Frieren is, deservingly, getting a lot of attention lately in the anime community: it’s well-written, entertaining, and has a very likable cast of characters. It’s great for both longtime fantasy lovers and fantasy newbies, and is easily one of the best ongoing anime series’.

And the more I watch it, the more I truly fall in love with it—it’s almost like each episode sparks a new inkling of love in my heart, for the story and the characters, because every aspect of the series grips me tightly. I’m a lifelong fantasy fan, with dozens of series’ and movies and novels under my belt, and I can without a doubt say that it’s one of the strongest I’ve consumed.

Cast of Characters

In both present and past, the characters truly make the show what it is. Of course, Frieren is a fierce protagonist—a woman who could rival Goku, she’s strong, badass, and has oodles of tales to tell. Typically a solo traveler, we see her band together with two parallel groups on what is essentially the same journey, but with significant emotional differences.

Fern joins her as a parallel to herself, Stark as a parallel to Himmel, and, briefly, Sein as a parallel to Heiter. As the story progresses, we see both differences and similarities to how Frieren interacts with both bands of travelers. For example, she cares for Fern as if she were a younger version of herself—educating her, pushing her to excel, and even getting her to participate in the mage exam. She treats her as if she is something dear, and one of the first obvious cases of sentiment we see from Frieren is gifting her a hairclip for her birthday.

She’s similar with Stark, doing what she can to make him a notable, honorable hero by bringing him along with her, pushing him to fight a dragon, and excel as a hero. She acts as both a leader and a mentor, pushing them to become the best versions of themselves, while also making an active effort to be receptive and attentive.

Parallel Storytelling

From the very first scene, we’re essentially tossed into a flashback scene that begins at the end of Frieren and her crew’s 10-year journey to defeat the Demon King—they’ve completed their quest, brought peace to the continent, and are moving on to live their respective lives. 50 years later, they meet up again, and seeing Himmel so old sparks her true realization to the fragility of humanity and the mortal life.

We then see her interact with the other members of the party more after Himmel’s death, and slowly begin to see her change and evolve. At Heiter’s request, she then begins caring for and mentoring Fern, and begins her journey back to Aureole for closure and to say a proper goodbye to Himmel at his final resting place.

As she journeys, we see her stop with her current party at the same places she stopped with her former party, drawing poignant memories and experiencing heartwarming flashbacks as she reminisces on her time with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen and how they and their experiences shaped her as she developed emotionally.

We see Frieren begin to appreciate and understand those she spends time with more than she did in the past with her newfound perception of mortality, largely thanks to her experiences with those she cared about in the past.

Pacing

A 10-year long journey, Frieren and her crew spent much of their time stopping in various towns and partaking in miscellaneous side quests. They savored their experience and truly lived their lives as heroes, helping citizens who needed it and making their continent a better place.

In many fantasy stories, we see the journey as a means to an end; the pack of travelers typically face some challenges and setbacks, but it’s generally to their dismay, not to their desire and intent. Frieren and her companions, however, revel in it; Himmel is a “true” hero and his characteristics rub off on the others, sweetening their journey by making it impactful and memorable, and Frieren makes a conscious effort to replicate the activities and sentiments in her second trip to Aureole with her newfound companions.

With the abundance of side quests, route changes, and cultural stops, the journey is taken at a leisurely pace. These stops allow for exceptional both story and character development, a more fulfilling entertainment experience, and allow the viewer to see how a minuscule interaction—especially to Frieren and her basically immortal lifespan—can have a lasting effect on how someone sees the world and the people in it.

Relationships

The relationships between the characters are incredible and some of the most realistic depictions I’ve ever seen. Fern and Stark have one of the more obvious romantic connections, but the awkward teenage yearning and discomfort that comes with accepting their feelings and dealing with their relationship together is done so well.

But, my favorite dynamic is between Frieren and Himmel. It is so heartbreakingly romantic the way that their story was laid out, with the obvious love from Himmel and the oblivious love from Frieren. He yearned for her so deeply, spent a decade traveling with her and watching her grow as a mage and as an emotionally present person (elf, I know, semantics), and she was so oblivious of his love for her and her own love for him. His death truly put the fragility of human life in perspective for her, the heartbreak rupturing something in her heart and her psyche, that made her love finally bleed into her consciousness. The flashbacks paralleled with the current story only increase the heartache that viewers (and Frieren herself) experience with the realization of her feelings. Not to mention the journey itself being to visit him at his final resting place, which would hurt less if someone ripped my heart out and stomped on it.

Plus, the friendlier relationships are incredible, as well. I already touched on Frieren and Stark/Fern, but Frieren with Heiter and his push to help her emotionally (largely with Fern) and the same for Eisen/Stark with Frieren, are quite endearing. They care for and understand her, pushing to break her stoic exterior. Even more short-term companionships—like with Sein—have similar themes of caring and understanding each other, with a push-and-pull dynamic to increase hero and adventurer characteristics.

TL;DR: Frieren is 10/10

I barely scraped the surface of the series and its endless amazing qualities but I’ve yapped long enough. I can very confidently say that any fan of fantasy—anime fan or not—will have an excellent time in Frieren’s universe.

It may not be full of distressing trials and tribulations, but it’s got a sprinkle of epic fights and a consistent flow of the relationships between the characters, the pacing, the world building, and the overarching themes of romance, internal development, and heartfelt friendships create a craving for more.

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As a woman who’s pretty active in the anime community, I see—and experience—a lot of sexism. Whether it’s male anime fans claiming certain female characters are weak (looking at you, Naruto fans), male writers making those characters underwhelming or indulging in too much fan service, or even just men gatekeeping the community, it’s always a dominant theme.

And there are some strong, appreciated women in anime, like Princess Mononoke, Usagi Tsukino, Frieren, and Mikasa Ackerman, but there are plenty who don’t get enough recognition and who have inspired me to be strong.

1. Sakura Haruno, Naruto: I know this is an unpopular opinion, but Sakura really is a strong character in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. She saved Naruto’s life multiple times throughout the series, she trained with Tsunade to become an incredibly powerful medical ninja, and she developed superhuman strength.

2. Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop: Faye has a tragic backstory of being put in a cryogenic sleep, waking up 54 years later with no memory, being swindled by a doctor and taking on his debt when he pretended to die, and then choosing to run away. Faye went through a lot—both before and after joining the Bebop crew—and she never faltered. She’s often perceived as lazy, but in reality, she’s smart, strong, and independent.

3. Yumeko Jabami, Kakegurui: Kakegurui gets some brownie points for being an anime predominately about women, but even more brownie points for featuring plenty of strong women. Yumeko is addicted to gambling and uses her intelligence to try to make it to the top of the chain at her school with grace and commitment.

4. Celty Sturluson, Durarara!!: Although she’s not technically a human, this Dullahan is a strong biker who can take down anyone on the streets of Ikebukuro, even without a head.

5. Maka Albarn, Soul Eater: Although Maka is the protagonist, she doesn’t seem to get as much love online as some of her male counterparts. Maka is a scythe meister who is strong, mature, and knows how to handle herself.

6. Touka Kirishima, Tokyo Ghoul: Touka is strong and guarded throughout the series, and although she sometimes lets her emotions get the better of her, she doesn’t back down in a fight.

Naruto: You know it, you love it, you live it. With over 800 episodes since 2002, the Japanese anime series is continuing its relevance and effect across the world. From t-shirts to action figures to Street Fighter-esque fighting video games to people making videos of themselves running like Naruto in mirrors, the Narutoverse is a popular component of new media that’s meshing with the real world and effecting a wide range of viewers -- specifically millennials.

Millennials are the target audience and long-time viewers of the show and have already been exposed to the many values of Naruto, including strength and friendship. But stronger and perhaps more important than all of those is the value of feminism. The anime originally premiered 17 years ago, meaning that if someone between the ages of seven and 12 were to have begun watching at the beginning, he or she would presently be somewhere between the ages of 24 and 29. Currently, according to the Pew Research Center, millennials fall between the ages of 23 and 38, putting our Naruto viewer right in that window, and according to Brancaccio, Mehta, and Menendez, “Most millennials across race and gender think men and women should be treated as equals.”

As of 2010, children between the ages of six and 11 spent 28 hours a week watching TV, according to Kyla Boyse. She also wrote that young viewers pick up on what they’re being presented to: they take the values that they’re shown and run with them. Therefore, that chunk of millennials who watched Naruto from start to finish have subconsciously retained those themes and overarching ideals that they were exposed to while viewing the show as children.

Strong Women in Naruto:

At the very beginning of Naruto, one of the more intense issues is the lack of strong females. Sakura Haruno, one of the main characters, is immediately regarded as useless (which is shown in the fan-made meme to the right). She’s not very strong at the beginning of the series; she often stands in the background while Naruto and Sasuke do most of the fighting. Sakura is, essentially, a cheerleader. Many of the other women, like Hinata Hyuga and Ino Yamanaka, are regarded with the same kind of mood--they’re not portrayed as strong ninja like the male members of their teams who are frequently participating in hardcore, close-up combat.

However, as the series goes on, the girl power skyrockets—Lady Tsunade, the one of the three legendary Sannin and one of the most powerful medical ninja ever, becomes Hokage (or, more simply, ruler of the leaf village) and takes Sakura under her wing. Tenten, a ninja in Naruto’s class, picks up incredible skills with long-ranged weaponry, and Temari, a ninja from the allied sand village, is one of the best long-ranged jutsu fighters (Senpai Notice Me Already).

And although those women are all incredibly powerful, the feminist undertones go even further than just physical strength and ability to fight. For example, Naruto’s mother, Kushina Uzumaki, had not only immense physical strength but also an intense drive and mental capability. According to self-proclaimed Naruto expert and Ohio University student CJ Styers, “Kushina Uzumaki provides women everywhere with a wonderful model of a woman powerful enough to give birth, be exorcised, fight a nearly immortal demon creature, and get stabbed by that demon creature to stop it killing her newborn son all in the same 20 minutes.” Styers continues by describing Kushina as “a strong badass ninja woman unrestrained by societal gender roles who also maintains a good maternal role by giving her life for her son.”

Here, Styers is delving deep into the “role model” ideal—young girls watching the show are being exposed to strong female role models left and right, whether they look up to Lady Tsunade and her leadership, Sakura for her hard work and growth, Kushina for her bravery, or even any of the other female characters such as Tenten or Temari for any component of who they are.

Subconsciously, the growth of the women in the series has strengthened the thoughts that Naruto viewers have in terms of feminism. Throughout the show, we see them grow into incredibly powerful ninja—Sakura often keeps Naruto in check, actually saving his life with the medical skills she learns, and Temari does a whole lot of damage control in various battles. Naruto has shown that in a lot of cases, women are incredibly powerful and not at all lesser than men. In the show, they’re treated the same; they’re regarded with the same sense of respect, and the millennial mind is growing to accept the equality amongst genders way more than their parents and grandparents did before them.

The Female Fanbase:

But it goes deeper than just the characters within the shows, it’s also important to look into the viewers of the show. Naruto is a shonen anime, which means that it’s targeted to younger male viewers, typically under the age of 15. Richard Eisenbeis describes it as having a young male hero and being “focused on action, adventure, and fighting.” Shonen’s counterpart, shojo, is directed towards younger female viewers and focuses on “romance and interpersonal relationships” (Eisenbeis). And although there are other large anime genres, it’s pretty clear that of the two overarching umbrellas, there’s a definite divide in the anime world based on gender.

But to the Naruto viewer, the gender of the genre’s intended audience isn’t all that important. Donna Haraway writes in the Cyborg Manifesto that “ ... radical feminisms have simul-taneously naturalized and denatured the category ‘woman’ and conscious-ness of the social lives of ‘women.’” By this, she means that the intensity of the divide is making matters worse. For example: if Naruto viewers actually were all male, then the stark contrast between shonen and shojo viewers would obliterate any sense of strong feminism within the Naruto community.

But there is a strong female presence in the Naruto community, as shown on this Quora forum that seems to scroll endlessly with women talking about their love for the show. For example, user 桜 うちは wrote an in-depth response about both fangirls who want Naruto and Sasuke to be together romantically and fangirls who are obsessed with Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke’s older (and drop-dead gorgeous) brother.

Other users are posting pictures of their cosplays and mentioning their girlfriends or wives and their love for the show and respect for women in the anime scene. Jodi Sarno wrote that most of the Naruto fans she knows are girls, and “girls definitely do watch Naruto, especially since they really do not only show strength and growth among the male Naruto characters (Naruto and Sasuke) but also in the female Naruto characters (Sakura), which most of us girls highly support.”

Female Naruto fans have created this little nook on the internet to discuss and be a part of something. This show, in all of its feminist glory, has brought together countless feminists (both women and men) and given them a way to use new media to come together.

The Controversy:

Not everyone agrees, however, that the feminist tones in Naruto are all that relevant, or even there at all. In a blog post titled “Sexism in Naruto: It’s Not About Feminism,” blogger ShmaltzandMenudo wrote: “The fact remains that any female in this story would always be outclassed by a male. It did not matter how powerful a female was, even in comparison to the vast majority of characters or people in the Narutoverse.”

The blog post, which focuses specifically on the Naruto fanbase and the oh-so strong feelings that the fans of the show have, begins by addressing that yes, there is sexism in the plot and story of Naruto. The author, however, continues by using his or her profile to make the argument that the discussion of sexism in Naruto is only furthering the gender-based divide. The post reads:

“A funny thing I must point out is how, besides some light trolling, these ‘defenders’ have those among them who go out of their way to denigrate the female characters in Naruto. Sure, many of us have complained about their characterization — even as fans of these characters — but we are still willing to weigh their best in-story contributions on their own and give Kishimoto [the writer] credit for their best feats.”

The author then delves into specifics--during the Shinobi war, for example, Ino stepped up and made immense contributions, yet she is still received with hatred and disregard. Tsunade is frequently dismissed as an effective leader due to her large breasts and short temper, yet the landed the job as hokage and shows hardcare strength and power regularly.

And in the Reddit forum “Sexism in Naruto,” some users feel the same way—that women are being represented as less than the men. User MajSpas brought up points like Sakura’s sole drive being to get Sasuke back, Hinata doing everything she does specifically to get Naruto to notice her (including recklessly throwing herself into battle with an opponent even Naruto can barely handle just to save him), Ino is constantly distracted by boys, and strong, unproblematic women like Tenten and Temari aren’t in nearly as many story arcs as they could (or should) be.

And while both of these users--both on Reddit and on the blog--have valid points, they’re missing one central idea, and it’s that the female characters don’t necessarily have to be on the same level as some of the main characters. Naruto is written for young to teenage boys, and it only makes sense that the protagonist and one of the most powerful ninja, Naruto himself, is a male. Just because the main character is a man doesn’t mean that any of the female characters are lesser than him just because of gender.

The story wasn’t meant to be written as sexist or not. Sure, the Akatsuki are all male (with the exception of Konan) and some of the strongest ninja in the series are men, but there are so many strong women, too. Tenten and Temari may not be the most present characters, but that’s because the show is aimed towards young men--there isn’t a problem with the main characters being relatable to who the show is aimed at. The women that are in the show are strong in both a physical sense and an emotional sense, and it shouldn’t be something to disregard.

Naruto and Participatory Culture:

What’s the point of all this? Who cares if there are strong female characters or not? Who cares if they’re being talked about or acknowledged? Naruto itself is a realm of the overarching umbrella that is new media, but the fact that it has made its way across so many different platforms and upheld its feminist values isn’t something to ignore.

The Naruto community has used blog sites, forums, social media, and even chat rooms throughout the years to communicate and bond with one another through participatory culture. There are fake Twitter accounts using the names of some of the characters as aliases (like this Tsunade account) and even some discord servers specializing in Naruto roleplay where characters can play as whoever they want (and yes, that includes women). There’s fan art of some of the ever-present female characters all over the internet, showing the general appreciation of these characters.

Creatives everywhere are channeling their art (whether that’s visual art or written art) to connect to Naruto. They’re pretending to be someone else online (and not in a catfishing way, in more of an actor way), they’re writing fanfiction and creating fan art and making this series that means something to them already mean even more to them. They’re furthering their love and connecting with other women who feel the same way. They’re building a strong group of women (and even men who may identify as feminist) who make them feel included. They can participate in something that they love in this online, open-minded community in a more intense and frequent manner than they may be able to in person. This show has made such an effect on them that they’re making it something of their own.

Lisa-Jane McGerty wrote that “Feminist work has for many years argued the performative nature of gendered, raced and classed identities and this applies equally to our ‘real’ and our ‘virtual’ selves.” Here, and throughout the rest of Nobody Lives Only in Cyberspace, McGerty is acknowledging the difference in how men and women use new media and their online personalities.

On the internet, for example, some women may be more open to discussing their Naruto-watching habits than they would in real life, and the stark contrast between male and female viewers may not actually be so stark after all when comparing the genders and their viewing habits. In some ways, it may be easier to decipher who someone is based off of their online personality because they’re less afraid or ashamed to show who they are.

Media presence really does have a strong impact on the human brain, whether we like it or not. Think about it: as children, humans adapt and grow based on what they’re exposed to. They pick up their parents’ mannerisms, political affiliations, and attitudes. It only makes sense that the same would go for a piece of media that they’ve constantly been exposed to.

It starts off separately, being a different identity, similar to the online/offline dichotomy that Lisa-Jane McGerty writes of. She wrote that “the tendency to consider Internet users as being either online or offline but not as simultaneously being both is rooted in the prominent notion of the Internet as a virtual space.” What she means here is that the effect that media has on a person goes further than the time that person is spending with the media -- Naruto viewers are synthesizing with Naruto even when they don’t have anything to do with it. Their personalities are blending with the show and bleeding into their real life, and the feminist ideals that they’re being exposed to are becoming a part of who they are in their real life, not just their online life.

Conclusion:

The Narutoverse is quite an exciting one. There’s always a lot going on, whether in the animated series itself or within the community, and it’s hard to argue against the idea that the show failed to leave a sense of its ideals on its viewers. The feminist themes are strong and continually present in the show and the badass women of the series have more than likely left long-lasting ideals within the minds of Naruto viewers, male or female.

The show may still be problematic in terms of feminism, but as the show continues, it’s clear to not only see the effort put in by the creators to make the show stronger, but also the effect it has had on the women and young girls who have watched the show since the beginning. Those female ninja may still come across as lesser than their fellow male ninja, but upon looking deeper into the story, it’s apparent that the feminist values are strong within the series and should not be overlooked. Through new media, Naruto has pushed long-lasting feminist values toward millennials and enhanced the idea of feminism on fans worldwide.

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I only recently found out that this is a controversial take. I first watched Death Note back in middle school—sometime around 2012—and have since rewatched it a few times, but only recently with the shaky political climate have I witnessed the morality (rather than plot, writing, etc.) being discussed so in-depth.

That’s not to say that conversations surrounding the morals of Light Yagami have not been happening for years—in fact, I’m confident that they have—but I have only lately been paying them any mind as I re-enter the fandom and finish watching the anime again for the first time since the development of my frontal lobe and my entry into true adulthood.

Even so, fresh off the tail of episode 37, I still believe that Light Yagami was not entirely wicked.

The Big Idea

After acquiring the Death Note, Light took it upon himself to rid the world of criminals in an effort to create a more peaceful, less corrupt society. At a glance, it sounds pretty good, until you realize that his method of writing their names in the Death Note leads them to their deaths.

This then leads to the age-old dilemma of capital punishment: does anyone deserve to die?

To Light, the answer is clearly yes. To him, this was an “end to justify the means” situation; a “New World” free of criminals was worth the sacrifice of the evil. A radical thought, of course, but not very thought out (we’ll get there).

The Execution

An important distinction regarding Light’s morality is that when he is not in possession of a Death Note, he is not—at least on the surface—the same person as when he is in possession. We don’t see much of him before finding it, but in his early days as Kira and in those middle episodes when he’s forgotten everything, he’s not a bad guy.

He actively helps L with the Kira investigation, treats Misa with affection, and cares for his family. In a parallel to his father, he even declines carrying a gun to defend himself because it’s against Japanese law. He is, from what we see, a normal person with an albeit immature sense of justice.

In the most basic, simple terms, eliminating bad people should make Light a good person. However, it doesn’t take long for a very literal god complex to manifest in Light, leading him to stray from his original path and corrupting his vision.

The power went to his head, and he was soon writing down the names of more than just criminals and convicts in order to protect himself from being found out. His primary motivation went from ridding the world of evil to shielding his identity as Kira; he lost control of himself, and with it, his initial grand plan.

Light was killing detectives and anyone else who got in his way, and his primary mission quickly turned from ridding the world of evil to hiding his own identity. Obviously, when the whole point of his original plot was to eliminate criminals, that doesn’t align with the initial values.

Missed Opportunities

Frankly, Light should have thought bigger in his effort to make the statement and change the world than he did, but his ego and his failure to look at the world on a larger scale made that impossible for him.

His idea of justice was always quite superficial; he thought only on the smallest, most basic scale, establishing criminals as the root of evil and deciding to take them out.

But that’s not necessarily true. He could should have targeted dictators, corrupt politicians and world leaders, and greedy CEOs, changing the lives of so many innocent citizens and workers (like in Death Note: the Musical [or so I’m told, because I have not managed to get my hands on it, but this song from the concept album had the right idea]).

And while it can be argued that taking out such large figures may have changed the course of too many lives and timelines, it’s clear that nothing along those lines explains why Light did not take to writing names of those people but rather targeted criminals. He simply failed to view the world as the larger, more complicated space that it is.

In his mind, if he got the bad guys off the streets, his job would be done and the world would change. It’s just that many of the bad guys are not the ones being jailed and being killed via Death Note; they are walking free and treating the world like their playground.

Justification

For the sake of not rambling on for an eternity (and because this is my first post and I don’t know how much reach this will get anyway), I’ll keep it brief and stop there (though with a cup of cold brew and a quiet room, I think I could write an entire essay on this subject).

Before I conclude, however, I want to make it clear that I do not agree with Light’s actions; he had a very juvenile, surface-level idea of justice and he made many mistakes along the way in his attempt to change the world. However, the justification of his original operation as Kira is one of radical morality and a true desire to make the world a better place for the innocent.