How It Feels Losing Everyone 

After the first chapter, Himmel basically only lives on through flashbacks, and yet somehow he feels like a long lost pal I never had. Truly an incredible manga.

This manga takes the weakest aspect of the isekai & fantasy genre, that is the ending to the plot, and truely expands and builds upon it. Definitely a must read

They have just announced the *Anime Adaptation* for Frieren. Now it has been proven that everytime Gigguk talks about a manga it eventually gets an anime adaptation.

The main thing from this manga that stayed with me is how there was this one sealed demon, known to be the most powerful spellcaster of his day. But when he gets unsealed, his spells have barely any effect, because magic study moved on without him.

5:15 “Elfs are just milfs in disguise” Very wise words from a very wise man.

It's crazy how the passage of time feels so different for me now. As a child, summer vacation felt like forever. I'm now old enough to have grandchildren, and summer goes by in the blink of an eye.

Frieren was over 1000 years old by the time she joined Himmel's party, which we know from references to her teacher, Great Mage Flamme "who lived over a thousand years ago". Just that shows how much her perspective has changed so quickly. Not only does she truly value the 10 years she spent with Himmel's party, but she remembers everyone she met along that journey with genuine emotion. She didn't value people in the moment, it's only after the fact. Sousou no Frieren is the crystallisation of the idea that "You never know what you had until it's gone." and seizing the day. Live in the moment, because for you, what might "only be 10 years" could be "10 whole years" for others.

What really got me was a fight against the demon sage near the beginning. He was sealed for years, but before that he was one of the most powerful mage's in the world, his spells completely innovative and impossible to stop. Once he wakes up it turns out that his magic laid the foundation for the teaching of magics, his spells now a common knowledge, easily deflected. It's just the fact that he was defeated more by a passage of time than anything else really stuck with me.

I'm glad you decided to shed a light on Frieren. It's one I've been reading for a while now and I'm glad it's getting some recognition. That first chapter really does hit like truck-- I mean the Isekai bus.

Gigguk's titles over the past year: "She Doesn't Love You." "You're Worthless and Always Will Be." "How it Feels Losing Everyone" You doing alright Garnt?

The most touching part of this manga is how Fern turns from being Frieren's little sister into being Frieren's mother in the span of a few chapters. at that moment I was like Ooo shiet this manga is gold.

One detail I love is how you can mark time passing by Fern's height relative to hers. We literally see her raise this girl from a helpless orphan to a world class mage.

Actually you can get the Friren experience by breeding cats. Their lifespans are only about 16 years and they have kittens quickly. If you connect with the animals you can watch them be born, develop a personality, watch them grow smarter and go through phases, grow up, have their own kittens and watch them die. You are basically immortal compared to them and you are like a mountain in their lives, unchanging and unmovable. Really gives you perspective and respect for life and death. Although I feel the opposite, I treasure every second of my life and what I spend with my kittens because there will be a day I will never see them again and it comes faster than you think.

Almost every name has a meaning in German that describes their characteristics. Here are some examples: Frieren = Freezing Fern = Distant Stark = Strong Himmel = Sky (hero who died) Eisen = Iron (dwarf warrior) Macht = Might (Demon of El Dorado) Denken = Thinking (Old Mage from El Dorado) I recommend translating the names you see in the manga, it really adds to the experience.

“The gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed." -Achilles (Troy 2004)

This reminds me of an awkward interaction with a kindergarten teacher when I was younger. I was describing something that happened a very very long time ago and said it was 2 years ago. She laughed and said that wasn't too long ago, and I said I've only been alive for 6 so it was forever for me. That's when I realized that the older you are the faster time seems to go by. With a fictional character like Frieren, time must be on free fall. I've noticed there are ways to slow down time but it requires lots of focus in the present. Always learning something new and not having a consistent life style seems to do the trick. Remember: Hold on to your memories as best you can, else you forget who you really are. (There is also the case of creating false memories if you don't recall them often)

Ton of people overlook how we as humans actually live the elves perspective from these kind of stories a ton throughout our lives: almost everyone has lived with and loved a pet that is born, grows, matures and eventually dies through a span of time where we barely got a bit older, but for them it was a whole lifespan which they probably percieved way different, and even if we only loved them for a fraction of our lives, we cry when they go and remember them forever.

The thing I loved about the manga is how well it uses the world to show the passage of time instead of merely stating it through the characters, since the manga would just be a broken record if all stark said was “it’s been a long time”. Every location she passes through has clear signs, be it statues or villagers or even old foes.

I'm back here after watching the first episode of the anime, I'm so happy they made justice to this masterpiece

I'm also loving how it handed demons. Much like how it takes a major trait of elves that usually gets mentioned in passing and actually explores it, demons get a similar treatment. They're wired fundamentally differently, emotions like compassion, guilt and malice just don't exist for them. They're the worst case scenario of Frieren's disconnection, pushed to the point of being entirely unable to value others (including other demons), even if they want to. The wiring just isn't there. And it could have been left at generic evil race is generically evil, but no, we instead we get Macht and his whole storyline... so good.

Frieren is at least a millennium old, thats 1,000 years. There are other elves who have lived for far far longer, Frieren is just a child in comparison. She's still learning what time and others mean to her. I've reread it several times and always end up wanting to reread the first "arc" b/c it shows how just this blip of a 10 year journey, managed to affect and change her. Honestly I think after a while it turns more into a standard adventure manga, but damn those first bunch of chapters keeps reeling me in with the premise and concept.

"Measuring life is like measuring a river: Not merely how long, but how deep and how wide."

It's about bloody time someone looked at Tolkien's elves, and didn't just see a pair of pointy ears. This melancholy is an extremely important part of what makes elves, elves. So, so many writers just completely gloss over it and as a result, their elves feel simply shallow.

I saw someone calculate an elf's lifespan in the comments of a chapter and it comes to about 3000 years, which is an unimaginable amount of time for any of her companions to fathom, which makes it even sadder. On average she could live through the lives of anywhere from 30 to 100 generations of her companions, which is absurd and incredibly sad

10:25 There's one thing I think the "X years since Himmel's death" intro does that you didn't touch on. When we "turn the page", time passes - for us and her new party - in the blink of an eye. We get a glimpse into how Frieren sees the world. From one chapter to the next... how many years will have gone by, without us seeing them?

I love how so many of the manga recommendations gigguk chooses end up turning into anime

Interesting to see this back in my feed after the gift of watching 8 episodes of the Frieren anime. The way they make "time" another main character blows me away. And the animation and art in the anime look like they add a lot to the manga. It's beautiful and makes my heart ache on a frequent basis, and the combat scenes are outstanding. The score is one of the best I've heard and so far looks like it may stand close to the same tier as the scores for Conan the Barbarian, LOTR or Dragonheart. And that's a dimension the manga cannot offer.

Something GIgguk didn't cover here but I think is worth mentioning: I absolutely love how the demons are handled in this story. I really don't think I've seen a manga handle the idea in a more interesting or effective way, and the fact that the demons looks so human but act so alien is super well executed

Fun Fact: The Characters Names are german and are imo really fitting for the Characters. Frieren - "to be cold" Stark - "strong" Heiter (the Priest) - Upbeat/Bright Himmel (the Hero) - Heaven or Sky (it can mean both) Fern - Far (away) Eisen (the dwarven Warrior) - Iron

This is the only series that has made me cry multiple times. the tone they set for this story is unbelievably immersive. props to everyone who has worked on this piece!

Man, everytime a promising anime drops and people start talking about it, out of nowhere, a 1 year old Gigguk video on the manga pops up in the recommended. Oshi no Ko, Zom 100, and now this, all videos I started but stopped so I can eventually watch the manga. I completelly forget about it, the anime starts, and I'm like "wait a minute, why does this feel so familiar?". Garnt is always ahead of his time

This manga along with "To your eternity" really shows me how terrible it must be for immortals when the people they cherish die in such a short amount of time(from their point of view)

Frieren has the absolute best portrayal of demons I've ever seen in a fantasy manga. The current arc with Macht is especially amazing because of it, featuring the first flashback from an antagonist I've seen that showed why he did everything and is doing right now but without the 11th hour alignment or personality whiplash into villainy. This is just not only who he is but WHAT he is and that hasn't changed from then to now.

Frieren has just hit rank #1 on MAL. The anime adaptation is beautiful.

At this point, every anime gigguk talks about is getting an adaptation.

Every time freiren would go “I don’t even know you guys” to his party members and they’d just silently agree, always touched me so

Freiren just tells a story of an elf who really, really, really, REALLY likes to procrastinate. Trust me, if I am ever reborn as an elf, I'll be exactly like her

8:11 This sentence aged perfectly.

I'm back here since Frieren just got animated yesterday and bois I'm getting teary just how beautiful the animation is.

Sousou no Frieren is honestly such a gem the way it portrays the characters, the plot development, the flow of the story, the art its honestly such a great read

"Magus bride...it was Magus bride" The sheer disappointment and pain I hear in his voice is both hilarious and very much relatable

Anime news!! - PV/ Teaser Trailer - Madhouse studio - Fall 2023 - Bocchi the Rock! director is directing it

Who else is here after watching the adaptation? Man, this anime suddenly gave me the same feels as To Your Eternity 😢

"Frieren" is a german word and means "(to) freeze (because of cold temperature)". I think the meaning underlines her character alot.

I just love the vibe in Sousou No Frieren. It's feel like all the characters are all actually living. Ya know, not just overpowered edgy teenager who can change the world. Everyone has their own wins and failures. Despite all that the world just goes on. While the world stays as it is, the people constantly changes. I feel this is a really good way to portray a Slice of life/Fantasy manga. And Sousou No Frieren just captures it to the heart.

Holy shit the anime is so goddamn good, 4 episode taste like a 5 minutes

I'm here from episode four and this is the only time I've actually believed a character to be a thousand years old. Everything about how she behaves just confirms how insignificant a hundred years is to her. She keeps doing seemingly menial tasks that takes years the same way a normal person waits a day or two to do the dishes. And the human contrast of the companion is really telling. Frieren is an amazing show and the world feels so real. I hope she gets an elf boyfriend and see him for a hookup or date once every hundred years or so.

Since Joey " The Anime Man " has become just " The Man " , seems like Gigguk has taken over his responsibly of searching for antique manga(s) with good plots which haven't received much recognition yet.

I've stopped reading for a while at the beginning of the last arc. I have to say that the story is so unique: characterization, setting, and lore take old tropes and twist them in such particular ways that they feel really fresh. And even it's comedy is good; I always laugh when Frieren is stuck in weird places. 😂

Frieren at the funeral made me think about our pet companion that you have. They may be a slight part of your life, but for them, you were their whole life in good and bad moments...

And more than 1 year later it got adapted.

This is genuinely one of the best fantasy stories I have read, taking a new and original apparoach, absolutely beautiful

“You Abandoned Her.” Not by choice. But age is a cruel mistress, isn’t it? But seriously, as a manga, Sousou no Frieren is truly amazing. Read it! (EDIT: OK, now the video title makes more sense.)

Hey giguk, i want to thank you for introduce me to this manga, and now frieren have their own adaptation. it was such an amazing manga we might miss this master piece if you never make this video again, thank you so much!

the anime COOOKKKEEEDDDD

Sousou no Frieren is only missing an anime adaptation to get the attention it needs. Absolutely brilliant manga Edit: WhiteFox adapting it will be a dream

The astounding thing about Frieren is that it makes you feel the time and how 50 years is nothing but a blink in her eyes. And then you have Serie who is eons older. It's amazing. EDIT: It's less Friends and more that Himmel *loved* Frieren and she's slowly realizing it and realizing that she loved him as well.

The anime adaptation absolutely slayed. I'm not sure whether the anime or the manga is better nor do I believe there should be a competition between them. After so long, I can firmly say I enjoy an anime so much it will stick with me, the last one being The Ancient Magus' Bride (go figure with the profile pic). This story is so well written to the point where I feel like I've wasted my life by not living it to the fullest (btw I'm in my early twenties :D), and yet I'm still here to fix that by getting to know people better, finding new hobbies, enjoying some damn good anime we've had in 2023.

Ever since i read frieren - beyond the journey’s end it was such a good read and was so excited that it has an anime in production ❤

"We are elves." That was the line that really hit me. It just perfectly encapsulated the reality of how different life is for them. The chapter really hit.

My fav line from the manga that I think about from time to time is when they met another elf. "Who's she?" "She's Frieren, the mage from the party that defeated the demon king." "And before that?" It brutally reminds me how short humans get to live. Most people are thankful for being remembered for one great thing before their death and these elves treat it as a given.

i've seen this video last couple month ago, maybe 5/6 month ago after knowing this manga, and when the kara no kyoukai ost playing, GOD DAMN, THAT'S SLAP ME HARD CAUSE I'VE READ THE MANGA AND KNOWING THE OST. thanks gigguk's you made me cryin. AND JUST NOW FREIREN WILL BE ANIME ADAPTATION THIS MONTH! ANOTHER PEAK IS COMING!!

This is getting animated. Trailer came out a few days ago

One thing I've learned about time and history is that what's written down is often not what was. As the things I saw grow farther away in time the way people interpret them change more and more from what they were until they are nearly unrecognizable to me, it really makes me sad for history for us and for what has been lost.... this manga reminds me of this and I can't wait for the Anime.

Me after reading a pretty good manga: "Yea that was actually pretty good." Gigguk after reading the same manga a few months later: Big video, big words and many jokes which basically sum up the whole manga as "Yea that was actually pretty good". Me, who watches the video anyway: "Yea that video was actually pretty good."

"Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember... But where are those who share the memory?" -Zhongli, Genshin Impact

Bro predicteds every good anime but actually not telling it’s getting one

I recently lost a pet and the idea that humans are basically elves to their pets has come up. Her entire life was less than 1/3 of how long I've been alive, not to mention an even smaller fraction of my expected lifespan. So the first half of this video really hit hard.

As someone who has read the manga for a long time now, I'm really glad it's finally time for it to get some real love.

This aged very well :D

Anime of the year

Frieren is such a great manga, and I hope it gets the anime adaptation it deserves one day. Even though it isn’t the manga’s strong point, I also enjoy the little bits of comedy, like Frieren’s obsession with magic books about trivial spells, and the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it throwaway gags of her repeatedly getting eaten by mimics.

I came back to this video after the anime has been released and god damn what you said in this video really shows in the anime it’s a beautiful story

Yo yo yo, what the hell??? I seen this video 9 months ago, and then Madhouse release news about new anime with title: "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" OMG.. I thought i would never seen this in ANIME!!! I AM SO HAPPY))))

I feel like the use of "immortal" or characters with very long life spans rarely touch on the topic of loss to this level. It would be terrifying to get close to someone, knowing how brief the time would feel, knowing in the end, it would only cause pain to lose them. Would they choose to hide away, staying away from the relationships and saving the hurt, or would they cherish each moment and memory. The concept feels like there are so many avenues for exploration

Many of us have probably felt what Frieren is going through slightly when a pet companion passes away be it a dog, cat, hamster or etc they have much shorter lifespans than most of us but we form that bond with them, they would be there when were down and happy but once they're gone those moments feel alot more different, they weren't just pets they were living beings that we made connections with and spent time with. Since we are actually able to feel the time pass us by we learn the lessons that Frieren is learning over her long lifespan in a much more condensed fashion but in the end we all learn the same lesson. We have all probably not learned the lesson fully but as we do get older and wiser like the hero Himmel and the rest of Frierens comapnions that have passed away in the story, The connections that you make during your life is one of those important lessons most of us need to learn espcially in the society we have now where its just mostly superfical relationships through social media and not a a true heart to heart companionship.

One year later we get an Anime about this manga. W

The amount that this video resonated with me almost made me cry. I constantly have a feeling of time passing too fast I never feel like time is going by slowly anymore always it feels like it just keeps passing. I'm reading this instantly.

"when you have so much of it, how will you find motivation to make the most of it" Now this is a gigguk quote that will stick to me....

Sousou no Frieren has the best depiction of elves I've ever seen in Manga, and honestly its better than 99% of western media as well. I've always found it frustrating how Fantasy (especially RPGs) treat them like pretty humans with pointy ears, completely ignoring how vastly different such a long-lived being would perceive the world around them and the passage of time.

now that the anime is already out, i can't wait for your excellent review, as always. it's such a masterpiece, man. it's hard to express how impressed i am while watching it.

Himmel loved her, but she never noticed until he died. However, Himmel did not confess even though he could have because he knew that 10 years of love for him were a lifetime, but for Elf, it was just a normal Sunday.

Frieren is probably one of the few mangas I read that I am actually looking forward to read whenever it comes out(asides from Shinohayu), and probably would explain why my taste in fantasy has changed after desensitizing myself with every good, bad and trash isekai that I have read and watched for quite a while now. Frieren is a piece of diamond in the bunch of glass shards that is called the isekai/fantasy genre. I won't be expecting this to be getting animated anytime soon, if so... it would be a hard to adapt since it would be hard for any profit-driven companies to make this adaptation a worthwhile piece of media to invest.

Gigguk: "You abandoned her" Me: "I don't even know who she is" Gigguk: "You will"

Coming back to this video after the release of the first PV for the anime. When you talk about how the story will benefit from having animation and music, and I see that it's being made by MADHOUSE with music by Evan Call, I get so excited to see the story that I enjoy so much to be be brought to life.

I know you guys came back to rewatch this video because Frieren anime just released. It was exactly just as you've described Garnt.

2 mangas that i love showcased by Gigguk in a row, you love to see it

there was always this philosophical question I've had, what would society be like if human life span was much longer? Would "child hood" be much longer? We'd only become adult once we are 100? Or would adulthood just get longer? Or would things not change? Would people have less kids? Would we treat seniors better? I think lifespan has a huge impact on society and really interested to see work that dive deep into it

I'm super hyped for the anime right now, the first four episodes are pretty good. The character's voices are all really chill and it's a nice anime to relax to :)

"Yokahama Kaidashi Kikou" is a manga where an immortal (Hatsuseno Alpha, an A7M3 android) takes it easy running a cafe while the humans she knows grow up, grow old and pass on. It's a very laid-back manga, some people say it's the best slice-of-life manga out there. There can be gaps of a decade or more (story time) between chapters on occasion. Very understated, well worth reading -- it finally got an official English-language publication from Seven Seas, coming this September.

Thank you Frieren for showing us that you don’t have to reinvent the fantasy genre to tell an original and engaging story. That’s the beauty of Frieren. It has the same Dragon Quest elements people are used to and expect to see in a fantasy story but twists the narrative and explores a path less traveled from the standard cookie cutter fantasy. It shows that there is still room for fantasy to grow as a genre if someone stops and takes a moment to look at it differently.

8:29 I actually think that's the point of the manga where you follow an elf with a seemingly fast perception of time, she probably wants to live just as much as the humans and just as small time as the humans and the feeling that a reader kind of wants to read slower gives that connection with what the character is feeling

Anime Adaptation is confirmed. DUCK YEAH.

IT'S FINALLY ANIMATED AND IT'S JUST AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE MANGA. SO MUCH SADNESS IN THOSE HAPPINESS.

I'm glad that there are finally Mangas about this. I wonder every so often what it would be like after the adventure or seeing the adventures in their twilight years. Seems like 9.8/10 animes either show the main characters in jr/high school or early adulthood (in their prime so to speak) so this is a refreshing and new concept to be fleshed out. I'm totally down to read the English manga! And yeah fingers crossed it gets a quality anime adaption.

reading this manga makes you always think about a sobering reality that eventually Frieren would outlive her main companions in this world and all that time you spent with them as a reader will make you be sympathetic to her the more. I love this manga so much glad it is getting the attention it deserves.

Thank you Garnt once again for sharing another wonderful manga Thanks kindly

Once again Garnt predicts the next popping show a year in advance of the anime release..

happy to see frieren getting some attention. The most recent flashback is totally detached from main characters but some of the most compelling stuff so far.

Just started reading freiren and I gotta say I lovee how there are time skips of months to years to even DECADES!! And treats it so that time feels much slower for freiren and everyone quickly passes before you even realise what was happening