The summer 2018 anime series Free! -Dive to the Future- brought out its compilation film back in 2019 and had set plans for an original film as part of summer 2020 previously that would tie nicely into the Olympics. That hit some snags back in the fall of 2019 as the official site talks about “various circumstances” that have caused the film to be delayed. The original hope was for it to be tied to the Olympics but it had problems even before the COVID hit. Back in April, the project updated with what to expect as the film is now being split into a two-film project with The Final Stroke debuting on September 17th, 2021 in Japan and the second part on April 22nd, 2022.
With the first film finishing up it theatrical run, all focus is now turning toward the second part of it. With the schedule still in place for its release, the official site has now rolled out a new promotional video and a new key visual for it.
This season was directed by Eisaku Kawanami with Masahiro Yokotani handling the scripts. Futoshi Nishiya served as the character designer and chief animation director with Kyoto Animation handling the production.
The Japanese cast includes Daisuke Hirakawa as Rei Ryugazaki, Mamoru Miyano as Rin Matsuoka, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Haruka Nanase, Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Makoto Tachibana, Tsubasa Yonaga as Nagisa Hazuki, Akeno Watanabe as Gō Matsuoka, Hiroshi Yanaka as Gorō Sasabe, Kenjiro Tsuda as Seijūrō Mikoshiba, Satsuki Yukino as Miho Amakata, Atsushi Abe as Romio Hayahune, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Shizuru Isurugi, and Ryou Hirohashi as Ayumu Kunikida.
Check out the official site and Twitter.
Property concept: Haruka, who is attending college in Tokyo, meets Asahi again and reawakens his memories from his middle school years, including those of Ikuya. Makoto is working toward a new dream while he is in Tokyo together with Haruka. Rin has an unexpected meeting in Sydney. As they await their new futures, will they see a new fight ahead? Or will they instead confront the past they left behind?
1st feature promos and visuals:
