Frieren: Beyond Journey's End manga receives prequel novel

Modified Feb 28, 2024 20:41 GMT

Wednesday, February 28, 2024 saw Shogakukan begin listing a novel adaptation of author Kanehito Yamada and illustrator Tsukasa Abe’s Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga series. The novel adaptation, entitled Soso no Frieren ~Zenso~, is slated for release in Japan on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Mei Hachimoku, who previously wrote The Mimosa Confessions and The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbye light novels, is writing the adaptation.

The novel will serve as a prequel to the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga series, and will serve as a collection of five short stories not included in the mainline manga series. The novel’s stories will feature Frieren, Stark, Lawine, Kanne, and Aura. The novel will depict Frieren before she goes on a journey to “get to know people.” Yamada will be supervising the novel’s production.

While the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga series is incredibly popular in its own right, most fans are likely familiar with the franchise via Madhouse Studio’s incredibly successful anime adaptation. The television anime series originally premiered in September 2023 with a two-hour special, and has gone on to dominate both the Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 anime seasons.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga will receive a prequel novel focusing on series’ central characters

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As mentioned above, the upcoming prequel novel for the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga series will focus on the central characters to the story. Anime fans will also be familiar with each character currently announced as appearing in the prequel novel, meaning any fan of the franchise can purchase and read the novel. However, non-Japanese speaking fans will have to wait until the novel is translated to English and other languages regardless.

The manga originally premiered in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine in April 2020. The series has gone on hiatus, but returned to regular serialization in March 2023, which is still ongoing today. The 13th volume for the series will be published in Japan on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Viz Media most recently published the 10th volume in English on February 20, 2024.

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The manga has over 17 million copies in circulation, 7 million of which were added after the anime’s debut. The series has won several awards, including the New Creator Prize at the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2021 and the 14th Manga Taisoho Award in 2021. The manga was also nominated for Best Shonen Manga for Kodansha’s 45th and 46th annual Manga Awards in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table included the manga in its top 10 list of 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List. The anime’s First Class Mage Exam arc started with the release of the 17th episode on January 5, 2024, and marked the start of the series’ second cour.