>>283588457
How the fuck?
Anyway, here's why I don't like it.
Frieren constantly confuses reminiscence with reflection. It tries to present itself as this profound, introspective work about loss and memory, but it never goes deeper than surface-level nostalgia. Instead of meaningful growth, it just circles back to the past over and over again. The, admittedly good art, animation, music, and direction create an emotional atmosphere that makes it feel deep to hide its stasis. The themes gradually drop in favor of a more WSJ-esque entry. Take the Golden City arc, for example, feels quite akin to something out of KnY.
After the first arc, in which Frieren grieves, accepts her loss, and reconnects with her old companions, her character basically stops developing. We have some setup, and then the narrative falls into a loop: the party arrives at a new town, we get flashbacks, some comedy.
Same shit, repeated endlessly, pretending to be profound while saying very little. As it goes on, the pacing slows to such a crawl it resembles a |1-x| function.
Fern and Stark don't grow much either. The series hints at development a few times but never follows through, quickly resetting their dynamics. Later arcs rely heavily on disposable side characters who add nothing to the original themes.
Worse, the introduction of time manipulation undercuts the series' core message about moving on.
Terrible worldbuilding too. I burst out laughing once they crossed the iceplains to discover that noting in the north is different.
In short, its is pretty but shallow. Its calm, sentimental tone gives the illusion of maturity, but there's not much real substance behind it. You could cut the series in half and lose almost nothing. It's a pretty, soothing read that resonates mainly with those content to overlook its lack of depth.
Oh yeah, disregard everything about the manga having good presentation, that one is just a stinker.
Also, it runs in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.
t. dropped the manga back in 2022
