I do feel everything in the show is very well done. I think I may have had a better experience if I had read some more about it first though.

I saw the first episode, and then didn’t have a chance to go back to the show until a few weeks later, so it had me primed for the vibe of that first episode with the intense emotional depth and the power of Fern’s abilities, and there was some humor, but it felt there to humanize Frieren a bit.

The variety of SOL and action is good, but I feel the action kicks in very quickly. Many of the battles come in suddenly without much buildup, and end very impressively, but typically within half an episode. That makes it feel more episodic to me instead of one cohesive overall story. The part I felt did things the way I most enjoyed was when they met the demon peace envoy in the walled city. It had more suspense and buildup as we figured out the who and why of the story and it fleshed things out more and gave more weight to the outcome of the battles. You had time to worry for the party and appreciate the power of the opponents, not just our MCs.

This is probably why I also enjoyed the bird hunt from the license exam. It wasn’t a self-contained single episode plot, had many POV, and gave time for a lot of back and forth which group was on top.

The story does leave me wanting more, and I think when it is complete, that will bump up my appreciation of the story as a whole. I just got my expectations set up for something that would be a one season, intense show, and it is not. Again, totally my own doing, and I would have benefited had I read more about it in advance.

They’ve got a ton of really great elements here though, from the animation, to the voice cast, to the storytelling, and I think this has potential to be something huge that gets recommended to people for years to come. I just haven’t gotten quite into the perfect groove for this yet, but I think I’ll be ready for the next season.