Crunchyroll has become the biggest platform for anime fans today to stream their favorite series or rewatch cult classics from generations past. 2026 has been a big year for the platform, with many new and exciting anime series, and a multitude of others on the way. Crunchyroll is always updating its list of the most popular anime that reign supreme on the platform based on how much love they get from fans, and the current fan-favorite has been revealed to be none other than that. Frieren: Beyond the end of the journey.
Freeren Season 2 ended its run a few months ago, but despite that, fans are still watching this exciting, magical fantasy story. Based on the latest Crunchyroll rankings, Freeren is still on top despite the new series coming to the platform. With more content confirmed to be on the way, Frieren will continue to stand out from the rest, and with this stellar performance this year, we believe it could even be Crunchyroll's Anime of the Year in 2027. As 2027 releases, this excitement will continue to grow. Frieren: Beyond the end of the journey Season 3.
Crunchyroll officially confirms Frieren Season 2 as the most popular anime of 2026.
Crunchyroll is a giant American entertainment company founded on May 9, 1994. The platform focuses exclusively on streaming anime series, and it has obviously become extremely popular over time. The streaming platform has become a giant today, and is home to thousands of anime series, ranging from one-piece shonen to more niche anime. With many series hosted there, the platform reveals which anime is trending or popular at the moment. Today, we can clearly see the dominance of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 on the platform, and this dominance is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Frieren: Beyond the end of the journeyMost anime series, started as manga. The story is written by Tsukasa Abe and Kanehito Yamada and began serialization on April 28, 2020 in Weekly Shonen Sunday issues #22-23. The manga story is still going on despite the hiatus, and its anime adaptation by Madhouse made the move with the first season on IP TV on September 29, 2023. Its second season began airing on January 16, 2026, and ended on March 27, 2026, and despite having fewer episodes, it was a huge hit.
Even though Frieren Season 2 aired 3 months ago, the popularity of the series hasn't wavered on Crunchyroll, and it remains at the top spot. Freeren has left no room for growing new series, big releases that are being aired weekly. It shows the love fans have for this sad, magical story.
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Frieren Season 2 reignited the excitement for viewers, and it could be the anime of the year in 2027
Freire season 1 put the series on the map, but season 2 was also a hit, and it rekindled many fans' enthusiasm for this sad story after a two-year absence. Frieren Season 1 is still the highest rated anime on MAL, and was the second highest rated series of all time, until the second season was attacked with bots to lower the rating, showing how much the story of the world is loved.
Frieren Season 2 has proven to be so popular that we're pretty sure it has a great shot at becoming Anime of the Year for the Crunchyroll platform in 2027. Since it aired in 2026, it is eligible for the Anime of the Year award at the Crunchyroll Awards 2027. This year, Frieren, a great story, an amazed and directed show anime. Most importantly, set up a dedicated fanbase ready to vote for it if it gets nominated. After failing to secure the title in 2025 due to a big solo leveling win, Freiren may have a chance to win next year.
Freren Season 3 is officially coming in 2027 to dominate Crunchyroll once again
Both seasons of Frieren were incredible to watch, and studio Madhouse isn't cutting corners with the IP. Which is why, at the end of Season 2, we were all incredibly excited to learn that Freiren Season 3 is already in the works. Madhouse revealed that Freren season 3 is officially coming in October 2027. The exact release date has not been set yet, but more information may be revealed soon at Anime Expo 2026, which is scheduled to be held this month. At least, it's coming out in October, which means we still have over a year to wait for a new release.
We can't wait to see what comes next in this fantastic story, especially as it heads into the Golden Land arc. Frieren has definitely been more than your average fantasy series, and it easily stands as one of the biggest hits of 2020.
All episodes of Frieren season 1 and 2 are available to watch on Crunchyroll.
