I just finished watching the first season. I really loved the vibe of the show up until the exam, but then I felt it really shifted in tone.
Suddenly it felt like a shonen anime. A lot of time was spent introducing a vastly larger set of characters who ultimately didn’t seem like they mattered all that much.
There was a much greater emphasis on action and combat rather than a focus on characters and their relationship and Frieren’s/Fern’s connection to it all. Previous episodes frequently skipped combat entirely, only showing its conclusion (which was very refreshing).
There was also hardly any comedy, which was very common for the rest of the show. Instead, it got very serious, especially with people getting killed in the exam.
The pacing also just felt off - many previous episodes jumped entire months or even years, while the exam episodes might not even last a whole day.
I much preferred the start of the show and was a bit disappointed by this direction at the end. Am I alone in this thinking?
Yeah it was a slower arc, but it wasn’t bad by any stretch. It didn’t feel all that out of place either. I haven watched the anime, but it’s a lot easier to convey magic in a single panel and thus “speed up” the arc.