List of Frieren episodes

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is an anime television series based on the manga series of the same name written by Kanehito Yamada [ja] and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe [ja]. It is produced by Madhouse and directed by Keiichirō Saitō [ja], with script supervision by Tomohiro Suzuki [ja], character designs by Reiko Nagasawa, and music composed by Evan Call.^[1][2]

Japanese cover art for the first home media volume as released by Toho Animation

The story follows elven mage Frieren, a former member of the party of adventurers who defeated the Demon King and restored harmony to the world after a ten-year quest. As years pass, Frieren stays the same due to her longer lifespan while the others age. Many years after the hero Himmel's death, Frieren regrets keeping her former companions at arm's length and not getting to know them better during their adventure. After learning of the resting place of souls in the northernmost part of the continent, Frieren embarks on a long journey to give Himmel's soul a proper farewell. In the process, Frieren and a new group of traveling companions retrace the path to the Demon King's castle taken by Frieren's original party, bringing back old memories.

The two consecutive-cours series premiered with a two-hour special on September 29, 2023, on Nippon TV's programming block Kin'yō Road Show [ja], which is normally reserved for feature films, becoming the first anime series to do so.^[3][4][5] Later episodes debuted on the new block Friday Anime Night on the same network and its affiliates,^[6] and ended on March 22, 2024.^[7] For the four-episode premiere broadcast, the special ending theme is "Bliss", which was performed by Milet.^[3] The first opening theme is "Yūsha" (勇者; lit. 'Hero') by Yoasobi, while the ending theme is "Anytime Anywhere" by Milet.^[8] The second opening theme is "Sunny" (晴る, Haru) by Yorushika,^[9] and the second ending theme includes a different part of "Anytime Anywhere".^[10] Toho Animation compiled the episodes into seven Blu-ray and DVD sets, which were released from January 24 to July 17, 2024.^[11] Eleven short episodes, titled Sōsō no Frieren: Marumaru no Mahō (葬送のフリーレン ～●●（まるまる）の魔法～), was released on Toho Animation's YouTube channel and on Frieren's official anime X and TikTok accounts from October 11, 2023, to March 24, 2024.^[12][13]

Crunchyroll licensed the series for streaming outside East Asia,^[14] and an English dub directed by Jad Saxton premiered on its streaming platform on October 13, 2023.^[15] The company is releasing the series on Blu-ray and DVD sets; the first part, which includes the first 16 episodes, was released on December 17, 2024,^[16][17] while the second part is set to be released on September 23, 2025.^[18] Muse Communication licensed the series in Southeast Asia.^[19]

In September 2024, it was announced the series was renewed for a second season.^[20][21][22] It is set to premiere in January 2026.^[23] The staff and cast from the first season is returning to reprise their roles, with Tomoya Kitagawa replacing Keiichirō Saitō as the season's director. Daiki Harashina will serve as the assistant director, while Takasemaru, Keisuke Kojima, and Yuri Fujinaka replacing Reiko Nagasawa as character designers.^[24]

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	28		September 29, 2023 (2023-09-29)	March 22, 2024 (2024-03-22)
2	TBA		January 2026 (2026-01)	TBA

Episodes

Season 1 (2023–24)

No. overall	No. in season	Title [25][26]	Directed by [25]	Storyboarded by [25]	Animation directed by [25]	Original release date [27]	Viewership rating [28]
1	1	"The Journey's End" Transliteration: "Bōken no Owari" (Japanese: 冒険の終わり)	Ayaka Tsuji	Keiichirō Saitō [ja]	Reiko Nagasawa	September 29, 2023 (2023-09-29)	6.8%[a]
After defeating the Demon Lord, Himmel the Hero, priest Heiter, dwarf warrior Eisen, and elf mage Frieren return to the royal capital. After their procession, they view a meteor shower and discuss their future plans. Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen are ready to retire from adventuring after their ten-year quest. Frieren, whose lifespan is much longer, considers the ten years to be trivially short and plans to travel and learn new spells. To her colleagues' amusement, she promises to show them a better site to observe the meteor shower at its next occurrence in 50 years. Frieren keeps her word and returns 50 years later to find that Himmel and Heiter have become elderly, and Eisen is middle-aged. The week-long journey to Frieren's viewing site reminds the party of their past adventures. Himmel the Hero dies of old age shortly after the expedition. At his funeral, Frieren tearfully realizes she did not adequately get to know him and decides to learn as much about humans as possible. 20 years later, she visits Heiter to find that he has adopted a war orphan, nine year old Fern. Heiter, suffering from death anxiety in his advanced age, asks Frieren to research life-extending magic and tutor Fern in magic in her spare time. She agrees after seeing Fern is already remarkably skilled despite her youth.
2	2	"It Didn't Have to Be Magic…" Transliteration: "Betsuni Mahō Janakutatte…" (Japanese: 別に魔法じゃなくたって…)	Tomoya Kitagawa	Tomoya Kitagawa	Ayaka Minoshima	September 29, 2023 (2023-09-29)	6.8%[a]
Frieren spends four years tutoring Fern while translating an ancient grimoire concerning immortality. Heiter collapses and can no longer walk. Fern declines to visit immediately, explaining that she must train continuously to become a mage before Heiter dies. She wants to show him this progress as thanks for his intervening in her planned suicide and adopting her. Frieren expedites her translation; the grimoire revealed nothing about life extension. Heiter admits that he used this prospect to ensure that Frieren would stay to tutor Fern. Fern finally masters an offensive spell, and Heiter dies. She joins Frieren in her travels to continue to learn. They use magic to easily complete mundane tasks for townspeople, especially in return for documents about magic. During a routine cleaning of a statue of Himmel the Hero, Frieren decides to decorate it with his favorite flower. The flower seems to have gone extinct in the region, and they spend six months searching for one. Fern is surprised and frustrated about Frieren's commitment to a seemingly minor cosmetic task. While reflecting about her motivation and friendship with Himmel, Frieren finds the live flower in a rodent's seed hoard, allowing her to conjure a field of them in his memory. Fern realizes it is important to have a passion, be it for magic or anything else.
3	3	"Killing Magic" Transliteration: "Hito o Korosu Mahō" (Japanese: 人を殺す魔法)	Daiki Harashina	Daiki Harashina	Daiki Harashina	September 29, 2023 (2023-09-29)	6.8%[a]
Fern notices Frieren acting suspiciously and follows her to several unusual and dangerous shops. Frieren admits that despite her efforts, she has learned almost nothing about Fern and was trying to think of a gift for Fern's birthday. Fern is happier knowing Frieren at least tried to learn about her. Frieren decides to revisit places she visited with Himmel, Heiter and Eisen. The first place is a village where Frieren sealed away Qual, the Demon of Corruption. The seal will break soon so Frieren must defeat Qual. She is surprised to learn that Himmel checked the seal every year until he died, and was always confident that Frieren would visit before it broke. Frieren reveals that Qual invented a killing spell (called Zoltraak) that bypassed all barriers and armour to strike the body directly, which was so powerful at the time she could only manage to seal rather than destroy him. Qual is unsealed, but Frieren reveals that in the eighty years he has been asleep, human mages learned and reverse engineered his spell, allowing them to develop new defense spells to block it. Unable to harm them, Qual is easily killed when Frieren uses his own spell on him, which he does not know how to block. Frieren realizes the village elder is a boy she met at the village eighty years ago, reminding her fondly of Himmel. Fern also points out Himmel must have had deep trust in Frieren to be so certain she would return to deal with Qual.
4	4	"The Land Where Souls Rest" Transliteration: "Tamashii no Nemuru Chi" (Japanese: 魂の眠る地)	Kento Matsui	Yoshiaki Kawajiri	Ayaka Tsuji	September 29, 2023 (2023-09-29)	6.8%[a]
In exchange for cleaning a beach, Frieren receives a grimoire written by famous mage Flamme, even though it is fake. The work is finished by New Year when the locals traditionally watch the sunrise. Frieren, a notorious late sleeper, missed the sunrise during her last visit, upsetting her friends. This time she makes it but finds the sunrise dull, until she sees Fern enjoying herself and realizes why missing it last time upset everyone, because they were supposed to go together. They then visit Eisen's home, having not seen him in thirty years. He asks for help searching Voll Basin for Flamme's genuine grimoire as Flamme supposedly found a way to speak to the dead, and he thinks it will be beneficial for Frieren to speak with Himmel one more time. Frieren recalls Flamme was her human master 1,000 years ago, who instructed her to find her home if she ever felt regret and wanted to speak to the dead. Frieren recovers Flamme's genuine grimoire which describes where all souls go, Aureole, at the northernmost point of the continent where the Demon Lord's castle is located. On the way home, Eisen is happy Frieren is learning to care about people and is a good teacher to Fern. Frieren asks Eisen to accompany them to Aureole, but Eisen declines, citing he would slow her down in his old age. However, Eisen also reminds them that their original adventure to the Demon King's castle took ten years, which Frieren acknowledges.
5	5	"Phantoms of the Dead" Transliteration: "Shisha no Gen'ei" (Japanese: 死者の幻影)	Kōta Mori	Kenichi Shimizu [ja]	Reiko Nagasawa, Daiki Harashina, Emi Yamazaki & Izumi Seguchi	October 6, 2023 (2023-10-06)	4.0%
Frieren acknowledges ten years is potentially a tenth of Fern's lifespan but Fern decides to follow her. A short way into the journey they enter a village where several people disappeared after seeing ghosts of their deceased relatives. Frieren suspects an Einsam, a monster that lures victims with illusion magic. The illusions are easily destroyed with attack magic, but as this involves attacking the ghosts of people they loved even experienced warriors cannot fight back and become its prey. Fern is almost caught by Heiter's ghost but Frieren easily shoots Himmel's ghost, exposing the Einsam so Fern can destroy it. Continuing on the journey Frieren decides to kill a dragon to collect a grimoire from its nest. This requires a strong warrior so they seek out Stark, one of Eisen's students who once defeated the dragon in a staring contest and now lives nearby. Stark admits he has never killed a monster before and only won the famous staring contest because he was frozen with fear. Frieren gives him until morning to decide to help. Fern doubts he is capable but Frieren is confident since, thanks to Eisen's training, Stark possesses the strength to cut through solid rock with his axe.
6	6	"The Hero of the Village" Transliteration: "Mura no Eiyū" (Japanese: 村の英雄)	Tōru Iwazawa	Tōru Iwazawa	Keisuke Hiroe & Takasemaru	October 13, 2023 (2023-10-13)	3.2%
Stark admits that even though he is strong enough to take on the dragon, he is too afraid to. Fern encourages Stark by telling him all he needs is resolve. The next day, Stark reluctantly agrees to distract the dragon despite still being scared. However, Frieren points out that Eisen was always scared as well before a major battle. Stark then engages the dragon and manages to kill it without needing any assistance from Frieren and Fern. Frieren collects the grimoire and Stark agrees to accompany her on her journey. The trio head north to the city of Waal, but find out the checkpoint is closed due to increased monster activity in the northern lands. Frieren is content to stay in the city to continue her magic research, but Fern and Stark grow concerned when they find out it may take up two years before the checkpoint can be reopened. Stark reveals to Fern that he wants to go on an adventure so that he can return to Eisen to regale him with his stories. Fortunately, the city's castellan recognizes Frieren and believing that she has headed north to pacify the monsters, gladly opens the checkpoint for her. Frieren and her party are given a heroes' sendoff, which embarrasses Frieren but Fern and Stark are excited that this marks the official beginning of their adventure.
7	7	"Like a Fairy Tale" Transliteration: "Otogibanashi no Yō na Mono" (Japanese: おとぎ話のようなもの)	Keisuke Kojima	Naoto Uchida & Keisuke Kojima	Norito Saitama & Ryōko Ino	October 20, 2023 (2023-10-20)	3.0%
Frieren and her party continue to travel north, and Frieren explains the Elven race has been declining since due to their long lives, they are too apathetic to even reproduce. They pass by another village with statues of her and her original party who celebrate "Liberation Day". Frieren recalls a memory where Himmel was adamant the party leave behind statues of themselves as reminders to Frieren that they actually existed and are not simply fairy tales. Heading to another city, Frieren spots demons and tries to attack them, only to be arrested by the city guards for threatening peace envoys. Fern and Stark visit Frieren in the dungeon and reveal that one of the Demon Lord's lieutenants, Aura the Guillotine, has recently regained her power and has been waging war against the city for 28 years, leading both sides to open peace talks. However, Frieren warns from experience that demons are incapable of being reasoned with since they only learn human language as a way to deceive humans. Just as Frieren predicted, the demon peace envoy led by Lügner are simply there to trick the city into lowering its barrier so Aura can raze it with her army. However, one of his attendants, Draht, heads to the dungeon to assassinate Frieren, but she warns him that she is far more powerful than Aura.
8	8	"Frieren the Slayer" Transliteration: "Sōsō no Furīren" (Japanese: 葬送のフリーレン)	Tomoya Kitagawa	Tomoya Kitagawa	Ayaka Sato, Reiko Nagasawa, Hiroyuki Kobashi & Emi Yamazaki	October 27, 2023 (2023-10-27)	4.4%
Draht ignores Frieren's warning and attacks her, but she easily kills him and escapes the dungeon. The city's Graf, Granat, becomes suspicious about Draht's disappearance and Frieren's escape and confronts Lügner. With his plot exposed, Lügner captures Granat with the intention of forcing him to disable the city's barrier. Meanwhile, Fern and Stark agree to warn Granat about Lügner when they come across Frieren. Frieren refuses to help them against Lügner, confident that the two are strong enough to defeat him. Instead, Frieren leaves to confront Aura, who is waiting outside the city with her army. That night, Fern and Stark sneak into the keep and work together to seriously wound Lügner. With Granat badly injured, the two adventurers decide to rescue him and withdraw. As he heals his wound, Lügner finally realizes that Frieren is in the city. He recalls how Frieren is also nicknamed "Frieren the Slayer" due to killing more demons than anybody else in history. Outside the city, Frieren confronts Aura face to face.
9	9	"Aura the Guillotine" Transliteration: "Dantōdai no Aura" (Japanese: 断頭台のアウラ)	Kōki Fujimoto	Kōki Fujimoto	Keita Nagasaka	November 3, 2023 (2023-11-03)	3.4%
Fern and Stark manage to get Granat to safety in the town church, where he warns that Aura's trump card is a magic artifact called the Scales of Obedience, which measure the amount of mana she and opponent possesses. The one with the greater amount of mana can then dominate the loser, which is how she has created an army of puppets. Frieren destroys some of Aura's puppets, and seeing that she still has no understanding of humanity, concludes that she can kill her like a monster. Back in the city, Lügner and his assistant Linie ambush Fern and Stark. While the demons initially have the upper hand, Stark learns that Linie copied Eisen's fighting style from observing him in a battle, but lacks the strength to execute his moves with killing force, and uses that to his advantage to purposely take a blow from her axe so he can land a killing blow on her. Fern seizes the initiative by taking advantage of her main strength of being able to cast her spells more quickly than even Frieren, eventually overwhelming Lügner's defenses and killing him.
10	10	"A Powerful Mage" Transliteration: "Tsuyoi Mahōtsukai" (Japanese: 強い魔法使い)	Nobuhide Kariya & Kazumasa Isogawa	Nobuhide Kariya	Ayaka Tsuji, Keita Nagasaka & Kunihiko Hamada [ja]	November 10, 2023 (2023-11-10)	3.3%
Mortally wounded, Lügner is left to wonder how Fern is so powerful, until he comes to the realization that she had been suppressing her mana to look weaker than she actually is, which is considered a taboo among demon mages. Fern then finishes off Lügner. In a flashback to a thousand years ago, Flamme comes across a destroyed elf village and finds Frieren the only survivor, having managed to kill the demon general attacking her. Flamme decides to take Frieren on as her apprentice and teaches her how to indefinitely suppress her mana. She also teaches Frieren how to fight demons. Since demons are proud and self confident in their own magic and are incapable of suppressing their own mana, Flamme explains that by suppressing their mana, they can trick demons into feeling a false sense of security where they can be destroyed in a surprise attack. Flamme's last instruction to Frieren is to keep training and suppressing her mana and live in obscurity until she is powerful enough to defeat the Demon King. A thousand years later, Himmel and his party track down Frieren and attempt to recruit her. Seeing that Himmel can instinctively sense her true power, Frieren decides to join them. In the present, Aura uses the Scales of Obedience, but is horrified when Frieren shows the true extent of her mana. Aura is dominated by Frieren, and she is forced to behead herself under Frieren's order.
11	11	"Winter in the Northern Lands" Transliteration: "Kitagawa Shokoku no Fuyu" (Japanese: 北側諸国の冬)	Kento Matsui & Kunio Fujii	Keiichirō Saitō	Shinichi Yoshikawa	November 17, 2023 (2023-11-17)	3.9%
After paying proper respects to Aura's victims and enjoying Granat's hospitality, Frieren and her party continues on their journey, but plans to drop by at Äußerst, a large magical city in the northern lands, to get a first-class mage certification that will enable them to travel through the Northern Plateau. However, on the way, they get lost in a blizzard at the foot of the Schwer mountains and Stark begins to suffer hypothermia. Fortunately, they find an emergency cabin and meet an elven monk named Kraft. Frieren and her party stay with Kraft inside the cabin for six months to ride out the winter. Kraft then confides in Frieren that he decided to worship the Goddess because with all of his old friends dead and his accomplishments long forgotten, only she can remember his deeds and praise him when he finally goes to heaven. He then asks about Frieren's past, offering to praise her in the place of the Goddess. This triggers a flashback where Heiter once said the exact same words to Frieren and she declines Kraft's offer, stating somebody has already praised her. Kraft advises that Frieren cherish her friends and companions before parting ways with her and her party.
12	12	"A Real Hero" Transliteration: "Honmono no Yūsha" (Japanese: 本物の勇者)	Yoshiki Kawasaki	Yoshiki Kawasaki	Daiki Harashina, Takasemaru, Keita Nagasaka & Reiko Nagasawa	November 24, 2023 (2023-11-24)	4.0%
On their way to Äußerst, Frieren and her party stop by the Village of the Sword, the resting place of the legendary Hero's Sword, so that Frieren can fulfill her obligation to regularly clear out the monsters attracted by the Sword. Stark sees the Hero's Sword still embedded in a stone, and is confused because he was told stories that Himmel successfully pulled the Sword from the stone. Frieren remarks that Himmel failed at pulling the sword but stories claimed otherwise after the fact. She then recalls how Himmel was not discouraged at all, simply saying that he will prove himself a hero by defeating the Demon Lord without the Sword. The party then heads to the next town, where Fern learns it is Stark's eighteenth birthday so she asks him what gift he would like. Stark reveals that he is not used to getting presents because his warrior family never celebrated them, believing he was a failure to for being a coward, especially when he ran away when a monster attacked their village. Fern reassures him that she and Frieren will make sure he will not run away, and helps him buy a silver bracelet. Upon returning to the inn, Frieren has prepared hamburg steaks, which Eisen had always traditionally done on birthdays. Frieren reveals to Stark that, among Warrior cultures, a hamburg steak is given to those acknowledged as trying their hardest. This triggers a memory of his older brother Stoltz secretly cooking him hamburg steak on his birthday, as well as being the person telling Stark to flee the village so that he can live. Stark then feels some closure realizing that his brother truly loved him.
13	13	"Aversion to One's Own Kind" Transliteration: "Dōzoku Ken'o" (Japanese: 同族嫌悪)	Takahiro Natori	Yoshiaki Kawajiri	Yi Jun Lin & Shizuku Ishii	December 1, 2023 (2023-12-01)	3.7%
Frieren rescues Sein, a local priest, from a swamp, and Sein returns the favor by curing Stark after he is bit by a venomous snake. Sein's brother reveals that Sein has a natural talent for healing spells, and asks Frieren to push Sein into becoming an adventurer, a dream that he had held as a child but eventually lost his passion for, culminating in him turning down an invitation from his best friend ten years ago. Frieren gains an interest in Sein because his apathy reminds her of the apathy she felt before Himmel recruited her. Wanting to save Sein from his own apathy, Frieren takes it upon herself to convince Sein to become an adventurer. Sein finally admits that the reason he did not leave the village was because he knew his brother turned down an opportunity to move to the Holy City so as not to separate Sein from his hometown. However, Sein's brother slaps him and points out that he never regretted his decisions but Sein clearly does. This finally convinces Sein to join Frieren's party until he can find the whereabouts of his friend.
14	14	"Privilege of the Young" Transliteration: "Wakamono no Tokken" (Japanese: 若者の特権)	Shinya Iino	Shinya Iino	Hirotoshi Arai & Rikka	December 8, 2023 (2023-12-08)	3.7%
After reaching the next town, Fern and Stark have a falling out after Stark fails to get a birthday present for Fern. Sein advises Fern that a young man like Stark cannot be expected to remember everything and she should treat him less harshly and be more honest with her feelings. Fern tries to apologize to Stark, but he apologizes first, admitting that wanted to pick Fern's present together with her but was too nervous to do so. As Stark buys a new bracelet for Fern, Frieren praises Sein for being a "proper adult" like Heiter. One the way to the next village, Frieren notes the bracelet Stark bought for Fern has a similar design to a ring Himmel once bought her. A flying monster suddenly attacks their wagon, and while Frieren manages to kill it, the ring is lost in the confusion. As the party focus on repairing the wagon, Sein notes that the design on the bracelet and ring is the mirrored lotus, which in the language of flowers symbolizes "eternal love". Stark is embarrassed at buying something with such intimate connotations, but Fern does not mind. Frieren searches for her ring and the merchant they are helping gives her a spell that can locate lost accessories. After Frieren recovers her ring, she recalls the time Himmel bought it for her. She picked out the ring initially, but in hindsight Himmel knew about its hidden meaning and he gracefully placed it on her finger as if proposing to her.
15	15	"Smells Like Trouble" Transliteration: "Yakkaigoto no Nioi" (Japanese: 厄介事の匂い)	Morio Asaka, Kazumasa Isogawa & Izumi Seguchi	Izumi Seguchi	Izumi Seguchi & Keita Nagasaka	December 15, 2023 (2023-12-15)	4.0%
Frieren and her party arrive at a village and discover a monster has cursed its residents to sleep. Fern, Stark, and even Frieren succumb to the curse, with only Sein, being a priest, having resistance to curses. Sein manages to wake Frieren up long enough for her to kill the monster, even if he worried that a miscommunication may make things worse. Later, Frieren and her party reach the city of Vorig, the relay point to Äußerst. Just then, a noble named Orden sees Stark and asks him if he could pose as his slain son Wirt during an upcoming soiree to keep the morale among the people high, as they are told Wirt is alive from a recent battle and is recovering. Frieren initially refuses, but because they are running out of money, she relents when Orden offers to pay them in gold as well as a grimoire. Stark, and eventually Fern, has to learn proper etiquette before the coming soiree. They are both able to successfully play their roles at the soiree and it concludes without issue. Orden then offers Stark to stay at Vorig, but Stark declines, pointing out he cannot be a replacement for Wirt and Orden cannot be a replacement for his father. He also wishes to eventually return to Eisen to tell him about his adventure. As Frieren selects the grimoire she wants, Stark, Fern, and Sein watch Orden training his second son Mut.
16	16	"Long-Lived Friends" Transliteration: "Chōju Tomodachi" (Japanese: 長寿友達)	Kōta Mori	Kōta Mori	Hidehiko Sawada, Daiki Tanaka, Keisuke Hiroe & Hirotoshi Arai	December 22, 2023 (2023-12-22)	4.6%
Frieren decides to stop by a village to visit one of her old friends, an elderly dwarf named Old Man Voll who swore to protect the village in memory of his deceased human wife. Old Man Voll is delighted at Frieren's visit, and spends the next week catching up with her and training Stark. However, Frieren can tell that Old Man Voll is getting increasingly senile in his old age, and promises to carry on his memory in the future like she carries on the memory of Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen. Frieren and her party continue on towards Äußerst until Sein stops at the final crossroads before the city, asking the local village if they had seen his friend, nicknamed Gorilla Warrior. The only person who remembers where Gorilla Warrior went is a stubborn old woman who has the party complete several errands for her, with the final one being cleaning the statues of a pair of forgotten heroes. Frieren recognizes one of the statues as Kraft, while Sein remembers that an identical pair of statues were what inspired him and Gorilla Warrior to become adventurers in the first place. Sein then learns that Gorilla Warrior traveled in a different direction from Äußerst, putting him in a dilemma on whether to follow his trail or continue traveling with Frieren's party.
17	17	"Take Care" Transliteration: "Jā Genki de" (Japanese: じゃあ元気で)	Taku Kimura & Haruka Yutoku	Yoshiaki Kawajiri	Karen Nozawa & Mayuko Kato	January 5, 2024 (2024-01-05)	4.8%
As Sein takes his time to decide, the party stays at the village but their departure is halted when a snowstorm falls, keeping them in the village for an entire month. During this time, Fern gets angry at Stark and Sein discovers that it was because Stark accidentally grabbed her shoulder with too much strength, startling her. Sein convinces the two to make up and after the storm subsides, he leaves the party to look for Gorilla Warrior while Frieren and the rest set for Äußerst. On the way there, Fern gets sick and they stop in a small village to treat her. In the occasion, Frieren reveals to Stark that she usually grabs Fern's hand when she is sick to give some emotional support and reminisces when Himmel did the same for her when she was traveling with him. After Fern gets better, the party finally arrives at Äußerst in time for Frieren and Fern to take the First-Class Mage Exam.
18	18	"First-Class Mage Exam" Transliteration: "Ikkyū Mahōtsukai Senbatsu Shiken" (Japanese: 一級魔法使い選抜試験)	Ken Andō	Tomoya Kitagawa	Shizuku Ishii, Shinya Kudo & Yi Jun Lin	January 12, 2024 (2024-01-12)	4.5%
On the road to Äußerst Fern and Frieren discuss the rarity of first class mages and the difficulty of obtaining the certification to become one. Fern feels uncertain that she could pass the exam, but Frieren lets her know that mana capacity is not everything and that she herself has lost eleven times to people with a lower mana capacity than herself. Elsewhere a mage named Übel is approached by three bandits, she taunts them hoping to fight but Kraft intervenes and fights them off. Kraft tells Übel that he was protecting the bandits from her, as he is aware she murdered a number of bandits, Übel introduces herself to him and they part ways. Fern and Frieren arrive at the association and manage to sign up for the first class exam. After preparing for two months, they take the exam. Frieren is teamed with Lawine and Kanne, who are childhood friends and rivals while Fern ends up being teamed with Übel. The first test of the exam is to capture a Stille, but this proves to be no easy task as the bird moves faster than sound. Frieren is unsure of how to catch it due to Lawine and Kanne constantly bickering, but she notices they have almost flawless teamwork despite that. After Frieren saves her from a monster, Kanne confides that even though she does not like Lawine, she stays with her because Lawine can push her to improve herself. Kanne then mentions something she noticed about the Stille's behavior, which helps Frieren come up with a plan to capture one.
19	19	"Well-Laid Plans" Transliteration: "Nyūnen na Keikaku" (Japanese: 入念な計画)	Fumie Muroi	Fumie Muroi	Takeo Shudou, Satoshi Shimada & Yūki Kitajima	January 19, 2024 (2024-01-19)	4.2%
Fern and her party consisting of Übel and Land manage to catch a Stille and decide to lay back due to the threat from other mages who may want to steal their bird. After discussing with Kanne and Lawine, Frieren hatches a plan. They decide to freeze the lake within the testing grounds while infusing smaller pools of water with mana. Because the Stille are very sensitive to mana, leaving a single pool uncontaminated ensures that the Stille will flock to it by default when they are thirsty. Elsewhere, Denken's party observes the water freezing done by Lawine. Denken determines that Frieren's party must have a plan up their sleeves and decides they should pursue them to steal their Stille. Another party consisting of Ehre, Wirbel, and Schraf ambush Fern's party as they attempt to look for water and the two parties end up fighting over the captured Stille. During this fight, Frieren suppresses her mana near an uncontaminated pool of water and manages to capture an unsuspecting Stille. Denken's party detects her casting magic and they ambush Frieren's party to try and take their Stille.
20	20	"Necessary Killing" Transliteration: "Hitsuyō na Koroshi" (Japanese: 必要な殺し)	Yoshiki Kawasaki	Yoshiki Kawasaki	Kunihiko Hamada & Keita Nagasaka	January 26, 2024 (2024-01-26)	4.2%
The battle between Fern's team and Wirbel's team continues. Fern defeats Ehre by overwhelming her with rapid-fire ordinary attack magic, Ehre remarks that Fern's magic is entirely devoid of character. Übel is restrained and defeated by Wirbel. However, Wirbel's hesitation in killing her immediately allows Fern to arrive in time to save Übel. Land easily defeats Scharf using illusion magic. Wirbel collects his defeated team members and shares his motivation for fighting demons. He reveals his history, explaining that he fights demons to impress a girl he loved back in his hometown. Their team manages to remain relevant in the exam as Wirbel comes across a Stille by luck and captures it with his binding magic. Laufen steals Frieren's team's Stille with a super-fast movement spell. Meanwhile, the remainder of Denken's team approaches Frieren's team as Laufen runs away. Denken reveals that he knows Frieren is the same legendary mage from the hero's party, Richter splits up Frieren's team and states he will either kill Lawine or Kanne so that Frieren's team cannot advance in the exams. Denken tells Richter to hold back unless absolutely necessary as the First Class mages title is not something worth killing over, however Richter disagrees and talks about the privilege the title grants. Specifically, Serie, the leader of the Continental Mages Association, has promised that anyone who achieves the First Class title will be granted any one spell they request from her if she is capable of providing it. After they finish exchanging words, the two parties begin their battle.
21	21	"The World of Magic" Transliteration: "Mahō no Sekai" (Japanese: 魔法の世界)	Kōta Mori	Kōta Mori & Keiichirō Saitō	Shinichi Yoshikawa	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)	3.6%
A thousand years ago, Flamme introduces Frieren to Serie, who was her master. Serie offers any single spell to Frieren, but Frieren declines, stating that the best part of magic is the pursuit. Serie criticizes Frieren's apparent lack of ambition but Flamme states firmly that Frieren will be the one to defeat the Demon King. This is because Frieren can envision a peaceful era, unlike herself or Serie. In the present time, Frieren and Denken's parties engage in battle. Lawine and Kanne do their best to win, but the difference in mana compared to Richter is too great and he manages to restrain them, he says he will spare them as long as Denken wins his fight. Denken uses high level spells to overwhelm Frieren, but she reacts swiftly and manages to defeat him with a close range magic blast. Frieren baits Laufen into the open by threatening to kill Denken. When Laufen attacks, Frieren intercepts her and recovers the Stille. After restraining the two, Denken reveals that he wants to become a first class mage so that he can return to his hometown which is located deep within the Northern Plateau. Aware that Richter will likely kill Kanne and Lawine due to Denken's loss, Frieren chooses to destroy Serie's barrier, shocking the examiners. With the barrier destroyed, rainfall reaches the exam area and Kanne uses her water magic to defeat Richter. Fern's team takes shelter in a cave, with Land warning them that they will be rivals in the second exam. As Frieren's team leaves, Denken's team escapes their bindings and finds a weakened party to attack and steal a Stille from. The first exam concludes and six successful teams are shown. The examiners congratulate them and announce a break before the next exam, which will take place in three days. Meanwhile, Stark waits at a Tavern for Frieren and Fern's return.
22	22	"Future Enemies" Transliteration: "Tsugi kara wa Katakidōshi" (Japanese: 次からは敵同士)	Takahiro Natori	Takahiro Natori	See note for the ADs[b]	February 9, 2024 (2024-02-09)	3.7%
Frieren and Fern return to their lodging, Fern berates Stark for drinking and staying up late at night. Frieren suggests improving Fern's mood by taking her out to dinner at a restaurant she visited 80 years ago. Richter meets Denken and Laufen at his storefront who ask him for directions to a restaurant Denken once visited as well. Land is approached by Übel, who explains that she can copy magic if she can empathize with the person who cast it. Übel demonstrates this by binding Land with Wirbel's spell, and tries to interrogate him in order to steal his cloning magic but he convinces her that it's pointless. Denken's group finds the restaurant they were looking for and runs into Frieren's party as well as Land and Übel, but they choose to focus on their own meal. In a flashback, Himmel and his party are shown eating at the establishment, the chef proclaims that his restaurant will always be exceptional and use the same flavors. In the present, Frieren remarks the food has not stayed the same but instead tastes much better than in the past. The next morning Stark has to mediate an argument between Frieren and Fern, and they head out to get snacks. Lawine and Kanne spend the day together in town and run into Stark and the others at a bakery. While they are walking together as a larger group, Wirbel approaches Stark and recruits him for a monster hunting request from the magic association. At the inn, Lawine and Kanne hand baked goods to Frieren to thank her for helping them pass the first test. Frieren recalls Himmel telling her that he became a hero because changing a person's life in even a small way will cause them to remember him long after he is gone. While Frieren and others talk, they receive the notification for the second test. Lawine and Kanne are discouraged after seeing that Sense is proctoring the test, since nobody has ever been able to pass her tests.
23	23	"Conquering the Labyrinth" Transliteration: "Danjon Kōryaku" (Japanese: 迷宮攻略)	Kazumasa Isogawa	Yūsuke Kubo	Ayaka Tsuji	February 16, 2024 (2024-02-16)	3.7%
Sense congratulates the 18 individuals who passed the first test and proceeds to outline the parameters of the second test. To pass the test, the examinees must reach the bottom of the 'Ruins of the King's Tomb' dungeon. Sense, a pacifist who despises fighting, declares that everyone reaching the bottom will pass. She also distributes bottles that if shattered, will summon a golem that will help the mage escape the dungeon, but using it will automatically fail the mage who uses it, making it a last resort. In addition, the bottles will automatically shatter at dawn of the next day, making that the time limit for the exam. An examinee notes that no adventuring party has ever successfully cleared this dungeon, but Sense retorts that a first-class mage should be up to the task. Denken suggests that all of the examinees work together to clear the dungeon, but they all remain mistrustful of each other and split off into separate groups. Sense decides to follow Frieren and Fern, and despite Frieren falling for mimics several times, they are able to progress deep into the dungeon. Frieren mentions she picked up a knack for exploring dungeons due to Himmel's love of exploring them. Sense asks what Fern's motivation to be a mage is since she cannot sense any ambition and determination in her, and Fern replies that she enjoys seeing Frieren happy. Meanwhile, both Wirbel and Denken's groups encounter replicas of themselves that can perfectly copy their magic and fighting styles. Denken's group manages to defeat a replica of Laufen, only to encounter a replica of Frieren afterwards.
24	24	"Perfect Replicas" Transliteration: "Kanpeki na Fukuseitai" (Japanese: 完璧な複製体)	Hayato Kakinokida	Daiki Harashina	Daiki Harashina	February 23, 2024 (2024-02-23)	3.7%
It is revealed the dungeon contains a creature known as a Spiegel that can read the memories of those who enter the dungeon and use that information to craft perfect replicas of the raiders. Denken's party attempt to confront the Frieren replica but are forced to withdraw. Übel and Land are cornered by an Übel replica. They successfully work together to destroy it, with Übel correctly guessing that Land would intervene to prevent her from dying for his sake. While exploring, Frieren uncovers a hidden section of the dungeon containing a long lost mural. She, Fern, and Sense then make their way to the bottom of the dungeon where Denken's party is waiting. They warn Frieren about her replica and discuss methods they may use to defeat her. However, they realize Frieren is immune to restraint and hypnosis magic so they will have to find another weakness to exploit. Edel's party runs into a replica of Sense. Edel tries to mind control it, but the replica does not have a mind and cannot be controlled. Edel is injured and is forced to break her bottle and escape. She orders her party members to retreat and warn the other mages about what they learned. In a separate fight, Wirbel's party manages to defeat their replicas by choosing favorable match ups for each member. With no other ideas, Denken and Frieren conclude that brute force is their only option. Fern suggests that, with their assistance, she can kill the Frieren replica.
25	25	"A Fatal Vulnerability" Transliteration: "Chimeiteki na Suki" (Japanese: 致命的な隙)	Tomoya Kitagawa	Tomoya Kitagawa	Yūsuke Yaegashi, Hiroyuki Kobashi, Keita Nagasaka & Shinichi Yoshikawa	March 1, 2024 (2024-03-01)	4.4%
Dünste informs Denken's and Frieren's parties that Edel has retreated from the dungeon and that mind control is not an option against the replicas. Lawine and Kanne arrive at the scene and tell the parties that the monster they are facing is a Spiegel and that the replicas it creates have no unique weaknesses. Everyone present concludes that Frieren's replica must be defeated before they can destroy the Spiegel. Before heading into battle, Fern discloses Frieren's fatal weakness: she cannot detect mana when she casts a spell, a vulnerability typically found in beginner mages. After the discussion, Fern and Frieren are chosen to confront Frieren's replica. Everyone else remains in place to protect them from potential attacks by other replicas. Frieren and her replica are evenly matched, and Fern waits for an opening to hit the replica with Zoltraak. In a flashback, Frieren hands Serie a will from Flamme. The will reveals that Flamme convinced the human emperor to allow humans to adopt magic. Serie remarks that this is the start of the era of humans, and eventually human mages will be able to surpass even Elves like herself and Frieren. In the present, Fern strikes Frieren's replica directly with a full-power Zoltraak.
26	26	"The Height of Magic" Transliteration: "Mahō no Takami" (Japanese: 魔法の高み)	Hirotaka Mori	Keiichirō Saitō, Daiki Harashina & Tōru Iwazawa	Keisuke Hiroe, Izumi Seguchi, Hirotoshi Arai & Yūsuke Yaegashi	March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08)	4.1%
Fern's Zoltraak fails to kill the replica of Frieren. Frieren acknowledges that she anticipated her replica surviving the attack, noting that it was always destined to be a battle of attrition. At the entrance to the final part of the dungeon, Denken and Methode determine the locations of the remaining replicas and strategize on how best to combat them. The mages face off against their best match-ups and successfully eliminate a large number of replicas. Following Lawine and Richter's success in defeating replicas of Kanne and Lawine, they are ambushed by Sense's replica, which impales Richter and Lawine. Forced to break their bottles, Lawine and Richter are eliminated from the test. Denken, Land, and Übel arrive to the scene and decide on their next course of action. Übel claims she can beat Sense as she can visualize her cutting magic easily slicing apart Sense's hair magic. In a flashback, Übel managed to cut a first class mage in half despite their incredibly high defense enchanted clothing. Sense explains that Übel can perceive clothing and hair as something she can easily cut, therefore she should win the fight against her replica. In the present, Übel kills Sense's replica. Methode talks to Wirbel's party and gets their buy in on the plan to delay the other replicas while Frieren's replica is being fought against. After Denken's team runs into resurrected replicas, they realize that until the Spiegel is defeated the replicas will keep coming back to life. Frieren creates an opening, and Fern manages to inflict a lethal injury on the replica. However, when Fern attempts to finish off the replica, it counters with a telekinetic ability, nearly killing her. Impressed by the spell, Fern remarks that this attack is truly the height of magic. Frieren finishes off her replica, and they proceed to destroy the Spiegel. The remaining examinees reach the bottom of the dungeon, and Sense congratulates them for passing the second test. Meanwhile, the failed examinees wait at the entrance as their golems heal them.
27	27	"An Era of Humans" Transliteration: "Ningen no Jidai" (Japanese: 人間の時代)	Ka Hee Im	Nobuhide Kariya	Nobuhide Kariya, Kanako Yoshida & Yuri Fujinaka	March 15, 2024 (2024-03-15)	4.2%
Fern is upset with Frieren, feeling that Frieren doesn't comprehend her emotions. Fern confides in Stark that Frieren requested her to replace her staff, which had broken during the second exam. The staff, a gift from Heiter, held great sentimental value for Fern. Kanne comforts Lawine, who laments having to wait another three years before she can attempt the first-class exam again while Denken gives words of encouragement to Richter. Frieren arrives to the shop after Denken leaves and convinces Richter to repair Fern's staff. After Fern and Stark return to the inn, Fern discovers her repaired staff and recalls Heiter telling her about Frieren's deep care for others. The third exam commences, and all participants await instructions. Serie says that she will personally proctor the final exam since Frieren's involvement caused more examinees to pass than intended. Serie decides she will conduct one on one interviews to determine who deserves the license. Frieren tells Fern that Serie will judge each candidate based on her own intuition and that her intuition is always correct. Examinees enter one at a time and Serie evaluates them at a glance. She immediately fails Kanne for being weak willed, and later Laufen, Dünste, Ehre and Scharf for similar reasons. After Frieren enters, Serie also fails her, because Frieren is not interested in combat magic. Serie questions Frieren on how someone like her managed to defeat the demon king. Frieren responds that she had exceptional allies and couldn't have achieved it alone. She also points out that interestingly Flamme's flower spell which Serie hates was what inspired a young Himmel to become a hero and recruit Frieren into his party. Fern then enters and notices that Serie's mana is fluctuating similar to Frieren's mana. Serie sees enormous potential in Fern and asks her to be her student, but Fern rejects the proposal. Unwilling to turn away such a promising mage, Serie relents and passes Fern.
28	28	"It Would Be Embarrassing When We Met Again" Transliteration: "Mata Atta Toki ni Hazukashīkara ne" (Japanese: また会ったときに恥ずかしいからね)	Keiichirō Saitō	Keiichirō Saitō	Takasemaru, Daiki Harashina & Shinichi Yoshikawa	March 22, 2024 (2024-03-22)	4.9%
Serie's interview of the remaining examinees proceeds smoothly. She passes Denken, Methode, Wirbel, Land, and Übel, either by demonstrating sufficient resolve to qualify as a first-class mage or by embodying the traits of a militaristic mage, aligning with Serie's personal philosophy on magic. The Examinees take their leave, some elated about passing while others despondent over the three year wait to take the exam again. Fern and Stark meet Denken and Laufen at a bakery, where they sit down and enjoy sweets together. Denken opens up to everyone about his late wife. Frieren and Wirbel have a conversation, during which Wirbel explains his belief in aiding strangers on a whim, influenced by the Hero Himmel's example. Wirbel says that Himmel led by example and helped out many villages with minor and mundane tasks. In a flashback, Eisen asks Himmel what the purpose of helping people with minor and trivial tasks was. Himmel responds that while these tasks won't save the world, he simply cannot ignore anyone in need right in front of him. Later on during the evening, Fern and the other successful examinees head to Serie to obtain their first class privileges. The receptionist at the association building explains that Serie banned Frieren from any mage association building for the next thousand years. While Stark and Frieren wait outside, Lernen approaches them and requests to duel Frieren so that he has the chance of being remembered in history as her killer. Frieren refuses and tells Lernen that Serie remembers all her students, their personalities and their favorite spells. Serie does this regardless of whether or not her students have made a mark on history, which Lernen takes to heart. The next morning, Frieren's party departs Äußerst, bidding farewell to the city residents. Frieren asks Fern what spell she asked for, and she reveals that she asked for a spell to clean clothes, which annoyed Serie greatly. On the bridge out of the city, Lawine and Kanne thank Frieren for helping them and both parties bid farewell to each other. Fern remarks that it was a pretty fast goodbye. In a Flashback Himmel explains that he doesn't do tearful goodbyes because he believes he will cross paths again with people and it would be embarrassing when they finally meet again. Frieren and her party then continue their journey to Ende.

Home media release

Japanese

Toho Animation (Japan – Region 2/A)

Vol.		Episodes	Cover character(s)	Release date	Ref.
	1	1–4	Frieren	January 24, 2024	[29]
	2	5–8	Fern	February 21, 2024	[30]
	3	9–12	Stark	March 20, 2024	[31]
	4	13–16	Sein	April 17, 2024	[32]
	5	17–20	Flamme and Frieren	May 22, 2024	[33]
	6	21–24	Frieren, Himmel, Heiter and Eisen	June 19, 2024	[34]
	7	25–28	Frieren, Fern and Stark	July 17, 2024	[35]

English

Crunchyroll, LLC (North America – Region 1/A)

Part		Discs	Episodes	Release date	Ref.
	1	2 (BD); 3 (DVD)	1–16	December 17, 2024	[16]
	2	4	17–28	September 23, 2025	[18]

Notes

1. The episode rating counts as part of a 2-hour special premiere for the first four episodes
2. Yi Jun Lin, Ayano Suzuki, Shizuku Ishii, Yasunori Yamaguchi, Shinya Kudo, Eun-Young Lee, Dong Kim & Hirotoshi Arai