Tag: Yoji Ueda

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Review: The Greatest Anime Adaptation of All Time?

I have been keeping up with Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End ever since I first read the manga back in 2021.
Written by Kanehito Yamada, the manga has a unique spin on the fantasy genre.
Rather than follow the heroes Himmel (Nobuhiko Okamoto), Frieren (Atsumi Tanezaki), Heiter (Hiroki Tochi) and Eisen (Yoji Ueda) on their adventure to defeat the Demon King, the story instead takes place decades later, with Frieren reminiscing on that epic, ten-year journey.
This was a journey that passed in the blink of an eye for Frieren, due to her long life as an Elf.
By the time she realizes what that time meant, the hero Himmel and the rest of the party are either gone or fading.
The current story thus follows Frieren, as she embarks on a new journey with Heiter’s adopted daughter Fern (Kana Ichinose), and Eizen’s apprentice Stark (Chiaki Kobayashi), while reflecting on her old adventure.
It is a moving story that I was quite excited to see animated by Madhouse. 

Past events take new meaning for Frieren on her current adventure.

Directed by Keiichiro Saito, the studio clearly had a lot of faith in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End because, not only did they greenlight 28 episodes, but they also aired four of the first episodes together.
Seeing this faith in the project made me excited for the adaptation but nothing could have prepared me for how masterful it was.
I would go as far to say that Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is the greatest anime adaptation for a manga of all time.
This is a bold claim but I feel that it is more than warranted with just how much the anime elivates the source material.
So many battles in the manga take place in single panels, yet the anime adapts these into fully fledged and meaningful fights, with stunning animation that never falters.
The incredible animation even applies to character building scenes, with a moment as simple as Frieren jumping out of a bed being unbelievably detailed. 

The humor of this scene was enhanced by the animation.

The emotion of the anime also just hits deeper, with the soundtrack by Evan Call working with the animation to bring the viewer into the scene, whether that be a fight scene or a character growth one.
Staying on tune with the sound of the anime, the voice acting is also superb, with the actors ironically bringing a lot of life to the often-monotone voices of the characters.
This monotone style of speaking creates a lot of humorous situations, as do the few moments when characters break out into explosions of expression, as mostly seen with Stark.

Stark reacting to Fern being angry at him will never not be funny.

I have been heaping praise upon praise for this anime adaptation but now comes the time in the review where I have to state my criticisms… or I would, if I had any.
Seriously, this adaptation is so good it even removed some of my criticisms of the manga.
In my review for the manga, I said that it felt like some storylines overstayed their welcome, yet the flawless nature of this adaptation made the scenes flow so well together.
Seeing the quality of this adaptation made me extremely excited to see future arcs in the story adapted.

Epic scenes like this one make me even more excited for Season Two.

If the anime can keep up this level of quality for future seasons, then Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End could stand among the best anime of all time.
I would even argue this first season is one of the best in all of anime.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is now the gold standard of anime adaptations, for me.
I would say goodbye to it, until hopefully Season Two, but it would be embarrassing when we meet again. 

Lycoris Recoil Review: Season Two, Please?

There are two anime that I have enjoyed above all others this season.
The first of those is CyberPunk: Edgerunners, which I reviewed a few days ago.
The second of these is Lycoris Recoil.
To be honest, I had no idea this anime existed until I heard all of the praise it was getting and decided to check it out, only to become hooked right from the first episode.
Created by Spider Lily and Asaura, and directed by Shingo Adachi, Lycoris Recoil is set in a Japan where the peace is kept by a secret organization known as the DA, which recruits teenage girl assassins known as the Lycoris.
One of these Lycoris is Takina Inoue (Shion Wakayama), a deadpan girl who very rarely lets her emotions out.
While on a mission with her squad, Takina makes a choice which results in one of her colleagues being saved but also ends up allowing the cash of illegal guns they were trying to capture get away.
Although, in my opinion, Takina certainly made the right call, she still takes the fall for the mission’s failure and is relocated to a cafe known as LycoReco.
This punishment is not all bad, however, because she gets to work with the greatest Lycoris agent, Chisato Nishikigi (Chika Anzai), who can literally dodge bullets.
Chisato is Takina’s exact opposite: cheerful, loud and insistent on using non-lethal bullets to incapacitate her foes.
The anime then follows the two girls’ adventures as they go on missions and hang out, with Chisato promising to help Takina get back into the DA, while also bringing the emotionally stunted girl out of her shell.

Lycoris Recoil follows the adventures of Chisato, Takina, and the rest of the cafe staff.

The bond that grows between Chisato and Takina is great, with plenty of wholesome, funny and emotional moments between the two, whether they be just spending time together or fighting on missions.
It is not just them, however, as the rest of the cast is just as great.
There is the main antagonist, Majima (Yoshitsugi Matsuoka), who has an interesting motivation and compelling interactions with Chisato.
Then there is Chisato’s mentor Mika (Kosuke Sakaki).
His bond with her is heart-warming, and this ultimately results in one of his final scenes presenting what is probably the most tragic moment in the entire show.

This scene is definitley the saddest in the anime.

The last character I want to talk about is Shinji Yoshimatsu (Yoji Ueda), another character with an intriguing connection to Chisato, and his manipulative nature made him my most hated character in the show by far.
The good kind of hate, though, not the unintentionally bad character type.
Basically, there are a lot of great characters, and this makes things very tense in the last five or so episodes, where the stakes are so high.
These high stakes are accompanied by great action, which is present throughout the entire show, really. 

The action scenes during the final episodes are especially great.

I could watch Chisasto and Takina take out a room of armed goons like they are John Wick for a while, if there was more of it.
Speaking of which, please let there be more of it.
There has been a lot of speculation about a second season of Lycoris Recoil and there are two things which I think make this a distinct possibility.
The first of these is that the anime has done really well financially, obviously.
The second is that the ending left a few teases for future storylines that were not wrapped up.
This is not to say that the ending of Lycoris Recoil leaves dangling plot points, creating an unsatisfying ending; far from it.
The ending ties up most of its loose plot threads exceptionally well, while also hinting at a few more, just in case a second season gets the green light. 

This scene in particular contains something which could be hinting at season two content.

I think that most of us who have seen this show are hoping for that green light because Lycoris Recoil is a great anime.
It has fun action and animation, plenty of wholesome and funny moments, and a well done emotional connection between its two lead characters.
Bring on season two, please.