5 Anime You Need to Watch if You Like Frieren

While every isekai series begins with the journey of the hero party to defeat the demon king, Frieren takes the opposite road. Frieren begins after the heroes have already defeated their foes, and a peaceful reign is about to begin. The anime follows the titular character, Frieren, an elf whose lifespan will outlast generations of humans, who goes on several other journeys while trying to figure out the depth of human emotions.

The anime became a huge hit soon after its debut and why not? The series’ unique premise and characters are bound to hit home with lovers of all genre. Now that the first season of the anime has ended, here’s the top 5 anime that will make you experience the same sea of emotions that Frieren did.

#5 Kino’s Journey

Frieren is an elf who has a lifespan covering millenniums. She tries her best not to get involved with humans due to their fleeting lifespans. Kino, might not be an immortal, but she is a traveler who wants to visit as many new places as possible. Various different countries with their own cultures, customs and traditions exist in Kino’s journey, and Kino loves to get an insight into the people, their hopes, fears, and dreams in each place.

However, she never stays in one place for too long to avoid getting attached. Just like Frieren, Kino sets out to explore the world and its beauty, and maybe somewhere along the way, she will find what she is actually looking for.

#4 Natsume’s Book of Friends

Natsume’s Book of Friends is about Takashi Natsume, an orphan, who can see spirits. He has inherited his ability from his grandmother, Reiko, who upon her death bequeathed a peculiar book to her grandson. Turns out, the book contained the names of the yokai that Reiko had bullied to force into servitude. When Takashi finds out the secret, he strives to free every trapped yokai.

Both Frieren and Natsume’s Book of Friends were created to follow characters who don’t really understand the world around them. Like Frieren, Natsume is bound to make you ugly sob with each passing episode as it discovers the mundane and fragile life, which is also beautiful, warm, and comforting.

#3 Violet Evergardeen

Violet is a child soldier who was used as a weapon in the military. Her only protector was Major Gilbert, a kindhearted man who saw a girl instead of a weapon in Violet. After the end of a major war, in which Violet not only loses both of her arms but also Gilbert, she struggles with her will to live.

Eventually, Violet trains to become an Auto Memories Doll, a person who writes letters for others and expresses what they truly feel. Violet travels the world to write letters and slowly finds the meaning of love through her encounters. Both series deal with the aftermath of a war, and the protagonists go through a journey to understand their own feelings.

#2 Mushishi

Strange secrets exist in the world of Mushishi, but normal people cannot see them. Supernatural creatures called Mushi depend on forest or human life in order to live. However, a change in balance can cause them to harm the ecosystem of humans that they rely on. The series follows Ginko, a mushi expert who aims to study these lifeforms while solving the different problems that they cause.

Like Frieren, Mushishi deals with the supernatural as well as the magical. Mushishi’s journey leads him to meet various people just like Frieren’s adventure does.

#1 To Your Eternity

To Your Eternity is about a mysterious being who begins as an orb but has the power to imitate the form of any nonliving or living thing it desires. The being itself is immortal and meets a plethora of people on its journey. It eventually gains the name of Fushi and experiences the heart-wrenching deaths of various mortal humans who he became attached to.

Like Frieren, Mushi struggles with his immortality and the emotions of humans whose lives are fleeting in front of his own. Both characters explore the meaning of life, death, and love in their unending journeys.

The Frieren anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.