Less emotionality does not mean less heart.
Summary:
- Сharacters don't show their emotions and act very reserved.
- Shounen often involves a high degree of emotionality.
- This trope works well with the anime's pacing.
Anime is known for its hyper-emotional characters. Feelings are usually portrayed in an overly vivid and articulate manner. This is especially true for shounen characters. But recently a title that breaks the stereotype has appeared. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) is remembered for its melancholic atmosphere. The characters here don't laugh or cry too much. They don't show their emotions and act very reserved. But what is the point? What are the creators trying to show?
Not typical for a shounen
What is a shounen? Shounen is usually a story about a young boy who gains strength. These plots are often a metaphor for puberty, and they involve a high level of emotion. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End also belongs to this genre, but this anime doesn't have an emotional teenage protagonist. Although Frieren looks young, she is over a thousand years old. She is prudent and cautious, which is definitely not typical for teenagers.
However, not only does the main character lack emotion, but so do the other characters. If Frieren is many years old, the same cannot be said about her companions. Stark and Fern are still very young, but they don't show much emotion either. The logical explanation is probably improper upbringing. We know that the main characters' families were killed, and they were raised by people who know little about raising children. That's why they don't know how to express their emotions and prefer to remain cold and indifferent. But this is just a plot explanation, is there anything else?
Unique concept
This decision can be explained not only by the plot, but also by the direction. It should not be forgotten that Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is primarily a story about temporal experience. Frieren is an elf who has lived for many hundreds of years. She feels time differently than humans, who have relatively short lives. It was probably impossible to come up with a better solution than to put a character who can hardly be surprised after all her life experiences at the center of the story and give her emotionlessness. Also, this trope works well with anime's pacing. It would be hard to watch such a melancholy story if the main heroes expressed their feelings emotionally.
Another equally important point is that the characters in Frieren: Beyond Journey's End look more realistic compared to many other anime characters. This is largely due to their calm personalities. The experiences look as believable as if they were happening in our world. All these elements make for a great combination!