Free! is a Kyoto Animation production that debuted back in 2013. I watched it for hot boys but also really ended up liking the story, animation, and voice acting.

The ending credits of the first season features the song SPLASH FREE which is performed by the group STYLE FIVE, which is comprised of the voice actors who played the lead five characters in Free!

It’s a bop. The first part of the animation shows the swimmers of Free! dancing, then flips into a story where Haruka Nanase is looking for water in the desert, and nobody has it except for Rin Matsuoka, who is hoarding and wasting it. At the end of this story, Haruka finds an oasis, and Rin welcomes him to it.

The song is SO CATCHY!!!

So why is something this old stuck in my head?

Well, I downloaded a bunch of anisongs (anime songs) before heading to Japan to help me learn the language, and a bunch of them came from anime soundtracks. I thought of shows I enjoyed that had great opening and ending themes, plus character songs, too, and got copies of those so I could listen to them and study Japanese.

I barely watch new shows now, so I barely have access to newer anisongs. My most recent is SPECIALZ by King Gnu which served as the second opening song to season two of Jujutsu Kaisen. This song debuted in 2023–already six years old!

So, I just relisten to the same songs over and over and over again, mostly because I like them, but the repetition helps me learn. Although I learn by ear, which is not always accurate.

Anyway, SPLASH FREE is on my Japanese soundtrack CD (yes, I still burn CDs but when the car finally switches out for a new one, I know those days are numbered) and I sing along to it all the time, incorrect words be damned!

The lyrics in this gif are exactly the section that gets stuck in my head the most, and this pops up about every three days or so in my head at random.

Enjoy!