The season draws to a close, in and out of the pool.
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)
Now that the gang has managed to progress to where they are, having done the training, put in the hard work and also bonded strongly with each other, they’re now at the next level of tournament. And it’s something that’s quite impressive to them as they see it, with a massive pool, large crowds and a sense of real importance to it all, especially when you see the fans of various participants and their schools all dressed the same, chanting and more. It’s well done and fits with the world of professional and high school swim sports competitions well. Unfortunately, with Rin starting things while the boys are watching from the stands, it all goes down hard and fast as he falters right out of the gate and is unable to recover, leading him into a deeper spiral.
With Rin having hit a metaphorical wall with his training and so many issues between him and Haruka that stem from their childhood, he’s in a really bad place now where he’s unable to really excel because of how he’s feeling. And as Rei points out, it’s because he’s not comfortable with where he is more than anything else as the right kind of thrill and excitement isn’t there. He wants to be a part of what the Iwatobi team is all about, and that’s something that Rei has felt for awhile now and has managed to find, which we saw explored quite well in the previous episode. Though we had some good group bonding here, it’s here that Rei really cements himself as a part of the group but also someone that really understands them and makes it clear what Haruka and the others have to do in order to fix things so that Rin doesn’t stop competing and swimming.
The resolution between the two young men as Haruka and Rin go at it is kind of comical, and really felt out of place in the series, but it was admittedly fun to watch. Allow that issue to be resolved as it is and then to allow the focus on the relay race itself worked quite well since the show started to feel more “free” at that point where it really is all about the race itself, the teamwork and the skill and thrill of it all, now with Rin a part of it. That fun and thrill, and what the boys do to pull it off, definitely makes it work well, even if they do get a bit of a talking to from their advisors. It may not have been the best thing in some ways, but it was what was needed at the moment for all involved. The fallout is fun to watch across the board, especially since it does settle things right for all involved and allows this particular chapter in their lives to be closed.
In Summary:
With a note at the end that they’ll see us next summer, there’s certainly hope for a second season to come and I’m all for that. Free has been a very fun show that’s also been laid back and relaxed in some great ways that made it hugely accessible across the board. The focus on the boys was done well, the reverence for the water and what they do kept properly in check but still present and the longstanding issues between Rin and Haruka never really went too far, though it came close a couple of times. The series was a very welcome change from what many others do and by making it all boy focused, with some welcome female characters done in the right way, it had a fresh feeling about it throughout. Definitely one of the more enjoyable and beautifully animated shows of the season.
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.
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