In fact, it was on par with the pacing of the rest of the show.
Summary:
- Some fans complain about the beginning of Frieren being too slow.
- The four-episode premiere gives the viewer a choice on how to watch it, while simultaneously giving them more content to get the vibe of the anime.
- Frieren deals with perception and passage of time, and the first episode showcases that perfectly.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) has been a huge hit with anime fans around the world. Despite the anime featuring less action than mainstream series like Jujutsu Kaisen or Chainsaw Man, it’s almost as popular — and fans praise the feeling of adventure, realistic character writing and great production values for that.
To some, the start of the series might feel a little bit slow. It takes a while for the anime to introduce its main cast, and there isn’t much action in the first arcs.
While that’s true, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily slow: the anime isn’t supposed to be about action in the first place, and gradual introduction of important characters fits perfectly with the themes of the anime.
How the anime began
The structure of the start of the anime is very much intended. Even the now-popular extended premiere approach takes a different turn here: Frieren released 4 episodes at once in its first week.
You could have decided to watch them in one sitting or split them across multiple sessions — something you couldn’t really do with many other movie-length premieres.
Most of the first episode is spent on reminiscing about Frieren’s adventuring days — and after that, we get introduced to Fern, who is the deuteragonist of the anime. Frieren training Fern is perfect for showing how Frieren herself sees other people and the world — her perception of time is simply different from ours.
There was a lot of thought put into the premiere
Some fans might argue that the first episode spent too much time on Frieren’s interactions with her former party. However, these experiences were very important to her as a character and helped shape her as a person. They are brought up many times over the course of the anime.
Viewers even speculated that the creators of the anime knew it would be harder for some fans to get into the series with just the first episode. As such, the 4-episode premiere actually helps it — fans get more time to see what the anime is about, as well as immerse themselves into the fantasy world.
Thematic relevance of the first episode
Extensive focus on flashbacks isn’t exactly uncommon in action series — and it is not always a bad thing.
In the case of Frieren, it’s actually very important: the anime deals with the passage of time and how our past experiences affect us. Throwing the viewer directly into action would arguably make the show worse