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REVIEW: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End GN 3-4




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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3456
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri May 27, 2022 11:16 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Overall : A
Story : A+
Art : B+

I continue to be amazed as how as a weekly manga it's still able to deliver constant quality each time.
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FuzzyDave



Joined: 07 Jan 2022
Posts: 59
PostPosted: Fri May 27, 2022 1:51 pm Reply with quote
Blanchimont wrote:
Quote:
Overall : A
Story : A+
Art : B+

I continue to be amazed as how as a weekly manga it's still able to deliver constant quality each time.


This was a very nice review for a gem of a manga. I can hardly wait for the next volume to come out in English!
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Casval Rem Deikun



Joined: 24 Feb 2021
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Fri May 27, 2022 2:26 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I agree about the Demon arc. It went on too long and was a slog for me at times. All around its nice relaxing series, a break from all the other things I read. I still feel like volume 1 had the most impact and recently it has yet to capture that for me.
Personal tastes. All around it's a very solid series so far.
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Yanqui9



Joined: 28 May 2022
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2022 2:06 pm Reply with quote
I had been LOVING this manga through say volume 4. But, after seeing a preview of upcoming events at other sites, I have to say that Frieren jumps the shark after this. I don't say this lightly and I'm sad to say it but its true.

spoiler[After this, there is the magical competition arc which suddenly introduces a dozen new characters out of the blue, most of them given extensive backstories and their own plotlines with each other. One new character, an older guy, is built up to be a major new character. All the while, the "screen time" and interactions between Frieren and her crew are limited.

Then there's the demon backstory arc. How long is it now? Over ten chapters where we have been seeing this long involved backstory with tons of worldbuilding and character backstories for something that's already happened in the distant past? And with Frieren hardly even showing up? Maybe a single frame of Frieren in present time just saying something like "oh that's what happened!" or something. Not to mention that the gore and psychological horror is turned up to 11 in this arc (two little kids are forced to fight to the death for instance) with absolutely no return in adding to the main story.]
The Frieren story as always had a dark side to it but when its wasted on Jump the Shark side stories that do nothing to advance the main characters, its just exploitation.

This reminds me of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order when the mangaka went off on a three or four volume detour where the manga basically became a Vampire Knight vampire story with almost nothing to do with Battle Angel Alita.

I really *loved* the way Frieren started out, I'm serious. I am not here trolling and dumping. I'm very disappointed that the Frieren mangaka has either run out of ideas or is deliberately trying to stretch the manga out longer with Jump the Shark type stories. After all, according to the "map" shown in chapters, they are almost at their destination. I wouldn't mind the dragging of the feet at all though if the story was about Frieren, Fern and Stark and the people they are directly involved with.

The way the manga is going now, I would be suprised if it ever gets to volume 10. And if it does, the story at that point will have very little to do with Frieren herself.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3456
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2022 5:30 pm Reply with quote
Yanqui9 wrote:
After all, according to the "map" shown in chapters, they are almost at their destination.

That's not to say the endgame will be a short one. In the background there's a mystery spanning back a thousand years. spoiler[Before the place they are heading was the demon headquarters it is, it was a world leading research capital on soul research, Aureole, referred to as Heaven by the people of its time. And knowing how the demons are, well...]. Tidbits of it has been sprinkled throughout the work, so whatever the answers may be, it's something the author must have planned from the very beginning...
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Casval Rem Deikun



Joined: 24 Feb 2021
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Sat May 28, 2022 7:07 pm Reply with quote
Yanqui9 wrote:
I had been LOVING this manga through say volume 4. But, after seeing a preview of upcoming events at other sites, I have to say that Frieren jumps the shark after this. I don't say this lightly and I'm sad to say it but its true.


Don't want to quote the whole thing but completely agree. That's why I really loved the first volume and a bit of the second as well but it does have it's issues. I thinks it's a good series but it does have its short comings and direction issues. I'd personally welcome this series to be shorter rather than a long slog of different paths.
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 514
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Mon May 30, 2022 4:05 pm Reply with quote
I also dislike the spoiler[tournament] arc, but on the other hand I thing the current arc about spoiler[Macht] is quite good and a return to form, though I'll reserve final judgment until it ends. So, if you like Frieren, don't be too discouraged, it's fine to keep reading.
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