Frieren: Beyond Journey's End director reveals why he stepped back from directing the hit fantasy anime

Anime director Keiichiro Saito has finally explained why he won't be in charge of helming Frieren: Beyond Journey's End season 2 -- and his reason is actually pretty heart-wrenching.

The fantasy series, which is based on Kanehito Yamada's ongoing manga and currently holds an impressive 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, is set to return with another batch of episodes on January 16. Behind the scenes, Tomoya Kitagawa is set to take over from Yamada, having overseen episodes 2, 8, and 25 in the previous chapter.

"When we worked together on the first season, I felt that Kitagawa-san had solid ideas and techniques," Saito recalled in an interview with Mantan Web. "Even during the first season, I was unable to keep up with the things that I should have been looking after, so I asked Kitagawa-san to help me out. I couldn't think of anyone else to ask, so I asked Kitagawa-san." According to Comicbook.com, it has been confirmed that Saito remains involved in an assistant director capacity.

In season 2, "Frieren will travel to new lands with her new party. We’ll explore fresh dynamics, new combat situations, and all of the characters' changing mindsets. It’ll be exciting to see how their roles develop and how Frieren grows through these experiences," director Yuichiro Fukushi told ScreenRant at AnimeExpo 2025.

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.

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