2024 has been a fantastic year for anime enthusiasts, and if you're eager to experience one of the year's top shows, preorders are now open for Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Part 1 on Blu-ray. This edition includes the first part of the highly praised fantasy anime's inaugural season. It is scheduled to release on December 17 and is currently priced at $47.24 (originally $70) on Crunchyroll. Adapted from a manga series, the anime centers around Frieren, a formidable elf who has lived for over a millennium. By the time the series commences, she has just concluded a decade-long quest to vanquish the Demon King, alongside her companions Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter. Given her extended lifespan, a decade is merely a fleeting moment for Frieren, and as the years go by, she gradually comprehends human mortality and the bonds she forms along the way. The result is a profoundly moving series that deeply resonates, brought to life by the renowned animation studio Madhouse, making Frieren a visual treat.
If you're interested in exploring the original manga created by Tsukasa Abe and Kanehito Yamada, you can order several volumes of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End right now. Similar to other manga releases from Viz Media, these are standard, pocket-sized paperbacks that read from right to left.
Frieren is among several new fantasy-themed anime and manga series that have gained popularity in recent years. If you find Frieren's heartwarming tale of friendship and fantasy adventures appealing, you might also enjoy Delicious in Dungeon. This series follows a group of dungeon-exploring adventurers on a mission to rescue a missing comrade from the depths of a malevolent labyrinth. To survive, they must learn to cook and consume the various strange creatures dwelling in the dungeon. The manga was recently adapted into an anime for Netflix, with season one currently available to stream. However, if you prefer to read the complete story first, you can preorder the entire 14-volume manga series in a deluxe box set from Amazon, set to release on December 10.
There are numerous other excellent fantasy manga available, such as the original manga version of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and the manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which you can explore via the links provided. Additionally, the upcoming Berserk Volume 42 marks the first new content for the long-running dark fantasy manga since the unfortunate passing of series creator Kentaro Miura in 2021.
