FRiEREN.

By the time i wrote this post – as of the 22nd of November 2025 to be exact – ,
If you are in any kind of way involved in the social media art community, and more especially in the manga and anime online community, you probably have already heard about FRiEREN.

Or more precisely,

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.
葬送のフリーレン, Hepburn: Sōsō no Furīren

In Japanese.

Litteraly meaning ‘Frieren at the Funeral‘ or ‘Frieren the Slayer‘.
It’s a Japanese manga series written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe which has been serialized in Shogakukan’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday since April 2020.
Its anime adaptation started during the year 2023 and is still on going at the time this blogpost article is being written.

Frieren: The Synopsis.

I will do my best to avoid any major spoiler, but this manga/show needs a little introduction so that you can be interested to follow it as well.

In short, Frieren is an Elven mage [an Elf with magical powers].
At one point in her life, she went out of the Elf realm and made some human and dwarf friends in the process. They formed a very solid bond altogether. They cherished their friendship dearly. But more importantly, together they formed a team in order to go on quests and save the World from the Demon King.

Once they successfully defeated the Demon King, they discovered that the next world menace will arrive in 50 years.

So, in order to be well prepared to handle that next threat, she decided to go on a journey around the world by herself in order to enhance her magical knowledge and train accordingly.

Basically, a self growth journey.
[ I love the sound of it! ]

Plot twist:
50 years later, she comes back to her team and all her friends have aged!
They are older, weaker and dying..

Yes. Elves are beings who age way more slowly than most beings..
..and the menace is still coming!


That’s the plot.

Personally, I saw the anime trailer a while back and i remember that i was thinking that “the plot seems interesting!” Though, i am guilty to have not freed enough of my time for it, then, eventually, I simply forgot.
Sometimes, it has to “click” so that you get that inner urge that pushes you to read and/or watch it.

And it worked for others! ..

In particular, for SpaceDev1 !

Kudos To SpaceDev1: The Art Beginner Who Dares !

First of all, if you have time, go give a follow to SpaceDev1 on X and other social platforms where you can find that artist.
Because these humble beginnings might help anyone growing too!

SpaceDev1 obviously likes the show, either the anime and/or the manga.
That artist displayed several fan arts of it on social media.
And to be honest with you, SpaceDev1 is the epitome of the beginner who understands one fundamental thing: as humans, we all have current limits that can be overcomed.

Humble Beginnings Are Unavoidable.

Humble beginnings are unavoidable when you start crafting at something new.

Anybody that pretend the contrary is either a oerfect being from the perfect dimension or The Architect.
And their lives might boring as hell !

As baby, we all started at the floor before knowing how to stand by yourself and then walk.
It took time, trials and errors.

BUT WE KEPT GOiNG !

And in my opinion, that’s the beauty of human evolution.
We always strive and prospere!

Ask For Help.

SpaceDev1 understood that aspect very well and this is exactly why that beginner decided to ask for help.
Without pride. Not being shy. And most of all.
All with a deep and honest state of awareness.

I personally do not know SpaceDev1 but honestly, we can easily name that artist

Rookie Of The Year! 🔥

Bold and efficient moves are sincere feats that drive respect towards a person.

Results:

Artists around the globe decided to go out of their way to provide help & tips in order to give a boost to SpaceDev1‘s art growth journey.
Which in itself will also help a ton of other beginners that will benefit from it.

Frieren Fanart Challenge.

That movement led to an online trend named The Frieren Fanart Challenge or simply: The Frieren Challenge.

Basically, artists displaying how they would have made that Frieren Fanart.

Some are even explaining how they tackle that hard angle when drawing character in general.
Most of them are helpful and you can learn a lot with all these indications available.

I have decided to jump

So I have decided to jump on the bandwagon too and give any kind of help i can with my expertise.
This will be posted in several parts so that you can acquire some solid drawing skills in the process since it is one of the 12 principles of animation.

Which means that we will need it later on, on our art growth journey.

Let’s get your magic on!

Consider it as the prequel to that SOLiD DRAWiNG ARC you are about to enter soon !!
Mouhahaha [ demonic laugh ]

Here is my Frieren Fanart:

Here is my Frieren Fanart with the one from SpaceDev1 on the left.
With this you are able to notice the different approaches and results so that it can bring you insightful details for your overall understanding of 2D character design.

Basically, the tip is: always think in 3D.

This deserves to be developed in an article fully focused on that topic.

But for now, you can memorize it, as it is still helpful to do so while learning how to draw characters.

Here, you can watch the time lapse of my Frieren Fanart Challenge:

This is part 1.

In the next part, you will get some more explanations that will help you go through the process of how to draw head shot on difficult angles.

But one thing at the time.

Conclusion: Be like SpaceDev1!

From now on, the conclusion is to always remember this: be like SpaceDev1 !

Dare asking for help!

Accept your current limitations then grow beyond them!

And now, it’s time to share your fanart! 😃

Share your Fanart with me and let’s talk about it 😉

Cheers!

AM²
  — Animation & Manga with simple words.




#amm #animangamagic #animationmangamagic #frieren #frierenchallenge #frierenfanarts #anime #manga