Friday, June 3, 2016

FIF#15-Free! Eternal Summer


Another year begins for the Iwatobi Swim Team.  And time has not dulled the renewed friendship between Rin and his former teammates.  As Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa and Rei reunite for whole new season, the competition looks fierce and not just from Rin’s Samezuka Academy teammates.  Haru, Makoto and Rin all face an uncertain future as they enter their final year of High School.  Can Haru see past his love of the water to find out where he’s heading?  And who’s this mysterious new transfer student at Samezuka, who seems very familiar to Rin?  The boys are back and it looks to be the most intense summer yet.

No other way to say it, it’s getting hot again.  Summer is coming back and with it the high temps and unbearable uncomfortable heat.  It only makes sense then that I check out the first episode of the surprise hit swimming Anime to cool myself off.  And if the first episode is any indication, this new season could surprise me just as much as it’s predecessor.

Not much has changed from when we last left the boys of Free and im ok with that.  I’m glad things haven’t devolved into a rehash of the earlier episodes.  Well in regards to Haru, nothing has even remotely changed.  He’s still soaking in the tub right before school starts, even in the winter.  He’s still got his swim trunks on for any emergency trip, or opportune moment to hop into the water.  At least he and Rin are still pretty tight.  Even if he doesn’t see their rivalry the same way Rin does, Haru is still in the zone whenever he swims with his childhood friend.  It was also kind of chuckle worthy to see Rei’s adopted Haru’s philosophy, only in his case, “I only swim butterfly”. 

There’s a great deal of emphasis on future in the opening episode.  Not only is it a new year for Iwatobi and a need is great for new/more members, but Haru, Makoto and Rin (now captain of the Samezuka team) have to look forward to college.  Naturally, Haru has no idea what he wants to do.  Rin wants to surpass himself on a world level and Makoto…well he says he doesn’t know either but I think he’s got a better idea than Haru.  Haru’s always had water on his mind so it makes sense he cant really see past it.  What would Haru do I wonder?  Teach swimming?  It’s too early to tell what everyones plans might be…except for Gou who shamelessly put everyones bods on display to fuel her own fetish rather than attract new member.

The main swimming events reminded me why I enjoyed season one so much.  If I had to look back on life, I wish I had a friendly rival in the swim pool to race against.  There’s a rush having that kind of a bond with another person from another school that’s perfect drive for wanting to do more and better than before.  Haru and Rin’s showdown was definitely the highlight of the episode, but then again seeing them go head to head is never going to get old in my eyes.

And what about this new transfer student, Sosuke?  Well we didn’t find out too much other than that he knows Rin somehow and is poised to be a potential new rival for Haru and the Iwatobi boys.  It’s also worth noting that the new intro hints that Rin will have his own special elite four (himself included) to go up against Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and Rei at some point.

The magic has never really gone away from Free and I’m more than eager to peek back in from time to time when I need to feel good about something (this summer is going to be a tough one, so it’s good to have the distraction).  As much as I wish I could watch the English Dub, im more than happy to continue on in Japanese.  The fun and characters are all still there…and I have to admit I’ve missed them all.

More on this series possibly later in the summer.
 

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