Free! Movie Hits Snag Thanks to One Band's Hiatus

The release of Free!'s new final two-part movie has hit an unexpected snag in production due to [...]

By Nick Valdez

The release of Free!'s new final two-part movie has hit an unexpected snag in production due to one band's hiatus! Earlier this month the lead singer of OLDCODEX and voice of Makoto Tachibana, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, had announced that he was going on hiatus from the entertainment industry due to health concerns. This unfortunately means that the release of the first full trailer for Free's two-part final film event, The Final Stroke, has been delayed as well as it was made with a theme song from OLDCODEX that had been scheduled for a release on September 15th before the hiatus changed these plans.

With OLDCODEX's hiatus meaning the release of this new theme song has been put on hold, Free! The Final Stroke's official website has explained that it would have been too difficult to change the theme featured in the trailer before its planned release later this week. So instead, there will be other details revealed about the film in its place. What makes this sting is that this is following a series of countdown illustrations hyping up the debut of the full trailer that will instead now be leading to these new detail reveals.

Thankfully this does not seemed to have impacted the production of the film event itself but instead has only delayed the release of the trailer. The production staff for the film revealed that they came to this decision following a series of conversations with OLDCODEX's label, but have yet to reveal an updated release date for the new trailer or plans to change its theme just yet.

As for the nature of this hiatus, reports about the reason why have sparked among fans as Suzuki's wife, artist LiSA, had announced she would be going on hiatus for "mental and physical fatigue" as well shortly before OLDCODEX confirmed their hiatus. Free! The Final Stroke is currently scheduled to debut the first of its two new films in Japan on September 17th, with the second film scheduled to open next April. International release plans have yet to be revealed as of this writing.

What do you think of this delay for Free! The Final Stroke's new trailer? Are you curious to see how this anime franchise will be coming to an end? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

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