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(4.62/5)I didn't know much about this series going in, but I enjoyed this volume.
Language learning:
There is full furigana and a WK book club so this is easier to approach than I assumed it would be. Difficulties will come from characters that speak formally, introspective language, and fantasy vocabulary.
Content:
I enjoy the fantasy genre, and this series is probably best if you're a fantasy reader already. The setting is a traditional DnD-type fantasy world, but the story starts after the heroes have already defeated the 'final boss.' The series deals with what happens afterwards, and what it's like for Frieren, as an elf, to outlive her friends. I was really drawn by the introspective and contemplative story, and I'm interested to see what happens in further volumes. I also hear that the anime is excellent so I'm excited to watch that.
Frieren was great!
This is a fantasy novel thats very low on the fantasy vocabulary. If you've grown up watching anime you're probably all set! Such as words like 魔法(magic) and 魔法使い(magician) should all sound quite familiar to any isekai anime fans.
Because of the light magic system, you don't have to learn any complex mombo-jumbo AKA theres no 'fantasy-bable'
Grammar-wise, there's not much here that really sticks out, though Fern does talk a little more formally than I'm used to. なりに and だろうが were the two grammar points I did not recognize (I am N2 currently).
- The majority of the book is doable for someone at high N4 level, but there are some hard parts that you'd need to be at like N3-level to read without help.
The author's handwriting is very clean and easy to read! Much easier than CCS! The handwritten parts are essential parts of the reading experience so it's good the author has nice handwriting lol
It's quite fun to compare some of the scene in the manga to the anime so I would definitely recommend watching/reading both!
It was shocking how different this fight scene was!
- I ran my own reading discussion club, for which you can watch the recordings for here. I was quite thankful to Wanikani's Vocab list, so I did not make my own vocab list for this book
I think the hardest part of this manga was reading Fern, Frieren, and Flamme in Japanese--The 3 names felt almost identical as フリーレン, フェルン, フランメ
Beautiful art
I think this is the prettiest art of any manga I’ve read so far. I know some people don’t like the slow pace (or lack of a plot?) of the story, but I would read the hell out of slice of life fantasy. Wish it were a bigger thing.
『葬送のフリーレン』のドイツ語
People who know German can guess the meaning of many names, though not all of them directly. Here is a list for those who do not want to wait for an inspiration: https://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~hiratuka/essays/frieren.html
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.
Slow start to an incredible story
Just like the anime, this is a very slow start, and while I can appreciate some things more now, it took me a few tries to finally finish this volume.
If you pick this up and feel bored, you may want to: 1. Push through it for now, 2. Watch the anime instead (it's an extremely faithful adaptation that really enhances everything, from what I've read).
Personally, I may just skip to vol 7 (the anime left off at ch 60/61), if I continue.
I don't get the hype after glancing at the preview, but liked after reading Ch.1 carefully.
I knew this one has anime with many GIF, and WK club has started for quite a while ago; but I didn't decided to take time to read Vol.1, even if time-limited free was sometimes available -- after quick glance at Ch.1, and probably first chapter of some latest volumes.
But now I took time to read. The story built up slowly after an interesting starting point, the end of victory plus 50 years later. It's fantasy with an impossible point of view of a human writer (not based on biography), but it's mildly interesting. But I can understand that it might not be fun enough for everyone.
Reaction faces and handwriting scribbles -- the fun of reading manga is captured very well. Beautiful artwork, too. I don't have to plan to watch anime at the moment, but maybe, but can't expect better or not...
A brief fight with a historical guy, and also the castle make a hint at a dire future, or maybe hopeful. Slowly boil, but this vol is fun enough.