'High☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days' Additional Information Revealed

by tsubasalover
Jul 20, 2015 8:46 AM | 53 Comments

The revamped site for the upcoming High☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days movie opened today, announcing new characters and staff members as well as a key visual. Tatsuhisa Suzuki will return to the cast as Makoto Tachibana.

New Characters
Asahi Shiina: Described as optimistic and sometimes overly confident. His swimming style is butterfly.
Ikuya Kirishima: Described as someone with full of emotion, but unable to show that other than saying harsh words. Younger brother of Natsuya, which he is discorded with. His swimming style is breaststroke.
Nao Serizawa: Manager and "teacher" of the club.
Natsuya Kirishima: The captain of the swimming club and liked by everyone. Older brother of Ikuya.

Staff
Art Director: Jouji Tsurunoguchi
Character Design, General Illustration Director: Daiji Nishiya
Color Design: Yuka Yoneda
Film Director: Kazuya Takao
Music: Tatsuya Kato
Script: Maiko Nishioka
Series Composition: Masahiro Hosotani
Small Goods Setting: Seiichi Akitake
Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka

Haruka (CV: Nobunaga Shimazaki)

Makoto (CV: Tatsuhisa Suzuki)

Asahi

Ikuya

Nao

Natsuya

Correlation Chart

The anime announcement was originally made in March, where it was announced that the light novel High☆Speed! would receive a movie adaptation slated for December 5, titled High☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days. The movie is a prequel to Kyoto Animation's TV anime Free!, which is based on the same light novel by Kouji Ohji. The TV anime received a sequel, titled Free!: Eternal Summer, for Summer 2014.

Source: Official site

Fall 2015 More Info

20 of 53 Comments Recent Comments

fable said:
you are right about there not being many shows aimed at women, gay or otherwise, but you are wrong about aoi hana. aoi hana is aimed at a female audience.

My mistake, but the wiki page for both the manga and the magazine it was serialized in don't say what demographic they have.

Ejc said:

Anime (and light novels) in Japan isn't so clear cut with demographics compared to say manga

I know this. I know LN and anime are not run like the manga part of the business, but it's not hard to tell if it's aimed at men or women or a more gender neutral audience. Highschool DxD or all those harem/fanservice LN and their adaptions are obviously aimed at straight men even if the have no demographic listed. You can always look at where the anime is being promoted to see who they're selling it too. Free! was advertised almost entirely in magazines aimed at women.

Ejc said:
but to be stating something like "Female otaku do not have a lot of shows aimed at them", is not factually correct.

Uhm... That is true, lmao. How many shows this season are explicitly aimed at women? How many last? How many before that? Shows aimed at women are maybe 2 or 3 a season. I don't understand how you can say 'I agree that female otaku don't get that much' then turn around and say that isn't correct. Compared to what male otaku get, female otaku do not get that much. That's changing, obviously, but it's still no where near as much as male otaku have gotten.

Look dude, totally respect you, but female otaku do not have a lot of anime aimed at them. They may like stuff that was made for men, like Kuroko no Basket, but that doesn't mean they were the intended audience for the show.

mayukachan said:

okay but aoi hana is definitely aimed towards girls. it's like an innocent shoujo show LOL

It being innocent doesn't mean anything. There are 'innocent' shows aimed at men. That and when I rechecked who it was aimed at I didn't see a demographic for the manga or magazine on wiki. My mistake.

Aug 22, 2015 5:40 AM by marx-chan

mrcmc888 said:
Kyoani ran out all the bishie fan service so now they're giving us shotas? Lol, just when I thought they had pulled themselves out of the gutter with Hibike Euphonium.

I thought that was the most gayest show they've ever made?

Kotobukii said:
shows aimed at men like Sakura Trick, Aoi Hana, and Akuma no Riddle to name a few.

okay but aoi hana is definitely aimed towards girls. it's like an innocent shoujo show LOL

Aug 21, 2015 10:36 PM by Mayuka

Comic_Sans said:

thepath said:
Who the hell want to watch males swimming?

Girls
Gays

ayyy lmao.

Aug 21, 2015 4:05 PM by Meepo

Kotobukii said:

faerygoth said:

and do you realise that there are female anime fans that like girls?? so don't say female otaku have little because you're asuming every female anime fan is straight ok thanks

Just because girls like a show doesn't mean it's aimed at them. Female otaku do not have a lot of shows aimed at them, even if they like shows like Kekkai Sensen or Sakura Trick, doesn't mean it was made for them or with them in mind. That's what she was saying. There are shows aimed at lesbians, like Maria-sama, but they're a drop in the bucket compared to shows aimed at men like Sakura Trick, Aoi Hana, and Akuma no Riddle to name a few. Doesn't mean women don't like these shows, just that they weren't made for that audience.

ok i understand what you're saying. i misread their comment and i agree with you. i've seen posts on other sites where people act like free is the only anime for girls and ignore the the fact that not everyone is straight and this just got me heated. also people tend to assume that all anime featuring mostly female characters must be ecchi / fanservice and so is intended only for males and well that's not always true.

on a seperate note it would be so nice if there was sports anime like free but with female characters that are not over sexualised. i would love that.

Kotobukii said:
I'm ready to protect my son, Makoto.

also don't think i'm hating on free. i do love this anime and like i said before i'm looking forward to the prequel

Aug 21, 2015 9:46 AM by faery

If they are going to follow the novel, Free!Starting Days is everything but shota tho. Like how the hell people jump into such conclusion?!

Also the movie is going to be directed by a completely different director so we don't know what direction he's gonna take.

Aug 21, 2015 5:13 AM by lilymul

Even if we go with the story that this is a show comparable to ecchi crap (hint: its not), the shota market is still a pretty big one.

Shota probably makes up more than half of all H yaoi material out there.

Your outrage at this show's existence is shallow and childish. Stop trying to justify it by claiming there's no market. You're demonstrable incorrect.

Aug 20, 2015 5:36 PM by Red_Keys

Kotobukii said:
I'm ready to protect my son, Makoto.

faerygoth said:

and do you realise that there are female anime fans that like girls?? so don't say female otaku have little because you're asuming every female anime fan is straight ok thanks

Anime (and light novels) in Japan isn't so clear cut with demographics compared to say manga where it is definitely serialised in either a shoujo, shounen, seinen or josei magazine. So you cannot say with certainty that a small portion of anime airing right now are aimed at women, because there are no facts to back such a claim. This is why MAL using demographics in its genre tags for anime is totally rubbish, yet they continue to do such a thing.

I'm not refuting your opinion on this subject, as I also agree that it seems like women always get the short end of the stick in every anime season, but to be stating something like "Female otaku do not have a lot of shows aimed at them", is not factually correct.

The one thing we can say with high likelihood is that anime aired during the early morning/afternoon are most likely aimed at kids/teenagers (since many adults are working during that time), while anime aired at late-night/midnight are aimed at adults (since they are most likely to be awake at that time of the day).

Aug 20, 2015 5:12 PM by Ejc

you are right about there not being many shows aimed at women, gay or otherwise, but you are wrong about aoi hana. aoi hana is aimed at a female audience.

Aug 20, 2015 12:36 PM by Claptrap

I'm ready to protect my son, Makoto.

faerygoth said:

and do you realise that there are female anime fans that like girls?? so don't say female otaku have little because you're asuming every female anime fan is straight ok thanks

Aug 20, 2015 7:14 AM by marx-chan

phoenixalia said:

thepath said:
I wish if they release female version of free. Who the hell want to watch males swimming !

Seriously, go watch Bikini Warriors or some other ecchi anime. There are loads of them. Take your pick. Don't take out what little us female otaku have.

i kinda agree with what you're saying but it would be nice if there was sports anime about girls that isn't over sexualised
and do you realise that there are female anime fans that like girls?? so don't say female otaku have little because you're asuming every female anime fan is straight ok thanks

anyway looking forward to this - any sequel or prequel to free! is welcome by me

Aug 20, 2015 3:13 AM by faery

Helenus said:
I don't need no 'Boku no Free'

I'm dying. XD

Jul 27, 2015 11:24 AM by Galaxia

^damn I hope they can come to my country as well but then it'd be only like 3 of us here probably watching it.

Anyways, new trailer(kinda)! with sound this time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iA5-DnclpHw

The music sounds nice and I swear I was screaming when I heard who was narrating lmao

I need December now pls

Jul 26, 2015 9:49 PM by lilymul

I heard that the High Speed Free! Movie is getting 120 screens. To give you an idea of how big of a deal this is, only 3 other late-night anime franchises have gotten >= 120 screens. These 3 are K-ON!, Madoka, and Love Live!, and are currently the Top 3 here.

Note: Love Live! is still showing at the cinema, so that is only its current total as of the Umi no Hi National Holiday (38 days after the first showing).

Key: Rank / Cumulative gross / Initial number of screens (Final number of screens) / Movie Name

Highest Box Office Gross: Late-night/midnight Anime Movies Top 10
*1　¥2,080,000,000　129(***)　劇場版魔法少女まどか☆マギカ新編 -叛逆の物語-
*2　¥1,901,657,880　121(***)　『ラブライブ！ The School Idol Movie』
*3　¥1,900,000,000　137(186)　映画けいおん！
*4　¥1,040,000,000　*64(*88)　劇場版あの日見た花の名前を僕たちはまだ知らない。
*5　¥*,850,000,000　102(***)　劇場版 PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス
*6　¥*,850,000,000　*24(101)　涼宮ハルヒの消失
*7　¥*,772,973,700　*39(*85)　THE IDOLM@STER MOVIE 輝きの向こう側へ
*8　¥*,743,000,000　*94(***)　劇場版 TIGER&BUNNY -The Rising-
*9　¥*,700,000,000　*38(*99)　劇場版マクロスF 恋離飛翼
10　¥*,650,000,000　*30(*31)　劇場版マクロスF 虚空歌姫

Jul 23, 2015 5:10 AM by Ejc

Kyaaaaa~ Makoto-sama!!!! <3

Jul 23, 2015 12:53 AM by Hiryu12

Free! is always welcomed, so I'm looking forward to it.

Jul 23, 2015 12:39 AM by TrippyStack

mrcmc888 said:
Kyoani ran out all the bishie fan service so now they're giving us shotas? Lol, just when I thought they had pulled themselves out of the gutter with Hibike Euphonium.

Please stop being rude to female otaku and acting as if Kyoani making a bishie show is putting themselves in the 'gutter'. Please.

Jul 23, 2015 12:09 AM by phoenixalia

Kyoani ran out all the bishie fan service so now they're giving us shotas? Lol, just when I thought they had pulled themselves out of the gutter with Hibike Euphonium.

Jul 22, 2015 12:25 PM by KaoruMatsuoka

Ikuya looks emo.

Jul 22, 2015 9:15 AM by Tengai

Going to watch this for sure. I'm loving this actually.

Jul 21, 2015 8:17 AM by Enharmonic

I am sooo looking forward to this. I hope they stay faithful to the novel. The novel is perfect on how it handles the characters especially Haru. Much better than both seasons of Free! Idk but I feel the anime is 'hiding' Haru's personality too much(maybe because we get to know Haru's little thoughts and comments on everything in the novel) so it's kinda hard to deduce his intention and feeling sometimes.

lol wth Natsuya looks nothing like a brother of Ikuya.

Also I demand the female characters T.T and where is my fluffy Kisumi and Sousuke?!

P/s makotobae looking flawless as usual. I fell in love all over again ❤

Jul 21, 2015 6:22 AM by lilymul

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