Kyoto Animation celebrated the eighth anniversary of Free! earlier this week with a livestream, in which they announced a new anime film for the franchise titled Free! The Final Stroke. The movie will be split into two parts, with the first part opening in Japan on September 17th, 2021 and the second part on April 22nd, 2022.
Based on the teaser video, the film is slated to be the “final chapter” for the franchise with the tagline: “Let’s go, to the stage of glory.” It is also confirmed that Nobunaga Shimazaki will be reprising his role as Haruka Nanase, and Eisaku Kawanami will be returning to direct this film.
The film was originally slated to launch in Summer 2020 but was delayed due to “various circumstances.” This places Free! ~Road to the World~ Yume as the latest movie in the franchise, premiering in July 2019.
Watch the full teaser trailer here:
