On the surface, Free! comes off as an anime that serves no other purpose other than catering to fan service. The lean physique of the swimmers, their well-defined torsos, and perfect swimming strokes are just the flashy cover of an otherwise toned-down slice-of-life sports anime.
The plot revolves around a high-school swim team competing in various tournaments and making you have conflicting thoughts about teen anime boys.
Free! Has received three anime seasons and seven movies. It also has some specials and OVAs.
1. How To Watch Free! in Order?
The recommended order of watching Free! is by following the release order and skipping a few non-essential OVAs/Specials:
- Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (2013)
- Free! FrFr – Short Movie (2013)
- Free! Eternal Summer (2014)
- Free! Eternal Summer –Forbidden All-Hard!
- High Speed! Free! Starting Days (2015)
- Free! Take Your Marks (2017)
- Free! Dive to the Future Ep 0: Build-Up of Early Spring!
- Free! Dive to the Future (2018)
- Free!: Road to the World – Yume (2019)
- Free!: The Final Stroke – Zenpen (2021)
- Free!: The Final Stroke – Kouhen (2022)
If you want to watch the complete show without missing anything, the complete release order is just below.
2. Complete Release Order
Below is the order in which Free! was released:
| Title | Type |
| Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (2013) | Season 1 |
| Free! FrFr – Short Movie (2013) | Special |
| Free! Eternal Summer (2014) | Season 2 |
| Free! Eternal Summer –Forbidden All-Hard! | OVA |
| High Speed! Free! Starting Days (2015) | Movie |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Kizuna – Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | Special |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Kizuna (2017) | Movie |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku: Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | Special |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku (2017) | Movie |
| Free! Take Your Marks: Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | Special |
| Free! Take Your Marks (2017) | Movie |
| Free! Dive to the Future Ep 0: Build-Up of Early Spring! | OVA |
| Free! Dive to the Future (2018) | Season 3 |
| Free!: Road to the World – Yume (2019) | Movie |
| Free!: The Final Stroke – Zenpen (2021) | Movie |
| Free!: The Final Stroke – Kouhen (2022) | Movie |
3. Chronological Order
The chronological order follows the timeline of Free! so that you don’t miss out on anything.
- High Speed! Free! Starting Days
- Season 1: Free!
- Free! FrFr – Short Movie
- Free! Movie 1: Timeless Medley – Kizuna
- Season 2: Free! Eternal Summer
- Free! Eternal Summer – Kindan no All Hard!
- Free! Movie 2: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku
- Free! Take Your Marks
- Free! Dive to the Future Episode 0 – Soushun no build up!
- Season 3: Free! Dive to the Future
- Free! Movie 3: Road to the World – Yume
- Free! Movie 4: The Final Stroke – Zenpen
- Free! Movie 5: The Final Stroke – Kouhen
4. Where to watch Free! with English subtitles and dub?
Crunchyroll and Funimation are mostly the main providers of Free! but you can also find them on Netflix and Prime Video.
| Title | Where to stream with Eng subs? | Where to stream with Eng dub? |
| Free! (2013) | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video |
| Free! FrFr – Short Movie (2013) | – | – |
| Free! Eternal Summer (2014) | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video |
| Free! Eternal Summer –Forbidden All-Hard! | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video |
| High Speed! Free! Starting Days (2015) | Funimation, Amazon, Crunchyroll | Crunchyroll, Funimation |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Kizuna – Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | – | – |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Kizuna (2017) | Netflix, Funimation, Crunchyroll | Funimation, Netflix, Crunchyroll |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku: Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | – | – |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku (2017) | Crunchyroll, Netflix, Funimation | Crunchyroll, Netflix, Funimation |
| Free! Take Your Marks: Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | – | – |
| Free! Take Your Marks (2017) | Funimation, Prime Video | Funimation, Prime Video |
| Free! Dive to the Future Ep 0: Build-Up of Early Spring! | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video |
| Free! Dive to the Future (2018) | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video | Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, Prime Video |
| Free!: Road to the World – Yume (2019) | – | – |
| Free!: The Final Stroke – Zenpen (2021) | – | – |
| Free!: The Final Stroke – Kouhen (2022) | – | – |
5. Can you download and watch Free! offline?
Several websites offer download options with their different packages, and we have the readymade list right here:
| Website | Subscription Packages | Offline Viewing |
| Crunchyroll | Fan – $7.99/month | No |
| Mega Fan – $9.99/month | Yes | |
| Ultimate Fan – $14.99/month | Yes | |
| Funimation | Premium: $5.99 a month / $59.99 per year | No |
| Premium Plus: $7.99 a month / $79.99 per year | Yes | |
| Premium Plus Ultra: $99.99 per year | Yes | |
| Netflix | Basic with ads: $6.99/month | No |
| Basic: $9.99/month | Yes | |
| Standard: $15.49/month | Yes | |
| Premium: $19.99/month | Yes | |
| Prime Video | $8.99 per month | Yes |
A lot of anime are geo-blocked for several countries. If the anime isn’t available on any streaming website in your area, then you can use a VPN to bypass the geo-block.
There are many paid VPN services available, but you also have free options at hand. You can also use free browser extensions VPNs that you will find in the extension store.
If you are accessing streaming websites from your phone, you will find several VPNs from the app store. The important thing is that Free! is present on Netflix, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Prime Video’s catalogs, so set your VPN to a suitable location to access the anime from anywhere.
7. How much time will it take to complete watching Free!?
| Title | Type | Duration |
| Free! (2013) | Season 1 | 288 minutes |
| Free! FrFr – Short Movie (2013) | Special | 14 minutes |
| Free! Eternal Summer (2014) | Season 2 | Free! Eternal Summer – 312 minutes |
| Free! Eternal Summer –Forbidden All-Hard! | OVA | 24 minutes |
| High Speed! Free! Starting Days (2015) | Movie | 110 minutes |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Kizuna – Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | Special | 16 minutes |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Kizuna (2017) | Movie | 95 minutes |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku: Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | Special | 20 minutes |
| Free!: Timeless Medley – Yakusoku (2017) | Movie | 98 minutes |
| Free! Take Your Marks: Character Butai Aisatsu (2017) | Special | 20 minutes |
| Free! Take Your Marks (2017) | Movie | 108 minutes |
| Free! Dive to the Future Ep 0: Build-Up of Early Spring! | OVA | 23 minutes |
| Free! Dive to the Future (2018) | Season 3 | 276 minutes |
| Free!: Road to the World – Yume (2019) | Movie | 99 minutes |
| Free!: The Final Stroke – Zenpen (2021) | Movie | 85 minutes |
| Free!: The Final Stroke – Kouhen (2022) | Movie | 110 minutes |
Assuming you would take the longer route and watch the series, the movies, and the specials; it will take you 28 hours and 18 minutes to finish them all, which counts to 2 days approximately.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
i. Are the Free! movies important to watch?
Yes, most of the Free! movies add important developments to the anime. Only the Free! Timeless Medly: The Bond and The Promise are recap movies that summarize season 2: Eternal Summer. You can skip them unless you want to stick around for a few original shots.
‘High Speed! Free! Starting Days,’ ‘Free! Take Your Marks’ and the trilogy movie ‘Free!: The Final Stroke’ are all important to watch.
ii. Has Free! ended?
Free!: The Final Stroke is the concluding movie of the franchise. The series has thus ended, but you never know when an OVA or spin-off might pop out.
9. Conclusion
The recommended order is the best way to watch Free!. You can skip the Timeless Medley movies as well as the Character Butai Aisetsu. The former are recap movies while the latter are character stage greeting specials that precede the respective movies.
10. About Free!
Free! is animated by Kyoto Animation and is loosely based on the light novel, High Speed!, by Koji Oji.
The series revolves around members of a high school boy’s swimming team. The youngsters participate in a swimming tournament right before they graduate from middle school and go their separate ways.
Free! has a unique concept by using the sport of competitive swimming as their focal point. The animation, art, and sound used in the series complement the story well.
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