nishiya

[Translation] Free!DF Starter Book Interview - Nishiya Futoshi

- Please tell me what are the highlights of episode 1.
At the beginning of our production of “Free!DF,” I went back to rewatch “Free!” season 1. It was a nostalgic experience for me, and it brought me back to the starting point of it all and gave me newfound spirits for this show. I really hope the viewers can look back to the paths the characters have taken up until now, and enjoy the new lives of Haruka and Makoto as university students, as well as the reunion scene with characters we haven’t seen for a while. It’s the first time for characters like Asahi and Ikuya to appear in the TV series, so I consciously gave them their own distinctive style when I drew them. The whole episode has many noteworthy scenes, but among them all, the scene where Haruka and Rin swims is where I put the most effort in, and it’s the highlight of episode 1, so please watch out for it. Both the setting and the atmosphere of “Free!DF” has changed, and everything should be new to the audience. Please follow their new journey from start to finish without missing anything and enjoy the show!

- Haruka and the others have grown a little taller as university students from when they were in high school. Please tell me what aspects are you conscious of when drawing.
When I draw, I keep in mind to give them a more mature atmosphere overall. I didn’t change much of their physical appearances. There are some finetuning, but since we’re portraying the journey of their growth, we keep in mind that it’s an important quality of theirs when we tackle it. Especially for Rei and Nagisa who are now third-years, I think we gave them a feeling of “dependable senpai” in contrast to the new members.
Since we’re portraying university life, one thing that really increased is the variation of their clothes. We researched for the kind of clothes that they’d wear as university students through many media, and we aim to give them something that is in-character and natural. Instead of giving them different patterns or designs, we try to separate them by the silhouette and coordination. So far they’ve mostly been wearing school uniform or jerseys, but in this season, the characters will be wearing normal clothes a lot more, and I hope it’s something for you to look forward to.

- Please tell me something about the designs of Asahi, Ikuya, Natsuya and Nao, who have grown up since their middle school years, and also the new character, Hiyori.
When I was designing the characters for “High Speed!”, I was actually secretly picturing what Asahi and Ikuya would look like in high school. At the time, I didn’t actually think we would animate their older selves for real, so I still have profound feelings about this.
In middle school, Asahi was full of vigor and passion, and basically just a very spirited character, but gradually his inherent leadership shines through and now he’s become a really cool character with both adult-like resolution and playfulness.
Ikuya used to have a really cute face, but now that he has grown up, his expressions are more of the stoic and cool kind with conviction and fighting spirit behind them. We take care to express his emotion via his eyes or pursed lips.
Nao’s hair is shorter and he wears glasses now, so his image has changed a bit. In the Free! series, Nao is the most doleful-looking, or you can say the character who has the most sensual atmosphere, so even at our production house, sometimes you’d hear people saying “Please add some mysterious sex appeal here!” (lol) On the other hand, I really like Natsuya’s design as a middle school student, so I didn’t make many changes to him and only took care to make him look older.
When I first designed the new character Hiyori, I only vaguely had the image of “Ikuya’s high school roommate” in mind, so to think that he’d have such an important role in the main story… his looks and attitude may seem gentle, but what’s he really thinking…? Please watch his every move in the story.
At the Iwatobi High School Swim Club, there are also three new members. I thought to design them separately while keeping in mind they are a group together. They are very cute underclassmen. There are also many more new characters that I can’t disclose now, so please look forward to them.

- Finally, a message to the fans, please.
Thank you very much for supporting the “Free!” series all this time. It’s because of the previous TV shows and the movies that we made it to “Free!DF.” Since we’ve done so much, there are so many characters appearing once we add them all up, and it surprised me too. I hope you’ll enjoy watching their new encounters and new relationships created in unexpected ways. Please fully enjoy the development of Haruka and the others as university students!