draht who cuts with his wire get cut of his arms and head like he did to the guard. Aura decapitating human to fuel her immortal army in the end is forced to take her own head. Who is conditioned to get pleasure by short term rewards via doom scrolling and action overload has just a hard time to sync with this out of the ordinary structur and has hard time appreciating this way of writing. The emphasis is on the 180° tonal shift of the jolly, quirky, airheaded, insert more charming traits elf girl Frieren into this unwavering fueled by hate demon slayer commanding the .... . This is also why it is so shocking, not because the act is shocking. We witness a character climax in the end something different from having JUST a climax in actions, that makes us usually engaged in story telling. This is the brilliance of the 10th episode.
@@jikap I have to disagree. Aura is not weakly written. For the little showtime she has she is a handful. It is not in your face via showing and narration. So sure one can not witness it first hand. Much of what she is, is only indirectly perceivable.
As much as I love Frieren. I can see why some might not. I am of the mindset that to even hold a stake in the conversation you should have watched it fully, though. Frieren is definitely a show that people need to enter with an open mind. It's a show that makes you think and appreciate the small things, and a lot of people watch shows to not think, and just have fun. I still love frieren and it is my number one anime, as well as one of the few I'd recommend anyone who wants to get into Anime, or just wants a good show regardless if it's anime or not.
Its not even close to good though... Its literally generic fantasy anime the show. With overpowered characters, power of friendship and all other cliches you can think of. Its actually pretty bad in my opinion. Everything is dragged out, slowwww, lazily written, half assed and with the most standard basic anime cliches.
@@centripetal6157 What power of friendship? Also the point of the show is to be slow. We are being shown the world's beauty. We are more interested in the small things. Slow down and smell the roses.
I think during the aura fight you aren’t supposed to wonder if Frieren is going to win, they’ve been slowly revealing her true nature/power for a few episodes by that point. So it’s more a matter of, “just how strong is she”. You get the “will they win” fight in the previous episode with stark and fern , the Frieren fight is the “just how strong is our elf” fight. The catharsis is finally having her power out on display since they’ve been building up to that regal for the entire show by that point.
The main shocker of this fight is what happens after the expected win by frieren. I have to admit that the "kill yourself" line and seeing what happens next is what really sent chills on my spine.
@@pierluigidipietro8097 What makes it so "chilling" is it exemplifies the cold calculating nature of Frieren when it comes to demons. As the episode explains, her hatred of demons is long held and well deserved. She doesn't care to understand them or their motivations, she only wants them dead for what they've done to her elven kin when she was younger. The name Frieren meaning cold, or freezing was meant seriously and deliberately if only figuratively. The "fight" is two merciless people looking to kill the other not out of hot-blooded passion, but out of the results of their own inner nature. It's why Frieren can calmly say "kill yourself" and simply walk away without even bothering to watch or put her own hand to the task. A cold-blooded murder as it were without any obvious displayed emotion like anger, fear, or even relief the opponent is gone. In many ways similar to the demons who also don't seem to kill out of hot-blooded fury, but simply because it's in their nature as cautious monstrous predators.
I was unsure about it too. Got teared up in the first 10 minutes and the show did more with character development and depth than some do in entire seasons. Finished it in a weekend and it became one of my favorite anime of all time. Well worthy of the number one spot imho.
The thing with "fights" in Frieren is to mimic what we experience in real life. When we faced with some challenge, we rarely take it if we didn't know the result will be. Even knowing that we will be losing is also an advantage for you to prepare your mind and heart, or finding the solution first hand. Yes shounen anime with a lot of twist in fights is interesting, but rarely i can relate to the character minds, i will always see them as another person, especially when there is other characters life in risk. Whereas Frieren, i can sync what my minds planning with them, like a discussion. Hell even when Fern ambushed by Lugner, i know that she's more than capable enough atleast to break free.
In real life people actually struggle and get hurt in fights. In frieren a 1,000 foot fall from a giant eagle monster doesn't even scratch or result in any problems (with no magic stopping or slowing them from falling). Super easy and convenient even. Actual garbage trash writing.
I really understand if some people think : this anime isnt my thing/ my taste, because it's okay to have different preference or taste.. but for some people to blatantly dissing/mocking or hating this beautiful series and its character's is... really saddening and hurts to see..
@@LessonsFromAnime im sorry if my comment a bit vague in the wording, since english isnt my main language, your video is a beatiful review and reflection of this beautiful series,,, i enjoyed your video 👍 i'm just stating what i saw from some anime community who dissed this beautiful show just because this and that... and they ignored the beauty of this show... once again sorry, and i appreciate your video 👌👍
Nope... Its deserves hate... This show is actually malicious - dragging out its pointless and bland, boring story that could be told entirely in 8 episodes over 28 awful, horribly slow episodes... This show hates its viewers - it wants you to waste hours of your life on a half assed story that is copy pasted from basic generic fantasy tropes and then mocks you at the end - giving you absolutely nothing satisfying or interesting for the ending.
@@centripetal6157lol, are you trying to be funny or what ? if you feeling mocked by the series, then the problem is on your head (or your heart perhaps) not on the series, because i've seen a lot of people, anime fan's and reviewers praising the series and they're not feeling mocked at all, it's crystal clear 😅.. if you hate it, it's up to you, but that does'nt change the fact that frieren has already won many people heart's, won many recognitions, won multiple awards and more to come, proving that frieren is (certainly) a beatiful story with a fresh tone, and with a compelling story-telling, and well written character's.. but seriously, you saying about the series "deserve hate" is so funny lol, it's saying a lot about your personality 😂
Hope u try apothecary diaries as well AND "how to be ordinary" the writing, direction and flow is so good, it's another novel (adapted into anime) written by same author of the underrated masterpiece Hyouka.
I love frieren so much, for me will personaly be top 1 together with FMA and others. I feel so empty without the serie to watch and i'm really glad to watch the news, small, medium and large channels talk more about this anime, keep alive the fandom is precious! And thank you for doing that. The modern industry need launch a hundred of generic animes to make profit and for more i understand that, capitalism and etc, its impossible not thank you the Lord for him touch the madhouse studio to give us this kind of anime with so much quality ❤ this is the kind of anime we need, taking a battle shonen and give to him 1/4 of frieren storytelling and deep themes would blow up the entire industry. To me frieren inaugurate a new genre of animes that just fews animes can achieve. The genre of slice of masterpiece. Because you can say totally that is a seinen, romcom, slife of life, shonen, etc. Its all that make right. The true message of frieren is pretty solid like religion, its not dark like berseker, its sacrate like the holy mary. Anyway, i dont have word to say how much i love and miss the show😢❤
i felt the same way about the first episodes not really grabbing my heart strings cause i JUST got introduced to these characters but when you get through the rest of the series it really makes you build that emotional connection with the characters who passed on as you're going through her memories of them. So i feel like its normal to not feel too much for them but almost miss them ourselves as we get into the nostalgia of them.
Just a little irrelevant nitpick here, if the adventure was 10 years then it means Himmel went from 16 to 26 without a single change in his appearance.
I get where you're coming from but man there are people in real life that age so amazingly... we see it even more with celebrities like how Morgan freeman for the longest looked practically the same for 20 years same with paul rudd lol
Where does the fact that Himmel was 16 at the start of the journey come from? The manga or anime never mention it and from what we see of Himmel when he meets Frieren he feels at least 20 at that point.
you make a good point with the aura fight but I think you're missing something really important the fight here isn't meant to be a power struggle is there to convey the fact that frieren has put her entire Looong life to deceiving demons and that this would have been a very challenging fight but she has dedicated her entire life to making sure that that demons with underestimate her and this is just one of the times where it pays out
Re: fights being uninteresting. I feel like in part that's deliberate. Frieren loves magic, but she's very unsentimental about combat magic (as are many other mages) and deliberately teaches her apprentice a boring and arguably cheat-y style because it's effective. It's emphasizing that combat is important but it's not the point or the source of beauty and meaning.
yeah... Its called lazy writing... The manga author would rather spend an entire chapter seeing Frieren plant flowers or thinking of filler flashbacks instead of actually deciding to write a compelling and interesting villain antagonist with an interesting battle.
Just a thought. Consider from your own perspective where, you didn’t know Himmel and the party very well. You understood basic traits and feature, the role they played. You did not have enough time to get to know them to real feel any loss in that moment. That’s what Frieren originally thought that Himmel’s death was as well. Too short of a time to really get to know and truly understand Himmel and co. Over the course of the show, we following the steps of the original party to learn about the current party and the party of the past. Frieren is on a journey to relive those moments to learn about Himmel, and we follow her along, and learn as well. We are given a reason to later grieve, over time.
I actually had a very similar experience with frieren as you, hearing about how good it was, watching the first 3 eps, didn't really vibe with it at the time, came back to it like 3 months later, and it quickly became my favourite anime probably of all time.
The fight between Frieren and Aura reminded me a bit of JoJo At first it sounds like something with no room for strategy, just "The Strongest Wins", but Aura knows her "Stand" so she tries to tire Frieren first, making it so even if Frieren had more maximum mana, her mana at the moment would be lesser, and then we get Frierens reveal. Maybe they could have let the specifics of Auras power a secret, saying she can control others and no one knows how. Of course Frieren know because they fought before, but they wait to reveal it to the audience. We can see Frieren fight Aura and even have Fern reveal her concealment. Then, when Aura thinks she won, the ability is explained. Aura explains that she tired Frieren, and there is a little doubt if this is enouth, but we know Frierens secret and see her win.
as a frieren fan, I think the first episode is amazing. i agree that the first episode didn't give you any time to really feel sad about himels death. i do think that was on purpose tho. that feeling of vague disappointment that we didnt get more time to explore him better, or get to know him better, i think is the closest that we could get to understanding how an elf would see those ten years. that said... i think that the first episode was designed FOR THE SECOND WATCH THROUGH. the second time i watched this episode it actually made me cry.
You way of analysis is so refreshing to me. I'd love to see you do a video on Claymore, especially Teresa. As for Frieren, she's a good character. I also love Sein. Great video. Good criticism. Keep at it!
Wow besides the first bit about dropping the show, every other opinion you've shared on this video completely echos my experience with this show (also I agree they didn't give us enough time to care about Himmels and Heiter's deaths instead we grow to care about them through flashbacks).
Although I disagree with your criticisms, they do make sense considering what anime you like to watch. I dislike shonens (for the most part), so it makes sense that our critiques of the show would differ. No anime is perfect to all audiences.
I appreciate your honesty and including your criticism of the series. I hate watching RUclipsrs say “oh it I was perfected loved it!” That’s so boring. Personally I didn’t like the dumb arguements fern has and how she gets mad at dumb things. But everything else was pretty good.
I think the lack of time to connect to the first crew was on purpose because we get the same feeling she has of not really caring that much and then through flashbacks we get more understanding piece by piece because I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to see the world through frieren’s eyes so I think it would be the best way to make the audience grow with her
Great Video, love your review of an amazing show. You mentioned shows that give more depth to the battle aspect of an anime. You should definitely check out World Trigger if you haven’t already. The power system is awesome but I like how they give all the characters tools they can creatively use to overcome some of the series more broken characters.
Frieren is just different! Honestly, when the trailer came out, I definitely did not understand the story and found it clearly boring. But the first episode came out, and so I am also wrong, I became invested to the story. This storytelling is purely a master, along the line of Vinland Saga and fma!
Opposite for me... The more i watched the show the more boring and hateable the characters became. The more annoying the cliches and tired old story arcs were. By the end i was pissed off completely... Actually very angry about the pointless waste of time the show was. And the lazy writing that was 28 episodes of straight garbage cliche and anime copy paste stories.
@@centripetal6157 Because your interpretation is obsolete, that is why you haven't understand the story, it's pretty obvious that every story will do th3 same cliché, but every story do this anyways as every story are borrowing from each other. The point of the story is for you to understand hidden messages that only those with open mind can capture. I don't want to mention what I've found, and if you believe it's boring, that is yours for the taking. Everyone have their tastes! ✌
5:27 personally I also wasn't so connected in the beginning, but I think that's alright cuz the show kinda builds that connection after their deaths through the many flashbacks Frieren has, kinda also letting this feeling of regretting not knowing them better when they were alive, kinda like Frieren does lol
I understand your criticism and I don't think it is unwarranted. Matter of perspective and preferences. We do know that Frieren will win against Aura. Tension comes from not being 100% certain how exactly (because we tend to think there has to be a plot twist), but there is also lack of tension that allows us to absorb A LOT of backstory. I mean it was basically exposition dump, but handled in such a way that it didn't feel boring to me and I didn't even feel robbed, because "main" fight was between "Disciples" and "Executioners". And indeed battles in Frieren are in most cases like 3 panels... except when they are plot relevant. Also author has problems writing fights, so not showing them in the smart way is a way to bypass this issue. Because we can fill the details on our own. That's why fight with Aura is sort of an exception. It is plot relevant enough to show it, but it isn't important enough to have "tension". But it does show us what Frieren is capable of (in rather narrow way) and sets up something for the future.
Frieren to me is like I'm watching Lord of The Rings for the first time again, except we start the story at the end and onward through viewpoint of an elf, and it's the most beautiful tragic story I have ever experienced. I never imagine that "regret in life" could be condensed and put into a story and yet be so beautifully tragic that it hurts in a way that I never know it is possible. Like, I never imagined that having all the time in the world won't make your life better, and this anime shown it to me, damn I'm crying.
Kinda late to leave a comment. I definitely get where you were coming from with a lot of your criticisms. I started off watching Shonen anime years ago and that’s all I ever really liked up until like 2014 whenever I started checking out other genres and giving them a fair shake. Anyway to the point of my comment, I originally put off watching Frieren because I got back into my “Shonen is king” mindset and didn’t think this show would interest me, but I’m gonna be honest, after watching it I’m inclined to believe that it’s probably one of the best anime I’ve ever seen IF NOT THE BEST anime I’ve ever seen.
So about the fighting, think of it as the further north they go, the harder it is to kill things because the area they start in is considered to be pretty safe.
at 40years old and 1900 hours of skyrim i love my fantasy genre and frieren is the best damn fantasy i have seen since the likes of Record of Lodoss War, berserk and grimgar, hope there will be a second season.
If we cannot criticize shows that we enjoy the entire medium will slowly wither away from stagnation. My two absolute favorite shows of all time happen to have an episode, aspect, or detail that I absolutely hate but it is only because of those aspects being mentioned by disaproving watchers that many other anime have "fixed" or embraced these problems to make shows that are just objectively better. I am not saying that modern writing is automatically better than old writing but I am saying that in time the absolutely best series of all time will eventually become outdated relics liked only within the context of their time or on nostalgia alone simply because the impossibility of perfection will forever elude us driving countless others to improve and refine their own works making creations that we cannot even fathom today. The absolute best thing to hear in a video like this is the acknowledgment of the shows faults from the angle of appreciation, if it was a scathing hit piece it may be offensive but ultimately this wasn't one. I would follow the rule to talk almost exclusively about things you enjoy and be willing to critique them, if you ever make a video about something you dislike mention it's good points the redeeming qualities if you will, and if you see something as so awful you could not speak well of it long enough to make an entire half a video do not speak of it at all because something so bad does not even deserve recognition.
Yuukyuu no gusha asley (manga) is quite similar to freiren even though he can't grow old but is not immortal. The story is more about the adventure of doing things that he has not done during his research in the dungeon for a long time of 5 thousand years. He wanted to help the people around him and while he was doing that he met many people. At that time he also had a dream that the demon king would return and he had to defeat him. Meanwhile, in that era it was predicted that no heroes would be born, unlike the previous century when the previous demon king was defeated. And here the journey begins with a lot of good comedy. Hopefully it will be adapted into an anime that is at least similar/close to freiren
Yea I look at the fights in a different perspective, as you said in JJK, MHA etc... fights can often play out in a typical way. You showed Almights fight and mentioned you know he'll win but it's interesting to see how and that's a large part of why you are watching and engaging. I was largely excited with fights in Frieren for subverting this expectation, you never know how a fights going to play out, will it be a 30 second fight, 5 minutes or how is it going to happen. That and the fact they seem to change the art style in every fight as well made this almost the only time I've ever watched an Anime and it's approaching a fight scene and I'm sitting there thinking 'I have no expectations, no idea what'll happen, how it'll happen, what it will look like..... just show me, I'm here for the ride'.
Regarding what you said about "not having enough time to connect with the original group" in the first 2 episodes, I think it was ""rushed"" in that way at least partly to put us in and have us understand Frieren's point of view. As for her it felt like such a short time as you mentioned. By just sort of brushing past it quickly, you're put in the same mind-set as Frieren before realizing how much it really meant. We then, as the audience, are shown more and more over the course of the first series and naturally get more and more attached, but in a retroactive way. _Exactly_ as she did.
I confess I stopped watching Frieren after the first two episodes before going back to it. The main reason was that I was watching with a friend, the first few episodes were slow going and I had a chance to watch a series I really wanted to see. I talked myself to going back to Frieren after the other series ended and watched it through the end of season 1. Frieren is a slow moving series and it takes a few episodes to get into it. I'm glad I came back to it and am looking forward to season 2.
Hey you’re video analysis’ are great (don’t know if I used that word right 🤦♂️) I just wanted to say keep doing you and review the way you want to and don’t cater to the haters lol it’s a waste of time! You’re doing great keep it up!
I can relate, i wasnt too fond of frieren as a show considering i was watching slime isekai at the time and was getting to the demon lord part, but i gave frieren another shot and blown to bits by the story and the animation.
my favorite part of frieren is the depth in the perspective of time when you see her memories, it could be a hundred(s) years passing in a blink but when it's framed in the present it becomes a lot more meandering it's really hard to describe, but it's done in a way I have never seen any other media pull off well
You're right, you're not really supposed to feel like you know Himmel and the others at the start. That's kind of the point of the flashbacks during the show, to kind of give you an idea of what you missed out on. We're basically in the same headspace as Frieren at the start, even to the point of her memories suddenly cementing in how much HIM meant to her.
episode 10 cemented it in my top 3 favorite anime of all time. The writing in the rest of the episodes and the pacing and direction of the world building cemented it there.
After Berserk and Vinland Saga popped up, I expected the third one to be Vagabond, but that's just the trinity I've had soldered into my brain for the past 15-ish years. But Kaiji rocks. Also Frieren, especially the manga, is full of dry and deadpan jokes. Even the way Frieren speaks (plain Japanese) is kind of surprising in that it plays against type (ancient being! high fantasy setting!) and kinda jolts you out of the moment sometimes (I personally think the fan translation of the manga and the official Eng dub loses this by not having Frieren speak plainly). The "how it's going to happen" is Aura's haughtiness and realization, and the character animation, and the music swelling, and the "man, they're really doing it lol" I personally really like that the anime just embellished the fight in ep 9 so I could watch cool choreo without 20 speech bubbles worth of battle narration crammed into a moving moment. In the ways that matter, the fights felt just as important to me in the comic as in the show, but all the added flashiness was basically just a bonus. Man, has it really almost been a year since the first ep...
Solid review... I kind of forgot how much build up there was to the Aura reveal thing and it was so very very obvious from the very start, couldn't agree more (that is probably my single biggest criticism of the show). Really love the show, kind of can't believe its rated above Brotherhood but hey what can you do. Also interesting to see Steins;Gate is up there too still! Man I thought I was a cheeseball for liking that show so much.
One of my most profound personal beliefs about Frieren is something that a lot of people seem to miss. History repeats itself if you have the ability to wait long enough. First Frieren was on a student's journey with Flamme who according to the lore was the greatest mage of all time. So in a sense everything that came after that, even the journey with Himmel, are all "beyond" that journey. It has been discussed by many people just how much of an impact Himmel had on her, but almost no one seems to understand just how fundamental this first journey was on Frieren's character. So much of what makes her "the last great mage", to quote some anime characters, are actually things that we can directly in most cases attribute to Flamme. Hiding her mana, loving the flower spell, collecting magic, avoiding fights if possible, etc. But even her journey with Flamme wasn't the origin story of Frieren as a mage. Frieren was already strong enough by the time of Flamme discovering her to have defeated an entire army of demons herself after they attacked the elf village she was found in. That kind of strength also must have come from somewhere now forgotten by time. Regardless, then she had her journey in the hero's party... and then beyond that she had her journey with Fern and Stark... Finally Frieren has come full circle from student to colleague to mentor... but who is to say that even that is the end of her tale? She is an elf. Who knows, maybe someday in the far future Frieren will experience a future journey when she takes on a pupil who is as in awe of Fern and Stark as people in current times are of Flamme and Himmel? We don't have to look far to see what that might be like. Serie remembers every mage she ever taught. Starting with Flamme and including a list of famous mages. Meanwhile Frieren's life has not previously been one for taking apprentices, but she has routinely joined adventures with people who history remembers as great.
I thought something similar, but more along the lines of "we all experience relatively similar things", there's so many little moments which Frierens old and new parties both go through
A lot of people have mentioned contacting friends and family they hadn't been in contact with for weeks, months, or years after watching the first 4 episodes/reading first 4 chapters of Frieren is probably the context you are missing about the real life impact Frieren made on a lot of people 🌈⭐
I also wasn't hooked until episode 6 or so actually and I dont think that this is that unusual. Like you and other also mentioned or insinuated, you kind of experience and discover the depth of Frieren's old relationships while building the new ones in parallel. These parallels are the most genius part about the story: We learn with Frieren about what she missed out on in past relationships (and inject our own fear and pain of something we missed), while she builds new relationships and tries to be better (which gives us new wholesome experiences and gives the story that slice of life feeling).
Yeah that would make sense except the new "friends" are actual clone copies of her old friends in personality, goals and even design, making this entire " Frieren learns to appreciate people" a massive joke of a story line in this lazy and boring show.
Nope. Not even close... Actually might be the worst, most basic, generic, boring story ever released... I fell asleep so many times trying to watch this garbage.
@@edwinpoon Unfortunately i did... I watched this brain dead, boring, half assed show... All 28 episodes of this - trash show... Now it pisses me off... Just thinking about Frieren the show gets me angry.
I respect the fact that Frieren completely disregarded the meta of the game and instead opted for a build that is only really supposed to be effective at killing demons specifically. She then spent the following 1000 years grinding side quests and sunk all her skill points and additional attribute points into the build, which by now allows her to break the game more generally. Like, even the most basic spell will one-shot anyone if it's a high enough level.
Honestly what happened with Aura was WAY more satisfying than any big magic battle. We see her break Aura's will. This may just seem like it's done for drama but they make a point that someone with a strong will could resist the spell. Something Aura likely had before that moment. If they just fought we know who'd win and even what happened here we knew her mana was going to be more but I doubt many people saw what Frieren said coming.
It was pretty lame and Aura had no long term consequence as a villain. Another filler episode... In about 2 season length show about filler episodes and time wasting...
@@centripetal6157nope it was great. You are just too stupid to understand drama. Episode gave us insight into Frieren's character. And we saw Aura's world pretty much crumble to the ground before her as she died. It was dramatic and had an emotional impact. Great writing.
@@centripetal6157 Filler? It went into her origin and explained her whole strategy/logic when it came to fighting demons. Then showed how she used that to play Aura. It went against expectations and gave us probably one of the best endings I've ever seen. Not sure what you were expecting from consequences. Given the number of flashbacks in the show they could easily give us more of her. I doubt they will but we are told there is a history there. Killing her off is pretty much how the show works too. Travel from town to town, solve an issue and move on.
@@davejohn3600 I still consider it filler because the backstory is lazily and sloppily rushed and forced into a 4 minute segment in the episode. It's also the most generic, lazy and basic backstory for every anime hero... "Village attacked as a child by the villains, now child has trained to adulthood - so they are overpowered, but they hide their true strength from others" - That concept has actually been copied in 1000+ other animes. Its so basic, so unoriginal, so boring. "One of the best endings i've ever seen" - Are you joking? Are you serious? The entire segment of her going "No, i have more mana - so i win".... That was extremely lame and anticlimactic. There was barely any fighting it was an actual "Nah, i win" situation. WTF USE MAGIC Frieren!! - she's trained in magic for thousands of years but only wants to clean statues or clean a beach with it... God this show is so lame... Everything about this show is lazy and sloppy, copied from other anime tropes. It's actually crazy people think this "peak" story writing.
I looked at the Aura 'fight' as a flex. Not really a battle. A reveal on how strong Frieren is, not an encounter with her first real opponent or a test she needs to overcome. I also don't typically like shounen series, just don't vibe with them, so we may disagree.
It also builds up the later moment when we see Series mana. Aura is hyped up, Frieren dwarfs her and then we see at the end what kind of "monster" Serie is.
@@cherriagana Series is a Flamme clone... As all the characters in this show are... Series = Flamme clone Stark = Eisen clone Fern = Frieren clone Sein = Heiter clone God... This show is so LAZY and unoriginal with its characters and story... uhhhh.. Sloppy story writing. Terrible storytelling.
Frieren vs Aura works for me exactly cause I felt like the show never really expected me to be in doubt of who was more powerful. To me it felt pretty obvious that this fight was just used as a vehicle to tell us a bit more backstory about Frieren and Flamme(her master) and I was all for it since I wanted to learn more about these characters. Again, as you point out from the start, you're a fan of big shounen battle manga(I am too) but sometimes it might just be messing with your perspective a bit since you're used to watching the fights for the fights and Frieren doesn't seem interested in doing that at all. It's always just about the characters, their stories and experiences, hardships and relationships with others. I think above all else this show succeeds because it's a hearfelt story about humanity and the passing of time. Just my two cents. Great video, keep it up.
It's ok to not understand the value of something upon first review. But it's important to keep an open mind. Also, consensus is not necessary in every aspect of life. Different things hit different people, differently.
Some other channel lovingly referred to Frieren as "Side Quest: The Anime" I find it an excellent name, its all about experiencing the unexpected things that you just happen to stumble upon on your journey, you never regret those detours, and afterward you often regret that you skipped out on that one.
I think the tension that existed in the fight with Aura was whether Aura had the strength of will to break control long enough to cancel her spell or do something else unexpected, which is why Frieren had to be so savage to her - to break her will. That's how I saw it, anyway. Also, the earliest fight - against Qual - had at least 4 moments where details of the power system influenced the course of the fight. They were just shown, not told.
Probably I would not have get that much out if the first episode of Frieren if I had watched it in my 20s. But in my 50s (yeah, I am still into anime), it reminded me of my father's funeral and I got well enough Frieren's regrets.
I think one reason the fights may seem underwhelming to you is that they are more like rock paper scissors where one side may have a clear counter to the other. This makes them end quicker than an intense shounen fight where they're all throwing out punches and beating each other up.
I wasn't gripped by Himmel and Heiter's passing at the beginning. However, i think it's purposeful in contextualizing Frieren's POV. when she broke down, and then the flashbacks came slowly i started to make sense.
I generally do not like anime. But I have watched far more anime than I care to say due to friends who really love the stuff, never going far into a show with one or two exceptions that I found okish. From that viewpoint I can say that for me Frieren is what those friends always promised anime would be. And I love it.
Frieren and the mimic, is more like a joke / gag (japanese joke), with her being this really powerful mage, but still have a weakness against small little things. It's called "gap moe" in Japan, and it's usually endearing and unexpected, like seeing a big, strong, mean faced, muscled man who lives his life fighting and beating up everyone, but cries at the sight of a little new born kitten. 🤣
I know you said it's a "minor" criticism, but your commentary on the early fight scenes is kinda like criticizing impressionist paintings for not being photorealistic. In context, the "fights" accomplish exactly what they set out to do -- help tell the story. Same can be said of the mimic "humor" that you didn't get. These aren't meant to make you double over in laughter. They are part character development, part levity to help juxtapose the somewhat darker elements they surround. Again, you may not "get" some of the loose and hazy brushstrokes of an impressionist's work when you look up close at it. But stepping back, seeing and felling everything in context, then any individual criticism becomes kinda pointless. On the whole it does what it needs to do, and in a masterful way. I know many seem to enjoy the second half more, but for me it's the opposite. If I'm to find fault with the series, it's that the second half tended to feed the stereotypical shonen beast more than I'd like, with too many frames dwelling on flashy fights and skin over effective visual storytelling.
Frieren is definitely a slower paced anime that gives you time to relax in between battles and intense stand offs. I tend to prefer anime like this. They're more emotional and give you time to connect with each character. Tag on adventure and I'm completely sold. I liked it so much that I had to buy the manga lol I think there's a lot of people who stray from this type of anime because they think it will be boring compared to the more battle heavy anime.
I saw a clip, maybe 20 seconds, of Frieren's fight against the Imperial Mage (you know the one) and I was like, "Holy cow! This is totally different than I thought it was going to be! I need to see this right now!" (Yes, with all those exclamation points.) So, I did, and was very glad that I did.
Frieren (Teenager), alter loosing them, had realised the value of passed time and people. Cried and matured. Still not mature enough and thinks that the best spell is a garden creating spell just because her foster mother liked it also. She is the strongest mage but is not an arcmage because of this immaturity. Fern had felt the loss of her family too early. Got thtough the struggle. Desided to become stronger . Then realised that becoming that strong is not that important but affecting the others life and living your life is. She became an arcmage. Stark had felt the loss of his family too early. Decided to become stronger. Then felt a bit off. Found Fern. Then realised that becoming that strong is not that important but affecting the others life and living your life is. He became an important hero. Serie is like the teacher. Knows it all. Can teach it all. But also knows that all she can leave behind is her knowledge. No body knows why she didn't fought against the demon lord as like Kraft the hero! Perhaps the demon lord wasn't that much of a big deal.
The battles aren't REALLY what this series is about. They do happen, but until much later in the Manga, the battles aren't very high stakes. Season 2, if it's as long as Season 1, will contain the best arc in the Manga so far. And it's a very good arc.
Frieren didn't get me very attached to its characters, but it made them interesting to watch regardless. What got me invested is the worldbuilding. I love how magic developed throughout history. The one thing I actually outright disliked is the curse sidequest, because it felt way too convenient that the one foe that could take Frieren out of the fight appeared exacatly in the span of time they had a party member who had resistance against it.
hey I'm reading Yowamushi Pedal and I think it has some pretty amazing characters, and that they deserve videos like you do, because your analysis are just to good, so can you consider doing that
0:47 a yes, my favorite anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Volleyball
Been waiting for someone to notice haha
@@LessonsFromAnime bro I also saw haikyuu x haikyuu, wtf
@@eicoytube great series
Ok good i wasn't loosing my mind or having some kind of medical episode 😅
To be fair, i think Frieren can appeal more for older audience, not for the maturity per se, but for the feeling of "regret" and "wasting" time. Still i've been following the manga for years and i wasn't expecting an adaptation, i glad they did it.
An anime adaptation was pretty much guaranteed, frieren was an award winning manga and is already quite popular in japan.
It seems that 99% of anime watchers like wasting massive amounts of time also - as the entire show can be explained in literally 8 episodes... But instead drags out the boring, slow, plodding, emotionless, cardboard cutout story over 27+ SLOWWWW Episodes.
@@centripetal6157Bait used to be believable
@@maunabesanika Counter arguments used to be original and not copy pasted
@@centripetal6157 because..it's not a counter argument to begin with? im just pointing stuff that i think is stupid. Im not gonna argue with someone who only know 99%
"99% of frieren are flashbacks and fillers",
"99% of anime watchers like wasting massive ammount of time"
"99% deez nuts"
also here's a point, if you think that 99% of anime watchers like the show, and there's only 1% (you included) dont like it, it sounds like a you problem. Im not gonna pretend i know shit about story telling. But if an anime manage to make NINETY NINE PERCENT of the audiences think that it's good, IT PROBABLY IS.
I don't think the show ever tries to act like there was any doubt Frieren was gonna win against Aura. Other than Aura's name and title, the first thing we learn about her is that Frieren is stronger than her. Frieren herself confidently says so. This is even before we had any idea about Aura's ability. This "fight" was less about a high-stakes event, and more a vessel for worldbuilding. This is the first time mana and its significance towards mages and demons are thoroughly explained.
Yeah, Frieren outright states it in episode 7 (or beginning of 8?) when she is talking to the first demon in the prison cell.
It's then repeated by the show.
For Stark and Fern, it's not about the fighting itself, it's about their character growth, and learning their strength and that they don't need to rely on Frieren.
For Frieren's side of the story, the fight is an excuse to learn about her history and who she is. We see a side of her that's been completely unexplored until this point. We learn about her time and training with Flamme, and her approach to fighting. We learn Frieren's history and that of the elves.
And on the demon's side, we learn more about how they think, their own culture, their approach to magic and combat. We learn about how Aura ran away from the party, only to emerge again once Himmel had died of old age...
There's so much more going on than the fight. Beyond that, trying to make it seem like Frieren could lose a fight she's had (checks) 88 years to prepare for would just be disingenuous. It would come off as dishonest and imho take away from the episode instead of adding anything to it.
The real shocker of this fight is what happens after Frieren had the upper hand. THAT was unexpected.
How do you believe that the main character of a 28 episodes season could lose at episode 10... It is obvious who is the winner, but it is interesting how she wins
@@pierluigidipietro8097 yeah, you go in expecting some more magical fighting (as we heard from their first encounter) only to have Frieren calmly dispell the magic on the fighters around her. That alone shows that she was prepared for this encounter.
We expect that once Aura falls to her own spell that we'll see a quick Zoltrack, ending things like Fern just did, or like she did with Qual, instead we're presented with a surprising insight into her character, and a good dose of karmic justice.
@@TheBaldrickk it seems that Frieren takes a real cold revenge on demons making them die on their own spells and tecniques. Qual killed by its own zoltrak, the wire demon having his body parts cut, Aura falling on her own spell and beheaded like her victims.
@@pierluigidipietro8097 it seems that way, but arguably, Qual was just taken out by her default combat spell. Draht had those pesky wires that needed to be dealt with first, and if you're already using one spell, may as well keep using it to finish the job, likewise, why waste the effort of killing aura yourself?
So arguably, she's just being very practical.
I can't think of any other karmic deaths by Frieren's hand in the manga. In fact, Frieren herself doesn't do much killing, though she does play a very central role in multiple arcs...
The point you made about not knowing anything about Himmel at the start (and therefore why you didn't feel sad) is actually the point: Frieren herself knew very little about him and regretted not learning more. As they travel, she learns more and more about him by reflecting on their time together, and Fern and the audience learn more about Frieren at the same time.
"Yes I'm aware of the irony"
Yeah the whole show and manga is all from Frieren's perspective so everything is introduced from Frieren's perspective on things.
@@LessonsFromAnime but the thing is, you weren't supposed to be upset at Himmels funeral. You were supposed to empathize with Frierens reaction to his death and the lost opportunities that came along with it. Himmels death wasnt the emotional payoff, it was Frierens reaction to it
@@LessonsFromAnime I'll tell you this though, rewatching the first episode the second time did make me cry because I knew so much more about Himmel so the deep loss Frieren didn't really know she suffered hit so much worse.
@@TheLycanStrain She will magically time travel back to when he was alive... Because everything in this awful and pointless garbage dumpster fire story of a show can be solved with overpowered and cheap magic spells.
At first I was also skeptical, then I finished it and realized why it was the only one to surpass FMAB in a website that was prominently known for keeping that anime at the top spot for eternity, one seemingly simple and "boring" anime changed the game.
Frieren is a masterpiece without a doubt, no matter how you defy that word, highball or lowball, still a masterpiece.
What a joke of a review... Masterpiece my ass... This generic, copy pasted, 90% filler stories and flashbacks, bland, boring mini stories, with half braindead characters following all the standard basic anime tropes and same old generic story lines as a billion other fantasy anime: "WITH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP" cliche might actually make this... THE WORST SHOW EVER...
Because AT LEAST other anime shows DONT WASTE the viewers time HORRIBLY on useless GARBAGE like cleaning statues, cleaning litter from a beach, planting flowers or shopping.
What an actual mindless lobotomy of a show... Cardboard characters, paper thin 'demon king' quest, everything is absolutely pointless in the show due to the overpowered robot main character with instant win magic powers.
Lazy and horrible writing in every single episode. Actual garbage story.
@@centripetal6157 you're either trolling, hateposting, or don't know what a "masterpiece" means
@@centripetal6157 You call the main character a robot as if she isn't the most quirky and socially crippled weirdo in her own show lmao hahahaha
@@hish33p32 She's not quirky... She's lame as hell. In any other show she would be a minor side character that would show up every 10 episodes for a 1 minute cameo.
@@hish33p32 Unfortunately, you don't know what a masterpiece is either....
28 episodes of garbage story, boring, braindead overpowered characters and sleep inducing lobotomy story with a bunch of filler episodes or flashbacks is not a masterpiece.
Thats called trash writing and trash story telling.
What I learned the most from Frieren is its magic system. Magic lives in the realm of imagination. This means mages cannot do something they think they aren’t capable of. In certain ways, this applies to any skill you might want to acquire in real life.
If you can’t visualize yourself earning more, doing more, or learning more, the outcome will always be you in the same place. For the mages, this doesn’t mean they just need to visualize themselves performing a miracle and, because they imagined it, the outcome is possible. The system goes beyond that. Mages grow when their imagination, confidence, and skills align to produce the outcome, but the first step is believing it is possible.
Great point! This aspect of the magic system is expounded on quite a bit for a gd reason, and you might have discovered it. It wasn't obvious at all, so gd job. It's a great insight!
Exactly! The Magic system is a alegory to our own reality. Its blow minding because estimulate the watcher believe first in himself and when you can believe that you are capable you indeed is! The shows talk with our most deep feelings and blow up them to the surface that is why have so much emotion. Impossible not love this masterpiece ❤
@@pabloruansabino3933 exactly this manga/anime can be packed as a small adventure/ slice of live but is full of lessons.
Sometimes I think this manga is written by a really wise and old person, because of Hummel's philosophy and way of thinking.
The part where he always ask for a reward, because in that way people who received help from him will not feel in debt is mind blowing as well, they received an assistance but by providing a reward they were the ones who found a solution to their own problems.
@@nvmoe Thanks for your kind words ! :D
Great job for realizing the importance of visualization, but not exaggerating it. What I mean is that visualization is a necessary, but on its own is an insufficient condition to accomplish a certain task. The problem is that many viewers/readers fail to realize this and say something like: "you just need to visualize it and it will be"
In case you're interested and haven't seen it, consider checking out my post on "r Frieren" titled " Important lore that a lot of people get wrong".
I don’t think you are really supposed to feel that much at the start. The manga for me is a memoir for Himmel. You learn about him and what he meant through frieren as the story goes on as she connects the dots of the meaning that short time meant to her. I think that’s part of the beauty. You slowly learn more and more and connect more and more and everything is revealed slowly similar to looking back at life. I think that’s what makes this series beautiful.
Yeah, and the tragedy of learning is you go from 'alright they were chummy companions' at the start of the show, to 'holy shit, they went through so much together and she took it for granted at the time'
kind of like how you don't realize how good something is until it's gone
The tragic beauty of Frieren as a story is that you aren't really supposed to miss/feel attached to Himmel and the rest of the party in the beginning.
Just like Frieren seems to.
It's the rest of the story that makes you grow fond of the members of the Hero's Party.
Just like Frieren realizes she does.
The fact that the story works either way is what makes it so good. Sure, it' fine if you don't feel too emotional or sad about Himmel's death in the first episode since you barely knew him - just like what Frieren thought. So it's fine if you only feel a bit melancholic at the start since you can probably relate to the feeling of time passing by and wasting away without purpose at times and how you regret that.
However as the series goes on we learn more and more about him and her other comrades and it retroactively makes the deaths in the first and second episode sadder. After watching all of S1 and rewatching episode one you feel roughly how Frieren would feel if she could "rewatch her life" as she is at the end of S1 at which point she learned how impoortant other people and their time are to her.
@@jjthomson2815 "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot" sorry couldn't help myself 😅
Frieren is a nice break from the traditional fast-paced, always having an insane plot point kind of stories. It just made me appreciate the little things in life. It may not be perfect, but it does come pretty close to it.
Its a giant waste of time with characters and story that make most people sleep. But i guess that's the "point" of the show - wasting as much time as possible and slowing everything down to a slugs pace crawl.
@@centripetal6157 ok bro just because you don't like a show doesn't mean you can act condescending to people that like it. Time is not wasted in the show. Instead of spending it on flashy fights it focused on the characters. My favourite anime is Monster. It's slow. Like really slow. Often there are multiple episodes after each other where nothing actually happens. But I still enjoyed those episodes because they were building the characters and the villain mainly. People like different things. If you like fast paced action filled anime then go watch demon slayer or other shounen. Frieren is not that. Doesn't mean it's bad
@@luxage595semen slayer
@@luxage595 actually Frieren is horrible story writing. Its only empty time wasting filler episodes and pointless minor stories which dont affect anything.
By definition thats complete trash story design. Writing a 9,000,000 page book about pooping in the toilet does not make it a masterpiece. Some stories don't deserve attention. Frieren is that. It doesn't deserve a story.
26+ loooong, slooooow, drawn out episodes for a wet fart of an ending just makes it a horrible viewing experience. The story goes nowhere.
Its actual garbage from the bottom of the barrel, thats being overhyped as the hottest, best, perfect fantasy story. Its not even close to average, it sucks hard
@@centripetal6157 nah. Every episode is written in a way so that Frieren or other characters grow as characters. That's not filler. It's a slow story. More of a drama then fantasy honestly. You just don't like drama.
Just like the fight against the clone, the fight against Aura wasn't about who would win. It was used as a vehicle to explain narrative. For Aura's fight it was about her past with Flamme, and with the clone, it was her discussions with Serie and the Fern's potential/future.
Yeah I know, I did say it was a super minor complaint
Aura fight also was about explaining mana system and demon nature
@@LessonsFromAnime I can't wait for a 2nd season the next manga arcs are absolute fire omg !!!
Spot on I was not into Aura fight at all. It was all about Flamme for me! She is my favorite character and I would like to know more about her!
The backstory about flamme is the whole poont of Aura fight. Aura is a mere plot device to explain the power system and expand the world building
It is a nice change from the traditional formula where it focuses on the impact of the journey rather than the impact of defeating the demon king
when my friends first recommended me frieren, it sounded quite not to me. they highlighted a lot of things I didnt care about and I didnt really grasp from what they were saying anywhere near a realistic perception of what it was like. as soon as I watched it I absolutely loved it, the calmness of it all.
Check yourself for brain damage from this lobotomy simulator tv show.
I can totally see how someone that likes big, bombastic fights that have actual stakes would find Frieren's fights to be a letdown on even a small level. I loved them because there isn't a single fight that is actually about the fight itself. Every fight is just a backdrop to do more character exploration or world building. Early fights exist to show us that Frieren doesn't really need to try. The mage of the Hero's Party could erase nations on a whim it seems like. The Aura fight exists to shift the tone a bit and show us the OVERWHELMING power and tactical efficiency efficiency that Frieren can bring to bare on something that angers her, like the existence of Demons. The later "fights" in the last couple of arcs show us where Frieren stands when you gather many of the most powerful and educated mages currently alive into one place, while also letting Fern show both her growth and her potential to people that believed that everything worth seeing had already been seen.
Of note at the end of season 1 is that Fern is youngest person to ever achieve the status of "First Class Mage" at the point. As Frieren would point out, only a handful of people have ever been granted that status up to that point as well. Also of note Lernen was Serie's student, and the first person ever granted the status of "First Class Mage". As such the Magic Association created by Serie as per Flamme's will a thousand years earlier is a relatively recent system implemented after Serie realizes the "Era of Peace" has arrived and the era of conflict she is most comfortable existing within has ended. Frieren being one of the instruments of the end of the era of conflict along with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen, Serie has been forced to reevaluate her position, and follow the vison of Flamme to organize and train mages since the dire threat of demons has significantly reduced in the age of Himmel and the hero's party.
What I got out of your video was that a show like Frieren is not quite your cup of tea, but that Frieren is so damn good that it convinced you to like it anyway.
While it certainly is my favorite show currently, I really like that you didn't back down from criticizing it.
Criticism is a good thing! Don't let any "fans" of a show convince your otherwise!
Pretty much yeah! And I've had a few comments already lol, but thank you!
I still remember the first time I watched episode 1 of Frieren. I started crying as soon as Himmel passed away, then wailing when Frieren started crying too because as someone who has been moving for a long time, its a feeling I know.
My favourite scene though was when Frieren and Fern encounter this ghost who mimics relatives based on the memories of the target in order to ensnare them. Frieren's ghost turns into Himmel and instead of saying anything nefarious, it asks Frieren to shoot it because Frieren's perception of Himmel is so pure even the ghost couldn't harm Frieren. That scene says so much and more about Himmel its insane
And then in a great moment of 'show, don't tell' she blows the illusion and half the forest away with an artillery-sized blast of zoltrak because she was genuinely, absolutely, fucking pissed that it chose HImmel, when she was expecting Flamme (again).
To me, the biggest thing is going to see if Frieren has the same legs as FMAB.
Full metal is over, had a great story characters and ending .
Frieren so far as season one concludes is the #1 ranked MAL anime ever, but it’s not over. It has to be able to keep that level of excellence and most importantly nail the ending. otherwise I think it will topple from the top.
My hope is that Frieren remains at the top anime by nailing the ending.
That is true
It nailed the ending for season one for sure!
As a manga reader I can say that at least the next season should have the same if not even better content, at least as far as the story is concerned. The manga however is still going, so who knows if they will drop the ball somewhere along the way
I Don't think it's the best anime ever but it will stay on top FOR A WHILE because nowadays seasons are split so if the second season airs and isn't as good it'll get rated like an 8.9 while the first season will stay at 9.3 or whatever it is. It's why there are so many AoT and Gintama in the top 50.
@@dacolib The next arc is gonna blow everyone's expectations out of the park if Madhouse is still in charge of it. My favorite arc in Frieren so far and god damn man that character was so well written.
The beauty of frieren is that we view the story from frierens pov, thereby we tend to feel her pov. Those deaths didn’t mean too much at first, neither for frieren thereby neither for us. But remembering small moments in the long time frieren and we as viewer had gave it slowly meaning. Throughout the show we are, alongside frieren, realising life’s momentum and that’s the beauty of this artwork that justifies the ranking, it is the mundane and trivial storytelling that effects into something powerful
on the topic on frieren vs aura. I think they did it really well, because it goes really well with her backstory, and her masters idea of slaying demons. In that sense it was perfect because she fooled the demon and gave no mercy.
They did yeah, I just think they would have made it a bit more interesting at least if they hadn't shown Fern doing the exact same thing at the same time
@@LessonsFromAnime thats a good point, but then again. It does make sense that fern is taught to slay demons similarly to frieren. Still, even though the way they kill them makes sense, it is a tiny bit lackluster as you say ( rewatched the fight)
@@LessonsFromAnime Frieren vs Aura is certainly the weakest "fight" in the series, as it isn't much of a fight at all.
As you mentioned in the video, it was really obvious how the fight was going to end as soon as we even heard about Aura's technique.
Usually, especially in shounen manga, flashbacks during a fight is there to somehow enhance the fight, whether to raise the stakes somehow or explain a technique.
While the fight certainly seems like an attempt at the latter, I'd say it might be the opposite.
The flashback is not there to enhance the fight, but the fight is there as a thinly veiled excuse to show the flashback. That the two episodes showing showing how Frieren was going to win the fight is the reason why the fight is there to begin with.
In my opinion, Aura is probably the weakest written character in the entire series, in a show known for its incredible character writing.
In a show where almost every character we meet is interesting, Aura just... isn't.
How did she survive fighting the heroes' party the first time around? How did she survive her young years of demonhood before she built up her mana reserves?
I got no idea. All I know is that she's almost perfectly built for Frieren to counter easily, and that's it. It was not even a fight.
@@LessonsFromAnime Not wanting to be shown Fern doing it, is kinda missing the point of what was done with the way this part was told. During the episode you get ever more blunt hints until it is directly in your face how the fight will go down. So it is not the point to get to the climax in a revelation of some point of plottwist of a final action, but in deriving satisfaction from anticipation. It is a structural different way how to build up a climax from the general formula. For that it holds tension rather then building it up for however soon you pick up with what will happen. And there is no relaxation after. The episode ends in the climax, which is not the action of mana aura size comparrison, but is Frierens grim way killing demons in a manner that resembles their forte to rub it in. Qual the inventor of soultraak getting soultraaked. Draht who cuts with his wire get cut of his arms and head like he did to the guard. Aura decapitating human to fuel her immortal army in the end is forced to take her own head. Who is conditioned to get pleasure by short term rewards via doom scrolling and action overload has just a hard time to sync with this out of the ordinary structur and has hard time appreciating this way of writing. The emphasis is on the 180° tonal shift of the jolly, quirky, airheaded, insert more charming traits elf girl Frieren into this unwavering fueled by hate demon slayer commanding the .... . This is also why it is so shocking, not because the act is shocking. We witness a character climax in the end something different from having JUST a climax in actions, that makes us usually engaged in story telling. This is the brilliance of the 10th episode.
@@jikap I have to disagree. Aura is not weakly written. For the little showtime she has she is a handful. It is not in your face via showing and narration. So sure one can not witness it first hand. Much of what she is, is only indirectly perceivable.
As much as I love Frieren. I can see why some might not.
I am of the mindset that to even hold a stake in the conversation you should have watched it fully, though.
Frieren is definitely a show that people need to enter with an open mind. It's a show that makes you think and appreciate the small things, and a lot of people watch shows to not think, and just have fun.
I still love frieren and it is my number one anime, as well as one of the few I'd recommend anyone who wants to get into Anime, or just wants a good show regardless if it's anime or not.
Its not even close to good though... Its literally generic fantasy anime the show. With overpowered characters, power of friendship and all other cliches you can think of.
Its actually pretty bad in my opinion. Everything is dragged out, slowwww, lazily written, half assed and with the most standard basic anime cliches.
@@centripetal6157
What power of friendship? Also the point of the show is to be slow. We are being shown the world's beauty. We are more interested in the small things.
Slow down and smell the roses.
I think during the aura fight you aren’t supposed to wonder if Frieren is going to win, they’ve been slowly revealing her true nature/power for a few episodes by that point. So it’s more a matter of, “just how strong is she”. You get the “will they win” fight in the previous episode with stark and fern , the Frieren fight is the “just how strong is our elf” fight. The catharsis is finally having her power out on display since they’ve been building up to that regal for the entire show by that point.
The main shocker of this fight is what happens after the expected win by frieren.
I have to admit that the "kill yourself" line and seeing what happens next is what really sent chills on my spine.
@@pierluigidipietro8097 What makes it so "chilling" is it exemplifies the cold calculating nature of Frieren when it comes to demons. As the episode explains, her hatred of demons is long held and well deserved. She doesn't care to understand them or their motivations, she only wants them dead for what they've done to her elven kin when she was younger. The name Frieren meaning cold, or freezing was meant seriously and deliberately if only figuratively. The "fight" is two merciless people looking to kill the other not out of hot-blooded passion, but out of the results of their own inner nature. It's why Frieren can calmly say "kill yourself" and simply walk away without even bothering to watch or put her own hand to the task. A cold-blooded murder as it were without any obvious displayed emotion like anger, fear, or even relief the opponent is gone. In many ways similar to the demons who also don't seem to kill out of hot-blooded fury, but simply because it's in their nature as cautious monstrous predators.
I was unsure about it too. Got teared up in the first 10 minutes and the show did more with character development and depth than some do in entire seasons. Finished it in a weekend and it became one of my favorite anime of all time. Well worthy of the number one spot imho.
My man! Thank you for the video, very pleased you ended up covering it and keep up the good work!
The thing with "fights" in Frieren is to mimic what we experience in real life. When we faced with some challenge, we rarely take it if we didn't know the result will be. Even knowing that we will be losing is also an advantage for you to prepare your mind and heart, or finding the solution first hand.
Yes shounen anime with a lot of twist in fights is interesting, but rarely i can relate to the character minds, i will always see them as another person, especially when there is other characters life in risk. Whereas Frieren, i can sync what my minds planning with them, like a discussion. Hell even when Fern ambushed by Lugner, i know that she's more than capable enough atleast to break free.
In real life people actually struggle and get hurt in fights.
In frieren a 1,000 foot fall from a giant eagle monster doesn't even scratch or result in any problems (with no magic stopping or slowing them from falling). Super easy and convenient even. Actual garbage trash writing.
I really understand if some people think : this anime isnt my thing/ my taste, because it's okay to have different preference or taste..
but for some people to blatantly dissing/mocking or hating this beautiful series and its character's is... really saddening and hurts to see..
Which one do you think this video is
@@LessonsFromAnime im sorry if my comment a bit vague in the wording, since english isnt my main language, your video is a beatiful review and reflection of this beautiful series,,, i enjoyed your video 👍
i'm just stating what i saw from some anime community who dissed this beautiful show just because this and that... and they ignored the beauty of this show...
once again sorry, and i appreciate your video 👌👍
@@emirarfandani5655 no need to apologise haha, thank you :)
Nope... Its deserves hate... This show is actually malicious - dragging out its pointless and bland, boring story that could be told entirely in 8 episodes over 28 awful, horribly slow episodes...
This show hates its viewers - it wants you to waste hours of your life on a half assed story that is copy pasted from basic generic fantasy tropes and then mocks you at the end - giving you absolutely nothing satisfying or interesting for the ending.
@@centripetal6157lol, are you trying to be funny or what ?
if you feeling mocked by the series, then the problem is on your head (or your heart perhaps) not on the series, because i've seen a lot of people, anime fan's and reviewers praising the series and they're not feeling mocked at all, it's crystal clear 😅..
if you hate it, it's up to you, but that does'nt change the fact that frieren has already won many people heart's, won many recognitions, won multiple awards and more to come, proving that frieren is (certainly) a beatiful story with a fresh tone, and with a compelling story-telling, and well written character's..
but seriously, you saying about the series "deserve hate" is so funny lol, it's saying a lot about your personality 😂
Hope u try apothecary diaries as well AND "how to be ordinary" the writing, direction and flow is so good, it's another novel (adapted into anime) written by same author of the underrated masterpiece Hyouka.
I've got a few other things on the list first unfortunately
I love frieren so much, for me will personaly be top 1 together with FMA and others. I feel so empty without the serie to watch and i'm really glad to watch the news, small, medium and large channels talk more about this anime, keep alive the fandom is precious! And thank you for doing that. The modern industry need launch a hundred of generic animes to make profit and for more i understand that, capitalism and etc, its impossible not thank you the Lord for him touch the madhouse studio to give us this kind of anime with so much quality ❤ this is the kind of anime we need, taking a battle shonen and give to him 1/4 of frieren storytelling and deep themes would blow up the entire industry. To me frieren inaugurate a new genre of animes that just fews animes can achieve. The genre of slice of masterpiece. Because you can say totally that is a seinen, romcom, slife of life, shonen, etc. Its all that make right. The true message of frieren is pretty solid like religion, its not dark like berseker, its sacrate like the holy mary. Anyway, i dont have word to say how much i love and miss the show😢❤
i felt the same way about the first episodes not really grabbing my heart strings cause i JUST got introduced to these characters but when you get through the rest of the series it really makes you build that emotional connection with the characters who passed on as you're going through her memories of them. So i feel like its normal to not feel too much for them but almost miss them ourselves as we get into the nostalgia of them.
Just a little irrelevant nitpick here, if the adventure was 10 years then it means Himmel went from 16 to 26 without a single change in his appearance.
I mean... that's totally normal. Some people age gradually and some people just age all at once.
I get where you're coming from but man there are people in real life that age so amazingly... we see it even more with celebrities like how Morgan freeman for the longest looked practically the same for 20 years same with paul rudd lol
Voice too as well if I may add, but that goes without saying, you can't change the voice actor if the appearance also stayed the same
Where does the fact that Himmel was 16 at the start of the journey come from? The manga or anime never mention it and from what we see of Himmel when he meets Frieren he feels at least 20 at that point.
@@Zettern96 I just counted backwards because it is stated that Himmel died at 76 years old
When Himmel was asked why he helped all these people on the way, he also said he wasn't going to ignore someone who needed help right in front of him.
you make a good point with the aura fight but I think you're missing something really important the fight here isn't meant to be a power struggle is there to convey the fact that frieren has put her entire Looong life to deceiving demons and that this would have been a very challenging fight but she has dedicated her entire life to making sure that that demons with underestimate her and this is just one of the times where it pays out
Re: fights being uninteresting. I feel like in part that's deliberate.
Frieren loves magic, but she's very unsentimental about combat magic (as are many other mages) and deliberately teaches her apprentice a boring and arguably cheat-y style because it's effective. It's emphasizing that combat is important but it's not the point or the source of beauty and meaning.
yeah... Its called lazy writing... The manga author would rather spend an entire chapter seeing Frieren plant flowers or thinking of filler flashbacks instead of actually deciding to write a compelling and interesting villain antagonist with an interesting battle.
I do agree with you, The criticisms you offer are wholly about your preferences in media and not objective in nature.
Kudos for self-awareness 👍
I appreciate you saying what you believe on one of my favorite shows in the world. Great video!
Just a thought.
Consider from your own perspective where, you didn’t know Himmel and the party very well. You understood basic traits and feature, the role they played. You did not have enough time to get to know them to real feel any loss in that moment.
That’s what Frieren originally thought that Himmel’s death was as well. Too short of a time to really get to know and truly understand Himmel and co.
Over the course of the show, we following the steps of the original party to learn about the current party and the party of the past.
Frieren is on a journey to relive those moments to learn about Himmel, and we follow her along, and learn as well. We are given a reason to later grieve, over time.
That is why I said "I'm aware of the irony"
I actually had a very similar experience with frieren as you, hearing about how good it was, watching the first 3 eps, didn't really vibe with it at the time, came back to it like 3 months later, and it quickly became my favourite anime probably of all time.
The fight between Frieren and Aura reminded me a bit of JoJo
At first it sounds like something with no room for strategy, just "The Strongest Wins", but Aura knows her "Stand" so she tries to tire Frieren first, making it so even if Frieren had more maximum mana, her mana at the moment would be lesser, and then we get Frierens reveal.
Maybe they could have let the specifics of Auras power a secret, saying she can control others and no one knows how. Of course Frieren know because they fought before, but they wait to reveal it to the audience. We can see Frieren fight Aura and even have Fern reveal her concealment.
Then, when Aura thinks she won, the ability is explained. Aura explains that she tired Frieren, and there is a little doubt if this is enouth, but we know Frierens secret and see her win.
The Old Guy lecturing Stark, that was funny af😂😂😂
as a frieren fan, I think the first episode is amazing. i agree that the first episode didn't give you any time to really feel sad about himels death. i do think that was on purpose tho. that feeling of vague disappointment that we didnt get more time to explore him better, or get to know him better, i think is the closest that we could get to understanding how an elf would see those ten years. that said... i think that the first episode was designed FOR THE SECOND WATCH THROUGH. the second time i watched this episode it actually made me cry.
You way of analysis is so refreshing to me. I'd love to see you do a video on Claymore, especially Teresa.
As for Frieren, she's a good character. I also love Sein.
Great video. Good criticism. Keep at it!
Wow besides the first bit about dropping the show, every other opinion you've shared on this video completely echos my experience with this show (also I agree they didn't give us enough time to care about Himmels and Heiter's deaths instead we grow to care about them through flashbacks).
Although I disagree with your criticisms, they do make sense considering what anime you like to watch. I dislike shonens (for the most part), so it makes sense that our critiques of the show would differ. No anime is perfect to all audiences.
Its so refreshing to see someone say this instead of losing their mind at me 😭 thanks dude
I appreciate your honesty and including your criticism of the series. I hate watching RUclipsrs say “oh it I was perfected loved it!” That’s so boring. Personally I didn’t like the dumb arguements fern has and how she gets mad at dumb things. But everything else was pretty good.
Appreciated:)
The freiren and the mimics thing is something i loved cux i fell for every mimic while playing dark souls
I think the lack of time to connect to the first crew was on purpose because we get the same feeling she has of not really caring that much and then through flashbacks we get more understanding piece by piece because I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to see the world through frieren’s eyes so I think it would be the best way to make the audience grow with her
Great Video, love your review of an amazing show. You mentioned shows that give more depth to the battle aspect of an anime. You should definitely check out World Trigger if you haven’t already. The power system is awesome but I like how they give all the characters tools they can creatively use to overcome some of the series more broken characters.
Frieren is just different! Honestly, when the trailer came out, I definitely did not understand the story and found it clearly boring. But the first episode came out, and so I am also wrong, I became invested to the story. This storytelling is purely a master, along the line of Vinland Saga and fma!
Opposite for me... The more i watched the show the more boring and hateable the characters became. The more annoying the cliches and tired old story arcs were.
By the end i was pissed off completely... Actually very angry about the pointless waste of time the show was. And the lazy writing that was 28 episodes of straight garbage cliche and anime copy paste stories.
@@centripetal6157 Because your interpretation is obsolete, that is why you haven't understand the story, it's pretty obvious that every story will do th3 same cliché, but every story do this anyways as every story are borrowing from each other. The point of the story is for you to understand hidden messages that only those with open mind can capture. I don't want to mention what I've found, and if you believe it's boring, that is yours for the taking. Everyone have their tastes! ✌
5:27 personally I also wasn't so connected in the beginning, but I think that's alright cuz the show kinda builds that connection after their deaths through the many flashbacks Frieren has, kinda also letting this feeling of regretting not knowing them better when they were alive, kinda like Frieren does lol
I understand your criticism and I don't think it is unwarranted. Matter of perspective and preferences. We do know that Frieren will win against Aura. Tension comes from not being 100% certain how exactly (because we tend to think there has to be a plot twist), but there is also lack of tension that allows us to absorb A LOT of backstory. I mean it was basically exposition dump, but handled in such a way that it didn't feel boring to me and I didn't even feel robbed, because "main" fight was between "Disciples" and "Executioners". And indeed battles in Frieren are in most cases like 3 panels... except when they are plot relevant. Also author has problems writing fights, so not showing them in the smart way is a way to bypass this issue. Because we can fill the details on our own. That's why fight with Aura is sort of an exception. It is plot relevant enough to show it, but it isn't important enough to have "tension". But it does show us what Frieren is capable of (in rather narrow way) and sets up something for the future.
Frieren to me is like I'm watching Lord of The Rings for the first time again, except we start the story at the end and onward through viewpoint of an elf, and it's the most beautiful tragic story I have ever experienced.
I never imagine that "regret in life" could be condensed and put into a story and yet be so beautifully tragic that it hurts in a way that I never know it is possible. Like, I never imagined that having all the time in the world won't make your life better, and this anime shown it to me, damn I'm crying.
Kinda late to leave a comment. I definitely get where you were coming from with a lot of your criticisms. I started off watching Shonen anime years ago and that’s all I ever really liked up until like 2014 whenever I started checking out other genres and giving them a fair shake.
Anyway to the point of my comment, I originally put off watching Frieren because I got back into my “Shonen is king” mindset and didn’t think this show would interest me, but I’m gonna be honest, after watching it I’m inclined to believe that it’s probably one of the best anime I’ve ever seen IF NOT THE BEST anime I’ve ever seen.
So about the fighting, think of it as the further north they go, the harder it is to kill things because the area they start in is considered to be pretty safe.
at 40years old and 1900 hours of skyrim i love my fantasy genre and frieren is the best damn fantasy i have seen since the likes of Record of Lodoss War, berserk and grimgar, hope there will be a second season.
Great video. I think u will like s2 when animated cuz the fights are different
If we cannot criticize shows that we enjoy the entire medium will slowly wither away from stagnation. My two absolute favorite shows of all time happen to have an episode, aspect, or detail that I absolutely hate but it is only because of those aspects being mentioned by disaproving watchers that many other anime have "fixed" or embraced these problems to make shows that are just objectively better. I am not saying that modern writing is automatically better than old writing but I am saying that in time the absolutely best series of all time will eventually become outdated relics liked only within the context of their time or on nostalgia alone simply because the impossibility of perfection will forever elude us driving countless others to improve and refine their own works making creations that we cannot even fathom today. The absolute best thing to hear in a video like this is the acknowledgment of the shows faults from the angle of appreciation, if it was a scathing hit piece it may be offensive but ultimately this wasn't one. I would follow the rule to talk almost exclusively about things you enjoy and be willing to critique them, if you ever make a video about something you dislike mention it's good points the redeeming qualities if you will, and if you see something as so awful you could not speak well of it long enough to make an entire half a video do not speak of it at all because something so bad does not even deserve recognition.
Yuukyuu no gusha asley (manga) is quite similar to freiren even though he can't grow old but is not immortal. The story is more about the adventure of doing things that he has not done during his research in the dungeon for a long time of 5 thousand years. He wanted to help the people around him and while he was doing that he met many people. At that time he also had a dream that the demon king would return and he had to defeat him. Meanwhile, in that era it was predicted that no heroes would be born, unlike the previous century when the previous demon king was defeated. And here the journey begins with a lot of good comedy. Hopefully it will be adapted into an anime that is at least similar/close to freiren
Yea I look at the fights in a different perspective, as you said in JJK, MHA etc... fights can often play out in a typical way. You showed Almights fight and mentioned you know he'll win but it's interesting to see how and that's a large part of why you are watching and engaging. I was largely excited with fights in Frieren for subverting this expectation, you never know how a fights going to play out, will it be a 30 second fight, 5 minutes or how is it going to happen. That and the fact they seem to change the art style in every fight as well made this almost the only time I've ever watched an Anime and it's approaching a fight scene and I'm sitting there thinking 'I have no expectations, no idea what'll happen, how it'll happen, what it will look like..... just show me, I'm here for the ride'.
Regarding what you said about "not having enough time to connect with the original group" in the first 2 episodes, I think it was ""rushed"" in that way at least partly to put us in and have us understand Frieren's point of view. As for her it felt like such a short time as you mentioned. By just sort of brushing past it quickly, you're put in the same mind-set as Frieren before realizing how much it really meant. We then, as the audience, are shown more and more over the course of the first series and naturally get more and more attached, but in a retroactive way. _Exactly_ as she did.
I confess I stopped watching Frieren after the first two episodes before going back to it. The main reason was that I was watching with a friend, the first few episodes were slow going and I had a chance to watch a series I really wanted to see. I talked myself to going back to Frieren after the other series ended and watched it through the end of season 1. Frieren is a slow moving series and it takes a few episodes to get into it. I'm glad I came back to it and am looking forward to season 2.
Hey you’re video analysis’ are great (don’t know if I used that word right 🤦♂️) I just wanted to say keep doing you and review the way you want to and don’t cater to the haters lol it’s a waste of time! You’re doing great keep it up!
Frieren is the pinnacle. I have watched it multiple times and every time I watch it new brilliant details reveal them selves.
I can relate, i wasnt too fond of frieren as a show considering i was watching slime isekai at the time and was getting to the demon lord part, but i gave frieren another shot and blown to bits by the story and the animation.
my favorite part of frieren is the depth in the perspective of time
when you see her memories, it could be a hundred(s) years passing in a blink
but when it's framed in the present it becomes a lot more meandering
it's really hard to describe, but it's done in a way I have never seen any other media pull off well
You're right, you're not really supposed to feel like you know Himmel and the others at the start. That's kind of the point of the flashbacks during the show, to kind of give you an idea of what you missed out on. We're basically in the same headspace as Frieren at the start, even to the point of her memories suddenly cementing in how much HIM meant to her.
episode 10 cemented it in my top 3 favorite anime of all time. The writing in the rest of the episodes and the pacing and direction of the world building cemented it there.
Yeah, this anime is EXACTLY for you, or should I say, it's exactly for this channel. It's all about life lessons in a very well told package.
After Berserk and Vinland Saga popped up, I expected the third one to be Vagabond, but that's just the trinity I've had soldered into my brain for the past 15-ish years. But Kaiji rocks.
Also Frieren, especially the manga, is full of dry and deadpan jokes. Even the way Frieren speaks (plain Japanese) is kind of surprising in that it plays against type (ancient being! high fantasy setting!) and kinda jolts you out of the moment sometimes (I personally think the fan translation of the manga and the official Eng dub loses this by not having Frieren speak plainly).
The "how it's going to happen" is Aura's haughtiness and realization, and the character animation, and the music swelling, and the "man, they're really doing it lol"
I personally really like that the anime just embellished the fight in ep 9 so I could watch cool choreo without 20 speech bubbles worth of battle narration crammed into a moving moment. In the ways that matter, the fights felt just as important to me in the comic as in the show, but all the added flashiness was basically just a bonus. Man, has it really almost been a year since the first ep...
haha nah I've not read Vagabond yet, it does seem cool though
Solid review... I kind of forgot how much build up there was to the Aura reveal thing and it was so very very obvious from the very start, couldn't agree more (that is probably my single biggest criticism of the show).
Really love the show, kind of can't believe its rated above Brotherhood but hey what can you do. Also interesting to see Steins;Gate is up there too still! Man I thought I was a cheeseball for liking that show so much.
One of my most profound personal beliefs about Frieren is something that a lot of people seem to miss. History repeats itself if you have the ability to wait long enough.
First Frieren was on a student's journey with Flamme who according to the lore was the greatest mage of all time. So in a sense everything that came after that, even the journey with Himmel, are all "beyond" that journey. It has been discussed by many people just how much of an impact Himmel had on her, but almost no one seems to understand just how fundamental this first journey was on Frieren's character. So much of what makes her "the last great mage", to quote some anime characters, are actually things that we can directly in most cases attribute to Flamme. Hiding her mana, loving the flower spell, collecting magic, avoiding fights if possible, etc.
But even her journey with Flamme wasn't the origin story of Frieren as a mage. Frieren was already strong enough by the time of Flamme discovering her to have defeated an entire army of demons herself after they attacked the elf village she was found in. That kind of strength also must have come from somewhere now forgotten by time. Regardless, then she had her journey in the hero's party... and then beyond that she had her journey with Fern and Stark...
Finally Frieren has come full circle from student to colleague to mentor... but who is to say that even that is the end of her tale? She is an elf. Who knows, maybe someday in the far future Frieren will experience a future journey when she takes on a pupil who is as in awe of Fern and Stark as people in current times are of Flamme and Himmel?
We don't have to look far to see what that might be like. Serie remembers every mage she ever taught. Starting with Flamme and including a list of famous mages. Meanwhile Frieren's life has not previously been one for taking apprentices, but she has routinely joined adventures with people who history remembers as great.
I thought something similar, but more along the lines of "we all experience relatively similar things", there's so many little moments which Frierens old and new parties both go through
A lot of people have mentioned contacting friends and family they hadn't been in contact with for weeks, months, or years after watching the first 4 episodes/reading first 4 chapters of Frieren is probably the context you are missing about the real life impact Frieren made on a lot of people 🌈⭐
That's cool and a really beautiful impact of the series... but why is that "context I'm missing" lol
I also wasn't hooked until episode 6 or so actually and I dont think that this is that unusual. Like you and other also mentioned or insinuated, you kind of experience and discover the depth of Frieren's old relationships while building the new ones in parallel.
These parallels are the most genius part about the story:
We learn with Frieren about what she missed out on in past relationships (and inject our own fear and pain of something we missed), while she builds new relationships and tries to be better (which gives us new wholesome experiences and gives the story that slice of life feeling).
Yeah that would make sense except the new "friends" are actual clone copies of her old friends in personality, goals and even design, making this entire " Frieren learns to appreciate people" a massive joke of a story line in this lazy and boring show.
Best anime of 2023.
Nope. Not even close... Actually might be the worst, most basic, generic, boring story ever released... I fell asleep so many times trying to watch this garbage.
@@centripetal6157 Blasphemy. Bet u didn't get to the end of the series hahaha.
@@edwinpoon Unfortunately i did... I watched this brain dead, boring, half assed show... All 28 episodes of this - trash show...
Now it pisses me off... Just thinking about Frieren the show gets me angry.
Beautiful anime to say the least !
It really is!
I respect the fact that Frieren completely disregarded the meta of the game and instead opted for a build that is only really supposed to be effective at killing demons specifically. She then spent the following 1000 years grinding side quests and sunk all her skill points and additional attribute points into the build, which by now allows her to break the game more generally. Like, even the most basic spell will one-shot anyone if it's a high enough level.
The most iconic for me are the BGM, so peacefull and kinda nostalgic
Honestly what happened with Aura was WAY more satisfying than any big magic battle. We see her break Aura's will. This may just seem like it's done for drama but they make a point that someone with a strong will could resist the spell. Something Aura likely had before that moment. If they just fought we know who'd win and even what happened here we knew her mana was going to be more but I doubt many people saw what Frieren said coming.
It was pretty lame and Aura had no long term consequence as a villain. Another filler episode... In about 2 season length show about filler episodes and time wasting...
@@centripetal6157nope it was great. You are just too stupid to understand drama. Episode gave us insight into Frieren's character. And we saw Aura's world pretty much crumble to the ground before her as she died. It was dramatic and had an emotional impact. Great writing.
@@centripetal6157 Filler? It went into her origin and explained her whole strategy/logic when it came to fighting demons. Then showed how she used that to play Aura. It went against expectations and gave us probably one of the best endings I've ever seen. Not sure what you were expecting from consequences. Given the number of flashbacks in the show they could easily give us more of her. I doubt they will but we are told there is a history there. Killing her off is pretty much how the show works too. Travel from town to town, solve an issue and move on.
@@davejohn3600 I still consider it filler because the backstory is lazily and sloppily rushed and forced into a 4 minute segment in the episode. It's also the most generic, lazy and basic backstory for every anime hero...
"Village attacked as a child by the villains, now child has trained to adulthood - so they are overpowered, but they hide their true strength from others" - That concept has actually been copied in 1000+ other animes. Its so basic, so unoriginal, so boring.
"One of the best endings i've ever seen" - Are you joking? Are you serious? The entire segment of her going "No, i have more mana - so i win".... That was extremely lame and anticlimactic. There was barely any fighting it was an actual "Nah, i win" situation.
WTF USE MAGIC Frieren!! - she's trained in magic for thousands of years but only wants to clean statues or clean a beach with it... God this show is so lame...
Everything about this show is lazy and sloppy, copied from other anime tropes. It's actually crazy people think this "peak" story writing.
I looked at the Aura 'fight' as a flex. Not really a battle.
A reveal on how strong Frieren is, not an encounter with her first real opponent or a test she needs to overcome.
I also don't typically like shounen series, just don't vibe with them, so we may disagree.
Fair enough
@@LessonsFromAnime 👍
It also builds up the later moment when we see Series mana.
Aura is hyped up, Frieren dwarfs her and then we see at the end what kind of "monster" Serie is.
@@cherriagana Series is a Flamme clone... As all the characters in this show are...
Series = Flamme clone
Stark = Eisen clone
Fern = Frieren clone
Sein = Heiter clone
God... This show is so LAZY and unoriginal with its characters and story... uhhhh.. Sloppy story writing. Terrible storytelling.
Frieren vs Aura works for me exactly cause I felt like the show never really expected me to be in doubt of who was more powerful.
To me it felt pretty obvious that this fight was just used as a vehicle to tell us a bit more backstory about Frieren and Flamme(her master) and I was all for it since I wanted to learn more about these characters. Again, as you point out from the start, you're a fan of big shounen battle manga(I am too) but sometimes it might just be messing with your perspective a bit since you're used to watching the fights for the fights and Frieren doesn't seem interested in doing that at all. It's always just about the characters, their stories and experiences, hardships and relationships with others. I think above all else this show succeeds because it's a hearfelt story about humanity and the passing of time.
Just my two cents. Great video, keep it up.
It's ok to not understand the value of something upon first review. But it's important to keep an open mind. Also, consensus is not necessary in every aspect of life. Different things hit different people, differently.
Some other channel lovingly referred to Frieren as "Side Quest: The Anime" I find it an excellent name, its all about experiencing the unexpected things that you just happen to stumble upon on your journey, you never regret those detours, and afterward you often regret that you skipped out on that one.
It was all about Flamme for me! She is my favorite character and I would like to know more about her!
I think the tension that existed in the fight with Aura was whether Aura had the strength of will to break control long enough to cancel her spell or do something else unexpected, which is why Frieren had to be so savage to her - to break her will. That's how I saw it, anyway.
Also, the earliest fight - against Qual - had at least 4 moments where details of the power system influenced the course of the fight. They were just shown, not told.
Probably I would not have get that much out if the first episode of Frieren if I had watched it in my 20s.
But in my 50s (yeah, I am still into anime), it reminded me of my father's funeral and I got well enough Frieren's regrets.
Wow what a coincidence! I also watched the first two episodes amd decided to drop. Same happened with Dungeon Deshi
I think one reason the fights may seem underwhelming to you is that they are more like rock paper scissors where one side may have a clear counter to the other. This makes them end quicker than an intense shounen fight where they're all throwing out punches and beating each other up.
also the episode were stark replaces the kings son for the party is my favorite. that dance scene is one of my favorite scenes in the show.
Fights being deadpan reflects how Frieren feels about magic.
Of course, it's number 1! It's got Denken the best anime character of ALL TIME! He may be out of mana, but he still has these hands!
He's great lmao, probably my 2nd fav behind Sein
I wasn't gripped by Himmel and Heiter's passing at the beginning. However, i think it's purposeful in contextualizing Frieren's POV. when she broke down, and then the flashbacks came slowly i started to make sense.
6:00 same bro glad i decided to return to it
Not only is Frieren still at the top it has a Gigantic lead over all the other anime at the top of the list
I started and stopped, I realized it was going at a slow pace but it wasn't bad at all. So I was just letting it marinate😅
I generally do not like anime. But I have watched far more anime than I care to say due to friends who really love the stuff, never going far into a show with one or two exceptions that I found okish. From that viewpoint I can say that for me Frieren is what those friends always promised anime would be. And I love it.
Frieren and the mimic, is more like a joke / gag (japanese joke), with her being this really powerful mage, but still have a weakness against small little things. It's called "gap moe" in Japan, and it's usually endearing and unexpected, like seeing a big, strong, mean faced, muscled man who lives his life fighting and beating up everyone, but cries at the sight of a little new born kitten. 🤣
I know you said it's a "minor" criticism, but your commentary on the early fight scenes is kinda like criticizing impressionist paintings for not being photorealistic. In context, the "fights" accomplish exactly what they set out to do -- help tell the story.
Same can be said of the mimic "humor" that you didn't get. These aren't meant to make you double over in laughter. They are part character development, part levity to help juxtapose the somewhat darker elements they surround. Again, you may not "get" some of the loose and hazy brushstrokes of an impressionist's work when you look up close at it. But stepping back, seeing and felling everything in context, then any individual criticism becomes kinda pointless. On the whole it does what it needs to do, and in a masterful way.
I know many seem to enjoy the second half more, but for me it's the opposite. If I'm to find fault with the series, it's that the second half tended to feed the stereotypical shonen beast more than I'd like, with too many frames dwelling on flashy fights and skin over effective visual storytelling.
Frieren is definitely a slower paced anime that gives you time to relax in between battles and intense stand offs. I tend to prefer anime like this. They're more emotional and give you time to connect with each character. Tag on adventure and I'm completely sold. I liked it so much that I had to buy the manga lol I think there's a lot of people who stray from this type of anime because they think it will be boring compared to the more battle heavy anime.
I saw a clip, maybe 20 seconds, of Frieren's fight against the Imperial Mage (you know the one) and I was like, "Holy cow! This is totally different than I thought it was going to be! I need to see this right now!" (Yes, with all those exclamation points.) So, I did, and was very glad that I did.
Frieren (Teenager), alter loosing them, had realised the value of passed time and people. Cried and matured. Still not mature enough and thinks that the best spell is a garden creating spell just because her foster mother liked it also. She is the strongest mage but is not an arcmage because of this immaturity.
Fern had felt the loss of her family too early. Got thtough the struggle. Desided to become stronger . Then realised that becoming that strong is not that important but affecting the others life and living your life is. She became an arcmage.
Stark had felt the loss of his family too early. Decided to become stronger. Then felt a bit off. Found Fern. Then realised that becoming that strong is not that important but affecting the others life and living your life is. He became an important hero.
Serie is like the teacher. Knows it all. Can teach it all. But also knows that all she can leave behind is her knowledge. No body knows why she didn't fought against the demon lord as like Kraft the hero! Perhaps the demon lord wasn't that much of a big deal.
okay i cant finish this video. you got me on the fight scene comment.
Cya
The battles aren't REALLY what this series is about. They do happen, but until much later in the Manga, the battles aren't very high stakes. Season 2, if it's as long as Season 1, will contain the best arc in the Manga so far. And it's a very good arc.
Frieren didn't get me very attached to its characters, but it made them interesting to watch regardless. What got me invested is the worldbuilding. I love how magic developed throughout history. The one thing I actually outright disliked is the curse sidequest, because it felt way too convenient that the one foe that could take Frieren out of the fight appeared exacatly in the span of time they had a party member who had resistance against it.
lol fair point, I still loved Sein tho
Frieren would never face that monster if she didn't think they would win.
hey I'm reading Yowamushi Pedal and I think it has some pretty amazing characters, and that they deserve videos like you do, because your analysis are just to good, so can you consider doing that