Free!

Free!
Promotional poster of the Free! anime series
GenreSports (swimming)[1]
Anime television series
Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club
Directed byHiroko Utsumi
Produced by
  • Shinichiro Hatta
  • Shinichi Nakamura
  • Shigeru Saito
  • Masayuki Nishide
Written byMasahiro Yokotani
Music byTatsuya Kato
Studio
Licensed by
Original networkTokyo MX, TVA, ABC, BS11, AT-X
Original run July 4, 2013 September 26, 2013
Episodes12 (List of episodes)
Light novel
High Speed!
Written byKōji Ōji
Illustrated byFutoshi Nishiya
Published byKyoto Animation
ImprintKA Esuma Bunko
Original runJuly 8, 2013July 2, 2014
Volumes2
Anime television series
Free! - Eternal Summer
Directed byHiroko Utsumi
Produced byShinichiro Hatta
Shinichi Nakamura
Shigeru Saito
Masayuki Nishide
Written byMasahiro Yokotani
Music byTatsuya Kato
Studio
  • Kyoto Animation
  • Animation Do
Licensed by
Original networkTokyo MX, TVA, ABC, BS11, AT-X, NHK G Tottori
Original run July 2, 2014 September 24, 2014
Episodes13 + OVA (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Free! - Dive to the Future
Directed byEisaku Kawanami
Written byMasahiro Yokotani
Music byTatsuya Kato
Studio
Licensed by
  • NA: Funimation
Original networkABC, Tokyo MX, TVA, BS11, AT-X
Original run July 11, 2018 September 26, 2018
Episodes12 (List of episodes)
Films

Free! is a Japanese anime television series produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do. The series is loosely based on the light novel, High Speed! (Japanese: ハイ☆スピード!, Hepburn: Hai Supīdo!), 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.

Prior to season three, several films depict events preceding, including and following the events of seasons one and two. The first feature film, High Speed! Free! Starting Days, was released in December 2015 and depicts events from volume two of the series' prequel light novel, High Speed! A film trilogy was released in 2017 with the first two films being compilations of seasons one and two 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, features four new vignettes. A compilation film encompassing the third season titled, Free! Road to the World - the Dream, debuted in July 2019.[2]

The next installment of the franchise was slated for release alongside the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, but both were postponed until 2021. A final film duology titled, Free! The Final Stroke, debuted in Japanese theaters in two parts: Part 1 in September 2021 and Part 2 in April 2022.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ANN-news-Crunchyroll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Free! Series Production Committee. "NEWS". Free! Road to the World. Kyoto Animation. Retrieved 11 November 2019.