Free! | |
Promotional poster of the Free! anime series.
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Genre | Drama, Slice of life, Sports (swimming) |
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Anime television series | |
Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club | |
Directed by | Hiroko Utsumi |
Written by | Masahiro Yokotani |
Music by | Tatsuya Kato |
Studio |
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Licensed by | |
Original network | Tokyo MX, TVA, ABC, BS11, AT-X |
Original run | July 4, 2013 – September 26, 2013 |
Episodes | 12 |
Light novel | |
High Speed! | |
Written by | Kōji Ōji |
Illustrated by | Futoshi Nishiya |
Published by | Kyoto Animation |
Original run | July 8, 2013 – July 2, 2014 |
Volumes | 2 |
Anime television series | |
Free! - Eternal Summer | |
Directed by | Hiroko Utsumi |
Written by | Masahiro Yokotani |
Music by | Tatsuya Kato |
Studio |
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Licensed by | |
Original network | Tokyo MX, TVA, ABC, BS11, AT-X, NHK G Tottori |
Original run | July 2, 2014 – September 24, 2014 |
Episodes | 13 |
Original video animation | |
Free! - Eternal Summer | |
Directed by | Hiroko Utsumi |
Studio |
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Licensed by | |
Released | March 18, 2015 |
Anime film | |
High Speed! -Free! Starting Days- | |
Directed by | Yasuhiro Takemoto |
Written by | Maiko Nishioka |
Music by | Tatsuya Kato |
Studio |
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Released | December 5, 2015 |
Free! is a Japanese anime television series directed by Hiroko Utsumi and produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do. The anime is based on the light novel written by Kōji Ōji, High Speed! (Japanese: ハイ☆スピード! Hepburn: Hai Supīdo!?), which received an honorable mention in the second Kyoto Animation Award contest in 2011 and was later published in July 2013. The first season, titled Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club for international distribution, aired in Japan between July and September 2013, and the second season, titled Free! - Eternal Summer, aired between July and September 2014. An animated film, High Speed! - Free! Starting Days, was released on December 5, 2015.
Free! is set in the town of Iwatobi, which is based on the real town of Iwami, Tottori. Iwami has since used Free! to promote tourism to the town. The story starts with four boys—Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and Rin—before they graduate from elementary school. They all participated in a swimming tournament and won, though they parted ways. Years later, Haruka and Makoto reunite with Nagisa when he enrolls in their high school. Not long after, Rin, who was thought to be in Australia, turns up and challenges Haruka to a race and wins. Afterward, Nagisa suggests creating a swimming club and using the school's run-down outdoor pool. Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa, and later on, Rei, create the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club and work together to make the club a success. Rin's victory over Haruka means nothing to him as he realizes that Haruka had stopped swimming competitively and wasn't in top shape. He claims that he cannot get over the fact until Haruka competes against him for real. The members of the Iwatobi High School Swim Club later enter a swimming competition against Rin.
An Internet radio show to promote the anime called Iwatobi Channel (イワトビちゃんねる Iwatobi Channeru?) 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.