Frieren Review: The Value of Life through the Time Perspective
Based on medieval German culture, Sousou no Frieren presents a post-adventure story, which gives the same thrill as the adventure itself.
The past-adventure concept brought by Sousou no Frieren is quite fresh air to the fantasy enjoyer since the fantasy stories use the chronological plot where the main character teams up with their friends and fights against evil. Sometimes, the chronological fantasy stories use flashbacks to give depth to the characteristics. However, Frieren begs to differ. The story starts when Frieren, the long-lived elf mage and her party: Eisen the warrior, Heiter the priest and Himmel the blue-haired handsome knight had defeated the Demon King and they started to walk on their own path.
Fifty years later, Frieren went back to see her comrades in town to take them to the hill and watch the rare sky phenomenon which only happened once in fifty years. Frieren’s physical appearance didn’t change at all, meanwhile Himmel and Heiter who were humans looked much older. Eisen, the dwarf, only looked a little bit older than the last time they saw each other since dwarfs age slower than humans. Shortly after their reunion, Himmel passed away peacefully.
Himmel’s death had moved Frieren’s heart to gain a new perspective in her life. For millennia Frieren spent her life slacking around, not appreciating every moment she experienced. Frieren showed no expression when her comrades are enjoying their precious short life, even at the beginning of the story she thought that the ten year journey with the party was only a little bit of her long, long life. As a result she regretted that she didn’t get to know more about her friends, even though she had a ten-year-long chance to get to know them. For long-lived elves, ten years is a short time, but for humans, it’s more than enough to get to know each other.
Frieren realized that mingling with her comrades for a little bit of time would not distract their goal to accomplish their mission. During their journey, Frieren helped the villagers and built bonds with them, especially her apprentice, Fern. Frieren became more considerate with her friends, she even gave Fern a necklace as her 16th birthday present. Since then, Frieren felt the joy of building bonds, interacting with humans and creating moments together. Frieren also learned not to see the world through the long-lived creatures but to see it through the short-lived humans point of view.
The magical and eye-pleasing visuals bring the adventure in the fantasy world along with the mages, knights and monsters. The medieval mythological creatures such as elves, demons, and dragons also strengthen the characteristics of medieval Europe that are filled with magical stories.
Overall the plot of Frieren isn’t too heavy since the premise takes the post-war with the demon king as the background. However, it doesn’t mean the series would be boring. The story centers around Frieren’s character development into a brand-new shaped reality for grasping the whole world.
The action scenes, even though they weren’t the main focus of the series, delivered well and were quite immersive. Not too dramatic like the classic fantasy anime storytelling, yet clear enough to represent the magical battle between demons and humans.
As a seiyuu (Japanese voice actor/actress) fan, I also put my attention to the portrayal of the characters by their voice actors. Atsumi Tanezaki portrayed the cold Frieren well, even though her tone of voice sounded monotonous, she could deliver the caring side of Frieren who couldn’t express her feelings well. The funny moments, serious moments and even when Frieren had to speak firmly were well played by Tanezaki. Okamoto Nobuhiko who played Himmel also did a great job on portraying the brave knight just like in the little girl’s fairy tales. The soft voice he used when talking to Frieren and the firm tone he brought to the enemies fit Himmel so much.
Until the article was written, Sousou no Frieren was still airing at Muse Asia YouTube Channel and you could watch it for free, legally!
