Free! (2013): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2013, Free! is an animation, comedy and drama series.

What it’s about. 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.

Who’s in it. Free! stars Nobunaga Shimazaki as Haruka Nanase (voice), Daisuke Hirakawa as Rei Ryugazaki (voice), Akeno Watanabe as Gou Matsuoka (voice) and Kenjiro Tsuda as Seijuro Mikoshiba (voice), among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 8.2/10, Free! sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Crunchyroll and Crunchyroll Amazon Channel and rent or buy it from Apple TV Store. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Free! page.

If you liked it. Fans of Free! tend to enjoy Rick and Morty, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan and Attack on Titan: No Regrets.