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.

Elsewhere, Kitagawa shared: "We have many main staff members, such as art director, color designer, cinematographer, and editor, as well as directing and animation staff who continue to participate, so they are very reliable, and we also have some new members."

Following a six-month run, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End season 1 concluded with elf Frieren and her purple-haired pal Fern continuing their journey north to Aurole, with the latter having achieved First Class Mage status through their exams and Frieren... well, being banned from the Magic Association for the next 1000 years.

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.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is currently available to stream on Hulu and Netflix in the US. Season 2, which will only consist of 10 episodes, will land on Crunchyroll on January 16. In the meantime, check out our picks of the best anime shows to add to your watchlist.