A number of fans don’t feel any emotional connection to Frieren’s characters.
You don’t have to like characters to enjoy their adventures.
There are no real stakes in Frieren.
People of different ages perceive the anime in a different way.
There’s no doubt that Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) has already become a real anime phenomenon, even though Season 1 is still unfinished. But what makes this series so good?
The most common answers include things like the world, the story and the characters. However, there are some fans that don’t really feel any attachment to Frieren’s characters, yet they are still enjoying the anime just as much. But how does it work?
You don’t have to like them to enjoy their journey
Yes, it’s as simple as that: it often happens that the journey and the story are more important. We’ve got plenty of anime with villains (Death Note’s Light) or unlikable characters (Bucchigiri’s Arajin) as main protagonists, and viewers still enjoy such series greatly.
Of course, Frieren, Fern and Stark are neither villains nor unlikable characters, but we do understand how some viewers may find them not that compelling and relatable. Frieren is a 1000-something-year-old elven mage, and it’s pretty hard to relate to that.
There are no real stakes
Frieren is not just an elven mage, she’s an immensely powerful one, too. Most of the battles are done within half an episode. We know and feel how strong she is; that’s why it’s easy to stop being scared at some point.
Viewers still care about her and her journey, of course, but they see little danger. There’s hardly a demon or any other creature that can pose a threat to Frieren and the two kids she’s mentoring, so we can just relax and move from the edge of our seat to sit properly.
It’s an age thing
We don’t want to sound ageist, but Frieren characters might feel more relatable to older audiences. A lot of topics that are explored in the series are connected to regret. The main idea of the anime is that Frieren wishes she had spent more time with her former party members.
You fully understand that when you’re older and have experienced all sorts of things. It doesn’t mean that younger audiences would never understand that, of course. We all lead different lives, but the chances are higher with adults.
So if you’re a teenager who doesn’t really understand what’s the big deal about Frieren, you might try to give it a rewatch in 10 years or so, and who knows, perhaps your opinion will change a lot.
It doesn’t make the series any less entertaining.
Summary:
A number of fans don’t feel any emotional connection to Frieren’s characters.
You don’t have to like characters to enjoy their adventures.
There are no real stakes in Frieren.
People of different ages perceive the anime in a different way.
There’s no doubt that Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) has already become a real anime phenomenon, even though Season 1 is still unfinished. But what makes this series so good?
The most common answers include things like the world, the story and the characters. However, there are some fans that don’t really feel any attachment to Frieren’s characters, yet they are still enjoying the anime just as much. But how does it work?
You don’t have to like them to enjoy their journey
Yes, it’s as simple as that: it often happens that the journey and the story are more important. We’ve got plenty of anime with villains (Death Note’s Light) or unlikable characters (Bucchigiri’s Arajin) as main protagonists, and viewers still enjoy such series greatly.
Of course, Frieren, Fern and Stark are neither villains nor unlikable characters, but we do understand how some viewers may find them not that compelling and relatable. Frieren is a 1000-something-year-old elven mage, and it’s pretty hard to relate to that.
There are no real stakes
Frieren is not just an elven mage, she’s an immensely powerful one, too. Most of the battles are done within half an episode. We know and feel how strong she is; that’s why it’s easy to stop being scared at some point.
Viewers still care about her and her journey, of course, but they see little danger. There’s hardly a demon or any other creature that can pose a threat to Frieren and the two kids she’s mentoring, so we can just relax and move from the edge of our seat to sit properly.
It’s an age thing
We don’t want to sound ageist, but Frieren characters might feel more relatable to older audiences. A lot of topics that are explored in the series are connected to regret. The main idea of the anime is that Frieren wishes she had spent more time with her former party members.
You fully understand that when you’re older and have experienced all sorts of things. It doesn’t mean that younger audiences would never understand that, of course. We all lead different lives, but the chances are higher with adults.
So if you’re a teenager who doesn’t really understand what’s the big deal about Frieren, you might try to give it a rewatch in 10 years or so, and who knows, perhaps your opinion will change a lot.
