Frieren: The Story So Far

Elves in anime are not uncommon. Ever since we met the high elf Deedlit in Record Of Lodoss War, elves have been a staple in various fantasy titles, usually isekai. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End on the other hand is a genuine high fantasy with no otherworldly reincarnations or portal fiascos. Based on a manga written by Kanehito Yamada and drawn by Tsukasa Abe, Frieren focuses on a thousand-year-old elf who is one of the last of four heroes that embarked on a decade-long quest to defeat the standard demon king, who here is actually called The Demon King. The pitch is how a long-living elf gets by in the world as an obscure mage who most people have forgotten about from her past adventures, despite the fact that elves are slowly going extinct on this mystical continent and there aren’t that many other elves around to confuse her with.

An anime based on this came out in 2023 with the first season of this show going on for 28 episodes which is a few episodes longer than most first seasons. The second season recently premiered with as much buzz behind it as the previous one. The fandom that the show has developed is strong, although there is a grand deal of resistance from those who tried to talk their anime friends into it.

The most divisive thing about the series is that there is a large amount of wandering around in the first season which is what made a lot of Star Wars fans from bothering with Lord Of The Rings. After the elderly death of the heroes’ party leader Himmel, Frieren is trying to find a new purpose in her life when she’s not looking for lost grimoires to pick up new spells to help make everyday life a little easier. Many newcomers might think of the anime as being a slice of life story that happens to take place in a Dungeons And Dragons world, but if they bothered to get through the entire first season they would see there is some deep lore and character development.

World building could also be a contributing factor as to why some otaku were put off by it. There is an inordinate number of flashbacks to Frieren’s original party during their crusade, even more flashbacks than in an episode of Kung Fu. Plus, every, and I mean every character has a backstory which is fine for the regulars but for the ones that show up the one time or are just passing though, it gets more than a little repetitive. The anime is a slow burn, however if the first season is extended by several episodes and concludes with a self-contained story arc, then the patients of the average viewer are seriously tested.

The main plot has Frieren running into the last surviving members of her party, the occasionally sober priest Heiter and the sturdy dwarf Eisen, each of which has their own protege that Frieren adds to her company. She first becomes the mage teacher of Fern who is a purple-haired girl that Heiter adopted and spends a few years training in her own particular brand of folk magic. The second one to join them is Stark, Eisen’s former pupil who is a nervous but ultimately strong warrior. The trio go from the southern part of their continent to the north where the souls of the dead are said to be and Frieren hopes to see Himmel’s spirit. The problem is that this is the area originally ruled by the slayed Demon King whose forces are running amok vying for whatever territory or power they can seize, and on top of that they need to have a first class mage to proceed there, so Frieren and Fern have to spend many episodes just trying to pass improbable tests while competing against other mages also hoping to gain a license.

Along the way they run into various strangers, Frieren’s former acquaintances, and the occasional but temporary additions to their party. Taking into account all of these character’s origin stories and the bountiful flashback, the story does tend to drag on at points. Even some of the characters who show up briefly during the school test saga that we got to know the personal history of are immediately dismissed away by the judgmental elf Serie leaving you to wonder what the point of was getting to know them at all. Remember though that the series is ongoing and they might show up again to take part in some future chapter, like the only male elf Kraft briefly making a few scant scenes whose acts with another human helped motivate additional party member Sein into become an adventurer more than likely has a larger role to play in an upcoming scenario. Considering that this story spans decades, there’s also room to transform guest characters into part of the full-time cast.

As far as the quality of the show itself is concerned, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End does have consistently good 2D animation with only the occasional use of CGI. Madhouse is the studio behind the anime’s beautiful aesthetics, and this really comes through during the occasional boss battle. Season 1 director Keiichiro Saito had already proved his mettle when he did Bocchi The Rock and presented this initial installment as a revolutionary step up for a contemporary fantasy series. The soundtrack by Evan Call is also noteworthy.

The anime has customary dangling plot threads like if Fern and Stark will couple up, Frieren possibly embracing her status as the highest level mage in the land and actually stop being a big sleepyhead, Sein eventually meeting up with his old friend, where the mage exam’s winners and losers will end up, and what probable lurking evil is waiting for the party of heroes once they reach the Demon King’s castle. Like Frieren’s sturdy luggage, this anime is intended to last quite a while, although hopefully not as in an endless saga like One Piece which episode count has gone past 1000. Keep in mind that the story is still a work in progress, so as a wise wizard might’ve paraphrased, “There is no journey’s end because nothing ever ends.”