Free! (TV series)

Free! is a Japanese anime television series produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do. The first two seasons are loosely based on the light novel, , written by Kōji Ōji, which received an honorable mention in the second Kyoto Animation Award contest in 2011 and was published in July 2013. The first season titled, "Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club" for international distribution, aired in Japan in 2013; and the second season titled, "Free! - Eternal Summer", aired in 2014. A third season of the anime series titled, "Free! - Dive to the Future", aired in 2018. Hiroko Utsumi directed the first two seasons, while season three was directed by Eisaku Kawanami.
The film "High Speed! Free! Starting Days", released in December 2015, depicts events from volume 2 of the series' prequel light novel, "High Speed!" A film trilogy was released in 2017 with the first two films being compilations of both seasons of the anime series titled, "Free! Timeless Medley - the Bond" and "Free! Timeless Medley - the Promise". The third film in the trilogy titled, "Free! Take Your Marks", featured four new vignettes. A compilation film encompassing the third season, titled "Free! Road to the World - the Dream", debuted in July 2019. The next film in the franchise was originally slated for release in 2020 alongside the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Both the Olympics and the film were postponed until 2021 with Kyoto Animation announcing that the two-part film series "Free! The Final Stroke" will premiere in September 2021 and April 2022, respectively.
Plot.
"Free" is set in the town of Iwatobi, Japan, which is based on Iwami, Tottori. The story is centered on high school student Haruka Nanase, a gifted swimmer. After encountering his childhood rival, Rin Matsuoka from Samezuka Academy, he and his friends revitalize Iwatobi High School's swim team. In addition to his childhood friends, Makoto Tachibana and Nagisa Hazuki, Rei Ryugazaki is recruited onto the team. While the team trains for tournaments, Haruka and Rin's rivalry continues to sour from Rin facing setbacks in improvement, though his desire to swim competitively escalates. However, during the prefectural tournament, Iwatobi's swim team reminds Rin of their friendship through a medley relay. Despite being disqualified, the boys' relationships with one another improve.
In "Free! Eternal Summer", Haruka, now in his final year in high school, has not decided on what to do after graduating. Meanwhile, Rin's childhood friend, Sosuke Yamazaki, transfers to Samezuka Academy. Rin hopes to swim competitively with Sosuke but, unbeknownst to him, Sosuke has injured his shoulder from overuse. During the regionals, Haruka becomes overwhelmed from the pressure of performing in front of scouts and becomes lost on what to do for the future. He further learns that his best friend, Makoto Tachibana, is leaving Iwatobi to attend university in Tokyo. Haruka withdraws from all social contact. However, with help from his friends and a trip to Sydney, Australia, where he visits the International Aquatic Centre, he decides to continue his swimming career and compete on the college level.
In "Free! Dive to the Future", Haruka attends Hidaka University and reconnects with his friends from junior high school, with the exception of Ikuya Kirishima, who is still bitter about their former team breaking up without explanation. In order to make amends with Ikuya, Haruka begins training in other strokes besides freestyle and eventually competes in an Individual Medley alongside him. Although they mend their friendship, Haruka is faced with the reality that he will be competing against swimmers at his level and higher. Despite this, he commits to continuing his swimming career and to competing on the global level.
Media.
Anime series.
Animation Do released a splash image for a new project in April 2012, which was followed by a television commercial for the project in March 2013. The commercial quickly went viral. Kyoto Animation announced an animated series during a live stream on Niconico on April 26, 2013. The 12-episode anime television series, produced in collaboration with Animation Do, was directed by Hiroko Utsumi, written by Masahiro Yokotani, and featured character designs by Futoshi Nishiya and music by Tatsuya Katō. The series aired in Japan between July 4 and September 26, 2013, on Tokyo MX, and was also streamed on the Japanese video-sharing website Niconico and simulcast by Crunchyroll, who also possesses the home video rights to the series. The series was released on six BD and DVD compilation volumes between September 11, 2013, and February 5, 2014, with certain volumes containing short bonus episodes.
A 13-episode second season, titled "Free! Eternal Summer", aired between July 2 and September 24, 2014. Funimation has licensed the second season for streaming and home video in North America, and they attempted to negotiate with Crunchyroll about releasing the first season on home video. However, Discotek Media released the first season on behalf of Crunchyroll on DVD with English subtitles, but noted a dubbed release might come eventually. The English dub of the first season is available on Crunchyroll, with the English voice cast reprising their roles. Crunchyroll and Funimation released the first season on Blu-ray and DVD on May 9, 2017, with an English dub. Madman Entertainment will import Funimation's release into Australia and New Zealand.
A 12-episode third season titled "Free! Dive to the Future" aired between July 11 and September 26, 2018. Eisaku Kawanami returned to direct the third season, while all the staff and cast reprised their roles.
Films.
An animated film based on the second volume of the original light novel, titled "High Speed! Free! Starting Days", was released in Japan on December 5, 2015. The film was directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto and the screenplay was written by Maiko Nishioka. Yokotani worked on the story composition, and Nishiya served as character designer and chief animation director.
An animated film trilogy was announced by Kyoto Animation. The first two, titled "Free! Timeless Medley: The Bond" and "Free! Timeless Medley: The Promise" are compilations of the second season, "Free! Eternal Summer" with new scenes added. "The Bond" focuses on the five main members of the Iwatobi Swim Club, while "The Promise" focuses on Rin and Sousuke from the Samezuka Swim Club. Both films opened on April 22 and July 1, 2017, respectively. A third film, titled "Free! Take Your Marks", is a new story taking place in the spring as Haruka deals with high school graduation and everyone's futures as they move forward in their lives and was released on October 28, 2017. All three films were directed by Eisaku Kawanami, and much of the staff from the anime series and "High Speed!" film returned for the compilation films, including series composer Masahiro Yokotani, character designer Futoshi Nishiya and composer Tatsuya Katō. Funimation acquired the film trilogy and the "High Speed" prequel film for home video release as well as screening the "Take Your Marks" film in US theaters on March 14, 2018, presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
After the third season's finale, a new animated project slated for a 2020 release was announced. The new project was revealed to be two additional films. A compilation film for the third season titled "Free! Road to the World - the Dream" was released on July 5, 2019, with the staff and cast from the third season reprising their roles.
Another brand-new film was set to be released in Q3 2020, but was delayed to a further release date. An information event previewing the trailer for that film project was originally supposed to take place on July 19, 2019, but it was cancelled in the wake of the Kyoto Animation arson attack. On August 15, 2020, Kyoto Animation revealed that the new film will premiere in 2021. Titled "Free! The Final Stroke", the film will be split into two parts, with the first part premiering in September 17, 2021, and the second part premiering on April 22, 2022. Eisaku Kawanami is returning as director for the film.
Music.
For the first season, the opening theme is "Rage On" by Oldcodex and the ending theme is "Splash Free" by Style Five (Nobunaga Shimazaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Mamoru Miyano, Tsubasa Yonaga and Daisuke Hirakawa). The ending theme for episode 12 is "Ever Blue" by Style Five. The single for "Rage On" was released on July 17, 2013, and sold over 24,281 copies. The single for "Splash Free" was released on August 7, 2013, and sold over 47,646 copies. For the second season, the opening theme is "Dried Up Youthful Fame" by Oldcodex, and the ending theme is "Future Fish" by Style Five. The ending theme for episode 13 is "Clear Blue Departure" by Nobunaga Shimazaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Tsubasa Yonaga, Daisuke Hirakawa, Mamoru Miyano, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Kōki Miyata and Kenichi Suzumura. For the third season, the opening theme is "Heading to Over" by Oldcodex and the ending theme is "Gold Evolution" by Style Five.
Five character song singles were released sung by the voice actors of the main characters. The singles for Haruka Nanase (sung by Shimazaki) and Makoto Tachibana (sung by Suzuki) were released on August 7, 2013. Makoto's single sold over 23,487 copies, while Haruka's single sold about 20,371 copies. The singles for Rin Matsuoka (sung by Miyano), Nagisa Hazuki (sung by Yonaga) and Rei Ryūgazaki (sung by Hirakawa) were released on September 4, 2013. Rin's single sold over 18,698 copies, while Rei's and Nagisa's sold over 15,021 and 14,283 copies, respectively.
Four duet character song singles were released sung by the voice actors of the main characters. The single with Haruka (sung by Shimazaki) and Makoto (sung by Suzuki) was released on December 18, 2013, and sold over 16,361 album copies. The single with Nagisa (sung by Tsubasa Yonaga) and Rei (sung by Daisuke Hirakawa) was released on January 15, 2014, and sold over 11,980 copies. The single with Rei (sung by Daisuke Hirakawa) and Rin (sung by Mamoru Miyano) was released on February 12, 2014, and sold over 13,389 copies. The last single with Haruka (sung by Shimazaki) and Rin (sung by Mamoru Miyano) was released on March 19, 2014, and sold over 15,866 album copies.
Other.
The original light novel is written by Kōji Ōji, with illustrations by Futoshi Nishiya. Ōji entered it into the second Kyoto Animation Award contest in 2011, and it won an honorable mention in the novel category. It was published by Kyoto Animation on July 8, 2013. A second volume was published on July 2, 2014, and the story takes place when Haruka and Makoto are in middle school.
An Internet radio show to promote the anime called began broadcasting on June 17, 2013. The show is streamed online every Monday, and is produced by the Japanese Internet radio stations Lantis Web Radio and Onsen. The show is hosted by Nobunaga Shimazaki and Tatsuhisa Suzuki, who voice Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana from the anime, respectively. Two CD compilation volumes were released between August 21 and September 25, 2013.
Two volumes in a drama CDs series, titled , were released between August 21 and September 25, 2013.