Frieren is... truly worthy of this high honor. It's such an easy going, enjoyable story that will make all kinds of viewers excited. I have very high expectations of its second season.
I dunno. I always compare Frierrn to Ranking of a Kings.
Frieren wins on art (Ranking of Kings is iconic but the art turns a lot of people off). But when it comes to heartfelt dramatic scenes, Frieren drops off quickly for me.
The first arc of Frierrn was very well written and the original party vs the Demon Lord is a great source of intrigue. I want to learn more about them.
But the demons are kinda flat. Which is the point and nice for once. But it does mean that the demons barely have room for character interactions as we know they are just assholes.
The mages in the exam are hit and miss for me. I think I can connect well with the old dwarf but the bulk of 'development' for everyone else is kind of one-punch-man esque. IE they underestimate others then are surprised when someone else over performs.
Which was.... Cool when One Punch Man did it? But when we have Sense underestimating Ubel and this is like the 5th time in this show where this underestimate->surprise->oh I understand you better now trope is played, I'm wondering if the author is unable to deliver a better drama arc.
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In contrast, pretty much every character in Ranking of Kings has depth. Even the demon is showing that he is cursed to provide people with bad wishes (and the Mirror lady Miranjo might be the only one who understands that).
Ranking of Kings is the cheesier (by today's standards) all villains are just misunderstood trope.
I appreciate Frieren for making the demons just.... Bad Guys. But it is a lost opportunity for character interactions. The number of good character interactions is also pretty low, especially given the huge cast.
On the other hand, maybe the simpler and repetitive storytelling style of Frieren is more like Naruto. It's repetition on purpose to make the world feel more connected. (In Naruto, the genius always beat the lazy guy, so then the Lazy Guy worked harder and later beat the natural born genius). Whether Frieren is a recursive story with interconnected characters... Or just plain dumbly repetitive, I dunno yet it depends on what the next seasons will bring.
But I think a lot of people overvalue Frieren just because it's first 5 episodes were god-tier. I don't think the later episodes kept up with other top tier shows though.
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