Shogakukan has announced that Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe’s Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga series has officially surpassed 30 million copies in circulation worldwide.
The Shonen Sunday Magazine editorial department provided the following statement about the announcement:
We are truly grateful for the incredible support from fans all over the world. This milestone reflects not only the series’ popularity in Japan but also its growing resonance with international audiences who are discovering the depth and beauty of Frieren’s story.
It was also announced this week on the 33rd issue of Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday, via Anime News Network, that the Frieren manga will return to serialization in the magazine’s next issue on July 23, 2025. The manga has been on hiatus since January 2025.
The series had returned from an earlier hiatus in the magazine’s combined second and third 2025 issue in December 2024, after taking a two week break starting in late November 2024. The manga took another hiatus between May to August last year, and has been on several breaks since January 2023.
The fantasy adventure manga series, written by Yamada and illustrated by Abe, was first launched in Weekly Shonen Sunday on April 28, 2020 and has released 14 tankobon volumes as of March 2025. VIZ Media licensed the manga for release in English.
The manga won the grand prize at Manga Taisho 2021 and was one of the winners of the 69th Shogakukan Manga Award.
A 28-episode TV anime adaptation aired between 2023 and 2024. A second season is expected to debut in January 2026.
Crunchyroll is streaming the anime’s first season worldwide, outside of Japan, and describes the main synopsis as:
The mage Frieren defeated the Demon King alongside the hero Himmel’s party after a 10-year quest. Peace was restored to the kingdom. Because she is an elf, she is able to live over a thousand years. She promises Himmel and the others that she will be back to see them and then sets out on a journey by herself. Fifty years later, Frieren goes to visit Himmel and the others. She remained unchanged, but Himmel and the others have aged and only a little of their lives remain. Later, she witnesses Himmel’s death. Frieren is pained by her desire to have spent more time getting to know people. With that regret in her heart, she then goes on a journey to do just that. On her journey, she meets many people and many events await her.
Source: press release
