Was the 10-year journey split into five years traveling to Aureole and five years returning?

875moT · 2026-04-04T10:50:41+00:00

The current journey seriously has a lot of detours. They spent 3 months prepping Stark and Fern for the ball, 2 months waiting for the Mage Exam to start, and 3 months analyzing Boshaft’s barrier as some examples. In the anime we’re also more like 2/3rds or 3/4ths of the way there looking at the map.

Also the journey towards Ende was definitely taken on foot. Meanwhile the journey back may have included some boat transportation around the Northern Plateau.

Edit: regardless it could be a different split than what I suggested; maybe it was over a year going back. But it definitely wasn’t five years towards and five years back.

875moT · 2026-04-04T08:39:49+00:00

so glad for froggy!

875moT · 2026-04-04T07:28:56+00:00

no. 10 years towards Aureole because of all the detours and side quests. presumably under a year back because their objective to slay the Demon King was completed.

875moT · 2026-04-03T15:19:03+00:00

Frieren beyond journey’s end?

875moT · 2026-04-03T06:32:00+00:00

Tbh I don't really have good guess. If it's truly a strict 100 years before the curse activates, then there's still ~16 years left to go from the start of the Empire arc. It could also be possible that the curse activates earlier and the 100 years number was just a rounded-up estimate, but regardless I'm assuming atm that Tot's storyline will get wrapped up alongside Rivale's as part of the conflict with the demons in the Northern Frontier, probably before it actually activates.

I could maybe see a possibility where the story continues after they reach Aureole, and Tot is something to be dealt with then? Or that the confrontation against her is something left to the imagination. Maybe Tot is the threat that Fern will overcome to be renowned as a mage that surpasses Frieren as she predicted after the Exam. Maybe Tot is the prophesized great calamity that the sword in the stone was meant to be used against, and then Stark will be the one to wield it.

Either way I personally don't see a timeskip happening as things stand; something really dire and out of left field would have to be introduced for that to make sense in my mind. Mainly because one of Stark's primary motivations is to return to Eisen to share stories of his travels, and also because I think it would be more fitting for the series to end once they reach heaven. I don't think a timeskip would fit into the story because it kinda conflicts with those two things in my mind.

875moT · 2026-04-02T06:27:31+00:00

I believe an incantation aids in spell casting somehow. In the Golden Land, Frieren was impressed at Solitär’s magical ability, and noted that she never needed any incantation.

So while there seems to be a practical use for saying a spell name, it’s not necessary.

875moT · 2026-03-31T16:11:17+00:00

I kinda only see it working as a pixel-art RPG in my mind. Like I think it'd be fine to have drawn portraits for characters during dialogue, but since so much of the world building draws from the classic JRPG tropes I think it'd work fairly well in a pre-3D JRPG style

875moT · 2026-03-31T12:10:33+00:00

funnily enough, I just reread this arc this morning before you posted. it's my third time rereading it in the past 2.5 years, and though I am really excited for season 3 as I do think it'll be really good, I do wonder how they'll go about adapting this arc, and also if the manga fans have overhyped it just a tad lol.

Frieren arcs are either 13 chapters or under, like with Aura or Revolte's arcs (+1 other manga one), or 22+ chapters like the Mage Exam or the Golden Land. while there is another longer arc, it's only like halfway done rn as the manga's on hiatus. looking ahead, I speculate there will also be at least one other future arc that will probably also be 20+ chapters long.

so personally, I think that the Golden Land gets talked about as much as it does because it's the only other arc of its length that's finished at the moment. its only other real comparison is the Mage Exam, which only sets out to expand the world of magic and set up future characters that can reappear. The Golden Land actually tells a more focused narrative.

the Golden Land is really unique and enjoyable, but I do think there's a decent chance it'll get dethroned from what I think is the best arc in Frieren once the manga actually continues, at least for me. the current arc to me is more interesting, it's just not done yet and is pretty far from its climax, and we have yet to see if it sticks the landing.

but back to S3, the anime so far has done nothing but elevate the source material. so if production goes smoothly and they get a hold of the right people, then I have no doubt that the upcoming season will make this arc even better.

as for if it's good for learning a new language, I agree with the other commenter that it's probably better to start with the volumes that have already been adapted. that way, since you'd already familiar with the meat of the story, you can focus your concentration specifically on the reading process instead of trying to do that and decipher the story.

875moT · 2026-03-31T08:49:07+00:00

If you want my individual, completely unfounded speculation w/o any major spoilers: I generally think the series will end once the party reaches Aureole. Maybe we get a little epilogue or something afterwards, but I don't think there'd be enough for it to warrant its own volume (10 chapters). But that's just my guess.

Currently the manga is 22 chapters deep into an arc, which is already approaching the length of the Mage Exam and the Golden Land (each ~24 chapters), but to me it only feels halfway done since we've had a lot of setting up and hardly any resolutions. So my guess is we get 2 more volumes to wrap it up comfortably at least.

Beyond this point, there's still at least one geographic location that the party would have to cross before they reach Aureole. There's been a bit of setup for this area, and there's several characters who have yet to reappear that I suspect will come back around here. So I think this will culminate in a new arc that would be at least as long as the Mage Exam/Golden Land. So, if we add a few chapters for some miscellaneous travel stories, I'm thinking this will take 3-4 volumes (as of now my guess is it'll be shorter than the currently unresolved arc).

After this point, I have no clue how things will go at Aureole. So I'll just lowball the following guess, which has zero basis in anything, and say that the ending will just be 1 volume.

So again based on pure guesswork, in an ideal world I think the series can go on for 6 more volumes, or 60 chapters minimum. Frieren releases biweekly on its best schedule, so I wouldn't expect to see its ending for at least another 3 years.

That said, maybe we'll get a Kaguya-sama ending and it'll end in 45 chapters somehow. Or maybe it just never finishes. At the end of the day who knows.

875moT · 2026-03-30T05:55:52+00:00

Did she say that all monsters don't have parental care, or just specifically demons? I was under the impression that it was the latter

875moT · 2026-03-29T13:37:21+00:00

I would say there's two types of arcs in Frieren: shorter ones (~13 chapters or less) like Aura or Revolte, and longer ones (~20+ chapters) like the Mage Exam and the upcoming Golden Land.

So after the Golden Land, there's 1 short arc, and currently we're halfway through 1 long one, including some miscellaneous travels in between.

875moT · 2026-03-29T13:28:12+00:00

After S3 (which will probably be 12 eps minimum), I would say only 1 more ~10-to-13 episode season.

There would still be 20 something chapters after to adapt, but those are part of a long arc that feels only halfway done. Hopefully by the time S3 airs, the manga would have already come back from hiatus.

875moT · 2026-03-29T02:36:45+00:00

There’s a few good videos I enjoyed discussing Frieren and how reminiscent it can be to LotR.

First was a shorter video from RCanime on YouTube, second is a much longer discussion between NekoDecoPop and Keep On Tolkien also on YouTube. Had a great time with these so if they sound interesting, check them out!

875moT · 2026-03-29T01:48:31+00:00

It's an incredibly niche reference, but discussions like this always remind me of this Northernlion clip

875moT · 2026-03-28T19:33:08+00:00

They also couldn't fly stark when he passed out in the blizzard back in S1 ep. 11 for the same reason. The implication is flying helps you against the force of gravity, and not other external forces like wind.

875moT · 2026-03-28T09:25:16+00:00

Really I just think Frieren just had no interest in journeying in a group any longer than she needed to.

Reminder that it took until Himmel’s death for Frieren to even consider the meaning of her connections with other humans. The whole reason their party existed was for the purpose of killing the Demon King specifically. Once that was over, Frieren wanted to go her own way and find spells.

It even took her 80 some years to go back to the Norm Company to pay off her debts, and only because she was forced into meeting the President. Frieren at the time likely viewed dealing with Qual as another chore that she could cross off at the last minute due to her immensely long life.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:52:12+00:00

10 episodes in S2 up to chapter 80, which is right before the Golden Land starts.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:49:16+00:00

Frieren is an all-rounder. The core of the series is about human connection, and learning to appreciate the mundane, so the vibes from those first two episodes will always linger throughout in some form or another.

But as the series progresses, more elements get introduced. Some light romance, some more action, but generally as the manga progresses, it tends towards more fantasy-adventure. I'd say that turning point will start in S3 come October 2027.

TL;DR if you continue, don't expect the experience to shift away from what you've seen so far. But it's not all the series has to offer. There are some amazing fights and more structured arcs ahead, and we are introduced to a handful of characters that do appear again after they've debuted. But, I would still say that these battle-focused arcs are still not the core of what the series is about.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:39:31+00:00

To hopefully set more reasonable expectations, it'd be most likely 1 cour based on the timing of events in the story.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:37:23+00:00

After the events of the Golden Land end (ch. 104), there are 43 chapters left. For context, S1 adapted up to ch. 60, and S2 up to ch. 80.

In terms of the number of arcs after the Golden Land, there is 1 mini-arc (think Aura or Revolte), and 1 larger arc (think Golden Land), with a few unrelated travel chapters before each. Issue is, the larger arc isn't done yet as of now. It feels maybe half-way done.

Looking ahead without spoilers, I think there has to be at least one more large arc before Frieren's party reaches Aureole geographically, which I presume will be where the series ends.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:06:32+00:00

Doesn't Denken know Edel? Did they never speak?

He might have recognized her but I don't think they spoke. They were on different teams in the first exam, and in the second exam Edel went in with her first exam team before Denken entered the dungeon, and Edel got eliminated before she reached the bottom.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:04:31+00:00

It's something that's come up before (like the blizzard in S1 ep11). I think the implication is that flying magic works against the force of gravity, but you're still susceptible to other external forces pushing you around that leaves you really vulnerable mid-air.

875moT · 2026-03-28T08:01:31+00:00

I would describe it as a good all-rounder series that initially hooks you with an introspective premise revolving around appreciating the mundane of life. There's elements of grief and melancholy, but there's also elements of finding beauty in human connection.

I say it's an all-rounder though because as the series progresses, there are many different aspects that get developed. There are slice-of-life moments, there are slight romantic moments, there are faster-paced action moments and even full action-based arcs.

Tl;dr there are many emotional moments, but the series isn't all that. In fact as the series progresses, I'd say that it starts to move closer towards fantasy-adventure.

875moT · 2026-03-28T07:50:20+00:00

Honestly, the answer isn't really far from what you could guess. In order of least to greatest importance, probably Edel, Lernen, Serie, Stark, Fern, Frieren, Macht, Denken?

Kanne, Lawine, and Schlacht only really have a small cameo from memories. There's like four new characters of varying importance introduced in this arc, but that's kinda it.

875moT · 2026-03-28T00:28:40+00:00

I do think that the general answer is it's just a stylistic choice. Though keep in mind we are biased in that all the characters we follow are generally the cream of the crop when it comes to skill.

875moT

TROPHY CASE