Frieren: Beyond Journey's End was a huge success and deservedly so. In an age where fantasy anime and manga often rely heavily on video games and RPGs, this is instead a much more conventional setting that doesn't lean towards the typical old sword-and-sorcery cliches. It's a combination of the old and the new while quietly carving out its own path.
Unlike many games in the same genre, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End takes place after defeating a major threat to the world. Its heroine is the quiet elven mage Frieren, who helps defeat the Demon King as a member of a group of heroes. Due to the nature of her species, Frieren has an extremely long lifespan: For many, their 15-year journey would be a milestone, but for her, it was just a drop in the bucket. However, at the funeral of a former party member, a kind (if somewhat vain) hero named Himmel, Frieren realizes how life-changing that “brief excursion” truly was. In response, she embarks on a new adventure in which she must retrace the steps the Hero Party took, gaining a new appreciation for both the past and present as well as those who have entered her life.
Essentially, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End feels like an epilogue expanded into an entire series of its own.
The original manga is currently serialized in Weekly Shounen Sunday magazine. This seems to put it in the same demographic as the likes of Detective Conan and Inuyasha, but it also doesn't have the same essence as your typical shounen series or their typical power fantasies . Sure, Frieren can be seen kicking ass and educating the ignorant, but what makes her an incredible heroine isn't her ability to wield deadly magic or her years of grinding her magic. Rather, it's how Frieren has very different priorities when it comes to magic.
Instead, her true motivation is to collect all manner of fake grimoires and talismans—especially those often considered mundane or even useless by others. Frieren is like a master chef at the world's most highly rated restaurant, her eyes lighting up every time she tries the latest fast food item or cheap street stall. To her, the beauty of magic is most deeply expressed through small and humble spells, and Frieren's experiences leave her surprised by both the familiar and the unfamiliar. There is only one very specific exception, and that is when Frieren can show his true power in combat the most.
I relate so much to Frieren and her ideals. In pursuing my hobbies and interests, I try to look at them through a lens of discovery, where the silly little things are valuable in their own right.
Frieren has no rosy nostalgia for the past, nor a passionate belief that forward progress is inevitable. Some things have been better, some have been worse, and contemporary cultures are the product of centuries of change and development but also the fading of memory. Even magic is influenced by cycles and trends, which is what Frieren tries to convey to his student, Fern, as well as anyone willing to listen.
The combination of the epilogue-like nature of the series, its heroine's personality, and her tendency to take a very long view on things makes Frieren: Beyond Journey's End feel like a fantasy adventure and travel alike in the vein of Kino's Journey. Episodes can take place over the course of a day or even six months, and the companions will sometimes literally grow into adults. The film also often flashes back to moments with Frieren's original group to provide context or interesting parallels to her current journey. And just like Kino, when things go south and action is needed, the characters don't disappoint.
Although Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is not completely devoid of console and PC RPGs (hero and demon lord archetypes are chief among them), I would like to reiterate that this series is not an isekai to at any rate, a reincarnation story, or leans heavily on the aesthetic trappings of RPGs where badness is the main draw. Sure, it can scratch a similar itch since Frieren is often secretly the strongest person in the room, but the series doesn't rely on those tropes as lazy shorthand instead of actually being accessible.
In other words, this is potentially the perfect gateway anime for longtime anime and manga fans. With Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, you need to remember that sometimes a work is popular not because it appeals to some lowest common denominator, but because it's just solid storytelling with compelling characters, an interesting world and a story that encourages reflection. It's definitely on my list of all-time greats, and Frieren himself is one of the best to ever do it.
And by “do it,” I mean appreciate life and all its wrinkles.