Frieren: Are Fern and Frieren in Love? Their Relationship Explained!

The characters we’ve seen in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End are truly amazing. Although Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a Japanese work, the authors behind the project have tried to create a fantasy world familiar to both Japanese and Western fans of the series. In this article, we will discuss the nature of the relationship between two female characters in the series. One of them is Frieren, the principal and titular protagonist of the series, while the other is Fern, the young girl she took as her apprentice on her journey. The two of them seem to be very close, and we will explain the nature of their relationship.

Frieren and Fern are close, but there doesn’t seem to be any hint of a real romance between the two of them

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is still a young anime series in that it has only recently premiered, although the manga already has a solid number of volumes up for adaptation, and seeing how the story is quite popular globally, we assume that there will be more seasons of this great fantasy show.

Now, the focus of this article will be the nature of the relationship between the titular protagonist of the series, the Elven mage Frieren, and her young apprentice, Fern, who is in many ways similar to Frieren. We are going to explain just how close the two of them are and what the true nature of their relationship is so that you won’t be confused when you see them interact in future episodes of the series or later in the manga, depending on which iteration of the franchise you are enjoying at the moment. As usual, we will first tell you about their personalities a bit.

Frieren is the protagonist of the series, and while the story focuses on other characters as well, she is the one who connects all of them in the story. As an Elf, she is very closeted emotionally, a trait common for her Race and, as the series explained, a trait that has pushed the Elves to the brink of extinction. Heiter, at one point, states that humans simply cannot comprehend the nature of the feelings that the Elves have, which is not wrong if you really observe Frieren’s behavior in the series.

Her perception of time is exceptionally important here, as Frieren, as an Elf, sees time differently than humans. Being alive for more than a millennium, she sees a human lifespan as short. That difference in the perception of time is also one of the main reasons why she is so closeted and seemingly distant.

Namely, as someone who experiences time in such a way, Frieren doesn’t see a human lifespan as a significant amount of time, which is why she is unable to open up to others, as she simply doesn’t have the time to trust them, nor does she see a purpose, as they will all die quite soon from her point of view.

And that is why she seems cold. On top of that, she is quite blunt when she talks and is generally sincere, which her friends often comment on as cold or harsh. And while she does come off like that, she is actually emotional, more so than a typical Elf, as she was seen crying when both Himmel and Heiter died, which isn’t really typical of her race. She also respects her friends and feels guilty for never getting to know them better, which is why she is searching for their souls and why she is better with Fern.

She does, though, have a sense of loyalty and responsibility. She also cared for her former companions a lot despite being unable to show it properly. When she promised that she would reunite them 50 years after the end of their journey, she kept true to her promise, and later, she respected Heiter’s wish to teach Fern and to pour alcohol on his grave when he died.

Fern is in many ways similar to Frieren, but it is obvious that she is a human, whereas Frieren is an elf. Due to her history, she had to become very mature and responsible at a young age, which is even more evident now that she is older. She acts like the group’s mother, caring for Frieren and Stark.

And while she is mature, she also has a very childish side and is easily upset when things don’t go her way, all of which makes sense since she is a human. But, even though she can be irrational, one can also calm her down relatively easily with a normal conversation.

On top of that, she is extremely loyal, both as a friend and as an apprentice, as was observed via her relationships with Heiter, who took her in and raised her, and Frieren, who took her with her as an apprentice.

Having said this, fans of the series will know that the two of them are very close to each other, and sometimes, they seem too intimate to be just friends. Still, we can actually confirm that they are simply friends and that there are no romantic feelings between them, despite what some fans might think. That would, actually, be a bit strange.

Why? The age difference is the biggest issue, as Frieren is more than 1,000 years old, whereas Fern was introduced when she was eight and is 18 years old in the present timeline. This is why it doesn’t seem likely that the authors would make them a couple.

But they are close; that cannot be denied. Fern respects Frieren as a person and as a mentor very much, while Frieren, while she is not really sure how to show it, cares deeply for Fern. The two of them would do whatever it takes to save each other and are extremely loyal to each other, which is an amazing thing, but it doesn’t indicate that there are any romantic feelings between them. And that is the story of the relationship between Frieren and Fern in the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End series.

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