is the title character and protagonist of the Japanese
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series ''
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'', created by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. Frieren is a former member of a party of adventurers led by the hero Himmel, who defeated the Demon King and restored harmony to the world after a ten-year quest. Reuniting with her former party fifty years later, Frieren discovers that her companions have distinctly aged, and Himmel dies of old age after one last adventure to see a meteor shower. During the funeral, Frieren expressed guilt for not attempting to learn more about him. Frieren then pays a visit to her other former comrades, and in the process takes on a human apprentice named Fern. She also receives an invitation to travel to the rumored resting place of souls in the far north, where she aims to see Himmel again, 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.
While initially conceptualized as a comical fighter, Yamada scrapped multiple ideas she had for Frieren until deciding to make her an
elf
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...
who grows in the story while remembering Himmel. In the
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
adaptation, she is voiced by
Atsumi Tanezaki in Japanese and Mallorie Rodak in English. Critical response to Frieren's character was mostly positive, due to how the series focuses on Frieren's view of life and how she aims to become a better person. The further exploration of her dark past was also praised for how it changed people's views of her.
Creation
Series creator Kanehito Yamada originally envisioned Frieren as the protagonist of a comedy
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
where she was obsessed with killing demons. In planning the series, editor Katsuma Ogura was impressed with Tsukasa 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. When he 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.
After several revisions involving comedy, the author came across with the idea of having an elf with a long lifespan as the main character. Although Himmel dies, his appearances in flashbacks were written to reflect Frieren's emotional growth. When Himmel appears, the author feels that the story tightens up. Even if it is sad, there is a catharsis.
For the animated adaptation by Madhouse, director Keiichiro Saito said that Fern appears to have several changes in the narrative as her growth has a major impact on Frieren.
The song "
Yūsha" was sourced from the short story, titled , written by Jirō Kiso and supervised by Yamada, telling about protagonist Frieren visiting a small town called "Music City" five years after the death of the hero Himmel. She receives a difficult request from an old woman she meets in a place filled with music. It incorporates the main character Frieren's emotional changes and memories towards the hero Himmel, expressing lonely and melancholy atmosphere of the anime. Originally, the opening theme would focus on the worldview of Frieren's journey; however, the songwriter
Ayase was not satisfied with the original version of the song, which he felt had "too much emphasis on the atmosphere". Thus, Ayase decided to rework the song even after submitting its first version to the anime's team.
In the anime adaptation, Frieren is voiced by
Atsumi Tanezaki in Japanese. Because of Frieren's age, Tanezaki opted to use her lowest register to deliver her lines. She also sought to convey the generally relaxed tone of the series in her delivery. Mallorie Rodak voices Frieren in the English dub. Rodak appreciated voicing Frieren, having liked the character.
Fictional character biography
Frieren is 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. Due to her long lifespan, her perception of time differs greatly from that of humans; she considers decades brief and often finds human emotions and social norms difficult to grasp.
Frieren was initially raised in an unnamed village which was destroyed in an attack by the Demon King's forces. Escaping from this raid, she was taken in by a human mage named Flamme, and began learning magic under Flamme's tutelage.
Centuries later, she joined Himmel's party, and after a ten-year journey their party defeated the Demon King. The party disbanded after this victory, and after Himmel's eventual death of old age, Frieren regretted that she had not become closer to him during his lifetime. As a result, she began another journey to learn more about humanity. On this second journey, she has been accompanied by a human apprentice, Fern; Frieren began mentoring Fern at the suggestion of her former party member Heiter. Frieren's goal is to reach the region of Aureole, a region in the far north where the souls of the dead are believed to reside, in the hopes of seeing Himmel again and giving him a more proper farewell.
Frieren's high level of magical skill and antipathy for demons have led her to receive the moniker ; the original Japanese phrase could also be translated as "Frieren the Undertaker".
Despite her stoic nature, Frieren has several eccentricities. She enjoys collecting mostly trivial or non-combat spells, often drawn to any form of magic that is novel or unusual, regardless of its practicality. She sometimes takes on jobs in exchange for magical books and is fond of dungeon exploration, particularly when treasure chests are involved — occasionally opening mimics (a creature
adapted from fantasy
role play media) despite recognizing the danger. Though indifferent to wealth or fame, she is expressive when acquiring magical tomes, has a large appetite, dislikes waking early, is self-conscious about her slim physique, and rejects being called old.
Reception
Popularity
A frame from the twelfth episode of the anime, in which Frieren makes a smug expression while presenting a clothes-dissolving potion, has attained popularity on social media. In the 2024
Anime Grand Prix
The is an annual Japanese anime awards giving to recognize the best in anime of the previous year, decided by the votes of readers of entertainment magazine ''Animage'', published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. The Anime Grand Prix started i ...
, Frieren took seventh place in the Best Character category. At the
9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Frieren was nominated for "
Best Main Character" and
"Must Protect At All Costs" Character. Seven of Frieren's international voice actors were nominated for the "
Best Voice Artist Performance" category, namely
Atsumi Tanezaki (Japanese), Mallorie Rodak (English), Sandra Villa (Castilian), Marie Nonnenmacher (French), Natasha John (Hindi), Martina Felli (Italian), and Erika Ugalde (Spanish); however, they lost to
Aoi Yūki
, better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer represented by Aoni Production. She voiced Nodoka Hanadera/Cure Grace in ''Healin' Good Pretty Cure'', Madoka Kaname in ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', Tsuyu Asui ...
's
Maomao, Aleks Le and Masumi Mutsuda's
Sung Jin-woo, Adrien Antoine's
Kafka Hibino, Lohit Sharma's
Satoru Gojo, Ilaria Pellicone's
Kyomoto, and Miguel Ángel Leal's
Eren Jaeger, respectively.
Critical response
Critical response to Frieren was mostly positive. ''
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...
'' claimed that Frieren's story stands out in among other fantasies due to its focus on her regrets after Himmel's death even if the time spent with him was not much for the elf race. Frieren was compared to the story of
Rip Van Winkle
"Rip Van Winkle" () is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in Colonial history of the United States, colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Du ...
as it similarly reflects the changes of times in the eyes of the protagonist which makes him and Frieren highly relatable. The funeral of Himmel changes Frieren's character as she decides to go on a journey to sort out her feelings for the hero. ''
Siliconera
The GAMURS Group, simply known as Gamurs, is an esports media and entertainment publisher. Established in 2014, the group operates multiple brands focusing on the esports and entertainment news markets, including the websites: ''Dot Esports'', '' ...
'' commented the manga helps to make readers sympathize with the elf's lifespan as the protagonist looks for a way to make the same regrets she had with Himmel and live a different life. This is highly notable in the episodic nature of the manga where Frieren now lives remembering all the lessons Himmel taught her and applies it to how she meets new people and value them more. ''
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
'' also found Frieren to go through a notable
character arc
A character arc is the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story. If a story has a character arc, the character begins as one sort of person and gradually transforms into a different sort of person in response to c ...
when Himmel dies and starts a new journey taking care of disciple of Heiter and Eisen's disciples, Fern and Stark, respectively, which he compared more to a
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
rather than action fantasy. Another aspect of Frieren's new persona is in how she begins to understand the relative briefness of human lives, and begins treasuring her human companions.
''
GamesRadar+
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Compute ...
'' remarked that, unlike other
manga in the fantasy genre, Frieren's series focused more on slice-of-life happenings than on fighting.
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. The further developments of Frieren's journey alongside the growing romance of Fern and Stark was notable to ''Anime News Network'' as it helps to give further depth to the protagonist and Himmel's apparent relationship; While it becomes obvious to the audience that Himmel was in love with Frieren, the previous state the elf was in might not reciprocate his feelings, giving a sense of romantic tragedy. ''Sequential Tart'' compared Frieren to
Spock
Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...
: "logical and aloof and having difficulty understanding humans, but also getting closer to being like humans as she goes." Sheena McNeil of the same website 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".
The eventual reveal of Frieren's past and nickname "Frieren the Slayer" was noted by ''Fiction Horizon'' as displaying new sides to her personality: the discovery that Frieren's family had been killed by demons, and the reveal of her cold and ruthless approach to fighting demons, was noted as a contrast to her otherwise easygoing nature.
''
Comic Book Resources
''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...
'' also recognized that Frieren's viewpoint on the demons is quite different from that of other famous protagonists like
Tanjiro from ''
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'', though they see this as a breath of fresh air for anime as a whole. This is mostly exemplified in Frieren's duel with Aura, which ends with Frieren magically compelling Aura to kill herself. ''The Fandom Post'' acclaimed Frieren's true nature and backstory, with writer Dan Mansfield stating that it had surprised him how previous episodes built up the protagonist's hidden skills until Frieren's duel with Aura. Richard Eisenbeis of ''Anime News Network'' awarded Frieren as a best character of 2023 due to how she "carries" the series with her characterization, remarking that she was able to pivot between serious and comical modes while still keeping a noble and tragic arc.
Notes
References
{{Frieren
Anime and manga characters who use magic
Anime and manga characters introduced in 2020
Female characters in anime and manga
Fictional immortals in comics
Fictional elves
Frieren characters