Frieren Season 2’s Biggest Change Is a Major Mistake in the Making

3 days ago 8

Frieren with her hand up, shielding her eyes from the sun in the Frieren anime.

Zach joined the ScreenRant Anime team as a contributor in June 2024, before taking on a Senior Writer role in November. Since then, he has covered breaking news and produced features and lists about the most popular anime titles.

While anime fans are always looking ahead to the most popular, high-profile shows each season, most would admit that nothing is better than a series taking the world by storm with little to no warning. As 2023 was approaching its conclusion, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End premiered and instantly became the year's biggest sleeper hit.

Fans of the original manga by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe might have expected the series' overwhelming success, but anime fans and even the staff at studio Madhouse were blindsided by it. Now, Frieren is set to begin airing its highly anticipated second season this January, though with a major change from season one.

Frieren Season 2 Will Be Much Shorter than Season 1

Frieren's Return Will Not Be a Split Two-Cour Season

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End premiered in September 2023, and ran until March 2024. The first season was made up of 28 episodes that extended throughout the Fall and Winter anime seasons, covering roughly 60 chapters of the source material. Being a slow-build sort of story, that structure worked to Frieren's advantage.

Over the course of those 28 episodes, fans were drawn into the quiet, atmospheric, and highly pleasant aesthetic of the series, and were allowed to become heavily invested in its characters and events. Then, when it came time for the action to ramp up, viewers were all the more bought in to confrontations.

However, that structure is changing in season two. Frieren's return will consist of only 10 episodes, a shorter length than the standard 12-to-13-episode season. While the length directly coincides with the story the anime is adapting, fans shouldn't expect the same sort of mellow experience offered throughout the majority of season one.

There may be a number of reasons for the change. It's likely the studio preferred to release a follow-up as soon as possible, in order to capitalize on the hype built around season one. The original manga is also on an indefinite hiatus, and the shorter structure will allow the anime to return without catching up to its source material.

However, that isn't the only change coming.

Another Major Change Is Coming in Frieren's Second Season

A Change in Staff Was Announced Ahead of Frieren's Return

At Anime Expo 2025, it was announced that Frieren would be returning under a new director, with Tomoya Kitagawa stepping in for Keiichiro Saito. The announcement came as a surprise to fans, given the success and praise the first season garnered. Saito also worked on notable titles like Sonny Boy and Bocchi the Rock!

Tomoya Kitagawa lent his talents to Frieren's first season, and previously worked on major titles like Spy x Family and A Place Further than the Universe. Such changes aren't exactly cause for alarm, as talented staff remain on-board, but they are something to keep in mind if fans find Frieren's second season to be a different experience from its first.

Release Date September 29, 2023

Network Nippon TV, YTV, FBS, Chukyo TV, RNB, FCT, STV, KNB, HTV, YBS, RAB, TVI, YBC, UMK TV Miyazaki, TSB, MMT, TeNY, RNC, NIB, KKT, KTK, NKT, ABS, JRT, Daiichi-TV, FBC, RKC, KYT, KRY

Directors Kento Matsui, Kota Mori, Takahiro Natori, Morio Asaka, Lim Ka-hee, Taku Kimura, Ken Ando, Hirotaka Mori, Ayaka Tsuji

Writers Tomohiro Suzuki