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Episode Notes
With less than a week until its Crunchyroll premiere, the final Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 preview has been officially released. Officially released on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, the final trailer for Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 continues to explore Frieren's past and present as she resumes her journey of self discovery. The latest trailer features the new Season 2 theme song, "lulu." by Mrs. GREEN APPLE, as well as introduces a brand new character, the Hero of the South, played by Japanese voice actor Kazuhiko Inoue.
Reader Version
In this podcast episode, the host Riz shares his excitement about the upcoming release of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2, which is set to premiere on Crunchyroll on January 16, 2026. Riz mentions that he is currently watching Season 1 and appreciates the series’ narrative style, which alternates between Frieren’s past and present, highlighting her skills and relationships. While he feels the show might focus a bit too much on flashbacks, he acknowledges that this storytelling approach is part of what fans love about the series. Riz discusses the recently released final trailer for Season 2, which debuted on January 11, 2026.
The trailer continues to explore Frieren’s journey of self discovery and introduces a new character, the Hero of the South, voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue. The new season’s theme song, “lulu.” by Mrs. GREEN APPLE, is also featured in the trailer. Riz notes that the Hero of the South plays a significant role in Frieren’s life by introducing her to a young hero named Himel, whose brief friendship with Frieren sparks her deeper understanding of humanity’s fleeting nature. The episode also covers a special screening event held in Tokyo on January 11, where the first two episodes of Season 2 were shown ahead of the official premiere.
The main cast, including Kana Ichinose (Frieren) and Chiaki Kobayashi (Stark), attended alongside Inoue, who made his first public appearance as the Hero of the South. Riz shares some impressions of the visuals from the new episodes, appreciating small details like Frieren using her staff as a light source. Kazuhiko Inoue commented on the challenge of voicing the Hero of the South, describing the character as having a quiet resolve and noting that the role was difficult due to the limited number of lines. Riz highlights that Frieren Season 2 is one of the most anticipated anime releases in Crunchyroll’s Winter 2026 lineup, which also includes popular titles like Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 and Sentence to be a Hero.
Riz briefly touches on the status of the Frieren manga, which is currently on indefinite hiatus. He expresses uncertainty about whether the manga is completed or if the hiatus means no further content will be adapted into anime. Despite this, Riz emphasizes the series’ popularity and recommends it to newcomers in the anime community. Finally, Riz reflects on the crowded Winter 2026 anime season, mentioning that many strong titles are competing for viewers’ attention. He wraps up by inviting listeners to watch the new Season 2 trailer with him, expressing enthusiasm for what lies ahead in Frieren’s story.
Automatic Transcript
Alright, what's good on guys? It's your boy Riz. Welcome back again to another episode on our podcast. It's the new year, so happy new year. Okay, 15 days ahead of the 1st, but you know, we're all busy with our lives, do you know what I'm saying? Especially I. So, we are going to be reading on today's news about Freiren, which releases final season preview ahead of official Crunchyroll premiere. I'm still watching season 1. I'm currently on episode 22. I like the back and forth within the series of her past and her present, and shows her present skills and the people that she's, let's say, connecting with in terms of her life.
I do think it could be a bit less showing of the past, but hey, that's Freiren and everyone loves the series. I can't wait for season 2. Now, it says here, with less than a week until its Crunchyroll premiere, the final Freiren Beyond Journeys End season 2 preview has been officially released. Officially released on Sunday, January 11th, 2026, the final trailer for Freiren Beyond Journeys End season 2 continues to explore Freiren's past and present as she resumes her journey of self discovery. The latest trailer features the new season 2 theme song, Lulu, by Miss Green Apple, as well as introduces a brand new character, the Hero of the South, played by Japanese voice actor Kazuhiko Inoue.
Now, it says here, this is for the season 2 trailer, which I will play, but first, let's go ahead and read the rest of the notes. Or should I say news? The final Freiren season 2 anime preview followed a completion screening event held in Tokyo, Japan on January 11th, per Japan Anime News. Atsumi Tanizaki, played by Freiren, the character, or actress, or actor, I don't even know. But anyways, moving on. Kana Ichinose, Freiren, and Chiaki Kobayashi, as Stark, attended the event alongside Inoue, who made his first public appearance after the announcement that he'll be playing the Hero of the South.
In addition to the main cast, attendance, the special Freiren anime event also screened the first two season episodes for the first time worldwide, ahead of the official broadcast and Crunchyroll streaming premiere on January 16th, 2026. As seen in the final Freiren season 2 preview, the Hero of the South plays a pivotal role in Freiren's life, as he is the one who introduces her to the young hero, Himel. Freiren's short lived friendship with Himel is what sets off her current journey to learn about humanity's fleeting existence and perseverance. It also inspired a new, limited edition collectible release. So this is the images of the latest season 2 episode, the first two episodes.
Because you can see the main cast of the journey that are following with the Freiren character. Not much images, doesn't seem anything crazy. I like how she uses her stick here as a light source. But yeah, the Hero of the South's voice actor Kazuhiko Inoue commented about joining the Freiren cast and the difficulty he faced in playing such a legendary character per Japan Anime News. He says in his words, I am honoured to be able to participate in Freiren Beyond Journey's End. He said, I had the privilege of playing the Hero of the South. He did not have a large number of lines, which made it a difficult role. He is a person with quiet resolve.
I performed the role in the hope that viewers would later think, in quotations, I see. Freiren Beyond Journey End Season 2 is arguably the most highly anticipated release among Crunchyroll's stacked Winter 2026 streaming schedule. Freiren Season 2 Premiere will follow the one hour premiere of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, as well as top ranked newcomers such as Sentence to be a Hero. Now, newly announced titles such as the official anime sequel to the Toonami classic Ronin Warriors are now available to stream on Crunchyroll. Season 1 of Freiren Beyond Journey's End is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Freiren Season 2 will premiere on January 16, 2026.
The manga by writer Kamehito Yamada and artist Tsukasa Abe remains on indefinite hiatus. Goodness gracious. So the writer is the manga by writer Kamehito Yamada and artist Tsukasa Abe remains on indefinite hiatus. Which means any other form of content within the manga that's going to be illustrated into an anime is completely done. I don't know if because the manga is completed I have to check for myself. Or they are no more in an anime slash manga space whether they're alive or not. But Freiren in of itself is so successful. Everyone loves it. I like it. I want to say love it. But it is definitely a very good series that is advised or recommend to any newcomer within the anime space.
There's so many new animes this winter season. Like I said earlier on it's stacked especially because so many good animes have come out such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Sentence to be a Hero. But there's also other animes that I watched which I can't exactly remember the name of the other day. Which is very very bad because I was watching it and I was locked in. But it is what it is. Anyways that's been the latest news for Freiren on the season 2 trailer. Let's go ahead and watch the trailer ahead so that we know and see what we are getting ourselves into. Why do you think so? Because we might meet again someday. See you later. See you later. It's just an ordinary daily life.