The Inspiration Behind the New Arc
A panel event for the TV anime "Funeral Freeren" was held on July 4, 2026 at "Anime Expo 2026," one of the largest Japanese anime and pop culture events in North America. The second season was aired from January to March of this year, and while memories are still fresh, the venue was filled with Free Ren fans as the main creator was on stage. When director Tomoya Kitagawa, co-director Keiichiro Saito, character designer Keisuke Kojima, and producer Yuichiro Fukushi of Madhouse took the stage, they were met with loud applause and cheers.
This is Director Kitagawa's first appearance at Anime Expo, and he expresses his gratitude for the positive feedback from overseas, saying, ``I had been watching a lot of reactions from people overseas on SNS, but when I came to Anime Expo, I felt everyone's enthusiasm firsthand, and I realized that Freeren is loved by overseas fans.'' Then, a warm applause erupted from the venue.
Behind the Scenes of the Second Season
Immediately, the story behind the production of the second season began, and Kojima, the character designer, took the microphone. Regarding the 36th episode of the ``Godly Skills Revolte Arc'', in which he served as the chief animation director and the intense battle action unfolded, he said, ``As the chief animation director, I was in charge of episodes 34 to 36.There were a lot of pictures for the main characters of Revolte Arc, Methode and Genau, and Revolte, but I worked hard to make them even better within the schedule.'' When the original drawing of the battle scene between Revolte and Genau, which reflected the drawing corrections, was displayed on the monitor, a voice of admiration rose from the audience.
Director Kitagawa then talks about the opening video, which he storyboarded himself, and explains the production's intention: ``The movie centers on Frieren's life so far and his future journey.I created it with the aim of connecting Frieren's encounters and farewells with Himmel and the others and Flamme to the journey with his current companions Fern and Stark, using flowers as a motif.''
While showing the opening storyboard and color script, ``After the storyboard was completed, I asked Seiko Yoshioka, a concept artist, to create a color script that would represent the overall color tone and emotional screen, and I designed a texture that was slightly different from the main story, retaining the light colors and brush strokes.From the chorus... There are a lot of colorful flowers, and Takasemaru, the animation director, has drawn them in such detail that it becomes a gorgeous video.It was a difficult opening with a lot of snowflakes, but Daiki Harashina, the assistant director, drew more than 1,000 original pictures, and it was completed.''
What's Next for Funeral Freeren
When the topic moved on to the third season, "Golden Land Edition," which will begin broadcasting in October 2027, producer Fukushi announced the main staff. The complete lineup continues with director Kitagawa, assistant director Taiki Harashina, director cooperation Saito, series compositionist Tomohiro Suzuki, character designers Kojima and Takasemaru, concept art artist Seiko Yoshioka, and music composer Evan Call.
Producer Fukushi expressed his enthusiasm for the third season, saying, ``We are currently working hard on it, and we will do our best to deliver a third season that is even more powerful than the second season!We are determined to make something better every time, and we have a great team of staff members, so we are feeling the response.The journey of Freelen will continue, so please look forward to it!''
