Summary
One of highest rated anime of all time,Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, has been on a manga hiatus all summer. The anime is rated at an incredible 9.34 on MyAnimeList, above even huge titles likeFullmetal Alchemist: BrotherhoodandGintama. Despite only airing for the past year,Frierenhas taken the anime world by storm, and with the popularity of the anime so high, the popularity of the manga is right behind it, selling an additional 7 million copies after the anime began airing.
However, the manga has been on a break since May 15th. Now, almost three months later, it is ready to start publishing again. The news came via the manga’s official X (formerlyTwitter) account on July 31st. About 24 hours later, the post had already garnered over 975,000 views, with over 3,000 retweets and 18,000 hearts. To say that fans are excited about the manga’s return is an understatement.
Frieren’s Manga is the Source of a Sensation
We Would Not Have the Highest Rated Anime Ever Without its Manga
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s Endisa popular anime now, but it came from a manga first. The series has been published in English since 2021 by VIZ Media, though it was first published in Japan back in 2020. Impressively, in just four years,Frierenhas been nominated for and won several awards, including the 48th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shōnen category this year. It also won the 69th Shougakukan Manga Award this year as well.
Though it may not have an impressive 9.34 score like its anime, theFrieren: Beyond Journey’s Endmanga is still highly rated by MyAnimeList at 8.80.MyAnimeListdescribes the plot of the manga as,
The Demon King has been defeated, and the victorious hero party returns home before disbanding. The four—mage Frieren, hero Himmel, priest Heiter, and warrior Eisen—reminisce about their decade-long journey as the moment to bid each other farewell arrives. But the passing of time is different for elves, thus Frieren witnesses her companions slowly pass away one by one.
Before his death, Heiter manages to foist a young human apprentice called Fern onto Frieren. Driven by the elf’s passion for collecting a myriad of magic spells, the pair embarks on a seemingly aimless journey, revisiting the places that the heroes of yore had visited. Along their travels, Frieren slowly confronts her regrets of missed opportunities to form deeper bonds with her now-deceased comrades.
The popularity and quality of the manga were what inspired an anime adaptation, which first aired in September 2023. That first seasonlasted for 28 episodes, until March 2024. Since then, though, fans have just had the manga to continue to enjoy while waiting for a second season. That is, until the manga announced its hiatus back on May 15th.
The Return of the Frieran Manga
The Wait is Over
This is not the first time thatFrieren: Beyond Journey’s Endhas taken a hiatus. The first hiatus was last year near the start of 2023, when the manga took a three-month hiatus from January to March. More recently, the manga took a one-month hiatus this past March, and only came back for one month before taking another one. The reasons for the hiatuses are not typically shared, but like most people, it is easy to imagine that the writers need a break just like the rest of us do sometimes.
Now, though, after three months of waiting, the manga is coming back again. On August 7th, in the combined 37th and 38th issues of Shogakukan’sWeekly Shōnen Sundaymagazine, the latest chapter will be published. For all the fans that have been spending their summers re-watching the anime or re-reading their favorite chapters, this is great news - and they only have to wait one week after hearing the news before they can read the new chapter.
IfFrieren’s manga continues to follow the pattern it has had so far in 2024, it is likely that another hiatus may be just around the corner. For now, though, fans can look forward tonew material coming outnext week and do their best to savor it when it does arrive. Will it come back for more than a month this time? Everyone will have to wait and see what the manga announces next.
