Yuusha

Much like the saying; “What is your favorite Disney era?”, being part of the Anime community will surely have you acquainted with how every “generation” is associated with a big music hit, or artist, that made a name after dropping the hardest opening/ending theme song for an Anime, You have your LiSA, TK, Linked Horizon, The Pillows, and so many more great and well established names that are some times the face of the Anime they were involved in one way or another, but certainly, and especially in recent year, a name has been very well present, the kind of presence that managed to overshadoweven those legendary names. YOASOBI, the talented, very charming artist duo responsible for many generational grade Anime songs. And I’m sure it is there by, no coincidence that whatever show they are involved with turns out to be just as great and grand with many fans backing it and a reputation that seems to escape even the Anime sphere. With all of that said, it is a shocker to no one that Yuusha, yet another banger, turns out to be just as great and well defined YOASOBI classic that excelled both visually and audibly. The beat is heart racing, emotional and “alive”, the visuals are just as gripping, grim, and bittersweet. Just like every other YOASOBI songs, it feels like an abstract piece of art waiting to be admired and boast about, but too little ink is there to satisfy the deed. It feels kind of weird sometimes when it’s too difficult if not impossible it is to separate a piece of art from its artist, a very familiar thing with most of YOASOBI’s hits, and it is very apparent here. It is clear that Frieren and YOASOBI are very separate and independent entities but the song feels like it’s part of the YOASOBI universe if that makes sense, it feels home to their work whilst at the same time complementing the bittersweet and slow nature of the Frieren story.

I recommend watching this MV at least once to understand where I'm coming from. From a music standpoint, it does alright, and Yoasobi's catchy vocals complement the visuals nicely. The main appealing part of this MV to me was the omage to series it is referencing with original mural-like renders alongside some amazing 3D CG works. I only say it's a 7/10 because it's not one of those songs you can loop, as you can get tired of the tunes fast. The score is carried by the art and animation alongside the VFXs. The MV tells the unseen story of Freiren and her time whenshe was traveling with Himmel's party to slay the Demon king 80 years ago while getting flashes about the present, seeing how lonely she is long after her friends, she regrets not getting to know deeply have passed. If it's comparable to anything this season, it's like Jujutsu Kaisen's Season 2 opening, "Where Our Blue Is" by Tatsuya Kitani, where the animated intro shows a similar story of a character's unseen yet nostalgic and distant past where they were happier. That's what this Yoasobi song and MV feel like to me, hitting similar narrative beats.

This is a music video for the first opening of Frieren. The animation in the music video is different from the animation used for the opening in the anime itself. The lyrics match Frieren's story very well and it's clear the song was made for Frieren specifically. The animation in the music video is a collection of scenes of Frieren, Himmel and shots of nature. There's also a few scenes of Frierens original party and one or two of the current characters. The animation quality is quite good and what's shown in the animation often matches the lyrics. The song is a song by YOASOBIof which the first half was used as Frieren's first opening. Music is pretty subjective but YOASOBI is known as a good artist and I liked the song. If you disliked the opening in Frieren then obviously you will dislike the music in this music video as well. Overall I think that this is worth watching if you liked Frieren's first opening. The song was specifically made for Frieren and the rest of the lyrics do add quite a bit to the song. There's even an English version of the song by the same artist if you don't enjoy reading subtitles but want to understand the lyrics.

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