As fans are gearing up for Season 2 of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, the team behind the anime brought some special gifts to Anime Expo 2025. In addition to premiering the official trailer for Season 2 at the event, Stark’s Japanese voice actor, Chiaki Kobayashi, Producer Yuichiro Fukushi, and Composer Evan Call took the stage for a brief discussion.
Thinking back on how Frieren first came to be, Fukushi shared that it was quite a quick process. “I initially got involved when Shoichiro Taguchi from Toho Animation presented me with the manga and said we should animate it. When I was reading it, I was taken away by how amazing it was. The details, the characters, the world building, I could already see it all in my head! I knew exactly what staff I wanted to work with and everything, so we secured the rights, and the project was history.” Expanding more on the world building, Fukushi expressed his love for the detail. “The world setting was so immense and diverse, but with the characters, I could see the motion and life even as it was drawn in the manga. It really created this tranquil, peaceful way to represent the passage of time.”
To help with creating that unique atmosphere, the team relied heavily on the musical composition. “This was truly the story for me,” Call began. “The sentimental feeling, the melancholy, and the distinct character personalities. I was reading and imagining what music could go with what scene, and it pulled me in just from the premise. Seeing the adventure after adventure, I really loved it.”
Just as the rest of the crew became Frieren fans, Stark’s voice actor was no different. “When I was officially cast as Stark, I was in disbelief,” Kobayashi started. “Frieren is a manga I really love, and it meant so much to me that I was almost in tears. I thought I would be cast as Himmel or Stark, but in my head, I was 99% sure I would be Stark.”
When creating Season 1, one of the most unique things about it was simply how long the season was. “There are 28 episodes, which is more volume than most anime seasons,” Fukushi shared. “It was also very important to divert our resources and balance it throughout the whole story. Every episode is so poignant, and because there are so many episodes, it was important to ensure the director’s intent was translated well to the whole team. We really wanted to make sure to capture the essence and charm of the manga in the anime adaptation, because all that made the manga special had to be translated on screen as well.” For Kobayashi, his goal was to create something with longevity. “A hundred or thousand years from now, I won’t be here anymore, like Himmel. But, like how Himmel was able to leave this lasting impact on the world in Frieren, I hope I will live on through the series.” Kobayashi also admitted that Stark, though known to be a silly and simple character, had a lot of complexities when it came to recording as well. “Stark is afraid of a lot of things, and he cannot fight on his own as a character. But, because he has Frieren and Fern, he’s more comfortable and is able to overcome his own fears. This is something I think I and others can relate to as well,” he shared. “That mindset made it easier to perform as Stark. I recall when I was his age, I also probably said one too many things to girls I liked, so I truly understand his character.”
As for the music, Call’s contribution was through the creation of 70 musical pieces by himself for Season 1. “I didn’t want the music just to function as background music, I wanted it to be part of the cast, like the music was the world’s voice. I was very intentional with each instrument I chose, and it actually brought me back to my roots a lot. I started with Bluegrass music, so my folk roots really had a chance to shine, and it brought back the original feeling of why I love music.”
Call also took some time to share his unique composition process, in particular for the track now known as Fern’s song, “Zoltraak.” “When writing music, I start by meeting with the sound director, and they create a menu of music they want. I scored the first four episodes as I would a film, then each episode after was scored individually,” he revealed. “The audio director takes the menu of songs I composed, and he will put it where it belongs. This one was originally titled “Battle Magic Fern,” but once I saw it with the scene, I renamed it “Zoltraak.” This song was like a folk dance song with an orchestra for an epic feeling. When choosing chords and rhythm, I added syncopations where some instruments are off tempo, so it creates a sort of pulling or dragging feeling. I wanted more intensity, so I also changed the standard chord to a different key. It doesn’t sound nice on its own, but put together in the chorus, it helps bring the fighting, tense feel of the scene to life,” Call said. “I think of every piece of a composition separately. I recorded 10 backing vocals to the vocal part, where I layered my own voice in a lower octave than the vocalist to add more depth to the song as well. I really wanted a strong, powerful, anthemic track that combined the fast and slow musical pieces to create a unique vibe to encompass the epic battle.”
The team also shared that production for Season 2 is well underway. “I recorded a lot of songs for the season in Budapest, including a massive chorus and choir,” Call revealed. “I’m also recording some folk instruments like banjos, and one of my favorite new tracks is for a character that doesn’t show up too much in the show.” Also sharing more to excite fans, Kobayashi said that Stark will be more present in the next season. “We are in the middle of production, and making anime is not easy, so our team is giving it everything they’ve got to make this anime as good as the manga deserves it to be,” Fukushi shared. “In order to really take the quality to the next level, I had a really long and interesting conversation with our staff. There’s a lot to look forward to this season.”
Season 2 is set to premiere in January 2026.
