Free! anime franchise’s official website unveiled a new teaser for the second installment of the new anime film project Free! The Final Stroke on Friday, April 1, 2022, featuring J-pop band OLDCODEX‘s final song. The band’s “This Fading Blue” will serve as the main theme song of the movie.

Staff members imply that the film will be the franchise’s final chapter. “Let’s go, to the stage of glory,” says the project’s tagline. Both films cover Haruka’s experience with global competition.

The second volume of the two-part film is scheduled for April 22, 2022. The first volume was released in Japan on Sep 17, 2021.

The movie’s staff includes Eisaku Kawanami (Free! -Dive to the Future-) as story composer and scriptwriter, Masahiro Yokotani (Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World Season 2) as co-scriptwriter, the late Futoshi Nishiya (Free! -Dive to the Future-, Liz and the Blue Bird) as character designer, and Kōhei Okamura (Free! -Dive to the Future- ) and Miku Kadowaki (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S) as chief animation directors.

The cast of Free! The Final Stroke includes returning cast members Nobunaga Shimazaki as Haruka Nanase, Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Makoto Tachibana, Mamoru Miyano as Rin Matsuoka, and Kōki Uchiyama as Ikuya Kirishima.

The Free! anime franchise, which is loosely based on the light novels by Kōji Ōji, began in 2013 under Kyoto Animation and includes three TV series and multiple films. KyoAni’s Osaka branch Animation Do, which merged with its parent company in 2020, had a prominent role in the production of most of the Free! installments.

Source: Free! The Final Stroke films’ website