“High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-” Film to Open Dec. 5; Will Depict Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana’s Middle School Days

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Jul. 23, 2015 22:00 PDT

The anime series Free!, broadcast since June 2013, has garnered high critical praise for its depiction of the youth of high school boys, with a particular focus on swimming. This popularity meant that a second season, Free! Eternal Summer, began airing in July 2014.

The source material for this series came from the novel High Speed! by Koji Oji. A film version of High Speed will be produced by the same studio, Kyoto Animation, with Yasuhiro Takemoto as director.

The release date of the film, naturally anticipated by Free! fans, was announced on July 21. The title of the film is High Speed! -Free! Starting Days- and it will open across Japan on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015.

Along with the release date, the story details and a poster design have been released. The story will depict the protagonist, Haruka Nanase, and his friend from elementary school, Makoto Tachibana, as they progress into Iwatobi Middle School. At the swimming club there they come to form a medley relay team with Asahi Shiina and Ikuya Kirishima. While Free! depicted the boys’ high school era, High Speed! -Free! Starting Days- will bring their earlier middle school days to the screen.

The poster design shows the four boys Haruka, Makoto, Asahi, and Ikuya. There is plenty of anticipation as to how the new swimming drama will develop.

With a view to the release, special advance tickets have also been announced. They will go on sale at theaters across Japan from Saturday, July 25. The tickets also include a free gift, one of six types of a special movie clear file showing Haruka and friends as high school students. All illustrations were specially commissioned and drawn by Futoshi Nishiya.

The price is 1,500 yen for general admission, and 900 yen for children (including tax). One randomly selected clear file out of a choice of six will also be included.

Furthermore, this autumn a special Free! event was announced. Entitled “Eternal Summer -Swimming All Night-,” the September event will consist of all-night and late showings of the entire series Free! Eternal Summer.

The all-night event is scheduled to take place On Sept. 20 from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. at seven cinemas: Shinjuku Piccadilly, Yokohama Burg 13, Osaka Station Cinema, Movix Kyoto, Nagoya Midland Square Cinema, T-Joy Hakata, and Hiroshima Wald 11. Four cinemas—Movix Sendai, Aeon Cinema Niigata Minami, Movix Shimizu, and Movix Kurashiki—will have late showings split over two days on Sept. 26 and 27. For further information on these events, please see the official website.

High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-
Saturday, Dec. 5 Nationwide Roadshow

Staff:
Original Story: High Speed! by Koji Oji (KA Esuma Bunko/Kyoto Animation)
Director: Yasuhiro Takemoto
Composition: Masahiro Yokotani
Screenplay: Maiko Nishioka
Character Design / Chief Animation Director: Futoshi Nishiya
Art Director: Joji Unoguchi
Colorist: Yuka Yoneda
Prop Design: Seiichi Akitake
Director of Photography: Kazuya Takao
Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka
Music: Tatsuya Kato
Animation: Kyoto Animation
Production: High Speed! Production Committee
Distribution: Shochiku

Cast:
Haruka Nanase: Nobunaga Shimazaki
Makoto Tachibana: Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Story:
“Haruka Nanase has a special affection towards the touch and feeling of water. In the last medley relay he competed in elementary school, along with Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rin Matsuoka, Haruka finally arrived at a “landscape he had never seen before.” Now, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, Haruka is entering Iwatobi Middle School with Makoto. Their new lives have begun. Haruka and Makoto, who have joined the swimming club, form a medley relay team with Asahi Shiina and Ikuya Kirishima, and set their sights on the competition. In a team with disparate goals and ways of thinking, the four boys struggle to deal with their respective issues. In the middle of all this, training is piling up, and they don’t seem to be improving…”

“What is necessary to make a team? With his mind stuck in the medley relays of the past, what will Haruka think of this new environment? High Speed! -Free! Starting Days- depicts the boys gradually getting to know one another, and discovering new things through swimming. These boys’ vibrant youth, and their future in the water, starts now.”

Source: animeanime