TL:DR - A decent show ruined by poor writing and strong plot convenience like no other.
Whew this is a rough one. Usually when I see something popular that I don't end up liking I can at least understand *why* it's liked.
This one eludes me, but we'll get what's NOT wrong with it out of the way first.
The overall animation is pretty solid and consistent. It does dip down here and there with some cheaper shots, but mostly it's pretty good.
Another decent point is the music. Outside of the first OP being probably one of the most mismatched intros to a show i've ever heard, the
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rest is pretty solid mostly. I'm not a huge fan of the scottish almost medieval feel for half of it, but i'll just say that's a matter of taste.
That pretty much immediately ends the good.
Tragically the characters and plot really bring down any potential the show could have.
The plot is touted as something new and special, but my lord does it quickly fall into the same types of things we see on literally every other fantasy show with a demon king. The only difference is there's no demon king. The whole point of the show is to see these types of things from a different perspective, but it just never goes out of it's way to give you a new perspective. Instead it's all mainly used to give you similarities between Frieren's old party and the new one. It could be interesting, but most of the show spends it's time on incredibly tropey situations that run off some of the hardest plot convenience i've seen in ages.
About to lose? Pure evil genocidal demons let you go, only for you to beat them because "jk they're weak".
Lose something? "here's the reward! i'm about to give you is the spell of not losing that."
Need money? Nobles popping out right on time as you complain about being poor with the literal most convenient thing possible giving you the opportunity to bag money said money.
Being tested? Make a plan that ends with "and now I just need to be the luckiest person ever to use the single worst designed spell ever made"
On top of all THAT we get these situations where the main cast decides they want to be more immature than elementary schoolers. The show is trying to tell this supposedly emotional story while linking it to Frieren's past, but it feels like it's self sabotaging itself constantly with the most frustrating situations and predictable writing i've seen in awhile.
At some point you get a hint that we're gonna get another arc we've seen in other anime a 100 times. After the terrible "everyone is incompetent" Arc for ep 8-10 seeing that it makes you worry. What hurts more is knowing from the moment they start it, it lasts ALL the way to the end so they really drag it out.
Throughout it all there really isn't any high stakes despite the show trying to act like there is despite the obvious outcome of "OP Frieren is OP". Even when the show finally decides to have a single moment where there's real danger, the reason it's dangerous just takes you out of it.
Sigh...
I'll finish by talking about some of the characters, which honestly aren't too much better. They do have some high points, but tragically the best characters have the least screen time while instead we just see the same garbage from Fern and Frieren most the episodes. Most the cast also feels pretty monotone. Some people say it's realistic, but honestly there's more emotion in day to day conversation with real people than most of frieren.
Both Priests - Pretty solid overall and actually feels like characters. Tragically all priests are hard limited on screen time. Can't have the better characters too long. You might get spoiled having a real character around.
Stark - Zenitsu from Demon Slayer, but not creepy. Also nowhere near as cool so it balances out. Solid character, but again we limit his screen time. Is in the middle ground a bit since he's also constantly involved in some of Frieren and Fern's childish personalities. A pretty standard character type with not much new to offer, but still solid despite that. Is a "coward" but not really.
Fern - Lives off cute pout energy, but transitions to insufferable at times. Like if Taiga from Toradora was robbed of her depth and charm. If not pouting she's probably blank faced and monotone. Typically characters like these are an easy win for me but my god she's terrible at times.
Frieren - Oldest of the group, somehow the dumbest. Apparently thinks jumping into mimics is the only option. OP to the point of being boring and even more monotone than Fern somehow. Just like Fern she thrives off cute energy. Acts like she's 5 until she has to act like she's older because the other characters are acting like they are 5.
As a SoL/Romance fan, I am pretty weak to the cute energy the emanates from some of the scenes, but it's ruined so often that it makes it not worth it.
There's also some real cool stuff scattered around in the show, but again it's just constantly ruined by terrible writing or characters. The deeper you look into each episode the worst most of the end up feeling as the cracks start to show.
I usually don't write reviews for these type of overhyped/overrated shows, but this one just boggles me on why it's so popular so I figured i'd drop my opinion for the Frieren cult to never read but mark as funny.
Apr 16, 2024
Sousou no Frieren
(Anime)
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Not Recommended Funny 
TL:DR - A decent show ruined by poor writing and strong plot convenience like no other.
Whew this is a rough one. Usually when I see something popular that I don't end up liking I can at least understand *why* it's liked. This one eludes me, but we'll get what's NOT wrong with it out of the way first. The overall animation is pretty solid and consistent. It does dip down here and there with some cheaper shots, but mostly it's pretty good. Another decent point is the music. Outside of the first OP being probably one of the most mismatched intros to a show i've ever heard, the ... 
Dec 31, 2023
Sailor Fuku, Tokidoki Apron
(Manga)
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A simple slice of life comedy between a highschool girl becoming a landlord and her tenants, all dipped in a bit of ecchi.
There's no romance or yuri so it's a bit mislabeled where I read it since I was searching for some GL, but it is quite funny and entertaining nonetheless. It's about everything you'd expect from a ecchi slice of life, and the jokes land much better than I would have guessed going into it. The antics can be a bit random, but it's not too far off the rails that it ruins the experience. All in all it's nothing too crazy since it is ... 
Dec 29, 2023
Joshikou dakara Safe
(Manga)
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Not too deep on spoilers, but marked just in case.
A decent manga that feels a bit rushed towards the end. As previously mentioned in other reviews, there's a short lived moment that's a bit dark, but nothing comes from it and mainly serves to further show the character is a bit twisted(even further supported by a few of the shorrt extra chapters after the end). It doesn't have too much impact on the story though and it's not as bad as others make it out to be. It is abrupt, but you can't do something like this without that feeling. It also serves as a ... 
Oct 14, 2023
Sweet Magic Syndrome
(Manga)
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A bit of a tough read due to the lack of any meaningful substance and the repetitive nature of the characters. I'd imagine many people run into this title glossing over Girl's Love tags looking for something to read. It's not entirely fair to the manga, but it also brings it upon itself with how much yuri baiting there is.
There's some really adorable art that pops up throughout, but that's probably the only thing it has going for it. After a few chapters you've pretty much experienced all that the manga has to offer. It's fine for a volume, but for 41 chapters it just ... 
Feb 10, 2023
JK to Tomodachi no Okan
(Manga)
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An incredibly adorable manga with more of a focus on comedy. There's not too much plot or depth but it more than makes up with it with it's humor and cute character interactions and even cuter character art. Strong blush game here. If you're worried it's more of a gag type manga then fear not, for the yuri aspects is 100% solid as well. The son's misinterpretation of his friends feelings adds a nice balance to the whole thing.
The 18 to 36 age gap is pretty large but they handle very well imo. I wouldn't consider that a reason to pass this up if that's ... 
Dec 20, 2022
Riko to Haru to Onsen to Iruka
(Manga)
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Aight. I'm just writing this to save fellow yuri/romance fans some time. There's no relationship or basically any progress towards any relationship. Some minor things happen but overall there's just nothingness while 2 girls fangirl over another a few times.
I'm not here for the ecchi, but for you guys, there's also not really much to speak of. Weird tags on this one. If you're here just for some fluffiness... Yeah that's also kinda mid. Everyone loses this time around guys. Sorry. All that's left is a somewhat middling series of events that doesn't really contribute to anything. It's a tough read overall. 
Aug 6, 2022
Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story
(Anime)
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This is rough in almost every way possible.
The characters are basically static and tossed in random events where they can continue to be broken records in the most asinine scenarios. Some people praise it for the "yuri". But holy damn the other girl isn't even present in 90% of the anime. It's just not even a factor. Nothing in the show is here for accuracy nor consistency. 20 yards between balls? Like 3 feet at best if you just look at the distance of the balls. There's basically zero stakes even when the show is trying to tell you how high the stakes are. Everything is just done ... 
Jan 3, 2022
Tatoe Todokanu Ito da toshitemo
(Manga)
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This story is a prequel to a manga I wish existed. Spoilers ahead.
This manga has a constant sense of weight that is hard to describe. In most stories like this, something heavy might happen to set the scene and you get the entire story of them falling in love. This time around, the entire story is around overcoming some heavy shit, and at the end you get your relationship kinda put out there at the end. So like a reverse take. I can't say I like this method much since cute lovey dovey romance is my preferred, but it does do well in setting up these characters ... 
Sep 1, 2021
Kandagawa Jet Girls
(Anime)
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I don't usually do many reviews, but I felt like I should at least try to persuade people to watch this. At the very least I feel like it's underrated cuz people see some boobs and probably assume the worst, just like I did.
For starters, i'm not a fanservice guy. I'm mostly a romance/slice of life/Romcom kinda person. Me and fanservice just don't get along. For a comparison, Keijo, similar sports type ecchi anime, got a 4 from me. Going into this, I had zero expectations and figured i'd just be met with your typical ecchi garbage. I'm part of a group that throws anime into ... 
Aug 14, 2021
Jujutsu Kaisen
(Anime)
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Spoiler free review!
I don't write many reviews but I felt like I needed to for this one. I'm not one to watch stuff like this too much but I ended up going through this because of an anime watch group i'm part of, and man am I glad I did. This was one hell of a fun ride. Story: 10 This show just absolutely sucks you in. There were a few times where the show would start and when the OP hit all I could think was "Damn, the episode is already over?". Nope. It just started. Any time the OP was delayed this was my reaction. ... |
