Haruka Nanase

Haruka Nanase (七瀬 遙 Nanase Haruka) is the main protagonist of the anime series Free!, beginning with Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and the light novel High☆Speed！ written by Kouji Ohji. He is a freestyle swimmer and was vice-captain of the Iwatobi High School Swim Club. He is currently a first-year university student at Hidaka University where he also a member of the swim club while pursuing professional competition on the global stage. He prefers to be called Haru.
He is voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki and Megumi Matsumoto (as a child) in the Japanese version, and by Todd Haberkorn and Lara Woodhull (as a child) in the English dubbed version.
==Appearance==
Haruka is a muscular young man with blue eyes and short, straight black hair with bangs that dip between his eyes. He maintains a serious expression and rarely expresses emotion. In high school, he often wears his jammers beneath his regular clothing in order to be ready to swim on a moment's notice. As pointed out by members of his swim team, all of his jammers are nearly identical (black with minor variations in the violet striping), yet he claims they all fit differently, and he often has trouble selecting which one to wear in the morning. The most developed muscles of his form are his tricep and abdominal muscles (upper arms and abdomen).
His autumn and winter high school uniform consists of brown trousers, a long-sleeved white shirt with a green necktie, dark gray blazer, and blue sneakers. During the spring and summer, he wears gray trousers, a short-sleeved white shirt with a dark gray collar, a green dotted necktie, and blue sneakers. When not in school, Haruka dresses in stylish, casual clothes suited for his age.
==Personality==
He is a quiet but determined individual with a strong affinity for water. His greatest asset is his confidence in his decisions, once made. Despite his cool persona, which many perceive as uncaring, he is protective towards his friends, particularly those on his high school swim team: Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki and Rei Ryugazaki, but particularly Makoto, his best friend since childhood. This is seen twice during the team's seaside summer training -- first, when Haruka rescues him from nearly drowning and second, when the group is back on shore and sharing stories. Makoto tells his team the truth about his thallasophobia despite Haruka's attempts to protect him by stopping his telling the story.
Haruka also values his relationship with Rin Matsuoka, another childhood friend with whom he shares an intense athletic rivalry. During elementary school, while on break from schooling in Australia, Rin loses to Haruka in a private race and declares he is quitting swimming altogether. Though Rin's reasons are otherwise, Haruka believes it is his fault and, out of guilt, quits competitive swimming. When Rin returns for high schooling in Japan, an impromptu race restores both of their competitive spirits and both join their respective school teams. Later, at an important tournament, Rin is dismissed from his school's relay team and runs off. Haruka seeks him out and reminds him that it was Rin who taught him that the most important thing about swimming is not winning, but teamwork with friends. Rin takes Rei's place in the relay race and although the Iwatobi team's resultant win is rescinded, everyone's friendships are restored.
Haruka's fixation with water sometimes makes him a comical figure as he often wears his jammers beneath his clothing and will strip down to his jammers just about anywhere if there's available water nearby (including a fish tank). He even considers an encounter with a waterfall to be romantic. Despite being stoic, he is ticklish, as seen in the FrFr short, A Distant Tremble!
==Gallery==
Haru s3 pfp.png
Haruka Full.png
Hs haru profile.png
Haru taking a bath.jpg|Haru taking a bath
Haru and his friends.png|Haru and his friends
Free! Opening .jpg
High speed 2 novel cover.jpg
High speed live event poster.jpg
Mini Remix Album.jpg
==Trivia==
*His Japanese Voice Actress, Nobunaga Shimazaki, also voiced Yuki Sohma in Fruits Basket (2019), Shinichi Izumi in Parasyte, Ritsuka Fujimaru in Fate/Grand Order, Eugeo in Sword Art Online: Alicization, Male Corrin in Fire Emblem Fates, Baki Hanma in Grappler Baki, Kaidou Shun in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Shido Itsuka in Date A Live, and Yuno Grinberryall in Black Clover.
*His Child Japanese Voice Actress, Megumi Matsumomo, also voiced Stacy Hirano in Phineas and Ferb.
*His English Voice Actress, Todd Haberkorn, also voiced Death the Kid in Soul Eater, Natsu Dragneel in Fairy Tail, Korekiyo Shinguji in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Obito Uchiha in Naruto, Shikadai Nara in Bourto: Naruto Next Generations, Ayato Kirishima in Tokyo Ghoul, Teruteru Hanamura in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Aru Akise in Future Diary, Allen Walker in D.Gray Man, Tsukune Aono in Rosario + Vampire, Kimihiro Watanuki in xxxHolic, Ling Yao in Fullmetal Alchemist, Brainy Smurf in Robot Chicken, Keroro in Sgt Frog, Jaco in Dragon Ball Super, Firo Prochainezo in Baccano!, Raki in Claymore, Kinji Tohyama in Aria the Scarlet Ammo, Shirō Iori in Kill la Kill, Pop in Glitter Force, Italy in Hetalia, Khamsin Nbh'w in Shakugan no Shana, Rowen J. Ilbert in Tales of Xillia, Yamato Akitsuki in Suzuka, and Keisuke Takahashi in Initial D.
*His English Voice Actress, Lara Woodhull, also voiced Hinami Fueguchi in Tokyo Ghoul, Shu Ouma (child) in Guilty Crown, Myu in Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Yuki in Wolf Children, Izuku Midoriya (child) in My Hero Academia, and Mirai in Senran Kagura.
Category:Male
Category:Anime Heroes
Category:Honorable
Category:Loyal
Category:Selfless
Category:Leaders
Category:Honest
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Manga Heroes
Category:Nature-Lovers
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Teenagers
Category:Hope Bringers
Category:Protectors
Category:Dreaded