Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Season One) – Sousou no Frieren
They defeated the Demon King and returned home to rapturous applause. After the celebrations, the hero’s party disbanded. Frieren, the elf mage, continued as normal, but the death of the hero set her on a new path!
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Season One) – Sousou no Frieren
What did you watch?
Twenty-eight episodes is but the blink of an eye in the world of many an anime fan, so why does it hurt so much now that Frieren has ended (for now)? I picked up this series with a very vague idea of what it was about having been recommended it by my library for quite some time now. I knew it would be emotional, but I never expected it to impact me quite the way it has. It’s a rather fitting parallel given that this is exactly what Frieren is going through. Anyhow, let’s dive in because I’ve got plenty to say about this series.
What happened?
Frieren returned to the Capital with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen to announce that the Demon King was dead. The news was celebrated far and wide and the heroes were greatly revered. Not long after, they went their separate ways and life returned to normal. For Frieren, that was wandering the continent in search of spells. Before parting, Frieren had offered to take them to a special place to watch a meteor shower that occurred every fifty years. When it was time, she returned to the Capital and found the others waiting.
Himmel and Heiter were old men by this stage since they were only human. Eisen looked the same, but he too had aged. Even dwarves don’t last forever. Frieren, however, looked the same as ever since she was an elf with more than one thousand years behind her. She took the aged hero’s party to a lake in the hills where they watched the meteors scorch the sky. It was incredible. Himmel died soon after. Happy to be with his party for his final moments.
For Frieren, the ten-year adventure to defeat the Demon King was nothing compared to her long life. She had never expected to develop any sort of strong attachment in that short time, but she couldn’t help but cry as Himmel’s body was laid to rest. She went to stay with Heiter to try to understand why she felt that way. He revealed that he too was dying and gave her a grimoire that may contain the secret to immortality. He also asked her to train a young girl who had an aptitude for magic that he cared for. There was no immortality spell, but Heiter knew that. His goal was to set Fern up before he passed and he achieved that.
Frieren took her new apprentice to meet Eisen. Together they found Flamme’s hidden book which detailed a place called Ende which was a joining point between heaven and this world. Eisen urged Frieren to go there and talk to Himmel. That was the only way for her to truly understand why she felt that way. She took Fern and began her new quest, which was ironically to the same place. Ende was where the Demon King’s castle had been located.
What did you think?
Even after writing twenty-eight episode reviews, I feel a little overwhelmed to be writing about the season as a whole. This has been the most incredible journey. I absolutely loved this series. The characters were fantastically crafted with their lives and history slowly revealed to us by their interactions and clever use of flashbacks. I don’t recall there being a single exposition dump which makes this that much more incredible. This isn’t just an epic fantasy adventure. With the flashbacks to the original quest, it’s like watching two epic fantasy adventures at once. Then, when you consider that the true beauty of this show is how it looks at life. How does time impact our lives? Will we be remembered? How will our actions speak through the ages? It can be hard to watch at times because of how brilliantly it holds the mirror to reflect our own lives. Quite frankly, this season has been a masterclass in storytelling.
What was your favourite moment?
Where to begin? There were so many incredible moments through the first season that I feel like picking one is going to be tough. So, I’m going to quickly mention a couple and then leave you with one to think about. The moment where Eisen and Heiter comfort Frieren in the first episode was beautiful. Stark defeating the dragon was thrilling. Fern destroying Lugner when he believed her to be beneath her was chilling. Then, there were an incredible number of heartfelt moments like how Eisen secretly celebrated Stark’s birthday with a giant hamburger each year or any of the time when the present mirrored the past and gave us even more reasons to love Himmel. This season was full of unforgettable moments.
I haven’t even touched on the First-class mage exam which had so many great moments on its own, however, I’m going to cut to the chase and talk about the moment we got to see just how brilliantly savage Frieren can be. She was standing before Aura the Guillotine, one of the Demon King’s generals who used a spell that would measure the mana of two people and enslave the one with the lowest mana. She tried to use it on Frieren believing that she would easily win. However, Frieren had been concealing her mana for almost one thousand years and she was a master at it. When Frieren won and took control of Aura, she simply told her to kill herself, turned her back on her, and walked away. Frieren is as cold as ice!
What was your least favourite moment?
The one thing that continues to annoy me is Serie’s treatment of Frieren. She openly admitted that the only reason that they had so many mages in the final stage of the First-class mage exam was because of Frieren. So, not making Frieren a first-class mage is ridiculous. I know Frieren doesn’t care, but it spoke volumes about Serie’s character and how she is just a lonely bitter old fool who is stuck in her ways and refuses to believe that any change can be good. I find it frustrating that she has somehow got herself into a position where she can actually limit change and dictate how humans use magic.
Who was your favourite character?
There were a lot of wonderful characters in this season. I think I could pick anyone from the hero’s party past or present and it would be seen as an acceptable choice. Had we seen more of the past party, I would have chosen Himmel and I almost did regardless. However, I have to go with Stark. Don’t worry, I still love Frieren and Fern too, and even Sein. However, Stark has to put up with a lot. Fern clearly likes him and has no idea how to express those feelings, so she does what all good tsudere’s do and hits him and pouts at him. Frieren does get the same treatment from Fern, but it’s not quite the same. Anyhow, I love how straightforward Stark is and how that often gets him into trouble. However, one of my favourite moments in the entire First-class mage exam was when it cut back to Stark staying up late, drinking because he was free with Fern telling him what to do.
Who was your least favourite character?
This is a far easier one to complete. It’s Serie. It has to be. For a while, I wondered if Serie was suffering from some sort of social anxiety or personality condition that made her behave like such a stuck-up arrogant jerk. However, it would appear that she’s just that way. She hates that Frieren likes spells that make fields of flowers or clean the marks off pots. Serie has no love for magic. To her, it’s a tool for killing and nothing more. I still remember seeing her smile when Wirbel said exactly that in his interview. That seems like a remarkably shortsighted point of view from someone who has lived so long and no doubt seen so much. I love that Fern asked for a spell to clean clothes from her as her reward for passing the First-class mage exam.
Would you like some more?
I’ll take whatever you’ve got. In fact, I have already bought the first ten volumes of the manga and will be reading those in the near future. I’m already feeling a little out of things without another episode to watch and review. I’ve been talking about this show for half a year and that doesn’t feel like it’s been nearly long enough. It’s been one of my most commented-on series of posts and I’m going to miss that interaction. Getting to discuss great shows like this with like-minded people is why I continue to do seasonal reviews. Hopefully, I can find another show to fill Frieren’s sizable boots, as unlikely as that seems!
What have you learned?
One of the standout things about this series has been how it uses flashbacks to emphasise a point or show how the present mirrors the past. As they say, all good things come back around eventually. The trick, I’ve noticed with this is to not have the flashback solve a problem the protagonist is currently facing. I’ve seen too many shows where the hero suddenly remembers something important that helps them win a fight or solve a problem. Showing them solving the problem and then giving us a reference from the past as to how they were able to do it feels more natural and doesn’t act like a Deus ex Machina. Better yet, give us a glimpse of them doing something and then show us how that relates to the present. I loved every flashback that showed Frieren experiencing something from one perspective only for her to experience the other side of things in the present. That was a great way to show growth and explore the idea that Frieren learned something. Of course, there are many more things that this show did incredibly well, so I’d just recommend studying it over and over again. You can’t go wrong.
