Frieren

Frieren
is a Japanese manga series written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday since April 2020, with its chapters collected in eleven tankōbon volumes as of September 2023. The series is licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media. An anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse premiered in September 2023.
By September 2023, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation. In 2021, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End won the 14th Manga Taishō and the New Creator Prize of the 25th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.
Plot
The story follows elven mage Frieren, a former member of the party of adventurers who defeated the Demon King and restored harmony to the world after a ten-years-quest. In the past, the heroic group included Frieren, human hero Himmel, dwarven warrior Eisen and human priest Heiter. Before they part, they observe the Era Meteors together, a meteor shower that occurs once in fifty years. Frieren agrees to see them again and offers them a better view the next time the celestial event occurs. Frieren then departs and travels the world in pursuit of magical knowledge.
Frieren returns to the capital fifty years later; however, humanity has changed, and her former companions have distinctly aged. After one last adventure to see the meteor shower, Himmel dies of old age. During the funeral, Frieren expressed guilt for not attempting to learn more about him. Frieren then pays a visit to her other former comrades. She accepts an offer to teach and care for Fern, an orphaned child adopted by Heiter. She also receives an invitation to travel far north, to the resting place of souls, and see Himmel again to bid the hero a fitting farewell and express her feelings. To fulfill those requests, Frieren embarks on a journey together with Fern while still pursuing her passion for learning magic.
Frieren's elven nature grants her an extremely long lifespan, causing her to view periods of years or decades as ephemeral (this perception of time makes her consider the ten-year adventure with Himmel's party a fleeting experience). The story thus takes place across a long time, with periodic flashbacks accompanied by the physical and mental development of characters apart from Frieren herself.
Characters
Frieren's party
An elven mage who was a member of the group that defeated the Demon King. Although she appears to be very young, she was born into a long-lived race of elves and has lived for over a thousand years. Because her sense of time is so dissimilar to that of humans, she has no qualms about working for months, if not years, at a time. After the death of Himmel, a member of her disbanded party, Frieren regretted not knowing him better during their ten-year adventure. As a result, she embarked on another journey to learn more about humanity. She has also traveled with a human wizard apprentice, Fern, since she took her on as an apprentice at Heiter's suggestion.
Over a thousand years ago, Frieren was rescued by the great wizard Flamme during a demon attack on her hometown. This harrowing experience instilled in Frieren a deep-seated abhorrence for demons, fueling her ambition to rid the world of their presence. After the Demon King's demise, Frieren dedicated herself to researching demon-slaying magic while continuing to kill them whenever she could until the demon race was no longer as threatening as it once was. As the wizard who has buried the most demons in recorded history, she has earned the moniker "Frieren the Slayer", and is feared by the demon race. Despite her accomplishments, Frieren has faced her share of defeats and struggles with certain shortcomings. As an elf, she is often perceived as being insensitive to human emotions. Her occasional clumsiness in social interactions leads others to mistakenly label her as aloof, but in reality, Frieren possesses a kind and caring nature.
Frieren's only apprentice. She is a war orphan from a southern country who had lost her parents and was about to commit suicide by jumping off a ravine in despair when Heiter came to her rescue. She began training in magic as a child under Heiter's tutelage in order to become more self-sufficient. She met Frieren, who visited Heiter when she was nine years old. Fern requested that Frieren teach her magic so that she could become a full-fledged mage. After Heiter's death, she embarks on a journey as Frieren's apprentice at the age of 15. Later, she became a first-class mage after passing the examination while still in adolescence. As a privilege of being a first-class mage, Fern may ask Serie practically any magic. Likewise, the newly appointed first-class wizard merely asked for a spell to remove dirt from any garments, much to Serie's dismay.
A young warrior who was raised by Eisen and served as a replacement for him on Frieren's new adventure. Since Eisen declined the invitation due to his old age, Stark stepped up to become the frontline fighter in battles, a role that Frieren and Fern, being magicians, are not suited for. Despite his timidity, Stark proves to be a strong and capable warrior fiercely loyal to his companions.
The Hero party
A human member of the original hero party, who died. He was the hero of the group and a self-proclaimed handsome man. After seeing a meteor shower together, he and Frieren promised to meet again. He died shortly after the two reunited fifty years later.
The other deceased human member of the hero party, the alcohol-loving priest of the group. He found, adopted, and raised Fern after the party dissolved.
Another living member of the original hero party besides Frieren. Eisen is a dwarf who, although not as long-lived as elves, still has a significantly longer lifespan than humans. However, Eisen was past his prime despite his extended life and growing old, even by dwarf standards. As a result, he declined Frieren's invitation to embark on a new adventure, choosing to spend his remaining days in peace.
Others
A village monk who joins Frieren's party on her journey after they meet. Despite being a talented monk, Sein has several vices, including a love for liquor, cigarettes, gambling, and older women. He travels with Frieren's group for a time but eventually leaves them temporarily to search for his best friend, who embarked on a solo adventure a long time ago.
A legendary human wizard and the originator of humanity's magic. She was considered a mythological figure, and her existence is often questioned. Many of the grimoires attributed to her are believed to be fake, but in reality, she truly existed around a millennium before the story's beginning. She was the mentor of Frieren and the apprentice of the great wizard, Serie.
In the past, an elf village was invaded on the orders of the Demon King, and Flamme protected the lone survivor, Frieren. In the blink of an eye, she could eliminate pursuers stronger than the Demon King's army's general. She taught Frieren an effective fighting method that included concealing her magical strength to catch opponents off guard and eliminate them with little effort, instructing her to spend the rest of her life doing so. Flamme's favorite spell was one that created a "beautiful flower garden." After Flamme died of old age, Frieren, her apprentice, used this magic to decorate Flamme's grave to fulfill her mentor's last wish.
An elven woman who has lived since ancient times. She is an influential wizard and Flamme's instructor. About 1,000 years before the story begins, she met Frieren for the first time, whom Flamme had brought. Dubbed a living grimoire, Serie is believed to possess nearly all of human history's magic and is considered by many to be the closest wizard to the Almighty Goddess.
Two decades before Himmel's passing, Serie established the distinguished Continental Magic Association, an organization responsible for governing and teaching magic across the realm. First-class mages can seek Serie's invaluable guidance and may request any spell they desire. Serie is a dedicated mentor at her core, fervently nurturing and steering the future generation of remarkable wizards. Nevertheless, her affinity for warmongering strains her relationship with the peace-seeking Flamme and Frieren. Serie believes their potential is wasted as they fixate on defeating demons and advocating for a peaceful era.
Production
Katsuma Ogura, the editor-in-charge of Frieren, noted that Yamada's previous work, Bocchi Hakase to Robot Shoujo no Zetsubou Teki Utopia, did not sell well, despite considering it a masterpiece. This led to the suggestion of giving Yamada an illustrator for Frieren. They had several thoughts that went from a gag manga which resulted in storyboards for a one-shot of Frieren. Upon reading the one-shot of Frieren, Ogura started laughing, claiming it is not a comedy at all. When Yamada finished the first storyboard, before sending it to the editorial department, Ogura contacted Abe and asked them to draw a character chart. Yamada was impressed with it and Ogura asked him do it, submitting the project to the editorial. Ogura was impressed with Abe's artwork and suggested him to work with Yamada. Yamada was impressed with the first illustration of Frieren, believing the title character had an aura of humanity.
After Kanehito Yamada, who was in charge of the original work, finished serializing his previous work, "Since it was a comedy about demons, I suggested that they try writing a gag in that direction, and suddenly the name of the first chapter of Funeral Frieren" came up. After that, he decided to hire someone to be in charge of drawing, and when he showed his name to Tsukasa Abe, who was also in charge, he responded, "I'd like to draw it." When I asked him to draw a character picture for Frieren, Yamada said, "If this is the person, please do it." Abe was put in charge of the animation.
The origin of the title of this work is that Yamada had a title idea, but the editorial department also considered it, and at the editorial department meeting, the editor in charge said, "If we decide on a good title, we will pay a prize of 10,000 yen out of our own pocket." One of the title ideas submitted by the deputy editor-in-chief was Funeral Frieren, and Yamada and Abe finally decided on the title, which became the current title.
For the animated adaptation by Madhouse, Tomohiro Suzuki said Fern's character was too different depending on who she is interacting with; with Frieren there is a motherly bond while in front of Stark, she acts like a childish normal teenager. Director Keiichiro Saito added that Fern appears to have several changes in the narrative as her growth has a major impact on Frieren. When it comes to Stark, Suzuki says that despite being a coward, he is still written to be handsome and cool and has a major impact on Fern as he becomes the first young male friend she has ever met and socialized in her entire life.
Media
Manga
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is written by and illustrated by . The series began in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday on April 28, 2020. In January 2023, it was announced that manga would go on hiatus; it resumed in March of the same year. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on August 18, 2020. As of September 15, 2023, eleven volumes have been released.
In February 2021, Viz Media announced that they licensed the series for English release in North America, and the first volume was published on November 9, 2021. On May 9, 2023, Viz Media launched their Viz Manga digital manga service, with the series' chapters receiving simultaneous English publication in North America as they are released in Japan.
Five one-shot spin-off chapters by different authors were published on Sunday Webry manga website from May 22–26, 2023; by Kassan (May 22); by Ren Miura (May 23); by Jona (May 24); by Kazumi Yamaguchi (May 25); and by Sōichi Igarashi (May 26).
Volumes
Anime
In September 2022, it was announced on the cover of the ninth volume of the manga that the series would receive an anime adaptation. It was later revealed to be a television series that is produced by Madhouse and directed by Keiichirō Saitō, with scripts supervised by Tomohiro Suzuki, character designs handled by Reiko Nagasawa, and music composed by Evan Call. The series premiered with a two-hour special on September 29, 2023, on Nippon TV's programming block (which is usually reserved for feature films), which is the first ever anime series to do so, with later episodes airing on the network's new programming block. The series will run for two consecutive cours. Yoasobi performed the opening theme song , while Milet performed the ending theme song "Anytime Anywhere". Milet also performed the first episode's ending theme song "Bliss". Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.
Episodes
Reception
Manga
By March 2021, the manga had over 2 million copies in circulation; over 5.6 million copies in circulation by February 2022; over 6 million copies in circulation by June 2022; over 7.2 million copies in circulation by September 2022; over 8 million copies in circulation by March 2023; and over 10 million copies in circulation by September 2023.
The manga ranked second on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2021 for male readers; and ranked sixth on the 2022 list. The series ranked second on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2021" by the Honya Club website. The series ranked seventeenth on the 2021 "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine; it ranked tenth on the 2022 list.
In 2023, it was ranked in the top ten graphic novels by the American Library Association's Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table's "Best Graphic Novels for Adults" list.
Critical reception
Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first volume an A−. Silverman praised the concept of Frieren outliving her companions and being forced to live with an understanding of the human world and her own emotions, calling it an "interesting take on the fantasy genre". Silverman, however, commented that the art is not "quite up to the emotional tasks of the story". Richard Eisenbeis from the same website prised the second volume of the series, saying that it "delivers both emotional tales and deep thematic explorations of human nature". He also described the fourth and fifth volumes of the manga as "an action climax that delivers not only a grand battle but also character-development and world-building. Smaller one-off tales that hit you right in your emotional core".
Wolfen Moondaughter of Sequential Tart gave the first volume a 9 out of 10. Moondaughter highlighted the slice of life nature of the story, despite its premise which involves a "D&D-style adventuring party", also praising the interaction between the characters and the art work, concluding: "If you want a break from fight scenes, and want something more serene and contemplative, this book should serve you well! It's also a lovely story of honouring the memory of lost loved ones, and dealing with grief." Sheena McNeil of the same website gave the first volume a 7. McNeil called the concept of "what happens to the party when the quest is over?" interesting, praising as well Frieren's struggling with "becoming less detached" and seeing her experiencing the "lovely poignant moments, bittersweet ones, and happy ones". McNeil also compared the series' pace and feel to Haibane Renmei. Antonio Mireles of The Fandom Post named it the sixth best manga of 2021. He wrote: "Time waits for no man and that line may be overused but that line strikes a chord in this manga. There is always more to discover and Frieren has to learn that lesson as time marches on. It's a sweet but harsh reminder to enjoy the moment for all its worth." Kara Dennison of Otaku USA liked the art and the touches of humanity which help to appeal the narrative, comparing it other famous works like Lord of the Rings among other fantasy series.
Awards and nominations
Anime
The anime adaptation was praised by Digital Spys Ali Griffiths as one of the best fantasy anime from 2023 due to the themes they portray and the atmosphere the version uses to represent them such as few background themes which sometimes result in silent scenes. The mix of fantasy elements and adventures the title character takes. Kambole Campbell of IGN also praised the production values for how it mixes with a "simple, but moving" narrative.
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
2023 anime television series debuts
Adventure anime and manga
Anime series based on manga
Crunchyroll anime
Drama anime and manga
Elves in popular culture
Fantasy anime and manga
Madhouse (company)
Manga Taishō
Muse Communication
Nippon TV original programming
Shogakukan manga
Shōnen manga
Toho Animation
Viz Media manga
Winner of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (New Artist Prize)