New “Free!” Film Reveals Teaser and Announces 2021 Premiere

News from Iwatobi! The official Free! Twitter account released a brand-new PV and promotional image for the new Free film, which is now set to premiere in 2021.

Fans of Free! have been on the edge of their seat since the final episode of season 3 two years ago, which ended with a teasing, “See you in 2020”! While we were treated to a new compilation film, Road to the World, which premiered last summer and recapped the third season, we were all waiting for the new Free film.

The all-new film, which was confirmed in January 2019 and does not yet seem to have a title, was set to premiere this summer, alongside the Tokyo Olympics. It was initially delayed as early as November of last year, in the wake of the Kyoto Animation arson fire.

The official website assured fans that the staff was still hard at work and would announce the new premiere date once it had been decided, and it looks like now it has…sort of. The tweet and the PV have told us that it will return in 2021, but there is still no specific date. Still, considering the subject matter, it will likely come to theaters either ahead of or alongside the Olympics.

Even in 2018, fans could guess that the new Free film would be tied to the Tokyo Olympics. Aside from the promise that we would see them in 2020, promotional art for season 3 featured Haru in a jacket that looked an awful lot like a Japanese national team uniform. Yet during the season, we never saw Haru in the jacket.

While season 3 of the anime focused a lot on Haru reconnecting with old friends Asahi and Ikuya, there was also an emphasis on new rivals, as well as our main characters competing for a spot on the All-Japan team. In fact, the final episode frustratingly ended before showing us who won Haru and Rin’s head-to-head race.

The new PV shows a few clips from the previous outings, including the three seasons of the anime as well as the film High Speed! Free Starting Days, an adaptation of the light novel that inspired the series. But it also shows not only Haru, but also Rin and Ikuya wearing the national team jackets! We also see Albert, the foreign swimmer from season 3 who sparked Haru’s competitive spirit again, in the background.

Check it out below:

I am so unbelievably excited! I cannot wait to see the Iwatobi boys again, and I especially cannot wait to see Haru, Rin, and Ikuya in the Olympics! Free! was one of my first anime obsessions and I have a soft spot for these characters. Any time we get new content is a good time.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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