Which cartoon is the most popular in the world? Which show does everyone agree is the best? This is the kind of question we can all debate on 200 pages of forums. But at some point in that argument, and most likely right from the start, someone will link to the ANN Encyclopedia Top 10 Anime page or the MyAnimeList Top Anime page to prove their point. No resource is perfect, but these established lists rely on millions of fan ratings to rank great resources.
And the reality is that both of those resources have just gone through the computational process. After nearly a decade of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ranking as the top anime on both sites, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End claimed the top spot last weekend.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End explodes in fall 2023 with a riveting premiere of four consecutive feature-length episodes. Viewers were drawn in by its “cozy” fantasy premise, its ageless protagonist, and an unexpectedly profound underlying message about mortality. Frieren benefits from strong source material from the popular manga by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe, but Studio Madhouse’s adaptation brings its appeal even further with vivid colors.
Meanwhile, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood premiered 15 years ago in April 2009. The previous 64-episode Studio Bones series was Fullmetal Alchemist, a 2003 anime that closely followed the plot of the beloved manga of the same name. Hiromu Arakawa. Brotherhood rebooted the anime — this time following the manga faithfully — and for this reason, it’s a show that has stood the test of time more clearly.
In Anime News Network’s database, Frieren has an overall score of 9.14, slightly better than Brotherhood’s current overall score of 9.07. Brotherhood initially rose to number 1 in May 2016 with a score of 9.10, surpassing the previous defending champion, Steins;Gate.
On MyAnimeList, Brotherhood has a weighted ranking of 9.09 (scored by 2,104,150 users) as of this publication. Last weekend, Frieren achieved a slightly higher ranking of 9,181 (scored by 205,336 users). It’s clear that even though far fewer people watched the new Frieren anime, they gave it higher scores than Brotherhood.
In both cases, Brotherhood has the advantage of time and the extensive word-of-mouth referrals that come with it, while Frieren has the advantage of cutting-edge animation and multiple weekly conversations on social media because each New episode released. Luckily, it also doesn’t have the advantage of online accessibility. As long as Brotherhood remains available on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Amazon Prime and (for one more week) Funimation, it’s unlikely to fade into obscurity even if it no longer claims the top spot.
Looking at these two anime series side by side, they have many similar themes and a familiar appeal. Brotherhood leads with strong action scenes and fantasy elements before hooking viewers with deep emotional beats that leave them pondering mortality; Meanwhile, Frieren follows this formula in reverse. Both shows benefit greatly from the fun chemistry between their two leads as they embark on life-changing journeys — as well as the energy and humor of the cast they meet on way. They also showcased strong world-building, engaging opening and ending themes, and impressive animation that stood out from its contemporaries.
The Brotherhood deserves praise, but if anything pushes it off the throne, Frieren has taken the crown. The show is currently wrapping up the First Class Mage Exam and is a very different show from the one it started with. Still, this shift from its previous focus on Frieren’s past and present journey shows the show’s scope and staying power.
It’s fitting that Frieren, a show with powerful messages about time and mortality, became an eight-year-long status quo overthrower. The main theme of Frieren is that its main character experiences time in a different way: for a human, it feels like growing old is nothing to her. To Frieren, the Brotherhood’s domination would simply be a blip in the time-space continuum.