I like Frieren

It is now my favorite show. It came out in 2023 but I only found out about it a few months ago.

I watched it with subtitles and with English dubs. And I cherrypicked the best parts on various React channels.

It's may or may not be my favorite show of all time (that would probably be Gravity Falls, Batman the Animated Series, or Gargoyles or ATLA), but for now Frieren is fresh and new and I eagerly await Season 2 which is supposed to come out in January 2026. By anime standards, a three year gap between seasons isn't bad.

The gap between seasons on One Punch Man seasons are insane. I like One Punch Man. It's not my favorite show but it's a very good show.

One Punch Man and Frieren are not similar shows but they have one broad similarities. They both break normal storytelling rules. In writing and most other forms of art, "You must learn the rules, so that you can break them."

You can't just break rules willynilly and expect to make brilliant art. Unless you are JJ Abrams, in which case it doesn't matter if Lost is disappointing, you'll just get offered more franchises to destroy.

I do not know if Frieren is an everyone show or just a show I would like. Of all the shows I really like, I think Gravity Falls and Avatar the Last Airbender are shows for everyone. My other favorite things are acquired tastes.

 

You haven't watched Gravity Falls or Monty Python or practically anything else I like.

EDIT: Seriously though, Frieren is the best piece of media I've seen after 2020

 

Or you could watch Frieren. She is the real clever girl.

 

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
― Pablo Picasso

Frieren, Beyond Journey's End breaks the rules like an artist.

It's a fantasy setting that vaguely resembles a vanilla D&D world but it has great characters and the story focuses on things that are usually glossed over in fantasy adventures.

The very first episode, the heroes are on their way back from a grand adventure. Imagine if Lord of the Rings started the day after Sauron was destroyed.

Okay, you saved the world...now what?

Animation: Very good. Especially the fight scenes. There aren't a lot of fight scenes but the ones we get are awesome.

Music: Very good

Voice acting (English and Japanese): Very good

And this certainly has heart.

 

I never quantified it. Spitballing I guess it's 70% slice of life and character interactions, 30% diving in dungeons, completing quests and battling monsters. The battles we get are pretty exciting and visually well animated. The show simultaneously feels slow paced and fast paced at the same time.

I prefer the English dub. But most fans prefer the Japanese version.

But I noticed, most people have very rigid preferences on all anime. Either they want English dubs all the time or they want Japanese with English subtitles, all the time.

The exception is when the English dubs REALLY mess up or the subtitle translations really suck. Neither applies here. They didn't cut any corners on this show.

 

I have purchased several manga compilation books. I have not read very far into them yet. I have a giant pile of unread books of many types. I came back from a gaming convention a few weeks ago and I have many unread RPG books too, and I've been chewing through a Robert E. Howard anthology (he created Conan the Barbarian in the 20s and 30s).

20 years of regular internet has ruined my attention span for reading. I can maybe do an hour of reading at a time before I got to stop. Long ago, I could sit in a chair reading for four hours.

Season 1 covers 60 issues of the manga in 26 episodes of the show. I've read about 12 issues (the issues are short). I think there are about 200 issues, but they aren't all available in English translated compendiums yet. Season 1 follows the manga very closely.

Season 2 is confirmed for a premiere in January 2026. Which in Anime terms is pretty fast. A mere three year gap between season 1 and 2.

Season 3 is not confirmed yet, but there is enough manga material for three seasons and there seems to be fan demand for it, assuming season 2 isn't a crushing disappointment. The Japanese voice actress for Frieren is apparently seriously ill and take an extended sabbatical from work, and she does LOTS of anime voices.

Season 1 is on Netflix and Crunch Roll. I don't know if Crunchy Roll will get season 2 before Netflix or not. I noticed, the English translations on Netflix and Crunchy Roll are different, but I don't think there is a translation. "My head is not for patting" and "do not pat my head" are pretty similar.

Right now Crunchy Roll has season 1 and 2 of Apothecary Diaries and Netflix only has Season 1. My friend renewed his Crunchy Roll just for Apothecary Diaries. I like Apothecary Diaries. I like Frieren, Beyond Journey's End much more.

Both Apothecary Diaries involve a fantasy setting with a female protagonist that is socially awkward and probably an INTP. But the shows are very different. A lot of times they are lumped together for analysis on Youtube. Often with the thesis, "Japanese media knows how to write strong female characters that male and female audiences like, and American media does not."

There is a lot of anime out there of varying qualities. My anime loving friend tends to cherry pick shows he thinks I'll like and he's got a pretty high success rate.

Spoiler: Apothecary Diaries tangent

Apothecary Diaries is a magic-free setting loosely based on Imperial China and is darker in tone. Mao Mao is highly educated in medicine and poisons and happens to be in a setting where lots of people get poisoned. And even if they aren't slinging poison around, almost everyone is keeping secrets or lying about something. A good show is you like mystery dramas.

A lot of the mystery is figured who is poisoned due to malice and who is poisoned due to ignorance. Then of course, if someone was poisoned on purpose, it's another mystery as to why.

 

I'd say it's beginner friendly, and I'm barely passed the beginner stage myself.

 

My daughters are into Frieren, so there's a chance i will watch it too.