5 - Beyond The Battle: Frieren’s Story

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 5

There is no denying how much I love this series. You might even say that most of what I will say could be biased. But the book, in its entirety, is just truly amazing.

Continuing on their journey, Frieren and Fern have participated in the Class One Mage exam. It is a requirement if they want to get past the northern lands as the dangers of the location require the strength of a class one mage to survive.

This is one of my favorite volumes because we see more into Frieren. We don't just see who she was before the Hero Party; we see her as a collection of her past and present self. I love the way she managed the party she was assigned with as well.

Another alluring part of the volume is the introduction of so many more new characters. I especially liked it when Ubel, one of the new mages to be introduced, tells us, the audience, how magic is all about visualising what you can do. More importantly, Frieren's joy when she met Denken, who told her that magic is all about the journey and discovery.

Nothing changed with the art style. It's still that beautiful contrast of sharpness and softness depending on situations and character moods. An intriguing discovery, though, was when I realized that most of the flashbacks have black backgrounds while the present storyline has no color in its background. It was such a nice way to distinguish where you are in the story but also to change the atmosphere a bit.

Overall, I really love this volume and I can't wait to proceed to the next one. It's even more exciting considering I am close to reaching the current available episode of the anime, which means that I will now find out what happens after these exams.