What They Say:
Nanase Haruka loved to be in the water – loved swimming. In elementary school, Nanase Haruka, Tachibana Makoto, Matsuoka Rin, and Hazuki Nagisa attended the same swimming class together. Time passed, and as Haruka was living an uneventful high school life, he suddenly encountered Rin again. Rin challenged Haruka to a race and showed him how much stronger he had become. Soon enough, Makoto and Nagisa also rejoined the group, and along with a new classmate, Reigazaki Rei, they established the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The small moments can be what really makes a show as enjoyable as it is and with Free, the opening piece here is just another one of those moments. Watching as Haruka tries to decide which swimsuit to wear under his uniform is a bit of awesome in a way because it just highlights who he is in such a clear way. Especially the suits are all very close in design, so it’s not too big of a choice overall, though it means a lot to him. Similarly, as we see Gou really take the role of manager now that they have the required number of members, it has a certain cuteness to it but also covers the basics well of what the team needs to do on a regular basis that they may not have thought of. But it’s all done with a cute wink to it all.
With Gou at the head of things, we do see that while there is a cuteness to some of what she does, she also runs a pretty tight ship when it comes to getting the boys doing what’s needed. Rei in particular is quite shocked by the way she can be a pretty difficult person to work with as she knows exactly what needs to be done, especially for someone as out of practice overall as Rei is, particularly when compared to how Haruka is. All of them are doing their best to train him though and get him up to speed to where he needs to be as there’s a swim meet coming up and there’s a lot to do before then. It’s good to see the way the boys are all pretty positive with him overall, though there’s also a sense of hopelessness at times with some of what he struggles with. That makes the whole thing a bit more dicey, even though Rei’s heart is in the right place.
There’s a lot of little subplot ideas going on throughout this in a way as the various characters interact, but it all really does come down to Haruka being the one to truly teach him. He’d been uninterested for a lot of it, since he didn’t see any merit in teaching someone who only sinks how to swim, but as he gets a little outside education on the idea, his thoughts change well. And really, for someone who loves to swim and be in the water like he does, it makes a lot more sense for him to be very interested in helping others achieve this goal rather than just not caring in the slightest. Of course, Haruka can only get so far in the end, but it’s still fun to see the changes in everyone as they deal with and rally around Rei in different ways.
In Summary:
Free spends most of its time dealing with Rei, but it doesn’t make him the central focus in a way because it really is an ensemble show. The nice part is that they’re all involved in helping him in different ways through their own styles to try and help him be a functioning member of the team and that goes a long way towards bonding them all together, which is half the goal here. The time in the water is fun as is the time out as the boys go through different aspects of their day, but once again it feels like Gou manages to steal the show in small ways here and there with her personality and the way she presents herself and her thoughts. It’s not an outgoing character in a traditional way, but one that works very, very well here.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
