Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Prelude Review

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’s second season of anime has just come to an end, but with a third on the way and the manga ongoing, there’s still plenty for fans to enjoy. And on top of that, Yen Press has just brought out a prequel novel – Prelude. But how does that compare to the beloved original manga? Let’s find out!

Prelude is made up of five stories, all of which take place before the beginning of the main story and follow a different character. We kick things off with a story revolving around Fern and her daily life living with Heiter. She desperately wants to get better at magic and become an adult so that her master doesn’t have to worry about her. Like much of Frieren, this is a story about the passage of time and how unkind it can be to those who differ in age as much as Fern and Heiter do.

Chapter two sees us follow Stark who, having gotten frustrated with his master Eisen, has run off to a nearby town. At first he simply wanted to blow off some steam, but when a dragon attacks, he finds himself staying there long-term, vowing to defend the residents from its attacks. Readers may remember this as the situation Stark is still in when Frieren and Fern first meet him.

The third chapter follows Lawine and Kanne, whom readers may remember from the Mage Exam arc toward the end of the first anime season (Volumes 4 through 7 of the manga). These two are tasked with clearing a challenge at their magic academy that involves defeating monsters, but with Kanne’s reliance on having water available to use her magic, will they be able to find two monsters to defeat in time?

The fourth chapter changes perspective from our human (and elf) heroes to the demon, Aura. With Himmel having defeated the Demon King, Aura is forced to lay low, and her days are filled with boredom. That is until she comes across a blind human, whom she goes on to spend her days with and begins to think about things from a more human perspective.

And of course you can’t have a Frieren novel without the star herself, so she takes centre stage for the last chapter of the book. And this story, like Fern’s, is the one that perhaps best captures the essence of the series. Frieren is travelling toward a destination, but she dreams of meeting her companions and reflecting on the time she spent travelling around as part of the heroes’ party. It’s bittersweet, but probably the most engrossing read of the five stories included here.

Rather than Frieren’s author, Kanehito Yamada, this novel is written by Mei Hachimoku (The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes; Wait for Me Yesterday in Spring) who I feel has captured the atmosphere of the world and the characteristics of the cast well. I think it’s always difficult when someone is challenged with writing a prequel to an existing story, especially one like this that’s not about Himmel and the heroes’ party but instead our current cast of characters.

With Frieren especially, it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of freedom to depict anything with a lasting impact since the characters’ backstories and pasts tend to be explored through the main work. Still, Hachimoku has done well to find places to set these stories and present the reader with something engaging. Especially given the choice to include Aura as one of the main focuses.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Prelude comes to the West thanks to Yen Press (rather than VIZ Media, who handle the manga), and has been released under the Yen On imprint. The book is translated by Jenny McKeon, who doesn’t work on the manga but has done an excellent job of keeping the character voices consistent. This release comes to the English market in an attractive hardcover edition, which includes a collection of character profiles at the beginning for readers who (like me) may have forgotten who some of the relevant side cast are. There are no colour illustrations, but mangaka Tsukasa Abe has provided an image for the beginning of each chapter.

Overall, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Prelude is a collection of stories that offer fun glimpses into the past of some of the important members of our cast. These may not leave a lasting impression on you since they’re largely daily life stories. However, I was impressed by how well Mei Hachimoku captured the world of Frieren, and sometimes all you need is someone who understands the original work to this extent.

Our review copy was supplied by Yen Press.