Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (葬送のフリーレン, Sōsō no Furīren, “Frieren, the Final Farewell to the Dead”)

The video above is the anouncement in Japanese with English subtitles that “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” will release an anime version on September 29, 2023 in a two hour presentation.

Fans of the Manga are beyond excited, and references to this opening are appearing all over the net. And for good reason. In 2021, the Manga won the 14th Manga Taishō Grand Prize, and the 25th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize New Creator Prize.

Pywackett has read all Seven English released Volumes, Vol 1 – 7, and Vol 8 English dropped on June 20, 2023 for which we are awaiting delivery.

Frieren is an unqualified master work of extreme creativity and profound beauty. The work contains adventure, slight touch of Romance, profound observations on life and death, and great amounts of silly comedy. And this work will gobsmack you if you are not careful! Just underestimate its story telling prowess and beware the consequences for your feels and your soul.

Frieren is an immortal Female Elf of great power and learning who joined an adventurer’s group which destroyed the Demon King, but this story is not about that adventure, but rather, the aftermath for Frieren watching all her comrades pass on. In some senses Frieren is a meditation on death. One literal English translation of the title is “Frieren, the Final Farewell to the Dead”. It asks questions like “What is the meaning of life for an immortal being?”, “What do I do next?” and “What comes after?” The Demons are some of the geatest creations in Anime and Manga. They are purely rational beings with enormous intellect, but no feelings. But this is a weakness because they can be fooled and destroyed by an irrational line of thought.

“Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” is basically a Slice of Life series. It can be slow moving with nothing happening, and even the fights with demons and enchanted dungeons are more puzzles like “Hunter x Hunter” than they are combat like “Hell’s Paradise”. But that factoid is problematic. Many Anime fans do not enjoy SoL, exactly because it has no action. So how will they respond to the Anime. We will see in September.

These are the Spring Season 2023 Anime which we very much enjoyed and watched to the end of all of them. There are 7 Anime on this list in order of enjoyment. This is the Pywackett List. Your list would certainly be different. The enjoyment of art is highly subjective and there is no right or wrong, no true or false about anyone’s taste in art. You like what you like and need make no excuses about it! No one has the right to critize someone’s likes. They just are what they are, and we do violence to others trying to force them to accept our likes and dislikes!

ANIME SERIES

Number 1 – My Clueless First Friend

Isolated girl who is teased and bullied by everyone because all the kids say she is cursed suddenly is saved by a Champion who fights for her because he thinks she is cool, when in fact he has no idea what is actually going down at this school. Cruelty and meanness don’t even register with him, and he brings her home where his older sister immediately falls in love with her. He soon brings her into his group of friends. Will Akane fall in love with her hero, Taiyō? Don’t hold your breath. Only question is will she melt down from all the love he pushes on her before she can confess?

Well, we were wrong about Akane. She is made of much sterner stuff. No confession here! When Taiyō asks Akane if he could kiss her, she flat out says no, but she makes sure that Taiyō knows that she is not rejecting him. She says that perhaps in the future, but not now in 5th grade. We were also wrong about this Anime iteself. This was our most enjoyable work in a long time. When you look forward to each and every episode, you know that you are enjoying what the artists are giving! And what they give is a look at purity and goodness, the essentials of True Love. Every week Clueless warmed our hearts, and life felt good for 24 minutes. And the thought that such goodness could be real, engendered Hope

But Clueless is more than just warm and fuzzy, it is exceptionally well written, and every character is believable as we watch them change through the series. There are no weak spots in this story, everything is solid! And Akane’s dad has to be the greatest Superhero Dad in all of Anime!

Number 2 – Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion

“Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion” is a story and what a story! Murder mystery, check! Romance, check! Comedy, check! Suspense, check! Raeliana has all the moving parts of a deeply interesting, and enjoyable story. Unfortunately it’s over before it has even introduced the villain! What? Come on guys, why do you do this?

Number 3 – Skip and Loafer

Skip and Loafer is a really super cute, High School Kinda Romance. We say “kinda” because no romance actually takes place. What we have is an ensemble of vital and interesting characters.

Number 4 – TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You – Season 2

Tonikawa is into it’s second season, and still no explaination about who or what is our female lead, Tsukasa! She is a mystery, and she remains as such in the Season 2 ending. Frustrating, but Tonikawa has such an easy, peaceful feeling, that you will not mind at all!

Number 5 – A Galaxy Next Door

Cute, cute, cute!!! Manga artist Ichirō who is the only support for his little bother and sister and is behind schedule and needs a support artist and so his editor sends him Shiori,who happens to be an alien with a stinger something or other in her backside. Shiori simply tells Ichiro that she is Princess of the Star People. Ichiro doesn’t even bat an eye, and asks her how her work is doing. But we are not dealing in reality here. This is for cute and to die for a world of cute so just roll with it, OK? Machi and Fumio have to be the cutest children this side of super sweet.

Number 6 – Otaku Elf

Elda, a 621 year old Elf, was installed in the Tokyo Takamimi Shrine by none other than Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Edo period. Present day, her Miko is Koito Koganei. Elda is somewhat lazy and has taken to Otaku culture, and plays games and reads manga constantly, much to the frustration of Koito. Elves were never divine creatures, so I don’t understand being worshiped in a shrine, but there it is. Sort of funny in that Koito fights with Elda to be a proper goddess. End exactly how it started. Not great, but still was enjoyable. Outstanding OP which will cripple your mind

Number 7 – Yuri is My Job!

This story was very frustrating for being all over the place with it’s plot points. Very cumbersome and melodramatic story telling, and a failure to connect dots. But enough gets through to make it somewhat enjoyable. Not really yuri or les except for one back story. This is about love among girls in the Class S story form. Somewhat of a parody of “Maria-sama ga Miteru”, the girls here play parts in the cafe as if they were in an all girl’s school, and as in that work, the girls form pair bonds

These are the Spring Season 2023 anime which we are currently watching. All of the anime below are currently works in process, and have yet to complete so their endings could sink the entire enterprise. This remains to be seen. As of April 15, 2023 the following comments apply.

ANIME SERIES

Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku

Very powerful imagery matched with some power music. The initial few episodes looks promising, although the amount of blood graphically shed on screen may offput some fans. Hell’s Paradise might be the winner of the season solely due to its music and art alone. It tends to be a black comedy with a great deal of blood shed, which might put off some, but the work does not play like serious drama. The style is outstanding over all other seasonal work.

Skip and Loafer

Skip and Loafer is really super cute, Rom Com with some reference back to Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You. Pywackett Productions is in on Skip which is a super cute romance. The hand dance alone in the OP above is very much how the series plays so far.

My Clueless First Friend

Isolated girl who is teased and bullied by everyone because all the kids say she is cursed suddenly is saved by a Champion who fights for her because he thinks she is cool, when in fact he has no idea what is actually going down at this school. Cruelty and meanness don’t even register with him, and he brings her home where his older sister immediately falls in love with her. He soon brings her into his group of friends. Will Akane fall in love with her hero, Taiyō? Don’t hold your breath. Only question is will she melt down from all the love he pushes on her before she can confess?

Loving Yamada at Lv999!

Akane is dumped by her boyfriend, and becomes emotionally unstable, seeking revenge against him by pretending that she is now dating Pro-gamer Yamada. It has always seemed to me that if one really loved the other, even if dumped, why would you seek revenge? Did you love that person at all?

Neither MCs are particularly attractive. The guy is like a block of ice, and the girl exists in a whirlpool of emotions; but we will stay with it for now, and see how it develops.

Notice: Dropped this anime after EP 4. Akane and Yamada are making no progress in either their relationship or in their personal growth, both are obnoxious. And if the pairing is with two MC’s that one intensely dislikes, then there is no hope. Perhaps others might find this one enlightening in some way!

A Galaxy Next Door

Cute, cute, cute!!! Manga artist Ichirō who is the only support for his little bother and sister and is behind schedule and needs a support artist and so his editor sends him Shiori,who happens to be an alien with a stinger something or other in her backside. Shiori simply tells Ichiro that she is Princess of the Star People. Ichiro doesn’t even bat an eye, and asks her how her work is doing. But we are not dealing in reality here. This is for cute and to die for a world of cute so just roll with it, OK?

Otaku Elf

Elda, a 621 year old Elf, was installed in the Tokyo Takamimi Shrine by none other than Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Edo period. Present day, her Miko is Koito Koganei. Elda is somewhat lazy and has taken to Otaku culture, and plays games and reads manga constantly, much to the frustration of Koito. Elves were never divine creatures, so I don’t understand being worshiped in a shrine, but there it is. Sort of funny in that Koito fights with Elda to be a proper goddess. Will see how this one works out.

Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion

A serious Korean murder mystery where Raeliana is the murder victim, but she is reborn into a novel she just read. This gives her the advantage of knowing everyone’s agenda and motives which she uses to maneuver to a solution, because in the novel, she also will be murdered. Unfortunately everything she does changes the plot of the novel, and in this world, all the characters are snakes, and evil doers. The story is interesting in seeing how she solves her problems and discovers the actual murderer of her both in the past and in this new world.

Oshi no Ko (【推しの子】, “My Favorite Idol” or “Their Idol’s Children”; stylized as【Oshi No Ko】)

Not seen yet, but highly recommended by Otaku Spirit in the review above.

ANIME MOVIES

Suzume

April 14, 2023 USA IMAX

Saw this one on its opening day in the States and on an IMAX screen. Our reaction was similar to our reaction to Shinkai’s “Children who Chase Lost Voices”. Beautiful creation of a new world, but the story meanders through it all. Except Suzume doesn’t meander, she runs through this 2 hour work as if running across the entire country of Japan. Except for the speed level, sure seems like a similar work. Pywackett Productions was hoping for a return to something like “Garden of Words” and “Your Name.” but not even close. But it’s making money hand over fist, and Rotten Tomatoes has it in the 90’s for both critics and fans so who are we to criticize.

All of the anime below are currently works in process, and have yet to complete so their endings could sink the entire enterprise. This remains to be seen. As of March 1, 2023 the following comments apply.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

MAL 7.82 Mar 1 EP 9 of 12

Anisphia
Euphyllia

Magical is currently Pywackett Productions current number 1 favorite for the season. While it has strong yuri vibes (Anisphia is a self-declared lesbian), romance and bedroom antics are not central. This is a story of political power in an iseki kingdom with the main struggle between Anisphia and her brother Algard. Anisphia who cannot use magic gives up the throne to her brother who can, but is unqualified to rule.

While Magical has its beautiful relationships, this is an action anime. The relationship between Anisphia and Euphyllia is quite wonderful and sweet, and reminds somewhat of the Chisato-Takina relationship from Lycoris Recoil. Anisphia and Chisato are very similar in personality, but Euphyllia is unlike Takina except in one respect. Both have been driven from their worlds and do not know what direction to follow. So Takina follows Chisato, and Euphyllia follows Anisphia.

The question is very open: can the artists complete this story in 12 episodes?

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!

MAL 7.61 Mar 2 EP 9 of 13

Tomo-chan
Jun
Misuzu
Carol

Tomo is one of the funniest anime’s in a long, long time. And this is laugh-out-loud funny, roll-on-the-floor funny, belly-popping funny. It is most definitely humorous.

Tomo-chan is a Tom-boy, but still wants to be seen as a girl, especially by her neighbor friend Jun who sees her as his best buddy friend. Tomo’s support group of Misuzu and Carol is outstanding, and they play the mischievous pixie friends who enjoy the sport of train-spotting the Tomo-Jun romance.

If you like funny, Tomo is FUNNY in all caps.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten

MAL 7.95 Mar 4 EP 9 of 12

Amane
Mahiru

Angel is a very slow moving, gentle romance.

Mahiru is the most beautiful and popular girl in the school and Amane basically ignores her until they find out that they are neighbors. Amane is something of a slob, and Mahiru begins to take care of him, cleaning his apt and making him meals.

Many complain about this as being unbelievable, but the horrific backstory of Mahiru, explains her actions towards Amane. Angel ends up being something of a hurtful romance, and the path to true love is rocky at best.

As of EP 8, Mahiru is clearly in love with Amane and wants to move the relationship to romance, but Amane, early on in the relationship, agreed to certain rules set by Mahiru, and being a very honorable man, will not break any of those rules!

Mahiru clearly recognizes that this boy is a man of integrity, and she grows to fully trust him, but she is becoming frustrated in trying to change the relationship. She has yet to realize that she must release Amane from the rules she established in the beginning, because his honor will not allow him to break any of those rules on his own. It almost is like the girl who wants her boyfriend to become a scumbag and force himself on her.

How this conflict is eventually settled is very interesting.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague

MAL 7.40 Mar1 EP 9 of 12

Fuyutsuki-san
Himuro-kun

The Ice Guy Humuro is a nice guy and very quiet as is the girl Fuyutsuki whom he is in love with.

This is a very quirky, slow, subtle romance with very strange personalities, like Fox girls with Fox tails, managers who look like Buddha, and ice people like Humuro who causes ice storms whenever he is emotional.

This is a young adult romance in a modern office building very much like the anime, Wotakoi:_Love_Is_Hard_for_Otaku

We at Pywackett Productions are very much enjoying this slow, relaxing, nothing-is-happening, almost-an-SoL-anime!

Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister!

MAL 7.36 Mar 9 EP 10 of 12

Mahiro Oyama
Mihari Oyama

Mahiro Oyama is a stay-at-home hikikomori neet, who does nothing, and goes nowhere, and knows nobody! He is the elder brother of brilliant scientist Mihari Oyama, his sister, who decides to take action to change his life. She experiments on him, and changes him into a little girl. And of course, much of the humor in Onimai is from this gender swap, as Mahiro must adjust to an all girl social group and girly etiquette.

The Gender Swap is a major plot element in Anime from its earliest days such as Rose of Versailles , Ranma or Revolutionary Girl Utena . One of the most famous live theater groups in the world is Takarazuka Revue founded in 1914 where all roles are played by women, much like in Kabuki where all roles are played by men. In the recent Shinkai movie, Your Name. the entire story is about a gender swap between the boy Taki in Tokyo, and the girl Mitsuha in Itomori. This trope is played for comedy initially, but soon becomes much deeper as the story unfolds.

There is much criticism of Onimai as being a perverted, lolicon work. This is too simplistic an argument which fails to understand the dynamics of the story. Mahiro is coming to an awareness of girls and their social relationships in a fundamental sense (as he is one). His sister’s scheme is working in that the personality of Mahiro undergoes a change. He gets out of the house, and socializes with the girls in his group. This is quite cute and lovely as Mahiro begins to feel affection for the girls in his social group.

Boys learning to appreciate what girls must live with on a daily basis can only be a good thing. We at Pywackett Productions were initially skeptical of Onimai but in the course of this series, we have been won over, and now very much enjoy this anime.

Ippon Again!

MAL 6.73 Mar 6 EP 9 OF 13

Aoba West High School Girls Judo Club

Michi Sonoda (園田 未知, Sonoda Michi)
Sanae Takigawa (滝川 早苗, Takigawa Sanae)
Towa Hiura (氷浦 永遠, Hiura Towa)
Anna Nagumo (南雲 安奈, Nagumo Anna)
Tsumugi Himeno (姫野 紬, Himeno Tsumugi)

Shino Natsume (夏目 紫乃, Natsume Shino) Teacher and Aoba West Judo Club Sponsor

Ippon is unlike most High School sports anime because here, we follow a girl’s High School Judo Club. The characters are all wonderfully drawn, and the Judo competition is very exciting.

But this is an all girl group, and we enter the very complex set of relationships which take place in this group much like an SoL. In many ways, Ippon is very like Akebi’s_Sailor_Uniform set in the world of High School Judo

Very enjoyable and we hope they stick the landing.

Nier: Automata Ver1.1a

MAL 7.48 Unknown Budget

YoRHa No.2 Type B (2B)
YoRHa No.9 Type S (9S)

Nier is derived from a computer game of the same name. Visually it is an excellent creation, but for those who do not know the world of this game, the anime by itself does not help very much.

But it is interesting, and we are watching it when it comes out, but the budget is unknown, and we have no hint as to where this story will land for its ending.

The Fire Hunter

MAL 6.70 Unknown Budget EP 7 FEB 25

Touko
Kinata

Fire is also an unknown budget like Nier, and even for an anime is very strange in its art and in its story.

A young girl, Touko, is saved by a Fire Hunter who is killed, and his fire hunter dog, Kinata, attaches to Touko who then begins a journey to return the Fire Hunter’s dog and belongings to the family in the Capitol.

The art and story is somewhat like Madoka Magica, in the intense creation of a very different world. Fire is something like High Art and might not appeal to most, but we find it very interesting.

It may not even have an ending so it may in the end be unsatisfying. This remains to be seen. But the art on display is stunning if nothing else.

© 2023 Folwine P. Pywackett mox031