Recently in an online forum I frequent there was a discussion about the currently-airing anime Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. The gist of the discussion is that some people began watching Frieren intrigued by the first few episodes and their themes of the transience of human lives versus that of the long-lived elf Frieren. In subsequent episodes they were then confronted with, and repulsed by, Frieren’s attitude toward the demons who are positioned as humanity’s enemy.
The essence of their complaint was that Frieren (the character) was advocating that genocide be committed against the demons, that by implication Freiren (the story) was excusing genocide in the real world, and that (again by implication) those who enjoyed watching or reading Frieren risked becoming apologists for such genocide, and potentially complicit in it. One might be tempted to quickly dismiss this argument (“this is fiction, not reality”), but I happen to think their concern is a serious one worth addressing. This post is my attempt to address it.
Note: This post contains spoilers through the most recent episode 26 of Frieren the anime (which corresponds to chapters 54 and 55 of the manga it’s based on), as well as spoilers for the entire run of the webcomic Mage and Demon Queen, a work I contrast with Frieren.