The epic adventure fantasy Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has been voted as Anime of the Year at the 11th Anime Trending Awards. The series garnered 10,280 total votes to secure the top spot, narrowly edging out its closest competitor, The Dangers in My Heart Season 2, which had 10,098 votes.
In its first week on the Fall 2023 charts, Frieren placed second in Week 1 behind the second season of SPY x FAMILY. It then remained in the top spot between Weeks 2-6, before dropping to second once again in Week 7. The series dropped down to third in Weeks 8-10 and placed second in the last week of the charts.
Despite never fully dominating the top spot in the charts, the anime consistently stayed in the top three positions in a contested season that also featured The Apothecary Diaries and SPY x FAMILY Season 2. Frieren eventually won the Fall 2023 Anime of the Season, securing its nomination for Anime of the Year at this year’s Anime Trending Awards.
The anime also won in the following categories:
- • Best in Adapted Screenplay
- • Best in Sceneries and Visuals
- • Action or Adventure Anime of the Year
- • Fantasy Anime of the Year
Himmel also won this year’s Supporting Boy of the Year in a landslide victory, where he amassed 13,095 total votes.
Here are the top 10 nominees for Anime of the Year.
|
Anime of the Year Nominee |
Votes |
|
10280 |
|
10098 |
|
9749 |
|
7163 |
|
6630 |
|
5333 |
|
5246 |
|
4412 |
|
4282 |
|
4208 |
The full results of the 11th Anime Trending Awards can be found here.
The second season of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is set to premiere in Japan in January 2026. The first season ran for 28 episodes and aired in Japan from September 29, 2023, to March 22, 2024. Muse Asia and bilibili streamed the series in select Asian regions, while Crunchyroll streamed it in select English-speaking territories.
The production staff for the first season consisted of Keiichiro Saito (Bocchi the Rock!) as director, Tomohiro Suzuki (One-Punch Man) as series screenwriter, Reiko Nagasawa (takt op.Destiny) as character designer, and Evan Call (My Happy Marriage, Violet Evergarden) as music composer. Madhouse handled the animation production.
Other staff included Daiki Harashina (takt op.Destiny D2 designer) as magical creature designer, Toru Iwazawa (takt op.Destiny) as action director, Sawako Takagi (Bleach) as art director, Harue Ohno (A Place Further Than the Universe) as color designer, Akane Fushihara (SPY X FAMILY) as compositing director, Seiko Yoshioka (Seraph of the End art director) as concept artist, and Yuichiro Fukushi (One-Punch Man, Sonny Boy, takt op.Destiny) and Takashi Nakame (Your Name production desk) as animation producers.
Meanwhile, the anime’s main voice cast starred:
- • Atsumi Tanezaki as Frieren
- • Kana Ichinose as Fern
- • Chiaki Kobayashi as Stark
- • Nobuhiko Okamoto as Himmel
- • Hiroki Tochi as Heiter
- • Yoji Ueda as Eisen
The anime is based on the original fantasy manga series, written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. It was first launched in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday on April 28, 2020 and has released 13 tankobon volumes as of April 2024. The 14th volume will be released on March 18, 2025. VIZ Media licensed the manga for release in English.
Crunchyroll describes the synopsis of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End as:
The mage Frieren defeated the Demon King alongside the hero Himmel’s party after a 10-year quest. Peace was restored to the kingdom. Because she is an elf, she is able to live over a thousand years. She promises Himmel and the others that she will be back to see them and then sets out on a journey by herself. Fifty years later, Frieren goes to visit Himmel and the others. She remained unchanged, but Himmel and the others have aged and only a little of their lives remain. Later, she witnesses Himmel’s death. Frieren is pained by her desire to have spent more time getting to know people. With that regret in her heart, she then goes on a journey to do just that. On her journey, she meets many people and many events await her.
