New ‘Free!’ Anime Reveals Premiere Date

Fans have been waiting for news of the next Free! anime ever since the last season ended its run some time ago, and luckily the wait for more of the series will be over much sooner than expected.

The new Free! anime, now officially titled Free! -Dive to the Future-, is scheduled to premiere July 11.

Promoting its broadcast premiere in July, the series released a brand new key visual for the series featuring new looks at Makoto, Haru, and other many favorites from the series fans haven’t seen in quite a while.

For fans interested in new Free!, Funimation has also announced they acquired the rights to the sequel, and two prequel films in the series. Free! -Take Your Marks- (which follows Haru and Makoto preparing for college after the events of -Eternal Summer-) High Speed! Free! -Starting Days- and Free! -Timeless Melody-, which explore the pasts of Haru and Makoto, and Kizuna and Yakusoku respectively, will be available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD some time in the near future.

If you are not familiar with Free!, then you have time to catch up. The anime made its debut in July 2013 after it was adapted from a light novel by Koji Oji. Before the show was ordered, a short animated PV featuring the novel’s cast was released. Fans from all over the world flocked to the video, buzzing over its animation style and concept. So, when Kyoto Animation green-lit the project for a full season, few were surprised.

When the anime’s first season aired, the show became a success with international fans despite its sports content. In 2014, a second season of the anime was released before an animated film debuted in December 2015.

As for its story, Free! follows a group of high school students who were introduced as children on a local swim team. The anime’s primary lead Haruka is a prodigal swimmer who can think only about swimming but does not wish to turn his passion into a profession. When the boy teams back up with his friends Makoto and Nagisa on a swim team, Haruka is stunned when their third childhood friend reappears in his life. Rin, who had gone to hone his swimming skills abroad, is back in their hometown and holds plenty of bitterness towards his former friends. And, as the series goes on, fans watch as swimming rekindles the friends’ once-tight bonds.