Kaitlan

wo Frieren's battles are just as good as JJK, there's just less of them and more other things. JJK is basically ONLY battles, which is my point.

JJK is a great anime, but it's just typical Shonen fare. It's not materially different in concept than Demon Slayer or MHA, just in aesthetic. Frieren is something materially different: introspective and philosophic without being boring.

8 is majorly underrated. All this hype about 9 for the anniversary, 8s anniversary was basically ignored by SE. It's an untapped well for sure, but I will keep enjoying the original

I don't know that I agree that an anime can be both simpler and more rewatchable. I watched both series with an open mind from beginning to end, and I watched Frieren three times with longing and I only needed to watch Solo Leveling once to get what I needed from it. SL isn't terrible or anything, it's pretty standard pop shonen fare, but it really isn't anything unique among other titles. Frieren is pretty university accepted to be something novel, even among critics who didn't appreciate the pacing and contemplative story.

I understand the appeal of both, but Frieren is a unique breath of fresh air, truly artistic in its poignancy and philosophy. Meanwhile, Solo Leleving is an overly gameified derivative power fantasy that has been done so many times, it's basically Korean SAO. You personally can prefer the latter, you may find something with more culture tedious erudite and boring; not worth wasting your precious little entertainment time on, that's your personal opinion and that's fine. But there's no denying what these series actually are, and it is exactly as I described.

Clive shouldn't be on here. Comparing his popularity to characters like Y'shtola or Lightning is asinine. And I say this as someone whose favorite is Squall, recognizing that he's kind of polarizing, but there are obvious uncontroversial mainstream candidates. Clive is here in guessing because of recency bias, which is really casting doubt on the whole list.