I watched “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” a few weeks ago which is probably my first proper anime (not counting the odd episode of Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon or OnePiece I caught on TV as a child) and I really enjoyed it.

Especially the slow but deep character build up and general world building and exploration themes were really captivating. So I’m looking for something similar with focus on these aspects.

So far I found “Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina”, which was ok but didn’t quite live up to Frieren and wasn’t nearly as captivating.

So does anyone know similar shows or at least shows that focus on the aspects of story telling I mentioned avove?

  • celeste@kbin.social
    1·
    6 months ago

    Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood might interest you. Thinking about interesting character studies - if you like stories with horror elements, Monster is great. Cowboy Bebop is a classic sci fi story. I was personally a big fan of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.

  • wjs018@ani.socialMEnglish
    1·
    6 months ago

    Well, you picked a hell of a show to start. A couple that I think are similar in feel to Frieren would be:

    • Kino’s Journey - there are two versions of this show as it had a remake done in 2013(?) I think. In any case, for somebody just starting their anime journey, you can stick to the more recent, less VHS-grainy looking version.
    • Mushishi
    • Violet Evergarden - I haven’t personally watched this one yet, but it is brought up a lot in comparison to Frieren.
    • tobogganablaze@lemmus.orgOPEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      Mushishi

      So I’m almost through Season 1 now and this is a really strange one. It wasn’t really what I was looking for but it’s so strangly calming and while very episodical it still feels like you want to see what comes next.

      It’s definitly not as gripping so I didn’t really binge it, just watching a couple of episodes here and there. But now that I’m finishing the first season I have to say I quite enjoyed it overall. Even if it was for different reasons then I looked for.

      Thanks for the suggestion.

      • wjs018@ani.socialMEnglish
        2·
        5 months ago

        Watching an episode or two at a time is just right for Mushishi. It definitely is one that benefits from some time to reflect on each episode. Glad you have enjoyed it! Plenty of other suggestions already in this thread on where you could go next (if not season 2 of Mushishi). Good luck on your anime journey!

  • megane-kun@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    There’s already quite a lot of good recommendations here. I’ll just add another voice recommending Kino’s Journey and To Your Eternity.

    Also, I’d say don’t expect Frieren levels of polish and awesomeness with the recommendations given, as Frieren is just a different level altogether (with lots of deserved hype).

    As for my own recommendations? Let’s see:

    • Aria the Animation, Natural, and Origination — this is but one anime series with three seasons of varying length. Every episode is more or less self-contained, but the characters develop slowly over the span of a lot of episodes (I counted 72 for all three seasons, could be wrong though). In a way, the character growth and exploration here is more comparable to real life. The pacing might be a bit too slow for a lot of people though. and the overall tone might be a bit too sweet for some. There’s some world-building here, but it’s really subtle at times—with the episodes focusing instead on the everyday and sometimes, the supernatural goings-on around the city the characters live in.

    • Natsume Yuujinchou [Nastume’s Book of Friends] — six seasons of varying lengths. This is also mostly episodic with some character growth happening but the kind that you’d easily miss just watching the episodes. This one, however, has more supernatural themes, but also touches on how the youkai (non-human entities–to put things simply) differ from humans not only in mindset, but also in their perception of time.

    • Mushishi — I haven’t yet watched this one in its entirety, but this is favorably compared to Natsume Yuujinchou, and so it might hit the same notes as that one.