Dhruv Sharma
Over the years, KyoAni has created some of the best-lighthearted comedies and engaging dramas. Though ‘Free!’ is not really one of their best works, it very well displays the artistic brilliance of the Studio with its amazing visuals. Most sports anime predominantly revolve around the same familiar themes that work along the lines of teamwork and the rise of underdogs. But ‘Free!‘ is a lot more than that. Apart from revolving around the sport of swimming, it also brings in some pure heartfelt slice-of-life moments. It’s a simple yet fun series that can be enjoyed by almost anyone. As you might have heard, a new movie sequel of the series is now underway. To know more about it, read on further.
Free! Dive to the Future 2 Release Date: When will it premiere?
The ‘Free!’ anime series was last seen with its season 3, which premiered on July 12, 2018, and with a total of 12 episodes, ended on September 27, 2018. The ending of the last season has somewhat inconclusive which teased that the anime would return in the future. Now, it has been confirmed that the anime will be returning with a sequel movie sometime in 2020.
Nothing much has been revealed about this project yet. However, a teaser of this anime was also released which features, as one would expect, a shirtless Haruka. As soon as any other details regarding the anime’s release are revealed, we will surely update it here in this section. Till then, you can check out the shows on our list of other similar sports anime.
Free! Dive to the Future English Dub:
The English dub of ‘Free!’ is available on Funimation.
Free! Dive to the Future Plot:
‘Free!’ revolves around the life of high school swimmers who have known each other since they were kids. They were all once a part of a local swim team. Haruka, the main protagonist, is an incredible swimmer and usually has nothing else on his mind. Even so, he only pursues swimming as a mere passion and never thinks about becoming a professional swimmer.
Later, he decides to rekindle with his old swimmer friends, Makoto and Nagisa, and ends up joining their swim team. Rin, another one of their childhood swim buddies, who was abroad all this while to pursue a professional career in swimming. However, he also returns home and for some reason, holds a lot of bitterness towards his old friends. With this, the swimming team sets out to win competitions again while they deal with the trials and tribulations of their friendship.
Free! Dive to the Future Characters:
Haruka Nanase
Haruka, who is a freestyle swimmer, is the main protagonist of the series. He is a freshman at the Hidaka University where he later becomes a prominent member of the swim club. In appearance, he has the perfect athletic body of a professional swimmer. He has short jet black hair and small piercing blue eyes. He is usually seen with a blank expression on his face and he rarely smiles. Quite often, he wears jammers underneath his clothes to be ready to swim whenever it’s necessary. Almost all of his swimming jammers look the same, but for some reason, he strongly believes that they all fit differently and because of that, he has trouble choosing which one he should wear.
He has a very strong affinity towards all kinds of water bodies and instead of boasting about his swimming skills, he usually proves his true worth through his actions. He puts a lot of thoughts in all of his decisions and once he sets his eyes on a certain goal, he makes sure that he gets it. He also values his relationship with his teammates, especially with Rin. His obsession with water often lands him in hilarious embarrassing situations, as he always strips down to his jammers every time he spots a water body near him. He loves water so much that he even considers his encounters with waterfalls to be romantic.
Being the eccentric character that he is, he is usually not able to have normal conversations with most people. And once he decides that he does not want to do something, no one can convince him to change his mind. While human interactions are not really his cup of tea, it’s his love for water that makes him emotional at times. The animators of the series nicknamed him “waterdere” because of his emotional attachment with water. In order to reflect his obsession with water, the animators of the series have intentionally made his eyes blue in color.
Read More: Best Sports Anime
