>>536423896
The entire premise of the story is that he spent his entire life waiting for Frieren, with her not realizing how much time she was spending just fucking around with her autistic wizard stuff away from him, until they meet again and he's already at death's door. At his funeral, she cries her eyes out because it suddenly comes crushing down on her what an admirable person he was and that she could have been closer to him and spent that life together. What kickstarts the main plot is that she hears of a way to talk to the dead's souls so she goes there in hopes she'll get at least one final conversation with him.

The whole series is sort of an exploration on the nostalgic beauty of life, and how time just keeps going on no matter what and you have to appreciate what you have now, because one day it will be gone, but with time also comes new things to love.