Japanese publisher Shogakukan recently listed a novel adaptation of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Sōsō no Frieren) manga series. The novel is titled as Shōsetsu Sōsō no Frieren ~Zensō~ (Novel: Sōsō no Frieren ~Prelude~) and is slated to be released in Japan on April 17.
The novel adaptation will be written by Mei Hachimoku, which also wrote the The Mimosa Confessions, The Tunnel to Summer, the Exist of Goodbye light novels.
The prequel novel will be a compilation of five short stories that were not included in the original manga story featuring the characters Frieren, Fern, Stark, Lawine and Kanne, and Aura. The novel depicts Frieren before she goes on a journey to “get to know people.” Kanehito Yamada, the manga’s author will be supervising the novel.
Frieren: Beyond journey’s end manga series was created by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe and is still ongoing in the Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine. The first chapter was released in April 2020. The series previously went on hiatus then returned on March 2023. The first compiled volume of the manga was released in August 2020 and recently released their 13th compiled volume on April 17.
The manga currently licensed in English by VIZ Media and recently released the 10th compiled volume on February 20. Ever since the anime adaptation aired. It had added 7 million copies in its circulation. It currently has 17 million copies in circulation.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End won serveral awards. A report from Anime News Network listed them as follows: New Creator Prize for the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2021 and the 14th Manga Taisho Award in 2021. It also received a nomination for Best Shōnen Manga for Kodansha’s 45th annual Manga Awards in 2021 and the 46th awards in May 2022. The American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT) included the manga in its top 10 list of 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List.
The anime adaptation premiered with a two-hour special on September 29 and was the first anime series to premiere in NTV’s Friday evening programming block Kinyō Roadshow. The series is set to run in two consecutive cours until March 2024. Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs in Japan as well as streaming the English dub.
Source: Shogakukan via ANN
