It’s somewhat generic.
Summary:
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End often gets compared to isekai anime.
- Fans say it is better — but the worldbuilding isn’t actually that different.
- It is also inspired by RPGs.
- Some fans feel a generic world is what the anime actually needed.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sousou no Frieren) has been praised for many things. With it supposedly reviving the fantasy genre in anime, it often gets favorably compared to many contemporary fantasy anime — most notably, isekai series.
And yes, in many aspects, Frieren is much better than your generic isekai. However, one thing in Frieren is similar — and it’s the worldbuilding in the anime. While it doesn’t rely as much on game mechanics, it is inspired by the same things — and it could have been much better.
How does it compare to isekai series, for example?
The worldbuilding in Frieren is rather lacking compared to many fantasy novels of the past. Of course, not everything should be Lord of the Rings, but Frieren has actually been compared to it before — and it definitely isn’t even close in the worldbuilding department.
Isekai anime get criticized for being obviously inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and by Japanese RPGs like Dragon Quest. Frieren is also inspired by both, and although these elements are much more subtle, they are still noticeable, making fans wish the world of the series was more unique.
It’s not that unique
Okay, it isn’t actually as bad as in many isekai anime. Frieren doesn’t use game-like mechanics and numbers, preferring to keep the magic mysterious and vague on purpose. For that, it has been praised — but the rest of the worldbuilding is surprisingly bland.
For example, the Hero Party that defeated the Demon King had members belonging to different classes. The entire class system is straight out of RPGs. The races also have their commonly perceived traits, with nothing about them being entirely unique or new.
It’s not even the first story to touch upon how elves perceive time differently from humans (although it is the first one in anime).
Some fans like the world as is
You can definitely praise Frieren for many things. Its worldbuilding, however, is not one of those. While it serves the series well, it doesn’t have many unique elements — this is basically a generic medieval European-styled fantasy world.
That said, the whole atmosphere of classical fantasy is why some enjoy the anime in the first place. In that sense, a generic world is actually perfect. Could Frieren have had a more intricate world? Possibly. Did it need to have it? Debatable.