What is frieren actually about?

Jan 11, 8:26 PM

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Aug 2021

I want to understand what is the deeper meaning in this story let me know how you guys interpret this story from what I could understand from watching the first season is that it is a story about self discovery:- frieren tries to understand humans and their behaviour because she is an elf she can't relate to them but the 10 year journey which is not even 10 percent of her lifetime has made her try to understand them and in doing so she is rediscover herself and confrontating her own feelings and get to know who she truly is . Now I would like to know what you guys think

Jan 11, 8:41 PM

campeador35

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Jan 2022

It’s about friendships. Frieren is an elf who lives virtually forever and so, relationships, especially with humans are a tiny blip in her lifetime. She went on a 10 year adventure with strangers who turned into friends and ultimately defeated the demon king. Following this they parted ways and the memory of this adventure got diffused in her bottomless memory chest. In the present day, she goes on another adventure taking the same path to relive those memories and recall the memories of her friends. For her time is not factor and there is no purpose to having friendships because all of them eventually die. But the deeper meaning of the story I believe is life is only enriched when we share experiences with other people and form relationships with them and cherish them. Frieren being immortal is a vessel to carrying the memories of her friends into the future, as a proof that they existed.

Jan 11, 9:11 PM

99acrewood

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Oct 2025

frieren is unironically about the friends you make along the way

Jan 11, 9:23 PM

Captain-577

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Oct 2023

623

Even the authors don't know

Jan 11, 10:34 PM

Rajdeep1212

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Aug 2021

campeador35 said:
It’s about friendships. Frieren is an elf who lives virtually forever and so, relationships, especially with humans are a tiny blip in her lifetime. She went on a 10 year adventure with strangers who turned into friends and ultimately defeated the demon king. Following this they parted ways and the memory of this adventure got diffused in her bottomless memory chest. In the present day, she goes on another adventure taking the same path to relive those memories and recall the memories of her friends. For her time is not factor and there is no purpose to having friendships because all of them eventually die. But the deeper meaning of the story I believe is life is only enriched when we share experiences with other people and form relationships with them and cherish them. Frieren being immortal is a vessel to carrying the memories of her friends into the future, as a proof that they existed.

I like your interpretation it makes a lot of a sense

Jan 11, 11:03 PM

AspectOfJustice_

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Sep 2023

Reply to 99acrewood

frieren is unironically about the friends you make along the way

@99acrewood unironically? lol

Jan 11, 11:52 PM

Ripperdoc

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Jan 2022

1222

Froeren is all about getting stuck in treasure boxes.

Jan 12, 12:11 AM

Pppldrone_360

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Jul 2025

for me frieren is more about a out body journey. like from a perspective of a different personality. it's like we as humans give away most of our lives without ever realising how important it is or how we affect and influence everything around us. but when u see it from the perspective of an elven being who can see multiple ages of people she has loved and cherished come into the world , cherish her presence and wither off, it kinda put into perspective of how the universe views us and our very being

Jan 12, 2:35 AM

Piromysl

Online

Jul 2015

13902

Form friendships and bonds while you still can because nothing lasts forever or something like that.

Jan 12, 3:10 AM

#10

Ricegod1979

Online

Mar 2024

Immortal elf girl goes on a journey with her adopted kids to see her dead friend.

Jan 12, 3:20 AM

#11

Theo1899

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Jun 2016

14014

It's about Lúthien and Arwen if they decided to stay alive after Beren and Aragorn died.

MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST

Jan 12, 4:48 AM

#12

Goat14143

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Sep 2022

go watch it to find out then ask for spoilers

Jan 12, 4:49 AM

#13

Jemsyy

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Nov 2023

Ripperdoc said:
Froeren is all about getting stuck in treasure boxes.

s2 will consist of at least 4 hours of stuck in a mimic footage I'm predicting

Jan 12, 5:02 AM

#14

Ollie_Hearton

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May 2024

Elf feet and green haired girl armpits.

Jan 12, 6:12 AM

#15

Red_Flame9796

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Mar 2023

99acrewood said:
frieren is unironically about the friends you make along the way

Couldn’t have worded it better

Jan 12, 8:00 AM

#16

Fayez0001

Online

Jul 2024

Ollie_Hearton said:
Elf feet and green haired girl armpits.

Your words are truly heavenly...

Jan 12, 8:23 AM

#17

bahimiron

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Mar 2023

279

28 episodes long, so far.

Jan 12, 8:45 AM

#18

Helvetica_Chief

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Apr 2021

Its not really that deep or anything profound it’s just a story about an elf making meaningful connections as a result of the regret she felt after “ignoring” the importance of it in her past friend group. Plus its storytelling done right its basic its good and it is a proper fantasy world.

Jan 12, 8:58 AM

#19

BangBestie

Offline

Apr 2018

Rajdeep1212 said:
I want to understand what is the deeper meaning in this story let me know how you guys interpret this story from what I could understand from watching the first season is that it is a story about self discovery:- frieren tries to understand humans and their behaviour because she is an elf she can't relate to them but the 10 year journey which is not even 10 percent of her lifetime has made her try to understand them and in doing so she is rediscover herself and confrontating her own feelings and get to know who she truly is . Now I would like to know what you guys think

There is an Indonesian YouTuber (whose account name is Eno Bening) who said that Frieren is a satire aimed at people who fantasize about reliving their lives, as well as a critique of almost the entire isekai anime genre that objectifies the feeling of “starting a new life.”

My view is that Frieren criticizes the idea of wanting to repeat life whenever we make mistakes—why do we long so deeply for a second chance in life? Those moments are not meant to be regrets, but lessons. We should keep moving forward and discard impossible wishful thinking.

When others have already completed their journey (Himmel), we are late and only begin that journey afterward (Frieren). This anime teaches its audience not to be trapped in hypotheticals. Instead, it invites us to “start a new journey right here and now,” without relying on the notion of a second chance like in mainstream isekai anime.

From my perspective, however, this is still a kind of romanticism, because human lifespans are not as long as an elf’s, making it almost impossible to truly start a second journey in life. Perhaps the author deliberately chose an elf as the main character so she would have a long lifespan and be able to “journey” again.

The final conclusion is that Frieren conveys a message to its audience: do not wait for a second chance, but use the time you have to truly understand.

Jan 12, 12:15 PM

#20

Hawk_Indie

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Jul 2023

very good description

Jan 12, 12:37 PM

#21

Joy_Boy7

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Jul 2022

It's about cherishing the time you spend with the people you care about.

Jan 12, 12:44 PM

#22

DD47111

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Jan 2026

idk what is about, all i know that it is PEAK🏔

Jan 12, 12:46 PM

#23

Zarutaku

Online

Sep 2016

24642

About a 1000-year-old loli elf gilf who recently had her first crush.

*kappa*

Jan 12, 9:11 PM

#24

YanniktheYordle

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Jan 2021

In my eyes it's about life itself, specifically life time. Friends, acquaintances and loved ones come and go, whether you want or not. The time you can spend together can be so awesome and so many beautiful and emotional memories only wait to be created.
Still, the calm and non verbal moments are also part of our lives. There doesn't always have to be action and energy around us. While excitement can inspire us to take new routes which lead to new journeys, we sometimes just have to sit down to appreciate everything we've achieved and experienced so far.

Jan 13, 1:11 AM

#25

Genomu

Offline

Mar 2014

Reply to campeador35

@campeador35

But the deeper meaning of the story I believe is life is only enriched when we share experiences with other people and form relationships with them and cherish them.

This. Frieren is about relationships in general, be they friendly, romantic or even adversarial. And how we shouldn't take them for granted because they make us who we are. Time may pass and people who we had those relationships with may be gone, but their influence will continue to shape our life in the future. So we should appreciate them all the more.

Jan 13, 10:32 AM

#26

KOTFTW

Community Mod

☝🤓

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Oct 2013

398

Thread cleaned.

Removed off topic comments.

Jan 13, 11:50 AM

#27

GunSniperN7

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Oct 2014

A lot of people have said most of the points I would have made except one.
Friren is also about a journey about understanding emotions, Friren attended the funeral for the hero Himel and broke down crying, as an elf who will live for basically eternity, she struggles to come to terms with the idea of lost to age, part of her new journey is to understand these things.

Jan 18, 9:27 AM

#28

No_ah658658

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Dec 2025

99acrewood said:
frieren is unironically about the friends you make along the way

Holy sh*t i didnt realise that

Jan 18, 4:43 PM

#29

Codes247

Offline

Mar 2020

Frieren is about time, relationships, nostalgia, and change.

Time: everything changes. Embrace the present, only those who regret the past havent completely embraced the present. Everyone views time differently.

Relationships: Frieren I feel wasn't very close to anyone at the beginning because she put her mission of defeating the demon lord above all else. The hero who should have been the most focused on defeating the demon lord put people first. After the hero dies she gets metaphorically woken up. She then becomes a teacher and guides them to put people first in every town.

Nostalgia: It feels like every episode has nostalgia for Frieren in some way. She seems to be so focused on it that she makes new ways to feel that nostalgia by acting like the hero, revisiting and cleaning up places her party was so excited to see, and constantly look for grimores/ books on the history of her master.

Change: Frieren has to constantly experience change. She is an elf stuck in a predominantly human world. A lot of the demons she defeats are those stuck because they refuse to adapt. The humans change and grow at a rapid pace. She is told the one who could defeat her wouldn't be a demon but a human because of how much they change.

Jan 19, 12:52 PM

#30

Lain666

Offline

Apr 2008

645

It is about Tolkien-esque fantasy story that raids on nostalgia of those who read/watched stories like this one:
Record of Lodoss War

Record of Lodoss War also has a male warrior and a long-living female elf as the main characters who also happen to like each other. Does it sound familiar?

Lain666Jan 19, 12:57 PM

"The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! Except, of course, in the Church. But then in the Church they don't think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen, and as a natural consequence he always looks absolutely delightful."

Jan 23, 5:45 PM

#31

Scyon

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Dec 2023

to me its about frierens inner journey of self discovery the outside world is a reflection of that, the main thing about the show is to not just watch the show on a surface level and look at why shes doing the things she does its about grief, love, regret, friendship/family and legacy

there are other things in other characters and episodes e.g stark feeling fear but acting anyway. the old man vol episodes has multiple messages in it.

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What is frieren actually about?

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