Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End became an instant classic upon release, dominating rankings and capturing the hearts and minds of all those who watch fantasy anime. The series is unique in its careful combination of deep introspection, compelling characters, entertaining action, beautiful art, and fantastic music. As the series continues to air its second season, we got the chance to quickly catch up with the English dub voices of the main trio of characters in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: Mallorie Rodak, English voice of Frieren, Jill Harris, English voice of Fern, and Jordan Dash Cruz, English voice of Stark.
Portions of this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: My first question is to all three of you. Despite having already been a party during Season 1, Frieren, Fern, and Stark do a lot more combat as a group during Season 2. What is it like recording those scenes and do you have any opportunities to play off of each other?
Jordan Dash Cruz: I know for me, I was thrilled that we got a chance to see Stark in action a little bit more this season, especially with fighting all the different monsters that they’ve fought. It’s really cool getting a chance to see them work more as a team and as a unit, and almost having a game plan of how they’re going to attack it. Granted, it’s mainly at Stark’s expense, with him being the decoy. But recording for it has fun. There’ve been times where I’ve gone in to record first, where Malorie and Jill weren’t in the mix yet. And I’m sure there’ve been times where they recorded first and they didn’t have anybody to play off of. But in terms of, of recording, like the fighting and the fighting noises and everything, I just have to give credit to the director, the engineer, and the writer for being able to just see exactly where we need to hit our grunts and our swings, getting hit, different things like that. In terms of just acting, obviously being careful with the throat — you want to make sure that you don’t go too hard where you destroy your throat. I know Stark at least has had a few big swings and a few big yells in the series. So I just always have to prep for those and make sure that I’m doing it safely.
Jill Harris: Because of my schedule, I’m usually either the first one in to record or the very last one, which are both two very different experiences. When you’re the first one in, you get to kind of set the tone which can be nice. But when you’re the last one in, you get to hear everybody, which is really cool.
And for me, it can help me as an actor. But also I can flub a take because I’ll be like, “Okay, Jordan, that was a very good scream. Sorry, let me come in again.” But yeah, it’s been really interesting to flip between first and last. And it has been fun. Fern and Stark are working together a lot more in combat and playing off of you, Jordan, has been very, very cool.
Mallorie Rodak: I’m so glad you mentioned Stark’s screaming because that’s my favorite part of any fight — to hear Jordan inevitably screaming at some point in the fight. The multi-headed lizard that we fought in Season 2 was so cool and really fun because you do see the party coming into their own. I think Stark is building more confidence. Fern is growing more powerful and Frieren is learning to trust the people in her party and work together even better to defeat any foe. So it’s been really fun to see how everyone’s learning and growing and becoming more formidable. Because we know that as the season progresses there are going to be more and more foes and obstacles that they’ll have to fight along the way.
Q: Mallorie, as Frieren, you have the job of portraying her both as she was in the past prior to internalizing a lot of life lessons and as she is in the present, looking back on the past. How do you work to differentiate those two versions of Frieren?
Mallorie Rodak: It’s such a good question, because I feel like she’s such a complex character. It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to portray a character in the present day and then hundreds if not maybe even a thousand years ago. I feel like not many people have the opportunity to see a character and play a character that lives that long and grows throughout the series. So it’s been interesting. I think when she’s younger, there’s almost a bit more of a lack of emotion, a lack of interest in others. Maybe more studious as she’s studying, especially with Flamme. And then as she encounters the parties, both the old party and the new party, she’s growing, she’s learning. And I think that’s really remarkable for a being that’s been alive for a thousand years. I mean, if I’d been alive for a thousand years, I think I would say, “You know what, you guys, I know what I’m talking about. I’m not changing. I’m not doing anything different.” So the fact that Frieren has the capacity to grow and learn from the people around her, I think it’s such a beautiful thing. I love to see her trajectory. And certainly finding the nuances in the performance between younger Frieren and current day Frieren is a fun acting challenge.
Q: Jill, Fern is now a first-class mage, with a lot of growth following and during the exams. What’s your perception of that growth and how does it influence the way you approach voicing her?
Jill Harris: I approach Fern with a little bit more confidence. Interestingly enough, Fern doesn’t really make a whole lot of noise when she fights. She’s pretty silent. But on the rare occasions where she does make noise, there is less of that hesitancy that was there in Season 1. And she feels pretty confident, pretty capable a lot of the time. And she really trusts Frieren and Stark. When Frieren’s like, “I’ve got a plan,” Fern is like, “Okay.”
Q: Jordan, Stark, as you mentioned before, has a lot more time on screen this season. Looking at both the combat and especially the non-combat scenes where he gets to shine a bit, like when he asks Fern on a date, for example, how has voicing him changed as more of those moments happen?
Jordan Dash Cruz: It’s been fun seeing him on the everyday journey and it not just be him fighting or him at the tavern by himself, because they’re in the mage exam and he’s left out of it. (laughs) Which was really funny by the way. It’s been nice to see him be a little bit more human. I mean, he is human, but it’s been nice to see, like I said, that everyday journey. Him developing these feelings for Fern and him caring more about Frieren and Fern just as a party member. It’s been fun kind of jumping into his shoes. I mean, obviously he still can be very screamy and goofy. But it’s cool to see because they’re young. Fern and Stark are both still young and it’s almost like I’m putting myself back in that head space of back when I was that age and how I would act when I was that age. So I’m able to take a little bit of their experiences and then just my own life experience and kind of put it into voicing the character a little bit. But it’s been a lot of fun watching them develop and it’s been a lot of fun watching him grow as a character.
We’d like to thank Mallorie Rodak, Jill Harris, and Jordan Dash Cruz for taking the time to speak with us about Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and thank the folks over at Crunchyroll for setting up the interview. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll. If you’re interested in hearing about the music and production Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, check out our interview with Evan Call & Yuichiro Fukushi.
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