Wow. Frieren. Just always so good. Every book takes me on an emotional rollercoaster that I feel grateful for because by the end, I feel like I learned more about myself and about the world I live in.

Enjoyed the premise and the first book, this continues the series well. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Frieren and her apprentice, Fern, set off to travel to the Demon King's castle in the northernmost part of the kingdom. Frieren’s dwarf friend from her first adventure tells her she should recruit his apprentice, a warrior named Stark who ran out on him in cowardice. Stark is waiting around in a village to the North where he stopped a dragon from destroying the village. Stark is a really strong warrior, but he is extremely afraid of fighting, and he lacks any sort of confidence in his skills. In another city on their journey, Frieren runs into a peace envoy of demons and tries to attack them, saying that demons only know human language in order to dupe them. She is put in prison for the attack, but the peace envoy soon breaks down. Frieren leaves Fern and Stark to take care of the demons in the city, while she goes after a much stronger aura: one of the Sages of Destruction, and an incredibly powerful demon ready to lay siege to the city.

While this story started out after the main adventure quest that most stories would use as their main focus, Frieren doesn’t waste too much time getting involved in another quest with new companions. She seems to have learned a few things about valuing human life and respecting those who aren’t as long-lived as she, but she still often acts first and then thinks about how her actions look to those with less understanding than her. She doesn’t often explain her expertise in the moment, but she does open up to Fern and Stark a lot more than she did on her previous adventure with those companions. There is still plenty of reminiscing and connecting this journey to her previous one for Frieren, and the parallels of the previous journey develop a second set of characters for readers to connect to and care about, albeit with a tinge of sadness at their departure from the mortal plane.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

This was a really great second volume. We got some more backstory, got to see a dragon, there was more traveling; overall it was a great volume. I'm excited to see where the story goes in volume 3!

Truly a standout English release debut of 2021, Frieren Volume 2 continues the epic, thoughtful saga of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. The manga with story by Kanehito Yamada and art by Tsukasa Abe began serialization in Japan in April 2020 and has since received multiple awards including the 14th Manga Taishō. The story follows elf mage Frieren, who vanquished the Demon King alongside her fellow adventuring party. Over eighty years have passed, and Frieren lives on as her fellow party members pass on due to age, prompting her to reflect on her life and begin a new journey. The manga is released in English by VIZ Media under their Shonen Sunday imprint. Frieren Volume 2 is translated by Misa ‘Japanese Ammo,’ edited by Mike Montesa, and features touch-up art and lettering by Annaliese ‘Ace’ Christman; with design by Yukiko Whitley.

After being sent on a quest by her last surviving friend, Eisen, to reconvene with Himmel the Hero’s spirit, Frieren and her apprentice Fern travel North. Eisen has instructed Frieren to seek out his former apprentice Stark, providing a unique adventuring party that consists of Frieren mentoring her friends’ students into the new generation. It further adds to the dynamic of how the series treats generations and time. While this volume doesn’t have years pass in between chapters like its predecessor, the longevity of Frieren’s journeys is still looming. In her own words: ten years is only one one-hundredth of her life, so she is surprised when people talk about the impact of such events. It isn’t that Frieren is heartless, her perspective is just vastly different. She has to be frequently reminded by Fern that while a delay of two years will seem like nothing to her, that is a long time for Fern. After losing Himmel, Frieren is forced to reflect more on mortality and how relationships impact each other. Even in her relationship with Fern, Frieren is still awkwardly learning to show that she cares and appreciates Fern’s presence.

Additionally, Frieren Volume 2 gives even further insight into Frieren. She has long since accepted her place in the world as a wanderer, and this melancholic acceptance of the inevitable death of those around her has led to her seemingly putting guards up. That is why the start of a possible found family as a gift to her from her former adventuring party is so prominent. We learn that in this world elves are near extinct. They are aromantic and asexual, and so Frieren has never felt a desire to find companionship in a romantic manner and start a family. This is likely why even if Himmel had more than just platonic feelings for her (yet to be determined) it never developed into anything. It wasn’t simply that things went over Frieren’s head (although that is partially it as it is how her character is comically written separately from just sexual identity).

All of this excellent (but possibly a tad sad) material may make readers think Frieren Volume 2 is heavy with drama, but that is not the case. All of these previously discussed details and relationship building are masterfully blended in between comedic moments and quite thrilling action. Fern is an absolutely hilarious straight man, and perfectly embodies the apprentice who seems to be taking care of the master instead of the other way around. Additionally, the new character Stark has a lovely background. While happy-go-lucky he is openly a coward in his own eyes, which contributes to his strained relationship with former master Eisen. While there isn’t action on every page when there is it hits fantastically. So much of this series is a slow build and focused on the smaller moments, that when the characters actually unleash their power we are reminded of just how strong they are and how much time (once again back to that lovely theme) they have spent honing their abilities. Frieren is thousands of years old and taught by a master now thought to be a fairy tale. Her quest for unique, silly magic often makes one forget that she could likely level a battlefield if she wished.

All of this is to say that Frieren Volume 2 is another fantastic addition to this must-read series. The way the story handles grief, memories, and generations is masterful. The individual character work is already nearing sublime quality in only the second volume, and bonus points for having a character be openly aromantic and asexual.

This book was an absolutely delightful followup to Volume 1. The way the characters developed even more was quite fascinating. I especially enjoyed watching the interactions between Fern and the new apprentice. I can't wait for volume 3!

Absolutely beautiful. Excellent fantasy story with strong characters that you really care about. I love the story, the artwork, the characters and I can't wait to read the next one. This one didn't make me tear up as much as the first one did, which I appreciated, my tear ducts don't always need a workout, lol.

4, highly recommended and one I will be telling customers about at the store for sure, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Viz Media LLC for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

In this volume, Frieren continues her journey alongside Fern. Their party soon becomes one of three as they are joined by Eisen's apprentice Stark. However, his reputation as a warrior, they soon realize, masks his cowardice. Dragons and demons become issues as the team confronts new challenges together.

Enjoyed this volume as much as the last. Stark is a welcome addition to the team and with where this volume ended off I cannot get volume 3 into my hands soon enough!

This is one of the best fantasy series in recent years, and this second volume is fantastic! I can't wait to see what happens in the rest of the series, and I HIGHLY recommend it for all fans of fantasy manga!

Sometimes, the real treasure is the friendships we made along the way. But when your lifespan lasts magnitudes longer than that of your friends, that can complicate things...

The volumes in this series will not come out soon enough. I need more!

I want to read every book in this manga IMMEDIATELY. I'm so attached to Frieren and her journey, and I am LIVING for the new characters along the way. Best way to build a party - following the journeys of the people you loved, and bringing people who were their friends with you.
I feel like I'm learning as much about humanity as Frieren is, through these books.

This one got a little gory, but I expected that, as well as the increasing amount of plot.. I hope they continue to still be at their core about found family, and life more than death, and what we do when we're left behind.

A strange mesh of slice of life and adventure story. As someone who lives shonen, but wants a plot, it started to lose me a little in this volume, but the grabbed me and pulled me back. Looking forward to volume 3.

I just couldn't get into it, I'm sorry. It was very confusing to me even looking up what all happened in volume 1. It might work better for other people.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Volume 2 of Frieren picks up right after volume one, Frieren is going on an adventure at the request of her friend and former traveling companion Eisen the warrior. Since the loss of Himmel the hero Frieren has been carrying out the last wishes of those from her original adventuring group and Eisen wants her to go to the north to the Demon King’s Castle where one is supposed to be able to talk to those you have lost. Traveling with her apprentice, Fern, they pick up another companion and end up in a city that is negotiating with demons. Frieren doesn’t trust it at all but is she stuck in her battle hardened ways or is she right?
***
Again, this story has a pretty slow pace to it despite all the cool fantasy elements and the world in general, this is a story of a very old elf being forced to recognize that others don’t have near her lifespan and she needs to consider how she wants her time to count for those around her. I love Frieren there is a disaster-type aura despite her long lived life that keeps her grounded and relatable to an extent. Really enjoying this series so far.

A great continuation of a manga series about what happens after the adventure ends. As Frieren navigates her new and old relationships, she must learn more about how different individuals age.

Frieren continues to be an intriguing read! I'm really liking the gentle, character-study approach to this series. The ones who really shine in this volume are Frieren's various companions. I found the story of Stark and his master particularly compelling. I still find this series to be refreshing in its approach to its setup and I hope later volumes continue with this level of storytelling. Good job, volume 2!

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Volume Two continues chronicling Frieren and Fern as they go on their journey.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Volume Two
Written by: Kanehito Yamada
Publisher: Shogakukan
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: January 11, 2022

Unlike the first volume of the series, Volume Two doesn’t have all the skipping around in time. In fact, the entire volume is set 28 years after the death of Himmel the Hero. At the beginning of the volume, Eisen parts ways with Frieren and Fern, who are heading to north to find Auerole, the land where souls rest so Frieren can talk to Himmel. But before they part, Eisen tells them where they can find his disciple, Stark, because he thinks that he could be of use to them.

Before they can get there, though, they encounter a village where people are going missing. It’s rumored that ghosts have taken them away. From talking to witnesses, Frieren and Fern learn that the ghosts look like deceased relatives or people that the victims knew. Upon investigation, Frieren deduces that this is the work of phantom demons called Einsam. The demon makes an appearance, and for Fern, it takes on the form of Heiter. For Frieren, she sees Himmel as a young man. While Fern hesitates, Frieren takes on the demon. After seeing what Frieren does, Fern also attacks. Frieren mentions that she was surprised to see Himmel and not her master. I think this plot point with the Einsam really shows how much Frieren is regretting not getting to know Himmel more while he was still alive.

After this, Frieren and Fern make it to the location where Stark is. But before they meet him, they try to take on a dragon that lives outside of the town because Frieren wants the grimoire that’s in its nest. They don’t succeed, but luck has it that the dragon doesn’t try to go after the village. Stark summons the two of them and tells them not to mess with the dragon because that will endanger the village. From talking with Stark, Frieren and Fern learn that even though the people of the village consider Stark a hero, he didn’t truly do anything to the dragon when it attacked. It just looked at him and flew away and hasn’t returned to the village since. Stark believes he’s not strong, just a coward, and will probably run away. However, Frieren and Fern manage to convince Stark to help them with the dragon, and in the end, Stark is the one who takes down the dragon by himself, thanks to all of the training he’s done. Stark ends up joining them on their journey, in large part because Eisen told them to take him with them.

The three of them make it to the northern checkpoint, which is currently closed because the northern lands are filled with wandering monsters. Frieren doesn’t seem to mind, because she can take her time to do some magic research. However, after Fern overhears that it may be at least two years before the checkpoint opens back up, she and Stark keep trying to brainstorm ideas for how to get around the checkpoint. Unfortunately, nothing pans out. But in the end, everything works out when the castellan of the town realizes who Frieren is and gives the party permission to pass through. When the other two ask Frieren why she didn’t mention who she was when they first arrived, she answers bluntly that she thought it wouldn’t help. After reading this chapter, it seemed like the point of it wasn’t so much the fact that the three of them had an obstacle on their journey, but it was here to allow the reader, as well as Fern, get to know more about Stark and the type of relationship he had with his mentor. Getting to see these glimpses of Stark’s past helped me to better appreciate him as a character.

After the party leaves the northern checkpoint, they end up in a town that is celebrating the Liberation Festival, which marks the day that Himmel the Hero and his party defeated the dragons that had taken over the region a little over 80 years ago. Frieren has a flashback to Himmel marveling over a statue made of him, and Frieren questioning why the statues are made. At first, he gives a selfish reason about leaving a record of his handsomeness for posterity, but then seriously answers so that Frieren won’t be alone in the future. I really liked the fact that a picture of the people gathered around the statues of the heroes took up a whole page by itself, and I thought the drawing of the statues themselves was given a lot of care.

The final four chapters of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Volume Two take place in Graf Granat’s domain, and Frieren senses demons are in the town. As a group of them pass by, Frieren is grabbed by guards as she looks at Lord Lugner, the leader of the demon group. When talking with Lord Lugner, though, Frieren states what she knows about demons and their intentions, and she’s thrown into the dungeon in Graf Ganat’s mansion. Fern learns that the demons are “peace envoys” for Aura the Guillotine, one of the seven mages of destruction that went missing after a battle with Frieren, Himmel, and the rest of their party. Frieren knows that letting them in was a mistake, and she has a flashback to a demon child that Himmel had decided not to kill and the consequences that this decision had. But it turns out Graf Granat has no intention of talking peace with the demons, but he is captured and tortured when he tries to raise a hand against them.

Meanwhile, Frieren gets a visit in the dungeon from Draht, who serves as an executioner for Aura the Guillotine. Frieren manages to free herself from her executioner’s noose and kills Draht in the process. However, as she escapes, she sees that one of the prison guards has been killed, and it’s been set up to look like Frieren is the one who killed him. Frieren runs into Fern and Stark in town and they come up with a plan. Stark makes it into the mansion in order to try to free Graf Ganat. Unfortunately, he is unable to cut the ropes binding Graf’s hands. When the demons return, it looks like Stark may be a goner, but Fern steps in and stuns the demons enough that she, Stark, and Graf can get away. The volume ends with the revelation that some of the blood of one of the demons has ended up on Stark and Fern, so they can be tracked and won’t be able to get away easily. Also, we see Lord Luger having a flashback of Frieren right at the end of the volume. I thought this was a good note to end Volume Two on, and as a reader, it made me interested in wanting to read Volume Three.

After reading this volume, I thought that Stark made a great addition to the series. Not only is he a much needed warrior to accompany Frieren and Fern, but his flashbacks to his time with Eisen when he was traveling with him as his apprentice helped to develop both Stark and Eisen a little more. While at first, it seemed like Stark was traveling with them simply because Eisen expected him to, he seems to start genuinely wanting to be around Frieren and Fern as they continue their travels in this volume. And I also like how Frieren continues to have flashbacks to her travels with Himmel and the others, and how these flashbacks tie in with the events that are taking place in this volume. I believe that Volume Two successfully builds off of the previous volume and continues to build up the world that Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is set in.

I really enjoyed reading Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Volume Two, and at this point, I believe that this is one of the stronger fantasy manga titles that I have personally read.

Frieren and her apprentice Fern continue their adventures, and even add another member to their party. They take along the warrior Stark as a favor to the dwarf Eisen, an old friend of Frieren, and a member of her original party. I wasn't that fond of Stark at first, but he grew on me a bit by the end of the volume. I get the feeling that they will continue from town to town, solving mysteries and defeating monsters and villains from here on out. Maybe Frieren will slowly rebuild her party to resemble her original one? This one didn't have the emotional resonance of the first volume, but it was a fun adventure and I enjoyed it. If you're a fan of RPG games, I recommend this manga.

This has so quickly become one of my favorite manga series. I love the continued backstory we get for Frieren and the Heroes. There's a lot more development of her character and understanding why she does what she does. It's a solid story with so many heartfelt moments plus action-adventure plus comedy. Could not recommend it enough.

Frieren is a magical elf who has adopted an apprentice against her better judgement due to a promise she made to an old friend. Turns out this happened again. She adopted a second person to their party due to a different old friend. The three of them are going around helping people for little money or goods. When they visit a new town where demons are in charge Frieren is calmly concerned. She has had interaction with demons and knows they are no good. This was a great continuation of the story. I'm interested in previewing titles for my ya library collection and there's a part where Frieren is hanging by the neck that is uncomfortable but due to her magic she is able to escape and kills her captor. This could be uncomfortable but isn't too bad. Frieren keeps her cool and is a really interesting character.