High☆Speed！－Free! Starting Days－

'''High☆Speed！－Free! Starting Days－' (映画 ハイ☆スピード！－Free! Starting Days－ Eiga Hai☆Supiido！－Free! Starting Days－'') is a 2015 animated film produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do. The movie is based on the second volume of the High☆Speed！ novels by Kouji Ohji and serves as a prequel to the original Free! series which aired in the summer of 2013. The movie debuted in Japanese theaters on December 5, 2015 and on Japanese DVDs on July 20, 2016. The ending theme for the movie is Aching Horns by OLDCODEX.

Synopsis
Haruka Nanase feels something special when he touches water. The medley relay was the last competition he was able to participate in during elementary school. Haruka, along with Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rin Matsuoka, saw something they'd never seen before. In spring, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Haruka moves on to Iwatobi Junior High School  with Makoto and starts a new life. Both enter the swim team, and plan to compete in the medley relay together with Asahi Shiina and Ikuya Kirishima.

All four students have different objectives and ways of thinking, and different baggage they're carrying, and so their practice for the relay hasn't been going well. What is required to make a team? What does Haruka, whose heart is trapped in the medley relay of the past, think during this new event?

Plot
Main article: High☆Speed！－Free! Starting Days－/Plot

Production Staff
Studio: Kyoto Animation, Animation DO

Director: Yasuhiro Takemoto

Script, Series Composition: Masahiro Yokotani

Character Design: Futoshi Nishiya

Art Director: Joji Unoguchi

Director of Photography: Kazuya Takao

Music: Tatsuya Kato

Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka

Reception
In Japan, High☆Speed！－Free! Starting Days－opened at #5 in 120 theaters nationwide, selling 60,729 tickets in the first two days and earning ¥95,546,400. The film made ¥691 million at box office. The home release debuted at #1 on both Oricon's DVD and Blu-ray charts. The limited edition of the Blu-ray release sold 14,642 copies on its first week. The limited edition of the DVD release debuted at #1 with 9,677 copies sold on its first week, while the regular edition debuted at #13 with 822 DVDs sold.

High☆Speed！－Free! Starting Days－ranked #5 in Best Picture in the 2015-2016 Newtype Anime Awards. The film also ranked #3 in Animation of the Year by fans for the 2017 Tokyo Anime Award, with a total of 16,094 votes.