The winter anime season is coming to a close, with spring anime right around the corner. With that comes several season finales of fan-favourite Crunchyroll shows like JUJUSTU KAISEN and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which both wrap up their seasons this week. Season 2 of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End sees the group of friends continuing their journey North after defeating the Demon King, battling demons and evil forces while strengthening their bond.
During the season, we were able to sit down with some of the English voice cast: Mallorie Rodak, who plays Frieren; Jill Harris, who voices Fern; and Jordan Dash Cruz, who plays Stark. While talking to the trio, I learned more about what their characters have learned from season 1 to season 2, how their characters are changing, and most importantly, who the cast’s favourite characters are in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2!
Could we start off with you each telling me a bit about your characters in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and what we have seen from them in season 2?
Jordan Dash Cruz: I know for Stark, I’ve loved voicing him season one and when season two, when they announced it, very, very excited. I think we all were. I haven’t really read too much of the manga. I’ve been kind of trying to stay a little bit more surprised with season two. But from what has come out, I know that I was very excited to see just a little bit more of the everyday adventure, a little bit more of Stark and Fern, their banter together and kind of the feelings they’re developing, and just seeing Frieren and understanding a little bit more of human emotion.
I know she’s been smiling a lot more this season. So for me at least, I was very excited to just kind of see the everyday if, that makes sense. The fighting and stuff, obviously. But I just, I loved this whole aspect of them going on this journey and just seeing a lot more of that. This season has been a lot of fun.
Jill Harris: I’m Jill, and I voiced Fern in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. We get to see Fern and Stark interact a little bit more. There’s even a date this season. And I think we really see Fern grow more confident in herself, and more competent in her magic, especially now that she’s a first-class mage. I think just the party really comes together in a teamwork aspect, and you really see the trust grow between these three people. I’m excited for this season, and I’m excited for you guys to see it as well.
Mallorie Rodak: Hi, I’m Mallorie Rodak, and I’m the English voice of Frieren in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. For Frieren and her growth throughout this series, she just continues to grow and learn, and almost becomes more human-like in terms of her understanding of emotions. I mean, just from the first episode of the second season, I was like looking around, like, “Oh my gosh, is that Frieren? She’s smiling. Is she smiling more?”
I feel like there’s more of those moments of her smiling, not just about a little trinket or something like that, but about people and relationships and the characters that she meets along the journey and the scenarios that they get into. So, I loved seeing her smile more, but I also know that as they continue to travel north into the northern lands, there’s more and more danger that they’re going to encounter. So, I’m excited to see how the crew comes together to defeat evil.
You mentioned the crew and that Frieren is smiling more. And is there anything aside from that that all of your characters have learned in season one that we’re going to see come into play in season two of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2?
Jill Harris: I think, for Fern, she has grown more confident in herself and also more confident in her comrades. I think we see a lot more teamwork in season two as opposed to season one. Just the whole team coming together.
Jordan Dash Cruz: I think for Stark, we’ve started to see him grow a little bit more confident as well. In season one, he was dealing with some self-esteem issues. He was dealing with worrying if he was good enough. Everyone else in the party, Frieren, Fern, they saw how strong he was, but he didn’t believe it himself. So I think in season two, I think he still does tend to struggle with that. But we’ve seen him grow a lot more.
He’s kind of found his place in the party of, “Hey, you know, I’m the warrior. It’s my job to protect them.” I think in episode one, Frieren mentions when they’re in that pit with the crystals, “Hey, Stark, we’re essentially, like, we have no power here. These crystals are taking away our power, so you have to protect us.” And I think he takes that very seriously.
He wants to do a good job, and he wants to show that he’s reliable, because I think deep down, he’s always been loyal. It’s just his father and his clan essentially had told him that he was useless, but deep down, he’s like, “Hey, I am a loyal guy, and I want to protect the people who mean very much to me.
Anything on your end, Mallorie?
Mallorie Rodak: I almost would give a different answer. I’ve learned more about Frieren almost through the other characters that we encounter throughout their journey. There is a new elf that we meet in season two, and for me, learning her backstory was fascinating, and it helped me better understand Frieren because she, like Frieren, has been alive for a long time. But the way that she uses this length of time is very different from the way that Frieren uses it.
She almost becomes bored and uses her boredom to make an impact on history. But in a way, that’s almost a misdirect or something that’s a little bit different from the truth, to maybe deceive a bit. And I thought, that is so fascinating to see another elf in this universe and how she processes time very differently than Frieren did. And I think that gives me a lot of context for Frieren’s growth and trajectory.
Great! Now, you can’t say your own. I’m curious about who your favourite character is in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2, whether it’s a main character or a side character.
Mallorie Rodak: Oh, I have a good answer for this. I immediately fell in love with Fass. I don’t know if you guys were going to say that, too, but Fass is a new character that we meet in season two. Immediately when I saw him, he is the tiniest little guy, with the biggest bushy beard. I was like, “Oh, he is so cute. I know I’m gonna love this guy.”
And his personality…he’s voiced by Justin Cook. Amazing voice actor. And so seeing him come together and hearing his story, I’m like, “When are they releasing a plushie of Fass?” Because I would buy that. Sign me up.
Jill Harris: Yes, I’m going to piggyback. Yes. That character as well, and right after I recorded that episode, I got stuck in the elevator with Justin Cook briefly. I was just like, “I just recorded the episode, and you sound really good, and I’m really excited and blah blah blah!” Yes, it was a good character, and Justin Cook does such a good job.
Jordan Dash Cruz: Fass is a really good character. Another character that I really liked, I loved Denken. I thought that Denken was a great character. Very wise, very knowledgeable. Will have no problem giving you hands if he runs out of magic. I thought that Ben Phillips did a phenomenal job voicing the character in the English dub. For me, I have to say Denken, for sure, is one of my top favourite characters.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End sees its season 2 finale on March 27th, 2026, over on Crunchyroll.
