Free!

Free! (フリー！ Furī!) is a Japanese anime television series directed by Hiroko Utsumi and produced by Kyoto Animation and Animation Do. It is based on the light novel High☆Speed! by Kōji Ōji. Free! aired in Japan between July 4 and September 26, 2013. A second season came out and was under the name of ''Free! Eternal Summer'' aired in July 2014.

Plot
Free! revolves around members of a high school boy's swimming team. Haruka, Rin, Makoto, and Nagisa were members of the same swimming club in elementary school before parting ways, with Rin moving to Australia. Years later, they reunite when Rin challenges Haruka to a race and wins. Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and then later on Rei form the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club. Rin, meanwhile, joins the swim team at Samezuka Academy, a swimming powerhouse.

Characters

 * Nobunaga Shimazaki (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English) as Haruka "Haru" Nanase
 * Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English) as Makoto Tachibana
 * Tsubasa Yonaga (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English) as Nagisa Hazuki
 * Daisuke Hirakawa (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English) as Rei Ryugazaki
 * Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English) as Rin Matsuoka
 * Hosoya Yoshimasa (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English) as Sousuke Yamazaki
 * Akeno Watanabe (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English) as Gou Matsuoka

Het

 * HaruGou - the ship between Haruka Nanase and Gou Matsuoka
 * MakoGou - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Gou Matsuoka
 * MomoGou - the ship between Momotaro Mikoshiba and Gou Matsuoka
 * NagiGou - the ship between Nagisa Hazuki and Gou Matsuoka
 * ReiGou - the ship between Rei Ryugazaki and Gou Matsuoka
 * SeiGou - the ship between Seijuro Mikoshiba and Gou Matsuoka
 * SouGou - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Gou Matsuoka

Slash

 * Harugisa - the ship between Haruka Nanase and Nagisa Hazuki
 * HaruRei - the ship between Haruka Nanase and Rei Ryugazaki
 * KisuMako - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Kisumi Shigino
 * Makogisa - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Nagisa Hazuki
 * MakoHaru - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Haruka Nanase
 * MakoRei - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Rei Ryugazaki
 * MakoRin - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Rin Matsuoka
 * MakoTori - the ship between Makoto Tachibana and Aiichiro Nitori
 * MomoTori - the ship between Momotaro Mikoshiba and Aiichiro Nitori
 * Nagitori - the ship between Nagisa Hazuki and Aiichiro Nitori
 * Reigisa - the ship between Rei Ryugazaki and Nagisa Hazuki
 * Ringisa - the ship between Rin Matsuoka and Nagisa Hazuki
 * RinHaru - the ship between Rin Matsuoka and Haruka Nanase
 * RinRei - the ship between Rin Matsuoka and Rei Ryugazaki
 * RinTori - the ship between Rin Matsuoka and Aiichiro Nitori
 * Sougisa - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Nagisa Hazuki
 * SouHaru - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Haruka Nanase
 * SouMako - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Makoto Tachibana
 * SouMomo - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Momotaro Mikoshib
 * SouRei - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Rei Ryugazaki
 * SouRin - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Rin Matsuoka
 * SouTori - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki and Aiichiro Nitori

Femslash

 * MihoGou - the ship between Gou Matsuoka and Miho Amakata

Poly

 * MakoKisuRin - the ship between Makoto Tachibana, Rin Matsuoka and Kisumi Shigino
 * MakoHaruRin - the ship between Makoto Tachibana, Haruka Nanase and Rin Matsuoka
 * SouMakoHaru - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki, Makoto Tachibana and Haruka Nanase
 * SouRinTori - the ship between Sousuke Yamazaki, Rin Matsuoka and Aiichiro Nitori

Family

 * RinGou - the family ship between Rin Matsuoka and Gou Matsuoka

Cargo

 * HaruH2O - the ship between Haruka Nanase and Water

Fanon
The fandom seemed to come out of nowhere, the show being an instant hit.

In fanfiction, one common trope is to explore the world of the end credits theme's.

YouTuber Octopimp created an abridged series called "50% off". The abridged series pulls jokes from the fandom, as well as confirming some fan favorite pairings. Many consider it to have its own fanbase.

Fandom
AO3

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Fanlore