As the wait for Freeze: beyond journey’s end Season 2 draws ever closer, fans have been spoiled with really great material and art from the creators and people behind the anime, making for great fan engagement. Between the collab with the genius Detective Conan, Frieren’s detailed briefcase being made available to the cute Frieren plushie that appears on the social media accounts in random places and with random characters, the fans are being treated right. And now, an official illustration that makes a twist on one of season 1’s most iconic scenes has been unveiled.
The official X (formerly Twitter) account of Sunday Culture Festival 2025 has revealed this year’s theme to be career experience, and an illustration by Tsukasa Abe, the artist of the hit fantasy manga, has been revealed. In it, Frieren is wearing the dark robe of a judge and holding a wooden mallet, and Aura the Guillotine is standing in the defendant’s box and holding up her scale. The two pieces of illustrations look gorgeous, and it is clear that Tsukasa Abe’s artistic juice is flowing back after the manga was recently confirmed to be returning from a hiatus, much to the excitement of fans.
Frieren and Aura Enter The Courtroom in New Art
These illustrations, in the context of the source material, are very fitting. In the Aura the Guillotine Arc, Frieren confronts Aura again after many years, and Aura decides to activate her power, the Scales of Obedience. This measured Frieren’s mana capacity against Aura’s, and Aura was certain of her victory. Little did she know of Frieren’s centuries-old strategy of concealing her full mana potential in order to ambush demons. Aura’s ability turned against her, and as the loser, she had to obey whatever. This led to the infamous scene that has been parodied and recreated many times, where Frieren commands Aura to kill herself as she walks away, and Aura subsequently beheads herself.
The illustrations have Frieren as a judge, and Aura as a defendant, despite having the ability to judge others, calling back to the fact that their roles were reversed and it was Aura who ended up having the scales turned against her. If fans were impressed by this incredible scene that showed Frieren’s ruthlessness towards the demons, season 2 has a big surprise for them as it sees even more incredible Frieren scenes as she, Fern and Starrk journey into the realm where demons run amok and cause havoc. January 2026 is not far off now,
