I watched Record of Lodoss war back in the early 2010s, and I remembered that anime from seeing Frieren on Netflix and thinking “Oh, so this is like if Deedlit carried on after her own journey” and gave it a shot.

I watched a few episodes here and there, but decided over the summer to watch an episode a day, and I can intellectually understand the premise. From my perspective, the show is not really high fantasy but is set there; it is based around a person who has reached a milestone in their lives, like someone graduating a high school/college/grad school or just leaving their town, and is now limerent or regretful of missed connections.

Intellectual engagement and cognitive function is based on interacting with other people, even from a thousand-year being like an elf, and as such requries a level of human engagement and empathy to understand them. Reading social cues, engaging in hygiene, doing chores, and all the mundane tasks that comes with the grandeur of life.

It was difficult of me to really buy into the notion that she is emotionally isolate from humanity and her own emotional center. I can see that Himmel’s death really shook her but this concept and appreciation of mortality and fleeting ties is bizarre given that she has known the death of other loved ones in her life.

Deedlit’s emotional journey was forged in real time with her attachment to Parn (analogue to Himmel in Frieren) demonstrating a human quality that hardship and triumph over evil makes one appreciate life all the more. The hero’s journey is what forges an emotional foundation; the emotinal foundation is Frieren still being nacent after Journey’s End here is bizarre. Even if 10 years is 10 days to her, people still form tight emotional connections in that time. She didn’t treat her comrades as aquiantances from a classroom before going to the funeral.

On a meta level, I understand that the anime is as stated earlier, about reclaiming lost time, youth, connections, and emotional catharsis based on a life of leisure and slow-pace comfort. All of which, presented in this cultural zeitgeist, is a breath of fresh air from the hustle culture and intellectual hijacking/dopamine bombardment of the internet that permeates modern life.

Yes, it wasn’t for me. Not everything is for everyone, etc - I just was flabbergasted at the stale and flat nature of the character Frieren and wanted to know if anyone thought similar. I don’t get the appeal since there are things Gen Z/Alpha can do that can replicate or substitute the vicarious emotional fulfillment they feel from this anime.

I started watching Moribito.