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Funimation Schedules Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club Season 1 on BD/DVD in July
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Funimation announced on Tuesday that it will release the Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club anime season on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in July.
Crunchyroll had announced in July that it will release the anime's first season on Blu-ray Disc and DVD with an English dub. Last September, Crunchyroll and Funimation announced a partnership that includes cross-streaming opportunities, Broadcast Dub production, and home video distribution. While Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club was previously only available streaming on Crunchyroll, it became available through Funimation's FunimationNow service within weeks of the partnership's announcement.
Discotek previously released the season on DVD in May 2015 with English subtitles. The season premiered in 2013.
Funimation also previously released Free! Eternal Summer, the anime's second season, on Blu-ray Disc and DVD home video with an English dub in February 2016. Funimation and Crunchyroll both streamed the second season as it aired in 2014.
The story of Kyoto Animation's series begins with Haruka Nanase, a high school boy who once swam competitively. After years of separation, his childhood friend Rin challenges him to a swimming match, showing Haruka his overwhelming power. Not wanting it to end like this, Haruka gathers together his former teammates Makoto and Nagisa once again, and also brings a new member named Rei Ryugazaki to create the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club. Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, and Rin come together for a story of swimming, youth, and friendship.
Kyoto Animation announced a "new screen project" for the franchise last August, but did not indicate the new project's medium or format. The first season will get a novelization by scriptwriter Masahiro Yokotani in June.
The franchise received a prequel film titled High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, directly inspired by the High Speed! novel by Kōji Ōji that was loosely adapted into the first television anime. The film opened in Japan in December 2015
