Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Original Story: Kanehito Yamada / Art: Tsukasa Abe), currently serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday, has captured hearts with its unique fantasy world depicting the era after the hero defeats the Demon King.
In 2023, the long-awaited first season of the anime aired, sparking massive buzz not just for its story, but for its breathtaking, movie-quality animation and music. But alongside the epic visuals, another element stole the show: the undeniable cuteness of the protagonist, the elven mage Frieren.
So, in this article, we've compiled some of the cutest Frieren scenes aired in the anime so far. Get ready to enjoy the adorable antics of a great mage who has lived for over a millennium!
Who is Frieren?
Frieren is an elf, a race known for their longevity. Having lived for over 1,000 years and spent that lifetime honing her magic, she boasts overwhelming power within the story.
While her personality is generally dry and unattached, she is a hardcore magic geek (otaku) with an eccentric side—happily collecting grimoires that seem trivial to others or gathering what looks like junk magical tools.
Getting Stuck in Mimics: Her Magic Obsession is Too Cute!
Frieren has absolutely no resistance when it comes to magic-related items. The ultimate symbol of this obsession? Her tendency to get caught by Mimics—monsters that disguise themselves as treasure chests to devour adventurers.
As a great mage with a millennium of experience, she can, of course, use the spell "Meekheit" to analyze treasure chests. The spell's accuracy is a staggering 99%, but Frieren always bets on that remaining 1% possibility, opens the chest, and inevitably ends up being chomped on.
With her upper body swallowed by a Mimic, her muffled cries of "It's dark! It's scary!" sound just like a helpless child. It's become a classic routine where she has to be rescued by an exasperated Fern.
This look is so popular among fans that it's frequently posted on the official X (Twitter) account, and surprisingly, they've even made plushies of it!
Her magic geekery is depicted in plenty of other ways too—getting super excited over junk magic tools or rubbing her cheek against them precious, expressing her joy without a care for who's watching. It seems that even after 1,000 years, Frieren hasn't forgotten her childlike sense of wonder.
Her Sloppiness is Adorable!
Frieren may be an overwhelmingly powerful mage, but she is absolutely terrible at mornings. Oversleeping is a daily occurrence, and she has to be woken up by Fern every single day.
It doesn't stop there—Frieren leaves everything from changing clothes and styling her hair to getting breakfast entirely up to Fern. Her helpless state is just like a child's; you'd never guess she's been alive for over a millennium with that level of sloppiness.
Perhaps it's precisely because her magical prowess is so superhuman that these very human flaws tickle the fans' hearts. The way her eyes are barely open and her face is completely relaxed while Fern takes care of her is just too cute, isn't it?
Himmel Fell for It Instantly! The Blowing Kiss Attack!
To recruit the priest Sein, who has a thing for "older sister" types, Frieren unleashed her secret technique: a blowing kiss. This seductive move, taught to her by her master Flamme, is said to have once caused the hero Himmel to faint.
Her party members, Fern and Stark, were shocked by her sex appeal, but it didn't seem to faze Sein at all. The gap between the usually cool Frieren doing a blowing kiss with deadly seriousness is irresistible.
The Unexpected Expressions of the Cool Frieren
Frieren is usually cool and rarely breaks her composure, but the unexpected expressions she does show have grabbed fans' hearts.
One is the smug face she makes, often accompanied by a "Mufufu" sound. She shows this off when presenting a "special item" (like a potion that melts clothes), when praised by Fern, or when she's satisfied with completing a quest.
She even appeared before Sein with this smug, "mature big sister" expression when she tried that blowing kiss mentioned earlier.
Another one of Frieren's cute expressions is her "pouty" or "shriveled" face. Her usual cool eyes disappear, replaced by dot eyes and eyebrows drooping into a pathetic " H " shape.
On social media, this is affectionately called "Shobo-shobo Frieren" (withered/sad Frieren), and the official X account has even uploaded GIFs collecting just these pouty faces.
She shows this face not just when she's upset about making Fern angry or failing at something, but also when doing something reluctantly, when she's at a loss, or even just when she's cold or sleepy.
In the First Class Mage Exam arc, every time her party members Lawine and Kanne started bickering (which was often), she would just watch them with this same withered expression.
It's exactly because Frieren is usually so cool and emotionless that the gap when her feelings do spill out is so endearing.
The Charm of Frieren: Not Just Cool and Strong
Frieren has spent a long life of 1,000 years polishing her magic skills. Because she is a legendary figure who, with her strength and the power of her comrades, defeated the Demon King, her human-like, imperfect personality makes us feel a sense of closeness to her, making her an even more charming character.
In the second season of the anime, we are sure to see many sides of her, from strong and cool to a bit ditzy and cute! We definitely want to savor that charm to the fullest.
Work Information
Title
"Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" Season 2
Schedule
The anime is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll and other platforms.
Synopsis
A world where the Demon King has been defeated by the hero Himmel and his party. Frieren, an elven mage who has lived for over a thousand years and brought peace alongside Himmel, embarks on a "journey to understand human hearts" following the tears she shed at Himmel's death after he reached the end of his lifespan. Along the way, she is joined by the mage Fern, raised by her former comrade Heiter, and the warrior Stark, a disciple of her other comrade Eisen. Together, they aim for Aureole, the land where souls rest. Interactions with the people they meet on their journey, battles against cunning demons and monsters. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes silly, sometimes intense, and sometimes heart-wrenching... All of it, every single moment, accumulates as something irreplaceable for the three of them. What awaits them at the end of this journey is yet to be seen.
Cast
Frieren: Atsumi Tanezaki
Fern: Kana Ichinose
Stark: Chiaki Kobayashi
Himmel: Nobuhiko Okamoto
Heiter: Hiroki Touchi
Eisen: Yoji Ueda
Hero of the South: Kazuhiko Inoue
Serie: Mariya Ise
Revolte: Shin-ichiro Miki
Staff
Original Work: Kanehito Yamada / Tsukasa Abe (Serialized in Shogakukan's "Weekly Shonen Sunday")
Director: Tomoya Kitagawa
Assistant Director: Daiki Harashina
Director Cooperation: Keiichiro Saito
Series Composition: Tomohiro Suzuki
Character Design: Maru Takase, Keisuke Kojima, Yuri Fujinaka
Concept Art: Seiko Yoshioka
Design Works: Hiroyuki Kobashi, Runa Harano, Izumi Seguchi, Daiki Harashina
Art Director: Sawako Takagi
Art Setting: Shinji Sugiyama
Color Design: Harue Ono
3DCG Director: Kana Imagaki
Director of Photography: Akane Fushihara
Editing: Kashiko Kimura
Sound Director: Shoji Hata
Music: Evan Call
Animation Production: MADHOUSE
Theme Songs
OP: "lulu." by Mrs. GREEN APPLE
ED: "The Story of Us" by milet
Electronic Books
"Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" eBook (Comic)
© Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe/Shogakukan/ ”Frieren”Project
About the Author Mikiko Watanabe
Became a writer after giving birth. Loves various genres including Shaman King, Fullmetal Alchemist, and IDOLiSH7.
© Animate Times
*Some parts of this text have been translated using machine translation
