<p>Apart from being of the same genre and containing similar enough art style, I don't think the productions are related. </p>

<p>Differences:</p>

<ul>
<li>The authors are different (<strong>Masahiro Yokotani</strong> vs <strong>Haruichi Furudate</strong>)</li>
<li>The production studios are different: <em>Haikyuu!!</em> is produced by <strong>Production I.G</strong>, <em>Free!</em> by <strong>Kyoto Animation</strong> </li>
<li><em>Haikyuu!!</em> is shonen whilst <em>Free!</em> is mostly targeted at women.</li>
</ul>

<p>Similarities:</p>

<ul>
<li>Character style (but this could just be that the style of the characters has been found to appeal to their target market and chosen for this reason)</li>
<li>Exclamation marks in their title!! (but so has <em>K-On!!</em> and many other shows)</li>
<li>Sports genre</li>
</ul>

<p>The similarities between the shows aren't really substantial enough to warrant a link between them, so I doubt they are.</p>

<p>[I thought that <em>Chihayafuru</em> (another sports title) was similar to <em>Haikyuu!!</em> also, but it also doesn't have anything in common, so I think this is just an art style that sports anime have evolved into]</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T12:51:57.763Z
Chihayafuru is not really sport per se. It's more of a game/literature plus romance.
nhahtdh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T13:02:29.043Z
ah, it is though - they are competing in tournaments & stuff
Toshinou Kyouko
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T13:12:24.503Z
Although Wikipedia and mangaupdates categorize Chihayafuru as sport genre, IMO, associating karuta with sports is a bit stretching the limit of the definition.
nhahtdh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T13:38:54.180Z
if chess is a sport, karuta is a sport. Regardless, it was targeted at the same audience
Toshinou Kyouko
CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-09-22T12:03:46.897Z
2019-04-13T12:43:16.120Z
2019-04-13T12:43:16.120Z
Toshinou Kyouko
<p>I actually think the creators of haikyuu stole some ideas from free since the similarities are crazy.
The characters seem to be fairly similar but another key point is the plot. Both teams have a female president, both teams failed to make it into their first competition, both teams go on training camps, both teams succeed in getting into the second competition they try for and not to mention the same some of character realationship the king of the court has and the great king has kinda resembles haku and runs realationship a little bit. I don't know I'm just saying. 
Also 
- free was released in 2013 
- haikyuu's first season was released in 2015</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-28T16:05:27.800Z
Or in other words, common tropes. Not only these 2 anime, but many other sports anime have followed these combination of tropes too.
Aki Tanaka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-28T11:03:05.277Z
2019-11-28T11:03:05.277Z
Yume
<p>I've only watched <em>Free!</em> and <em>Free!: Eternal Summer</em>, but recently a friend recommended I watch <em>Haikyuu!!</em> and looking at images of it, I'm reminded of <em>Free!</em> a great deal.</p>

<p>The characters even look similar and they both contain a plot based around a sports team.</p>

<p>Are they related, or could this just be a coincidence? </p>

<free><haikyuu>
Are Free! and Haikyu!! related?
# Are Free! and Haikyu!! related?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-09-22
I've only watched *Free!* and *Free!: Eternal Summer*, but recently a friend recommended I watch *Haikyuu!!* and looking at images of it, I'm reminded of *Free!* a great deal.

The characters even look similar and they both contain a plot based around a sports team.

Are they related, or could this just be a coincidence?
**Tags:** free haikyuu
---
## 2 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-22. Score: 8
Apart from being of the same genre and containing similar enough art style, I don't think the productions are related.

Differences:

* The authors are different (**Masahiro Yokotani** vs **Haruichi Furudate**)
* The production studios are different: *Haikyuu!!* is produced by **Production I.G**, *Free!* by **Kyoto Animation**
* *Haikyuu!!* is shonen whilst *Free!* is mostly targeted at women.

Similarities:

* Character style (but this could just be that the style of the characters has been found to appeal to their target market and chosen for this reason)
* Exclamation marks in their title!! (but so has *K-On!!* and many other shows)
* Sports genre

The similarities between the shows aren't really substantial enough to warrant a link between them, so I doubt they are.

[I thought that *Chihayafuru* (another sports title) was similar to *Haikyuu!!* also, but it also doesn't have anything in common, so I think this is just an art style that sports anime have evolved into]
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2014-09-22): Chihayafuru is not really sport per se. It's more of a game/literature plus romance.  
> **username_1** (2014-09-22): ah, it is though - they are competing in tournaments & stuff  
> **username_2** (2014-09-22): Although Wikipedia and mangaupdates categorize Chihayafuru as sport genre, IMO, associating karuta with sports is a bit stretching the limit of the definition.  
> **username_1** (2014-09-22): if chess is a sport, karuta is a sport. Regardless, it was targeted at the same audience  
---
### Answer by username_3 on 2019-11-28. Score: -3
I actually think the creators of haikyuu stole some ideas from free since the similarities are crazy.
The characters seem to be fairly similar but another key point is the plot. Both teams have a female president, both teams failed to make it into their first competition, both teams go on training camps, both teams succeed in getting into the second competition they try for and not to mention the same some of character realationship the king of the court has and the great king has kinda resembles haku and runs realationship a little bit. I don't know I'm just saying.
Also
- free was released in 2013
- haikyuu's first season was released in 2015
> **Comments:**
> **username_4** (2019-11-28): Or in other words, common tropes. Not only these 2 anime, but many other sports anime have followed these combination of tropes too.  
---
