Sports anime are popular even among people who don't typically like sports, and Free! is one of the most popular shows in the genre. Fans love to see the interactions between the members of the Iwatobi and Samezuka swim clubs as characters experience challenges, joy, heartbreak, and close friendship in ways that make their personalities shine on the screen.
When people experience intense emotions in their own lives, they often will turn to their horoscope to see why they may be feeling that way. Based on someone's astrology sign, they can discover inner truths about themselves and their personalities. It's even possible to assign different characters from cast-driven shows like Free! to each sign as the best representative for the traits these Zodiac stars bring into people's lives.
12 Aries: Seijuro
Aries signs are known for having intense, fiery personalities. Seijuro's hair isn't the only fiery part of this character. As the former captain of the Samezuka swim club, Seijuro is enthusiastic and energetic enough to keep his team motivated throughout their practices. He also shows passion in his crush towards Gou, to an extreme level that could almost be considered an obsession. Aries tend to be one-track-minded when they have their eyes set on a goal, but this allows them to perform above their best, just as how Seijuro's intensity helped him set a new record at the prefecture's tournament.
11 Taurus: Makoto
Tauruses are calm, steady individuals who always take time to stop and think about the world around them. They make wonderful friends due to their inherent kindness and compassion. Makoto fits this definition to a T, as seen in his patient understanding and love for all of his friends. He is especially in tune with Haru's feelings despite the latter not sharing them openly because Makoto pays attention to subtle signs of worry or sadness in order to lend a helping hand.
10 Gemini: Kisumi
Geminis are free spirits who often seem to have their head in the clouds. They are happy, carefree people who can usually be seen smiling. Kisumi is a perfect example of the traits that Geminis show. He is cheerful and extroverted and can greet old friends as though they had never been apart.
Sometimes, Geminis can rub people the wrong way because of how unattached to the world they may seem. Similarly, Haru appears to dislike Kisumi because the latter tried to get closer to Makoto, teasing Haru about their close friendship when they were young.
9 Cancer: Rin
Cancer signs are ruled by their emotions and are not afraid to express them only to others. Rin's primary goal as a swimmer is driven by his emotional attachment to the memory of his late father, who wanted to swim in the Olympics. Although he can seem intimidating at times, Rin has a very soft heart that he wears on his sleeve. He is easily moved to tears or outbursts when something happens to him, and he spends much of the first season struggling to balance his lofty goal with his need for close companionship.
8 Leo: Gou
Leos are strong and proud, and they make great leaders due to how their energy inspires others. Gou is the manager of the Iwatobi swim team and does a fantastic job in her role. She sets up practices and analyzes the best way for the boys of the team to get better, making her role to the group crucial in their success. Leos also love to be perceived as the ideal version of themselves. For Gou, this trait manifests itself in how she prefers to be called Kou since Gou sounds too masculine for how she wants others to think of her.
7 Virgo: Aiichiro
Virgos are determined to be the best at whatever they set out to do, and they never hesitate to take action when it comes to achieving their goals. Ai is completely devoted to swimming and has one of the most visible arcs of growth in the show due to how he can understand his limits and what he needs to do to push past them.
Virgos are perfectionists, and in Ai's mind, Rin is the perfect swimmer who emulates everything Ai wants to be. He, therefore, spends a lot of time following in Rin's footsteps, succeeding to the point that he even becomes the next captain of his team.
6 Libra: Momotaro
Libras stand out in a crowd due to their extroverted personalities that help them get along with everyone they meet. They love to socialize and prioritize fun over anything else. Momotaro is the younger brother of Seijuro, and like his brother, he is very energetic. He quickly makes friends when he joins Samazuka's swim team. His most Libra-like trait, however, is his infatuation with girls. Libras are natural flirts, even if they don't plan on committing to anything serious. Like his brother, Momotaro instantly falls in love with Gou and spends the show openly asking her out.
5 Scorpio: Sosuke
Scorpios love to climb to the top of the food chain by using their own cunning and ambition. Their methods of putting their own desires first may seem extreme to other signs. Sosuke shows this in his philosophies regarding swimming. He originally hates swimming on a team because he doesn't want to lose due to someone else's mistakes, and his attitude towards swimming remains this harsh for a long time. He also considers Rin, who is his best friend, to be his greatest rival, showing how competitiveness dominates over his life in the same way it does for Scorpios.
4 Sagittarius: Goro Sasabe
Sagittarians are the wanderers of the Zodiac and tend to wear many different hats in their lifetime as they travel and go on adventures. They are independent and optimistic. Goro is the coach of the Iwatobi Swim Team and the owner of the swim club, which he reopens by selling his grandfather's fishing boat.
Before reopening the club, however, Goro works as a pizza deliveryman. Goro's many different jobs and his determination to help out the swim club shows that he loves to live in the moment. Plus his piercings and anchor tattoo reveal hidden wild side.
3 Capricorn: Rei
Capricorns are intrinsically hard workers whose top priorities are professionalism and sophistication. Rei represents the classic "glasses character" in the anime, making him intelligent and serious to an extreme degree. He is inspired to join the swim club after seeing Haru's freestyle, which Rei considers one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. His own first attempts at swimming, however, don't go as planned. He reads a lot of books on proper form and methods of swimming but soon realizes that he can only become better through first-hand experience.
2 Aquarius: Nagisa
Aquarians tend to be odd-balls who march to their own drum, rather than conforming to what is considered "normal". Nagisa is optimistic and bubbly, but his straight-forwardness often makes him seem childish or pushy. This side of his personality, however, is also the one that gets the swim team to reunite in high school and that gets Rei to join the team. Nagisa also has some strange quirks, like putting strawberry protein powder on everything he eats and insisting on calling Gou by her actual name no matter how often she tries to correct him.
1 Pisces: Haru
Pisces signs are one of the most introverted Zodiac signs, and they prefer to spend their time escaping into dreams rather than facing the turbulent real world. Haru is a perfect example of a dreamer, as his one goal in life is to "swim free". He is able to ignore the scores and other aspects of competition, swimming just for the sake of being in the water. This lack of regard to the real world, however, becomes a problem in season 2 when he can't seem to find a concrete goal for his future.