Sousou no Frieren is hard to recommend.
It's employing the overused formula of an isekai/fantasy with a quircky plot subversion (the final boss is already dead) in a desperate attemmpt to somehow salvage some attention from the userbase who at this point is so bored of this constant use of this setting. Have the main character be a kudere who's only flaw is that she doesn't understand emotions. Toss in a few fast paced fight scenes with magic to keep the viewer engaged and some tropey character interactions. Oh, and to not forget the cherry on top, there is also the 1000 year old girl that
...
conveniently has the looks of a teenager. In short, all the ingredients for a standard, watch-then-forget, eat-cereal-to, play-in-the-background type of story, which this medium has plenty of offerings.
But confusingly enough, that's not how the show starts off at all:
- Compared to the trend which is aiming towards faster and more bombastic action, Frieren starts off with an abnormally slow paced exposition (given the last decade).
- Whereas most shows feature evermore complex artstyle and falshier characters, this show looks oddly plain and simplistic.
- Instead of introducing typical antagonists that represent evil, corruption or injustice, all easy to despise from their very introduction, this show has no personified antagonist, instead looking inward, introducing existentialist questions.
- Instead of combating existing power structures within the world it constructs, it chooses to look at the little things.
- Whereas most shows have their MC pursuit fame, glory or revenge, this anime features one that pursuits understanding, appreciation and connection.
Every artistic choice in the beginning contrasts to the rest of the present offerings like night and day. And this makes it stand out. And the premise is conveyed in such a distinct way that it managed to hook people in.
The attention it garnered is undeniable, but mere novelty is not enough to maintain more than an initial spur of attention. In order to keep viewers invested, a show needs to explore themes that are relevant or resonate with the audience. Many of the top rated examples of this medium feature a multitude of themes being explored. For example FMA covers morality, identity, the consequences of power, the significance of hardship. AOT covers fear, deceit, classism, overcoming loss, the desire for freedom among others. In the case of FMA, I recently made a connection that a certain object in the story is a direct metaphor for slavery and the exploitation of people. I last watched FMA 7+ years ago, and yet this random thought occured to me while looking into the topic of colonialism. This is an example when fiction hits it's peak - when events portrayed in the story are a metaphor for real-life. That's when we can explore topics difficult to stomach or accept within the safe and playful confines of an imagined reality, and through that we grow to better understand the real world we reside in.
While the previous titles are complex and cover multiple themes, Sousou no Frieren (SNF) with it's 28 episodes only manages to garner a count that's signular. So given this show, what's it's core theme? What does it's metaphors convey? Why are they seemingly so resonant with the audience? In order to truly grasp that, we have to cover some ground, more specifically what is the internet as a whole to us:
It's hard to imagine our daily lives being devoid of any kind of access to the internet. From location services, to restaurant reviews, weather forecasts, or just plain entertainment, the internet is as close as an essential utility as it can get. But it wasn't always like this. Back in the 80's and the 90's when the concept was new, it was a whole different thing. In retrospect, that time period is often described as a magical one, when there was a lot more diversity compared to today, since the information was descentralized. This period is refered to as the "Internet 1.0". It was a jungle to explore, with generally high quality and credible information, as people made those websites out of mere passion. There wasn't a whole lot to do compared to today, but it was a fun activity you'd spend a few hours now and then before you'd shut down the computer and go back to play outside or go by your life.
But what we have today is the 2.0 version. The internet evolved, presenting more and more features, thus empowering users, but has also shifted towards consolidation to a few platforms. What was once a passion project now is a profit-driven endevour. There is no longer a jungle to explore, instead you're presented with a mall with everything you could want easily categorized and presentable. You don't even have to walk though it, as the advent of recommendation algorithms and the infinite scroll brought a means that would just figure out what you want and feed it to you in and endless stream of content. And much like a slots machine (this is not an exaggeration, big tech literally employs psychologists to drive up engagement), the platform hooks you in and provides the comforting warmth of the content stream. It grips you so tight that it effectively functions as a drug, suspending your conscious mind as long as you're willing to do that swipe up gesture. And who doesn't want/need that? We all are faced with stress, anxiety, physical pain, emotional pain, and being able to just negate it feels like a superpower right? Until you overuse it and it becomes detrimental - they don't call it "doom scrolling" for no reason. Nowadays, you can't really trust information online anymore, as everyone is trying to deceive you towards the purchase of a certain good or class of goods. The stream of information is contradictory, but the lack of processing on the user's side steadily builds up cognitive dissonance. And we've used these platforms for so long that... it's hard to quit them, despite making us miserable. We've landed in a pit so deep, that, as Jaron Lanier said, people nowadays regard a 1 week digital detox as the equivalent of what trekking in Nepal used to be.
Why are things like this? Here, I find an explanation told by George Lucas of all people about the difference between joy and pleasure very relevant. Joy is a feeling that lasts, one that you remember and not as intense. Pleasure is the opposite - intense, but shortlived and overall unfulfilling, requiring more and more to maintain the emotional state. All of the interactions with today's psychologically engineered and optimised platforms are meant to give us pleasure within the confines of a small rectangle, and that will never make on happy. You will forget what you see and time will fly by, always leaving you craving for more. What people should aim for is what people have done for millenia - finding love, genuine connection, exploring passions. Those pursuits lead to memories that you will carry to your deathbed. Another useful framing is the different between pushing and pulling information. In the 90's, you would open the internet and pull information from it, and when you were done you would shut it off for the day. Today, social media platforms push content to you, tempting you with every notification or recommendation, robbing you of agency.
This is where it went wrong. The transition was so gradual it was impossible to notice what was going on, and by the time the population figured out something was wrong it was too late - as they were hooked in. Tim Woo has an interesting comparison between the internet and radio. Much like the early internet, early radio too was brimming with excitement and possibilites. People were transmitting as well as receiving. People trusted to a high degree what they heard on radio. Small local and independent stations were the norm. Then everything got consolidated into a one-directional medium split across a handful of companies. The default stance towards information from radio became skepticism, and every minute of airtime had to be as packed of content as possible. Simillar parallels can be drawn also to the medium of TV news, and the newspaper. Enshittification always ensues at one point, but exploring the reason why this happens is beyond the scope of this review.
Having covered this context, we can roughly state the theme: leaning to stop running away and opening up emotionally / Living in the present / Recognizing that human connections and emotions are a gift, not an earthly limitation of the flesh; not something that should be repressed. Basically, the theme of escapism and it's consequences, but reversed (i.e. the benefits of not engaging in it).
With this frame of mind, we can view some of the artistic choices made in SNF as metaphors related to escapism:
- the reclusion of Frieren before joining the party is a metaphor for isolation by escapism through media consumption
- the age of 1000 years and the way time seems to pass faster for her is indicative of the uncanny speed with which time flies when engaging in escapism.
- conversely the slow pacing on her journey is reflective of the feeling of time slowing down when you're not in the loop anymore
- the time after the conventional climax of defeating the demon king could be reflective of the feeling of aimlessness that ensues after completing school &/ college and not having societal expectations imposed on you anymore and not knowing the "right" thing to do.
- Frieren's quirk of searching for goofy spells is analogous to the life-hacks or hobbies learnt in the time now not lost on social media
- The journey she goes on represents the prusiuit of the joy of genuine human connection
- The portrayal of demons is very oudated considering current sensibilites in the media landscape (usually they're used as a subversion of the concept of binary classifications, e.g. Hazbin Hotel), but it's a great metaphor for the infinite scroll and how it cannot be tamed/reasoned with as it's been engineered by psychologists to be a losing battle.
- Himmel, the character the years are counted by, is a metaphor for that friend that got you out of the dopamineurgic pit, and that inspired you to seek doing the same to others. It's also a reminder that losing that person is not an eternal loss, as you can find them in others, or be that person yourself.
This is why Sousou no Frieren is so appealing. It landed at just the right time, as people are being awoken to the predicament that these platforms have placed them in. Had it come out 20 years ago, or maybe even just 15, it wouldn't have resonated at all with the viewer base. A lot of people today have an unhealthy relation with technology and Frieren conveys the converse, acting like a glimpse into spiritual enlightenment.
From a superficial perspective, the most similar anime to this one would be Violet Evergarden, since both feature an emotionally unaware main character on a journey of discovery. But with respect to the core theme the most smiliar one would be Evangelion, as both cover the theme of escapism through media consumption, but in different ways: Eva is confrontational, and tackles the denial aspect of escapism, climaxing in the main character coming to terms and accepting it's a problem. Sousou no Frieren is exploratory, begins after recognizing it as a problem, and is about the journey of healing and opening up.
Lastly, it's not like this show doesn't have it's flaws. For one, the magic system is dissapointinly weak. Strong magic systems like the one in ATLA enable a deeper worldbuiling and enable great writing. The one employed in Frieren is very poorly defined and that steals the tension in pretty much all the fight scenes. The power creep exhibited in the beginning also waters down the fight scenes. It also robs the show from any kind of skill progression. The worldbuilding is also very weak, it's hard to develop a sympathy for it's geography or lore. The second half of the show goes into a tournament arc and the established tone feels demoted into second place, making me wonder if the writer just lost focus for a brief moment or just began derailing completely. Either way, these are mostly nitpicks in comparison with the whole package which feels novel in it's approach and is otherwise exceptionally executed.
In conclusion, Sousou no Frieren is a show about touching grass. It's an excruciatingly mundane message that's extraordinarily relevant today. In a media/tech landscape filled to the brim by quick and easy vectors for pleasure, it manages to delicately strike the right chords within the viewers and show what joy feels like. It presents an open invitation to the viewer to cut out escapist activities and engage instead with reality - that's where the sweet stuff is, that's where it has always been, and that's where it always will be.
PS: If your survival strategy for going through childhood was emotional repression, then the first half of SNF will leave you in awe. It will touch personal issues that are alike to your own, and the resolutions will fill you with glee, as if a wise elder lifted a burden from your soul with his wisdom. It will radiate a warmth that will fissure the walls you've learnt to put up around you - and maybe will set you up on a path to (re)discover the joys of life.
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
PSS: Escapism through work is a thing. Some people compensate / drown their sorrows by doing overtime and overworking themselves. It is a thing.
This review was written without the use/aid of LLMs, as doing so would've defeated the purpose - understanding what this show made me feel so vividly.
Mar 22, 2024
Sousou no Frieren
(Anime)
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Sousou no Frieren is hard to recommend.
It's employing the overused formula of an isekai/fantasy with a quircky plot subversion (the final boss is already dead) in a desperate attemmpt to somehow salvage some attention from the userbase who at this point is so bored of this constant use of this setting. Have the main character be a kudere who's only flaw is that she doesn't understand emotions. Toss in a few fast paced fight scenes with magic to keep the viewer engaged and some tropey character interactions. Oh, and to not forget the cherry on top, there is also the 1000 year old girl that ... 
Jun 25, 2023
[Oshi no Ko]
(Anime)
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If I had to describe this with a single word, it would be: Amalgamation. An eye-catching, visually appealing one with subpar writing.
Let me explain: Given the enormous hype and marketing campaign this title has benefited from, and the slew of people calling this a "masterpiece", high standards are a natural consequence. This title markets itself as a "reincarnation" & "showbiz" story, with "psychological" and "mystery" elements and exposing "the dark side of the entertainment industry". A once in a blue moon title that strays away from the unified direction and the homogenized structure of the other titles and dares to tell a tale that portrays a ... |
