Hey all, I’m back with another Anime Sunday with this week being a look at one of the Fall 2023 season’s new shows. It’s my “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” Episode 01 Impressions.

Plot: This is a really emotional series, and this first episode definitely hit me like a gut punch. It’s about Frieren, the elf member of a hero’s party who travels after their defeat of the Demon King, and upon returning she goes to visit her friends for the first time in 50 years. She realizes that they’ve all aged and she didn’t spend much time with them, and they’re nearing the end of their lives. Frieren is going to outlive her friends because she’s an elf with a life span of over a thousand years.

Characters: Frieren is definitely the main character of the show, and she really hammers home the potential problems of having extremely long lives when it comes to interpersonal relationships. I won’t spoil it anymore because this is easily one of the strongest anime stories I’ve seen in years, and it is incredibly well done.

Art: Madhouse did an excellent job as always with the animation and really hit it out of the park, which is another reason “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” is such a strong series in my opinion.

Music: The music fits the somber atmosphere of this first episode very well.

Overall: An incredible first episode to a series that might be one of the best of the 2023 anime to air.

For those who like: Fantasy, Adventure, Introspective Plots, and Great Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.