Kaede Kinjo

Kaede Kinjou (金城 楓 ー Kinjou Kaede) is a main character in Free!'s newest duology, Free!–the Final Stroke–. He currently attends Naribusawa University and has broken multiple tournament records.

Appearance
Kaede is a muscular young man with messy, golden orange hair and sharp, hooded chartreuse eyes. He sports the standard Naribusawa swimming team jacket - yellow with dark and light blue accents. When swimming, he wears a blue cap, purple goggles and jammers patterned with varying shades of blue.

Personality
From what is seen of Kaede's current behavior, he is either oblivious to or uncaring about how those around him perceive his actions, as seen when he appears at the All-Japan Invitational. This is evidenced during the scene where Asahi Shiina and Hiyori Tono banter as they head toward the pool for their heat. Kaede appears from behind, knocking into Asahi's shoulder as he strides between them, causing Asahi to wonder about the swimmer's manners.

Kaede often maintains a condescending smirk on his face, even when swimming. His speed and power as a swimmer are noted by Ryuji Azuma as having been attained and maintained by keeping a singular focus on swimming to the exclusion of everything else in life, including relationships with others. He is also noted to be a rising star in the swimming world by sports journalist, Kon Kurimiya.

History
Free!–the Final Stroke– provides insight into Kaede's childhood and swimming background. Kaede was originally a butterfly swimmer, but in switching to freestyle, his times improved significantly. In a practice race, his time beat the national record.

Trivia

 * Kinjou's goggles and jammers appear to be of the brand Mizuno.
 * At a staff talk event for Free!–the Final Stroke–, one of the character designers discussed the main characters' body types in terms of musculature. Kaede was listed as being "type 4:" noticeably muscular, but still not quite as large/strong as the final two types.