Free! (anime)

Free!

Promotional poster of the Free! anime series.
Genre Sports
Anime television series
Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club
Directed by Hiroko Utsumi
Written by Masahiro Yokotani
Music by Tatsuya Kato
Studio
Licensed by
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 – ongoing
Volumes 2
Anime television series
Free! - Eternal Summer
Directed by Hiroko Utsumi
Written by Masahiro Yokotani
Studio
Licensed by
Network Tokyo MX, TVA, ABC, BS11, AT-X, NHK G Tottori
Original run July 2, 2014 – September 24, 2014
Episodes 13
Anime film
High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-
Studio
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! (ハイ☆スピード! 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-, will be released on December 5, 2015.

Plot

Free! 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 Nagisa enrolls into high school a year after Haruka and Makoto. 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 run-down outdoor pool. Haruka, Makoto, and 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 revived Iwatobi Swim Club later enter a swimming competition against Rin.

Characters

Iwatobi High School

Haruka Nanase (七瀬 遙 Nanase Haruka)
Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki[1] (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn[2] (English)
Haruka is a second-year high school student who loves swimming and being in the water. He is a strong and quiet person who displays limited facial expressions, and has a hard time communicating his feelings. His style captivates many and he has a strong fixation towards freestyle swimming.[1] His love for water is so strong that he often strips down to his swimsuit at the sight of water and even considers encountering a waterfall to be a romantic experience. Due to his girlish name, he is often mistaken for a girl, so he is usually called Haru. After his first year in middle school, he quit competitive swimming after hurting Rin's feelings by beating him in a race, but Haruka regains his passion after racing Rin again when they reunite.
Makoto Tachibana (橘 真琴 Tachibana Makoto)
Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki[1] (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch[3] (English)
Makoto is Haruka's best friend, and is also a second-year in the same class as Haruka. Unlike Haruka, he is more outgoing and often speaks up for Haruka. He is nice and considerate to others, putting others before himself. However, he is weak-hearted and gets scared easily (particularly Nagisa teases Makoto by scaring him).[1] He developed a fear of the ocean due to a traumatic incident in which an old fisherman, whom Makoto greatly idolized, drowned in a typhoon alongside many others. He is captain of the swim club. His specialty is the backstroke.
Nagisa Hazuki (葉月 渚 Hazuki Nagisa)
Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga[1] (Japanese), Greg Ayres[4] (English)
Nagisa is a first-year student who also goes to Iwatobi High School. He is very spirited and not afraid to speak his mind. He has admired Haruka's swimming since elementary school and enrolls at his high school hoping to swim with him again.[1] He comes up with the idea to start the swim club at Iwatobi High, and is treasurer for the club. He has a strange fascination towards the club's penguin mascot, Iwatobi-chan. His specialty is the breaststroke.
Rei Ryūgazaki (竜ヶ崎 怜 Ryūgazaki Rei)
Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa[1] (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum[5] (English)
Rei is Nagisa's classmate. He is handsome and intelligent,[1] but is often manipulated by Nagisa for some reason.[6] He is heavily attracted to all things beautiful, both tangible and non-tangible, and will do everything in his power to avoid things he claims "unattractive". He used to be on the track team. He refuses several times to join the swim club, because he did not think swimming was beautiful enough. He joins the swim club because he admires Haruka's beautiful freestyle swimming. At first, he is unable to swim, but with some help from Haruka, he manages to learn. Out of all the swimming styles, Rei could only do the butterfly. In Free! Eternal Summer, Rin teaches Rei to swim the other three swimming styles.
Gou Matsuoka (松岡 江 Matsuoka Gō)
Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese), Jamie Marchi[7] (English)
Gō is Rin's younger sister. She is a first-year at Iwatobi High School. She prefers to be known by the more typical reading of her name, Kō, due to Gō being a boyish name, though she eventually gives up, mostly due to Nagisa insistently calling her Gō. She joins the swim club as the manager, in hopes that she can help change Rin back to his old self. She is very organized and determined, even going as far as using calligraphy to create a 60+ page calendar to increase the pressure on training. She has a muscle fetish, and tends to blush around men when admiring their muscles.
Miho Amakata (天方 美帆 Amakata Miho)
Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese), Caitlin Glass[7] (English)
Miho is Haruka and Makoto's homeroom teacher. She teaches classic literature. The students nicknamed her Ama-chan. Rumors among Iwatobi students suggest that she had gone to Tokyo to pursue her dream of being in a swimsuit company, but failed and became a teacher instead. Although she has a quirky and upbeat personality, sometimes she uses old, confusing literature phrases to make a point. She becomes the faculty advisor for the swim club after Nagisa finds out her work in Tokyo involved swimsuits. It is revealed she was once a swimsuit model working under the name of "Marin-chan". She appears to loathe her days as a model, and takes extreme measures to hide her previous career. When in conversation, she will emit evil auras if she feels the subject is going dangerously close to her modeling days.

Samezuka Academy

Rin Matsuoka (松岡 凛 Matsuoka Rin)
Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano[1] (Japanese), Vic Mignogna[8] (English)
Rin is Haruka's rival and was his former teammate in elementary school. He comes back to Japan after studying abroad in Australia during middle school and becomes estranged to his former teammates due to a change in his personality,[1] which came after he suffered a tough loss (not really because with his race against Haruka during their first year of middle school). He went to Australia after joining the swimming club and winning the relay. He goes to Samezuka Academy, but did not initially join the Samezuka swim team (in the beginning of the second season Rin becomes Samezuka's swim team captain). Despite his self-proclaimed rivalry against the members of the Iwatobi Swim Club, he continues to demonstrate concern for them, particularly for Haruka. He adopted his father's dream to become an Olympic swimmer following his untimely death in a typhoon, but later decides to follow his own dream after competing in the regionals with Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa (after the competition Rin's estranged feelings with his friends had completely fade) . Rin is actually better at swimming butterfly, but chooses to focus on freestyle in order to compete with Haruka.
Sousuke Yamazaki (山崎 宗介 Yamazaki Sōsuke)
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya[9] (Japanese), Ian Sinclair[7] (English)
Sousuke is Rin's childhood best friend from Sano Elementary and is the person who understands Rin the most. He transfers to Samezuka Academy so he can spend his last year of high school swimming with Rin in his home town. Having a strong personality, he does not let anything irritate him. He takes a dry and harsh position on swimming toward himself and others around him. He is a very skilled butterfly swimmer, and was ranked in the top 10 in Japan. After Rin left for Australia, he set a goal for himself to one day become a professional swimmer alongside Rin. It's revealed that due to over training in his first year of high school, he severely injured his shoulder, ruining his chances of ever entering the professional world. He appears in the second season.[9]
Aiichiro Nitori (似鳥 愛一郎 Nitori Aiichirō)
Voiced by: Kōki Miyata[10] (Japanese), Josh Grelle[11] (English)
A member of the Samezuka Swimming Team, who idolizes Rin very much. He shares a dorm with Rin in the first season, and then Momotaro in the second season. He swims long distance freestyle, but begins to focus more on breaststroke in the second season. At the end of the series, Rin appoints him to be Samezuka's new captain.
Momotaro Mikoshiba (御子柴 百太郎 Mikoshiba Momotarō)
Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura[10] (Japanese), Jerry Jewell[11] (English)
He is Seijuro's younger brother and first year student at Samezuka Academy. Initially he doesn't join the swim team, but does later on at Rin's request. Like his brother, he has a crush on Gō. He is a very enthusiastic person and a very skilled backstroke swimmer. He appears in the second season.
Seijuro Mikoshiba (御子柴 清十郎 Mikoshiba Seijūrō)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese), Robert McCollum[7] (English)
He is the captain of the Samezuka Academy Swimming Team and a third year high school student. He seems to have a crush on Gō. He is a very enthusiastic person and a very skilled swimmer.

Other characters

Goro Sasabe (笹部 吾朗 Sasabe Gorō)
Voiced by: Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese), Christopher R. Sabat[7] (English)
Goro was the swimming coach at the abandoned Iwatobi Swimming Club, having coached Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and Rin while they were in grade school, and had since became a part-time pizza delivery man. He later resumes coaching Haruka, Makoto, and Nagisa, with the addition of Rei. He is normally very laid-back, but can be incredibly strict with the Iwatobi boys when coaching. In Eternal Summer, he rebuilds the Iwatobi Swimming Club and renames it "Iwatobi SC Returns".
Chigusa Hanamura (花村 千種 Hanamura Chigusa)
Voiced by: Satomi Satō
A first year girl who attends Iwatobi High School. She considers Gō to be her best friend.
Ran Tachibana (橘 蘭 Tachibana Ran)
Voiced by: Yuka Maruyama
Makoto's younger sister. She and her brother Ren appear to adore Makoto.
Ren Tachibana (橘 蓮 Tachibana Ren)
Voiced by: Miyuki Kobori
Makoto's younger brother. He and his sister Ran appear to adore Makoto.

Media

Radio show and drama CDs

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.[12] 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.[13] Two CD compilation volumes were released between August 21 and September 25, 2013.[14][15]

Two volumes in a drama CDs series, titled Iwatobi High School Swimming Club Activity Journal (岩鳶高校水泳部　活動日誌 Iwatobi Kōkō Suiei-bu Katsudō Nisshi), were released between August 21 and September 25, 2013.[16][17]

Anime

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.[18] The commercial quickly went viral among fans—especially users of the blogging site Tumblr, who quickly developed a sequel around what they dubbed as the "swimming anime".[19] Despite only being a 30-second commercial, a wide variety of fan works expanding upon the nameless characters from the ad were created, including hypothetical biographies, art, and fan fiction, along with online petitions calling on the studio to turn it into a real series.[20]

The 12-episode anime television series, produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do, is directed by Hiroko Utsumi, written by Masahiro Yokotani, features 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,[21] and was also streamed on the Japanese video-sharing website Niconico[22] and simulcast by Crunchyroll, who also possesses the home video rights to the series.[21][23][24] 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[25] and September 24, 2014. Funimation has licensed the second season for streaming and home video in North America[26] and is currently in negotiations with Crunchyroll about releasing the first season on home video.[4] Discotek Media will release the first season on behalf of Crunchyroll on DVD with subtitles, but noted a dubbed release might come eventually.[27]

An animated film based on the original light novel, titled High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, will be released in Japan on December 5, 2015.[28]

Music

The opening theme is "Rage On" by Oldcodex and the ending theme is "Splash Free" by Style Five (Nobunaga Shimazaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Tsubasa Yonaga, Daisuke Hirakawa and Mamoru Miyano). The ending theme for episode 12 is "Ever Blue" by Style Five.[29] The single for "Rage On" was released on July 17, 2013 and sold over 24,281 copies.[30][31] The single for "Splash Free" was released on August 7, 2013 and sold over 47,646 copies.[32][33] For the second season, the opening theme is "Dried Up Youthful Fame" by Oldcodex,[34][35] and the ending theme is "Future Fish" by Style Five. The ending theme for episode 13 is "Clear Blue Departure" 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.[36][37] Makoto's single sold over 23,487 copies, while Haruka's single sold about 20,371 copies.[38] 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.[39][40][41] Rin's single sold over 18,698 copies, while Rei's and Nagisa's sold over 15,021 and 14,283 copies, respectively.[42]

Four duet character song singles were released sung by the voice actors of the main characters.[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] 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.[46] 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.[47]

Light novels

The original light novel High Speed! (ハイ☆スピード Hai Supīdo) 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.[48] It was published by Kyoto Animation on July 8, 2013.[49] A second volume was published on July 2, 2014, and the story takes place when Haruka and Makoto are in junior high school.[50]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "KyoAni Outlines 'Free' Swim Team Anime's Story, Characters". Anime News Network. April 28, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Free! Eternal Summer English Dub Casts Todd Haberkorn as Haru". Anime News Network. November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Free! Eternal Summer English Dub Casts Johnny Yong Bosch as Makoto". Anime News Network. November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Free! Eternal Summer English Dub Casts Greg Ayres as Nagisa". Anime News Network. November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Free! Eternal Summer English Dub Casts J. Michael Tatum as Rei". Anime News Network. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  6. ↑ "竜ヶ崎 怜 プロフィール TV アニメ『Free!』公式サイト" [TV Anime Free! Ryugazaki Rei Profile] (in Japanese). Kyoto Animation. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Free! Eternal Summer Casts Ian Sinclair, Jamie Marchi and More". Anime News Network. November 16, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Free Eternal Summer English Dub Casts Vic Mignogna as Rin". Anime News Network. November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Yoshimasa Hosoya Joins Free! Eternal Summer TV Anime Cast". Anime News Network. May 3, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "TVアニメ『Free!-Eternal Summer-』公式サイト" [TV anime "Free!-Eternal Summer-" official site - Character] (in Japanese). Kyoto Animation. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Free! Eternal Summer English Dub Casts Jerry Jewell, Josh Grelle". Anime News Network. November 15, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  12. ↑ "TVアニメ『Free!』WEBラジオ「イワトビちゃんねる」" [TV anime Free! Web Radio Iwatobi Channel] (in Japanese). Kyoto Animation. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  13. ↑ "TVアニメ「Free!」WEBラジオ 「イワトビちゃんねる」　特設サイト" [TV anime Free! Web Radio Iwatobi Channel Special Site] (in Japanese). Onsen. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  14. ↑ "「イワトビちゃんねる」vol.1" [Iwatobi Channel vol. 1] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  15. ↑ "「イワトビちゃんねる」 Vol.2" [Iwatobi Channel Vol. 2] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  16. ↑ 岩鳶高校水泳部　活動日誌1 [Iwatobi High School Swimming Club Activity Journal 1] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  17. ↑ 岩鳶高校水泳部　活動日誌2 [Iwatobi High School Swimming Club Activity Journal 2] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Kyoto Animation's Animation Do Spinoff Unveils New Anime Ad". Anime News Network. March 6, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Tumblr invented entire anime based on thirty second promo? Must be monday". The Mary Sue. March 11, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Fake anime series inspires real fans on Tumblr". The Daily Dot. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Crunchyroll to Stream Free! Swim Team TV Anime". Anime News Network. June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Kyoto Animation's Free! Swim Team Anime Promo Streamed". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Crunchyroll Adds "Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club" Anime to Streaming Lineup!". Crunchyroll. June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Answerman: Jerkwatch". Anime News Network. October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Free! Iwatobi Swim Club Anime 2nd Season Title, Date, Characters". Anime News Network. May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Funimation Adds Free! Eternal Summer". Anime News Network. June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Free! Iwatobi Swim Club - Discotek Media". Facebook. February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Free! Anime's Novel Predecessor High Speed! Gets Film". Anime News Network. March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  29. ↑ "CD – PRODUCT – TVアニメ『Free!』公式サイト" [CD – Product – TV Anime Free! Official Website] (in Japanese). Kyoto Animation. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  30. ↑ "2013年07月のCDシングル月間ランキン" [CD single monthly rankings - July 2013] (in Japanese). Oricon. July 2013. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2013. – rankings 11 to 20
  31. ↑ "Rage On" (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  32. ↑ "Splash Free" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Splash Free" (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  34. ↑ "Free! Eternal Summer's Opening Song Performed by Oldcodex". Anime News Network. May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  35. ↑ Green, Scott (April 16, 2014). "Latest PV for "Free! -Eternal Summer-" TV Anime". Crunchyroll. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  36. ↑ "キャラクターソング Vol.1 七瀬 遙" [Character Song Vol. 1 Haruka Nanase] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  37. ↑ "キャラクターソング Vol.2 橘 真琴" [Character Song Vol. 2 Makoto Tachibana] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  38. ↑ "2013年08月のCDシングル月間ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  39. ↑ "キャラクターソング Vol.3 松岡 凛" [Character Song Vol. 3 Rin Matsuoka] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  40. ↑ "キャラクターソング Vol.4 葉月 渚" [Character Song Vol. 4 Nagisa Hazuki] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  41. ↑ "キャラクターソング Vol.5 竜ヶ崎 怜" [Character Song Vol. 5 Rei Ryūgazaki] (in Japanese). Lantis. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  42. ↑ "Oricon Charts" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  43. ↑ "デュエットCD | TVアニメ『Free!』公式サイト" [Duet CD | TV Anime Free! Official Site] (in Japanese). Kyoto Animation. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  44. ↑ "2013年12月のCDシングル月間ランキング" [December 2013 CD Single Monthly Ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  45. ↑ "2014年01月のCDシングル月間ランキング" [January 2014 CD Single Monthly Ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  46. ↑ "2014年02月10日～2014年02月16日のCDシングル週間ランキング" [Sales of February] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  47. ↑ "2014年03月のCDシングル月間ランキン" [Sales of March] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  48. ↑ "No Grand Prizes Given for 2nd Kyoto Animation Award". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  49. ↑ "KyoAni Streams Free! Anime's Promo with Actual Swimming". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  50. ↑ "『ハイ☆スピード!』公式サイト" [High Speed! official website]. Kyoto Animation. Retrieved May 14, 2014.

External links