High-Speed!--Free!-Starting-Days--Anime-Film-Announced---Free!-Prequel

High☆Speed! -Free! Starting Days- Anime Film Announced – Free! Prequel

At the Free! Eternal Summer event, occurring alongside AnimeJapan, it was announced that a new anime film based on Kouji Ohji and Futoshi Nishiya’s light novel High☆Speed! The film will be titled High☆Speed! -Free! Starting Days- and will be based on the light novels, which are set before the Free! anime, and will release in Japan on December 5.

High-Speed!--Free!-Starting-Days--Visual

The High☆Speed! -Free! Starting Days- film will adapting the original High☆Speed! light novels, whereas the Free! and Free! Eternal Anime were based on the novels and are set after its events. The novel itself focuses on Haruka and friends in Elementary and Middle school, whilst the Free! anime features them in High school.

Kyoto Animation ealier released the covers for the second volume of the High☆Speed! light novel that released on July 2nd last year. Volume 2 will be set after the first novel as the main characters move on to middle school, where new characters will be introduced. The first novel feature the characters in elementary school.

High Speed Volume 2 Cover

The site also released an alternate cover of the novel, which features Rin Matsuoka and his new friends.

High Speed Volume 2 Cover Alt

Free! (Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club) is an anime adaptation of Kouji Ohji light novel High☆Speed!, which is illustrated by Futoshi Nishiya. The light novel received an honourable mention in the 2011 Kyoto Animation Award contest, and to date a total of 2 volumes have been published by Kyoto Animation. The series first received an anime adaptation titled Free! that aired from July 2013 for 12 episodes, animated by Kyoto Animation (Hyouka, Clannad) and Animation Do – with the latter’s animation debut. The second season of the anime, Free! – Eternal Summer, aired in Summer 2014. There were also radio shows and drama CD volumes released to promote the two anime seasons.

Here is a synopsis of the series from MAL:

The story revolves around Haruka Nanase, a boy who has always loved to be immersed in water, and to swim in it. Before graduating from elementary school, he participated in a swimming tournament along with his fellow swimming club members, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rin Matsuoka. After achieving victory, each of the boys went their separate ways.

Time passed, and in the middle of their uneventful high school lives Rin appears and challenges Haruka to a match, showing Haruka his overwhelming power. Not wanting it to end like this, Haruka, gathers together Makoto and Nagisa once again and brings a new member named Rei Ryugazaki to create the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club in order to defeat Rin.

Free!-Season-2-Titled-Free!-Eternal-Summer-Key-Visual

The Free! anime prequel film High☆Speed! -Free! Starting Days- will be released in Japanese theatres from December 5th. Further information will be revealed in the upcoming months.

Visit the anime’s website: http://iwatobi-sc.com/
And follow the official Twitter: @iwatobi_sc

 
Source Article and Image – Free! Anime Twitter
Source Article – Anime News Network
“High☆Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, “Free!”, “Free! Eternal Summer”, “High☆Speed!”, images, video and all associated tiles © 2015 Kouji Ohji, Futoshi Nishiya, Kyoto Animation and Animation Do