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I had some reservations about this series, usually spin-offs don't live up to their parent shows. But this one isn't too bad. There's a lot of time era hopping, but not too distracting, as each time shift explores the characters more deeply. The actors are great, the characters are intriguing, what I really like is that many of the "ancestors" are look alikes to the Outlander characters. Overall I'm looking forward for the next episodes.

I came across this series by chance, being a big fan of Guy Ritchie, I knew it was going to be good, but didn't expect it to be really good. MobLand has top a notch cast to begin with, big British heavy hitters like Pierce Brosnan, Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren. It packed with seriousness, violence, fun here and there, grit. Just what you can expect from Ritchie. There are many characters, which adds complexity and depth to the story, lots of plot twists and unexpected surprises (wait till you see what Helen Mirren's character is all about).

The filming is over the top, it's like watching an 8 hour movie. Classy cars, classy landscapes, classy mansions, classy characters. The camera angles are incredibly well done. This is a gem of a series, watch it, you won't be disappointed.

This anime is more than just an anime, it's a deep reflection about the ephemeral aspects life. The story starts with a band of heroes reminiscing about their latest and glorious adventure where they defeated a great demon. This is basically the ending for any movie or series, where the heroes triumph over evil. But in "Sousou no Frieren", that's not the important part! This is just a launching pad to Frieren's deeper reflections about the fleeting moments in her existence. She's an elf, who lives for centuries, so a few years adventure is nothing to her own lifespan, but is significant for the mortal humans who knew her.

Thus, Frieren embarks on a new adventure, gathering a new band of heroes, but this time, she's often pausing to learn more about relationships and emotions, something that she didn't care to do before, because it didn't seem to be worth it for her. And as she learns more about humanity during her flashbacks, her eyes expresse a sense of guilt, for having ignored all the priceless little things in life that end up as forgotten memories.

The anime is slow paced, some might complain about this, but I think it's done for a good reason. Frieren often walks slowly while engaging in all sorts of discussions with her companions, however her pace actually reflects the pace of her own existence, she's in no rush to do anything, she has all the time in the world to achieve things. Once you realize this, the pace doesn't matter anymore, because we get absorbed by her character's development. For a while I thought the rest of the series would be like that, but no, there are several surprise scenes where Frieren's immense power is set on display. Frieren is not a gentle idle elven mage. She can be ruthless, but for good reasons.

I'm still watching the first season and I'm enjoying every bit of it, looking forward for season two, it's been announced in September 2024.