Frieren: Beyond Journey’s end

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a fantasy Anime/manga series that follows the Elven mage Frieren. The first season released in 2023, with its second releasing earlier this year. Frieren has an extremely long lifespan of over a millennium, and she realizes too late that she didn’t get to know her former hero’s party of adventurers very well and regrets it. 

In the story, Frieren says, “Whenever possible, I’d like to retrace the adventures I had with Himmel and the others. Before all signs of them fade away.”  Frieren cherishes the memories she made with her former party. 

The story begins with the Hero party, which consists of Frieren the mage, Himmil the hero, Eisen the worrier, and Heiter the priest, returning from a 10 year journey from defeating the demon king. Since she has a long lifespan, the journey didn’t seem that long to Frieren.  When Himmil eventually dies, Frieren realizes that she never got to truly understand him or the others that she’d traveled with, since the journey was just a short part of her life while a large piece of there’s. She eventually starts another journey to Aureole, the land where souls rest, in hopes of meeting Himmil to better understand his memories. 

I thought this was an amazing start to the series, because she realized how much she appreciated her party but also how much she wanted to learn more about them. I like how the story focuses on what happened after the adventure and its effects, rather than on the adventure itself. This makes the beginning emotional and makes you want to see Fieren learn more. 

During the journey, she takes on an apprentice named Fren and later meets Steark, a worrier trained by Eisen. During their journey, they fight monsters and demons, helping regular folk on the way. They then arrive in Auburst, where Frieren and Fren take the first-class mage exam. Fren proves how much she’s grown as a mage, becoming a first-class mage. It’s the highest official mage rank in the Continental Magic Association. First class mages are trusted with important missions and have exceptional magical abilities. 

In season 2, they continue traveling towards Aureole fighting even stronger enemies and learning more of the Demon King’s war from the villagers perspective. During this season, Frieren becomes more open to Fern and Sterk about her memories of Himmiel and her Journey with the Hero’s party. 

These are some thoughts on the anime Frieren by Moreau students. 

Said by Sophomore Benjamin Loucks, “I really enjoyed watching Frieren. It had a perfect mix of fantasy, adventure, and emotional moments. The characters are very interesting, and it makes you think of the value of time and friendship.”

Said Junior Kai Venuto “I really enjoyed Frieren because of the interesting characters, relaxing story, and the emotional moments that make you appreciate the people around you.”

“Frieren is a great show with an interesting story, beautiful words, and characters that are easy to care about. I enjoyed how it focuses on adventure, while also showing the importance of memories and relationships.” Said by Sophomore Damien Gisable

Overall, I loved this show and would highly recommend it. Though it’s slow at times, it’s very interesting to watch  and to see how the characters grow over the course of the show. The main lesson that the story tells is to appreciate the time that you spend with the others around you. Also to better understand your relationships, and that even the small moments become the most precious memories. The story shows Frieren as she realizes how little she knows about her old party and appreciates the memories that she has of them.