{"id":892,"date":"2026-03-04T15:35:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/?p=892"},"modified":"2026-03-04T15:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:36:36","slug":"10-auditory-and-visual-storytelling-a-case-study-on-different-anime-and-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iam.tugraz.at\/research\/skusek\/2026\/03\/04\/10-auditory-and-visual-storytelling-a-case-study-on-different-anime-and-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"10 | Auditory and visual storytelling – a case study on different anime and video games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What this blogpost is all about<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

As my final entry, I wanted to continue looking into immersion and what may cause it.
As an avid anime and video game fan myself, I have always been fascinated by how some of my favourite pieces of media managed to catch the audience and deepen immersion by not only having a compelling story, but also mange to make use of various different auditory and visual storytelling elements to underline it. This lead to this blog-post, where I want to explore some of my favourite recent examples and explore some ideas, on what makes them work. By looking into these examples, analysing them and learning from their respective examples, I hope to also gain insight into how to make my own work more immersive.
Also, while I will try to keep my entry as spoiler-free as possible, there may be some spoilers for the analysed media, you have been warned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Case 1 – Sousou no Frieren: A slow burner with a twist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sousou no Frieren – translation: Frieren at the funeral, official English title: Frieren: Beyond the journey’s end – is a currently airing fantasy anime, that deals with a very simple premise: What happens to the heroes, after the big bad boss at the end of every fantasy story is slain and the world is saved? What comes afterwards, when the journey that should define a lifetime, is over?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sousou no Frieren, that is where our story begins, with the hero’s party, consisting of the noble human hero Himmel, the ever-unfazed dwarven warrior Eisen, the corrupt human priest Heiter and the stoic, century old elven mage and titular character, Frieren, having just slain the Demon Lord, thus bringing peace to the lands. And, as the title suggests, Frieren and her emotional journey from this point, is also the focus going forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because, in the first episode already, as the heroes party is celebrating their victory in the capital, they manage to catch a very rare sight: A meteor shower, that only appears every 50 years. It is at that time, that they all agree to see it together next time too, though in a place with a better view, because Frieren remarks, how she knows such a place and that they should just meet. Afterwards, the party splits up, and our elven mage embarks on another journey. It should be 50 years before she sees her companions again, a time, that passes in the blink of an eye, barely even 2 minutes pass in the episode, and it is in that moment, that you, as a viewer begin to realise, how different Frieren perceives time and its meaning. When meeting her friends again, the two humans, Himmel and Heiter, have become old men, barely recognisable from before. However, they all keep their promise and watch the meteor shower together once more. Shortly after, Himmel dies, and it is at his funeral, where the usually stoic and composed Frieren breaks down, crying, wondering, why she feels so sad about someone, that “she only spent a 10 year journey with”, which to her, barely is a blip in her long, long life, but to her human companions, is one of the most important times of their lifes. She regrets, not spending more time with them, connecting more with them, and getting to know them better. It is at this moment, that Frieren decides to retrace her former parties steps and go on a journey of self-discovery, to deal with the question, on what it means, to form a connection, when it will eventually be lost anyway, how precious time together can be and how to deal with loss and her emotions in general. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Duality between Action and Slice of Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During this journey, Frieren will come to experience the change, that her actions have brought, take on an apprentice, face all kinds of hardships, old and new foes and other battles, and generally grow as a person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Screenshots from the first 6 episodes of the anime:
Sousou no Frieren’s backdrops (top) and frequent wide-angle have an almost pittoresque quality to them, inviting the viewer to stop and gaze, slowing down the pace, without appearing boring
The fight scenes (bottom), however, are usually much more dynamic, the art style changes, it features clear focus points, harsher lines, dynamic movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it is important to note, however, that, while there are some amazingly animated action secquences, Sousou no Frieren is not an action anime at all. If anything, it would be more appropriate to call it a fantasy slice of life show, due to how Frieren’s journey is more about her everyday life and how she finds her way in a world, where elves are increasingly rare and thus, nearly everyone she meets, will die before her. This duality in moods, and how to approach them from a storytelling perspective, is by no means an easy feat, and while the aforementioned change in artstyle certainly sells the change in tempo and engage the viewer, it is without a doubt also the amazing soundtrack, composed by Evan Call, that helps the change along in a very unique way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

American composer Evan Call composed most of the Original Soundtrack of Sousou no Frieren, and already released part of it as a pre-release on Youtube. The full soundtrack is set to release in April<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand how Call achieves that, it is first important to know, how he approached the Soundtrack in general. It is remarkable to see, how, to fit the music into the world, he actually makes use of medieval instruments, as well as choirs, and combines them with more modern composition techniques to achieve the tempo and response that is appropriate in any given scene. To make it possible, to seamlessly switch between slow-paced and fast-paced sequences, between slice-of-life and action, instruments, and sometimes even whole melodies get used in different paced pieces, while only slightly changing the tact or rythm, adding or substracting drums, but still following the same leitmotifs. A good example of this, when comparing different songs from his pre-released soundtrack, were the following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n