A review by maiakobabe
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 1 by Kanehito Yamada

adventurous hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I had already watched a few episodes of the anime, so the set up of this story was familiar to me. Frieren is an elf mage who traveled with the adventuring band who killed the demon king decades ago. She has not visibly aged, but her traveling companions are all old men how. 50 years after their big victory, she returns to travel with them again. That's the last time she seems one of them alive. She realizes she had not processed how short human lives are in comparison to her own, and vows to do a better job getting to know the next group of humans whose lives touch her own. This is a contemplative and slow burn story, but with a lot of tenderness. I definitely want to keep reading more of this rambling adventure!