Free!

Free! (フリー！ Furī!) is a Japanese anime television series directed by Hiroko Utsumi and produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do. It is based on the light novel High☆Speed! by Kōji Ōji. Free! aired in Japan between July 4 and September 26, 2013. A second season came out and was under the name of Free! Eternal Summer aired in July 2014, and then a third season, Free!-Dive to the Future-, aired in July 2018.

Plot
Free! revolves around members of a high school boy's swimming team. Haruka, Rin, Makoto, and Nagisa were members of the same swimming club in elementary school before parting ways, with Rin moving to Australia. Years later, they reunite when Rin challenges Haruka to a race and wins. Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and then later on Rei form the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club. Rin, meanwhile, joins the swim team at Samezuka Academy, a swimming powerhouse.

Main Characters

 * Haruka Nanase (CV: Nobunaga Shimazaki (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English) )
 * Makoto Tachibana (CV: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English) )
 * Nagisa Hazuki (CV: Tsubasa Yonaga (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English) )
 * Rei Ryugazaki (CV: Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English) )
 * Rin Matsuoka (CV: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English) )
 * Sosuke Yamazaki (CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English) )
 * Kisumi Shigino (CV: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Eric Vale (English) )


 * Asahi Shiina (CV: Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Japanese),  Christopher Llewyn Ramirez (English) )


 * Ikuya Kirishima (CV: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese),  Lee George (English) )
 * Hiyori Tono (CV: Ryōhei Kimura (Japanese), Jason Liebrecht  (English) )

Secondary Characters

 * Gou Matsuoka (CV: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English) )
 * Miho Amakata (CV: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English) )
 * Aiichiro Nitori (CV: Kōki Miyata (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English) )
 * Seijuro Mikoshiba (CV: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English) )
 * Goro Sasabe (CV: Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese), Christopher R. Sabat (English) )
 * Momotaro Mikoshiba (CV: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English) )


 * Romio Hayahune (CV: Atsushi Abe (Japanese) , Parker Gray  (English) )
 * Shizuru Isurugi (CV: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese) , Alejandro Saab  (English) )
 * Ayumu Kunikida (CV: Ryō Hirohashi (Japanese) , Apphia Yu  (English) )


 * Mikhail Makarovich (CV: Hidenobu Kiuchi  (Japanese) , Phil Parsons  (English) )
 * Ryuuji Azuma (CV: Takeshi Kusao  (Japanese), Brandon Potter (English) )

Production Staff
Studio: Kyoto Animation, Animation DO

Director: Hiroko Utsumi

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

Musical Production: Lantis

Production: Iwatobi High School Swimming Club

TV
ABC: 3 July 2013, 26:44  (4 July 2013, 02:44)

TOKYO MX: 3 July 2013, 24:30 (4 July 2013, 00:30)

TV Aichi: 3 July 2013, 26:05 (4 July 2013, 02:05)

BS11: 7 July 2013, 24:00

AT-X: 10 July 2013, 22:00

Animax: 20 August 2013, 22:00

Online Streaming
Nico Nico Douga: 8 July 2013, 22:00

ABC Video Club: 8 July 2013, 22:00

※The dates and times are in accordance with Japanese time zone.

Magazine Scans
Sourced from Newtype Magazine August 2014 Issue