The Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End prequel novel series has revealed the cover ahead of its April 17 release date. The novel is titled Shosetsu Soso no Frieren ~Zenso~ and will be written by Mei Hachimoku (author of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes light novels). The novel will feature 5 original stories, revolving around Frieren, Fern, Stark, Kanne/Lawine and Aura. Those are the character present on the cover.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End returned with the 2nd cour this winter, and it is set to end next week on March 22. Studio MADHOUSE is animating, while Crunchyroll is streaming it outside Japan. The main anime staff consists of Keiichiro Saito as the director, Tomohiro Suzuki as the scriptwriter, Reiko Nagasawa as the character designer and Evan Call as the music composer. Atsumi Tanezaki is voicing the titular protagonist Frieren.
The anime is based on the manga written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. It has been serialized in Shogakukan’s shonen manga magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday since April 2020. The manga’s 13th volume will release at the same time as the prequel novel. Viz Media licensed the original manga in English, and they describe the story:
Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. With the great struggle over, they all go their separate ways to live a quiet life. But as an elf, Frieren, nearly immortal, will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to terms with the mortality of her friends? How can she find fulfillment in her own life, and can she learn to understand what life means to the humans around her? Frieren begins a new journey to find the answer.
The Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End anime was voted as the Best Anime of Fall 2023, and it also took the Best Boy (Stark), Best Girl (Fern), Best Adaptation, Best Drama, and Best Opening (“Yuusha” by YOASOBI) awards. In our 2023 Anime of the Year Awards, Frieren won Best New Anime, Best Adaptation, Best Fantasy, Best Adventure, and it was 2nd in Best Drama and 3rd in Best Animation.
Source: Shogakukan
© Yamada Kanehito, Abe Tsukasa /Shogakukan