Frieren

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (葬送のフリーレン) is a Japanese manga series written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday since April 2020, with its chapters collected in 13  volumes as of April 2024. The series is licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media and in Southeast Asia by Shogakukan Asia. An anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse aired from September 2023 to March 2024.

Taking place in a fantasy world, the story follows Frieren, an elven mage, as she embarks on a journey to reach the resting place of souls in order to reunite with her former comrade Himmel, whose Hero Party once slew the Demon King.

By June 2024, the manga had over 22 million copies in circulation. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End won the 14th Manga Taishō and the 25th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's New Creator Prize in 2021, and the 69th Shogakukan Manga Award and the 48th Kodansha Manga Award (in the category) in 2024.

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-year quest. The heroic group includes 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 expresses guilt for not attempting to learn more about him. Paying a visit to her other former comrades, she accepts Heiter's request 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. Along the way, she is joined by Stark, a young warrior boy taught by Eisen.

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.

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 that it was 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 that he 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 with in her entire life.

Manga
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. The series began in Shogakukan's 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. It went on another hiatus in May 2024. Shogakukan has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was published on August 18, 2020. As of April 17, 2024, 13 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. In Singapore, the manga has been licensed by Shogakukan Asia, under the title Frieren: Remnants of the Departed.

Five one-shot spin-off chapters by different authors were published on Sunday Webry manga website from May 22–26, 2023; Chūbō no Frieren (厨房のフリーレン) by Kassan (May 22); Yūsha Himmel no Bōkentan (勇者ヒンメルの冒険譚) by Ren Miura (May 23); Frieren wa Ningen wo Shiritai (フリーレンは人間を知りたい) by Jona (May 24); Himmel Tabi Nikki (ヒンメル旅にっき) by Kazumi Yamaguchi (May 25); and Yorimichi no Frieren (寄り道のフリーレン) by Sōichi Igarashi (May 26).

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 two consecutive-cour series premiered with a two-hour special on September 29, 2023, on Nippon TV's Kin'yō Road Show programming block (normally reserved for feature films), the first ever anime series to do so, with later episodes debuting on the brand new Friday Anime Night programming block on the network and its affiliates. The series finished on March 22, 2024. For the 4-episode premiere broadcast, the special ending theme song is "Bliss", performed by Milet. The first opening theme song is "Yūsha" (勇者) by Yoasobi, while the ending theme song is "Anytime Anywhere" by Milet. The second opening theme song is "Sunny" (晴る) by Yorushika, while the second ending theme song features a different part of "Anytime Anywhere".

Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.

A series of eleven short episodes, titled Sōsō no Frieren: ?? no Mahō (葬送のフリーレン ～●●の魔法～), was released on Toho Animation's YouTube channel, and on the official Frieren's anime X and TikTok accounts from October 11, 2023, to March 24, 2024.

Other media
An official fanbook, featuring information about the series, illustrations, summaries and initial rough designs of the characters, was published by Shogakukan on January 12, 2024.

A prequel novel written by Mei Hachimoku with supervision by Yamada, titled Shōsetsu Sōsō no Frieren: Zensō (小説 葬送のフリーレン～前奏～), was released on April 17, 2024. The novel features stories not depicted in the manga, centered around Frieren, Fern, Stark, Kanne, Lawine, and Aura.

In April 2024, Scrap (company)'s Real Escape Game announced the creation of an escape room based on the series, titled "Escape from the Millennium Dream".

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; over 10 million copies in circulation by September 2023; over 17 million copies in circulation by December 2023; over 20 million copies in circulation by March 2024; and over 22 million copies in circulation by June 2024. Volume 12 was Shogakukan's second highest first print run manga volume of 2023–2024 (period from April 2023–March 2024), with 600,000 copies printed.

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; and twelfth on the 2023 list.

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 of 2022.

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 praised 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". Ross Locksley of UK Anime Network considered it as an interesting take on the fantasy genre, comparing its themes to the manga To Your Eternity as it examines relationships as the protagonist tries to live up the legacy of her teammates.

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 to other works like Lord of the Rings and fantasy series.

Critical reception
The anime adaptation received critical acclaim. Digital Spy's Ali Griffiths praised it as one of the best fantasy anime from 2023, citing its themes surrounding the passage of time as well as praising the show's "cozy, calm atmosphere" and sound design. Richard Eisenbeis of Anime News Network praised the dynamics between the main characters as Frieren quickly goes through an arc when meeting Fern and Stark as her perspective of time changes as she meets these two teenagers while also building up her backstory with each episode. Jenni Lada of Siliconera considered it as one of the best anime from fall 2023, praising the depths of Frieren as she wants to connect further with Himmel following her regrets when the hero dies in the first episode while also noting how there are other events in the manga that go from drama to slice-of-life.

Dan Mansfield of The Fandom Post praised the fights and narrative from the plot but felt some sex jokes to be out-of-place despite appreciating the humor in general. While commenting on Frieren's personality, Mansfield also appreciated how Fern gets scenes in early episodes where she comforts Stark who is worried about being scared. Kambole Campbell of IGN praised the production values for how it mixes with a "simple, but moving" narrative. Cy Catwell of Anime Feminist enjoyed the soundtrack, comparing it to the music of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, as well as praising Madhouse's animation. Ayaan Paul Chowdhury of The Hindu called it "the future of fantasy" and wrote: "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End dares to carve its own path amidst the cacophony of familiar tropes and archetypes."