葬送のフリーレン / Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Natively: Level 25
Summary
After a ten-year odyssey, the elf mage Frieren and Sky’s band of heroes succeed in overthrowing the demon king and bringing peace to the land. As an elf with a long lifespan, Frieren continues to roam the lands. The death of a former comrade brings her pain and deep regret - regret at not having spent enough time with them. With this regret in her heart, she sets off on a journey to meet a wide variety of people and share new adventures with them.
A post-apocalyptic fantasy telling the story of how the heroes lived after their great adventure.
Availability
Physical: Amazon JP, CD Japan.
Digital: Kindle, Kobo and BookWalker.
Personal Opinion
I’ve seen some people on WK enthusiastically reading Frieren and my friend recommended it so I’m super intrigued. Here’s @Jintor 's review on Natively:
Lots of vocab, but relatively simple structures
The wistful tone of Frieren (meaning, generally, lower amounts of text and shorter sentences) and plentiful furigana make this an extremely good introduction for fantasy vocabulary, of which there is a lot. It’s also a decent source for emotional vocabulary as well given the manga’s focus on making sense of the main character’s interiority. Also, more to the point, it’s just a wonderful read.
Discussion about it’s suitability for BBC readers starts here: [Seeking Nominations!] Beginner Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: この美術部には問題がある! - #4856 by mitrac
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Furigana
- Has an anime adaptation
- Slice-of-life fantasy at a leisurely pace
- Short dialogues, generally relatable
- Not much slang
Cons
- Lots of fantasy vocab due to the setting (but daily life theme)
Pictures
You can read the first 2 chapters on the Amazon preview.
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?
- 1 - No effort at all
- 2 - Minimal effort
- 3 - Moderate effort
- 4 - Substantial effort
- 5 - So much effort my head might explode
- I don’t know