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.
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
Already looked into that one and have both versions prepared.
Thanks!
OP, I just want to STRONGLY second Violet Evergarden. The individual episodes don't really connect to one another except through Violet, which is definitely a change from Frieren. But one wrinkle. There's a movie that sits in between episodes 4 and 5, chronologically, and then there's a movie that sits at the end of all of it. Go in blind, though. Trust me, you'll really appreciate having done so.
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.
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!
I would say the closest to Frieren in both quality of the writing and animation (and even surpassing the animation by a mile) is Violet Evergarden. It's on Netflix so you probably already have access to it. It's just as emotional as Frieren and shares some of the same core concepts of the story by exploring what it means to have basic human emotions though the lens of someone who is struggling with them. I cannot recommend Violet Evergarden enough.
Initially the early 20th century setting but with the advanced robot hands but also with the automemory dolls because most people can't write, took some getting used to.
I think the worldbuilding was a bit meh, they explained very little of what was actually going on.
But the character development and general story telling where really good and I basically binged the last half. I cried quite a bit. Very much enjoyed it, thanks for the great recommendation.
Yeah, a few people have mentioned it. I guess Violet Evergarden goes to the top if the list. Thanks!
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.
Mushishi was fantastic! I definitely also rec that one.
Mushishi thirded. It's slow pace and human characterizations, patient world building... Exceptional.
Definitely! The only reason I put it on hold is that it got so raw and close to home that I had to stop watching for a while. Kinda embarrassing, but in a way, a statement to how good it is.
The best shows can be so hard to watch because they're so good at hitting where it hurts
Spice and Wolf is an anime about a traveling merchant, i couldn't recommend it enough. Although there is a new anime of it coming out soon if you want to wait
Made in Abyss is a horror anime about kids exploring what has affectionately been called "Uncle Lovecraft's fun time murder hole"
Girls Last Tour is an anime about two girls exploring the apocalypse. The music is literally addicting, i typed the name and it's stuck in my head. You will cry.
Those all hit an exploration Itch, i recommend going to myanimelist.net to help keep track of what you might want to watch.
Look, I love Made in Abyss more than basically anyone on Earth. But I struggle to think it's a good recommendation for a gateway anime. The other two you rec'd are absolutely perfect, though, so I can't argue entirely. But I'm going to go ahead and suggest AniList for list tracking.
I've not watched shows that you mentioned yet so this might be a little out of left field. But anyway here's some top anime i'd recommend:
Beautiful world that gets bigger and bigger, loved watching the main character train up to a crazy level of power. Your idea of that character will change over the time you're watching, the writer does a good job at putting us in the shoes of his friends who also watch him grow.
This one is if you're looking for the type of character development that you'd find in a war movie, Innocent characters learn the gruesome horrors of their life and lose their innocence. The story of the world is well built and the lore is deep. Be warned, it pretty depressive to watch, i kinda lost hope with the characters while watching it does a good job at pulling you into the characters mindset.
Others to consider (i.e. anime starter kit): My Hero Academia | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood | Tokyo Ghoul | Sword Art Online (S1) | Does Avatar the last airbender count?
Attack on Titan is a must watch, even though the ending is a bit disappointment.
Good to know, I already have this one downloaded for someone else, but never watched it myself.
You should watch it. One of the best I would say.
I hear you. But at this point I'm swimming in recommendations and have to start a triage process. But it really helps that sombody I already know actually requested this show and then it was confirmed here as well. It's up there now!
Thanks, your other suggestions so far have also been really good (and been confimred multiple times). I'm keeping track!
Does Avatar the last airbender count?
I don't think it does. I've read and forgot about why it's not an anime. But that one I watched more than 27 times. It's the best show there is, across all categories.
It's hard to live up to expectations after Frieren but here are some that were memorable for me:
Hello! Lots of good suggestions here already.
But I am here to shill for my favourite manga, now being adapted into an anime, Dungeon Meshi.
The first 12 episodes are on netflix and so far the execution has been stellar. I'm running a community for it here: !dungeonmeshi@ani.social
You mention the slow character build up and detailed world building of Frieren being enjoyable, and Dungeon Meshi excels at those same things. Personally I'd even dare say it keeps up the quality of that stuff, while it eventually kind falls off a bit in Frieren in favor of focusing on arcs that can feel like B-plots. That's not even a criticism, it's simply a different kind of story, and the anime hasn't gotten to that point.
Dungeon Meshi in comparison is fairly short (I currently estimate it will wrap up in 48 episodes, after a second season), but it is a deep and complex story featuring far more than one character worth focusing on, set in a world with a rich history. Its rate of publishing was a single chapter every other month, which I think resulted in a level of attention to detail few weekly published mangas can achieve.
It merely masquerades as a simple comedy/cooking story with a fantasy gimmick.
And now we are getting an anime adaptation of that masterpiece, by none other than Studio Trigger!
If you give it a chance, pay attention to the details, as it starts to set things up from episode one, that will come together only much later.
Sounds great, I'm going to check it out!
Spy x Family
Land of the Lustrous
Yuru Camp
One Piece
Madoka Magica
Nichijou
A Place Further Than The Universe
Vivy
Violet Evergarden
Welcome to the NHK
Fullmetal Alchemist
I was watching Apothecary Diaries alongside Frieren so I gotta recommend that one.
Mushi-shi and Violet Evergarden have been recommended by others and I also highly recommend them.
Other shows which have exploration theme with character build up
A group of four girls travelling to the Antarctica.
A shut-in jobless man reincarnated into a fantasy world. Try his best to conquer his previous traumatic past in new world.
Due to a mysterious beam, all the world population turn into stone. After thousands of year, a boy reawakens and tries to rebuild the civilization.
Following her mother trait, a girl and her friend dive down the abyss where they will meet all sort of mysterious ceratures.
I would NOT recommend mushoku tensei to an anime newbie, as it requires an extremely high tolerance for anime bullshit (particularly creepy sex stuff)
Also, made in abyss needs to come with a heavy content warning, as it is a horror/gore anime despite its cutesy artstyle. Not to say it's a bad recommendation, just it's not for everyone.
A Place Further Than The Universe is fucking spectacular. It actually got so popular(wording?) that the New York Times ran an article on it.
Sci-fi and crime: Psycho Pass (Season 1 only)
Kino's journey, Mushishi, Violet Evergarden are all excellent shows but I would add: girl's last tour
And if you have time for more: 86
Ancient Magus' Bride has a similar kind of mood with a super old wizard and girl apprentice doing emotional side quests.
Wolfs rain is an overlooked gem about wolves and a girl at the end of the world. It was the next project the storyboard director from evangelion went on to work on iirc, one of studio bones first projects and fantastic music by yoko kanno throughout. Every character in it both good and "bad" has a motive, has a reason for their actions, and is wonderfully fleshed out. It plays a bit with character archetypes and how they break down when they are actually real people, reminiscent of EVA. Wolf's Rain is also on my short-list of great animes that also finish well.
You will cry through. Oh yes.
Imma go watch it again
I would suggest Magical Index.
It has a pretty broad spectrum of themes and characters.
The spinoff series Scientific Railgun tells a similar story from a different perspective. That is also quite enjoyable. You can decide if you want to watch one or the other or both.
Thank you!
Madoka Magica, Vinland Saga
I personally highly recommend Mushoku Tensei. It has some controversial points, and I feel that during the course of the story (particularly in the LN) they were straightened out since the main character stopped identifying himself as his pre reincarnation person and fully went in as Rudeus.
The art, animation, and music are all gorgeous. The world building is there, quite in depth too. Also, the first four of the first season has some of the best intros and outros I have ever seen in 40+ years of watching anime.
I may a bit biased. 😅
Mushoku Tensei is a good show to watch if you're in a mood for philosophical questions. Like in the case of Rudeus, is he an adult in a child's body? Or is he a child with an adult's memories? Same also holds with Oshi no Ko.
The way I interpreted it while reading the light novel was that he started as an adult in a child's body, and slowly became the child while retaining his memories. In the process he (other than worshipping panties...) became a better person than he ever was in his first life. Not that it took too much, considering what kind of lowlife he was. 🤷♀️
Apothecary Diaries Stein's Gate Violet Evergarden Odd Taxi
or some classics like
Legend of the Galactic Heros Initial D
Maybe something like Shinsekai Yori?
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