The worlds of sports and anime have found themselves intertwining more and more in recent years. It seems that, as an anime fan, you can find just about any sport reflected in an anime series these days, whether it be volleyball, boxing, soccer, or basketball. When it comes to the art of swimming, there is perhaps no bigger anime series than Free! Now, to celebrate ten years of tearing its way through swimming pools, the franchise has released new art to help ring in the special occasion.
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The Free! anime is unique in comparison to many other franchises in that the television series debuted without a manga to supply its stories. While it did receive a light novel series, the swimming franchise’s printed story came after the first episode aired in Japan. In 2022, the series decided to wrap its story via two feature-length films via Free! The Final Stroke. While there has been no word from Kyoto Animation that the series will make a return in the future, the swimming anime remains one of the most popular franchises created by the animation studio.
Free! At Last
Despite no new projects announced in this universe, Kyoto was more than happy to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the franchise. Free! was popular enough to warrant a number of anime seasons, with even more feature-length films so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the studio one day revisit the world. Needless to say Free! might remain the top swimming anime for quite some time.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to dive into this anime focused on the world of swimming, here’s an official description for Free!, “Nanase Haruka loved to be in the water – loved swimming. In elementary school, Nanase Haruka, Tachibana Makoto, Matsuoka Rin, and Hazuki Nagisa attended the same swimming class together. Time passed, and as Haruka was living an uneventful high school life, he suddenly encountered Rin again. Rin challenged Haruka to a race and showed him how much stronger he had become. Soon enough, Makoto and Nagisa also rejoined the group, and along with a new classmate, Ryugazaki Rei, they established the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club.”
Do you think we’ll one day see Free! swim back into the anime scene? What has been your favorite sports anime to date? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of sports anime.
