Fantasy has many subgenres — it shouldn’t conform to just one.
Summary:
- Wanting other fantasy anime to be similar to Frieren means you are missing the point.
- Fantasy is a genre that has many opportunities for different kinds of stories.
- We’ll probably see anime similar to Frieren in the future anyway.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sousou no Frieren) impressed anime fans with how great it was. To many, it’s a great example of an actually good fantasy anime. As such, people are arguing that more fantasy anime should be like Frieren — but that is not necessarily true.
The Argument Doesn’t Even Mean Anything
Some people say that Frieren is a fresh breath of an actually good fantasy anime in the era of generic isekai series. That may be true, but the strength of Frieren is not actually its worldbuilding (which is fairly generic): it’s the atmosphere and character writing. Saying that “more fantasy anime should be like Frieren” ultimately doesn’t mean anything if it refers to worldbuilding.
Besides, more anime being like Frieren would make Frieren itself generic — the term refers to things that are like everything else. As it is, Frieren is exceptional because of the messages it conveys and themes it explores — and it should stay that way. More anime should try their own thing, not just “be like Frieren.”
Fantasy Is a Diverse Genre — No Need for Everything to Be Like Frieren
In general, wanting the genre to conform to one particular standout example is not a good idea. Yes, Frieren is good, but it’s hardly the only good fantasy anime. Berserk is also a very good fantasy anime (the 1997 one, not the CGI one) — that doesn’t mean everything should be like it.
Fantasy is a very broad genre with many subgenres, and it’s perfectly fine for Frieren to occupy its own niche while other series do completely different things.
Frieren is only one example of a good fantasy series, too: while people say it’s better than isekai anime we get every season, some of these isekai series are actually good — like KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! (Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!) and Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu).
We’ll Probably See Some Anime Similar to Frieren in the Future
Still, Frieren’s storytelling and its story of success will undoubtedly inspire many authors. There’s a good chance we’ll see more anime at least somewhat similar to it, at least in the atmosphere of a slow-paced travel adventure.
One thing about Frieren that should be a staple in other anime, though, is its good animation — though that’s out of question most of the time. The fact that Frieren even got an adaptation of that caliber is a miracle, and you can’t really expect other fantasy anime to have visuals that good.