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Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Anime's Original Mini-Anime Continues
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official website for the second season of the television anime of Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe's Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sōsō no Frieren) revealed on Monday that the "Frieren's Mini Anime 'Magic of ??'" (Sōsō no Frieren ~?? no Mahō~) mini-anime is continuing alongside the main anime. The first new episode, the 18th episode overall, premiered on Monday, and it features Wirbel. The anime is streaming irregularly on TOHO animation's YouTube channel, and is also posted on the anime's official X (formerly Twitter) account and TikTok channel.
The mini-anime project features original daily-life stories of the characters trying different magic spells during their journey. It also features the official deformed characters designs by illustrator Mebachi (DEEMO Memorial Keys).
Tomoya Kitagawa — who directed episodes 2, 8, and 25 of the first season — takes over as the director for the second season, with first season director Keiichirō Saitō now credited for director support. Daiki Harashina, who directed the third episode of the first season, is now the assistant director. Tomohiro Suzuki returns for series composition. Takasemaru (Akiko Takase, Violet Evergarden, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End episode 22, 28 chief animation director), Keisuke Kojima (100 Meters, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End episode 7 director), and Yuri Fujinaka (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End episode 22 chief animation director) are now the character designers for the anime (replacing Reiko Nagasawa). Seiko Yoshioka returns for concept art. Evan Call returns to compose the soundtrack. Madhouse returns to animate the second season.
Other staff members include:
- Design Works: Hiroyuki Kobashi, Runa Harano, Izumi Seguchi, Daiki Harashina
- Art Director: Sawako Takagi
- Background Art: Shinji Sugiyama
- Color Design: Harue Ono
- 3DCG Director: Kana Imagaki
- Compositing Director of Photography: Akane Fushihara
- Editing: Kashiko Kimura
- Sound Director: Shōji Hata
Mrs. Green Apple's perform the new opening theme song "lulu." milet performs the new ending theme song "The Story of Us," which was written specifically for the anime. milet also performed the first season's ending theme song.
The first season premiered with a two-hour special in September 2023. The first season ran for two consecutive cours (quarters of a year) until March 2024. Crunchyroll streamed the first season as it aired, and it also streamed an English dub.
Viz Media has licensed the manga, and it describes the story:
The adventure is over but life goes on for an elf mage just beginning to learn what living is all about. Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her? Decades after their victory, the funeral of one her friends confronts Frieren with her own near immortality. Frieren sets out to fulfill the last wishes of her comrades and finds herself beginning a new adventure…
Yamada and Abe launched the ongoing manga in Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine in April 2020. The series returned from a hiatus on July 23. The series is currently on an indefinite hiatus that started on October 22, for creators Yamada and Abe to take stock of their health, and consider adjusting the serialization pace of the series. The manga's 15th compiled book volume shipped on December 18.
The manga has exceeded 30 million copies in circulation worldwide.
Sources: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End anime's website, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
