Free! Timeless Medley-The Bond

As he enters his Senior Year at Iwatobi High School, Haruka Nanase is focused on one thing and one thing only: swimming with his teammates once more in his final year.  But the real challenge for Haru lies beyond the waters.  What is his path after High School?  What future does Haru see for himself post Iwatobi High?  These questions and more begin to take their toll on the prodigy and his swimming begins to suffer.  It’s up to Rin, Mako, Nagisa and Rei to help Haru find the right direction and show him that no matter what the future holds, their bond is forever.

The Bond is the first of a two part Compilation Film Project for Free! Eternal Summer.  The purpose would be to split the story focus on both Haru and Rin and their respective teams before sending us into a transition film between Eternal Summer and Free! Dive to the Future, aka Season 3.  And while The Bond make focus on some of the greatest hits from the amazing Second Season of Free, it’s still a Compilation Movie and, therefore, has little to add that we didn’t already see in a 13 episode set of practically perfect episodes.

While The Bond is meant to focus on the core quartet of Iwatobi Swim Boys, the bulk of the spotlight goes to Haru and Makoto.  By doing this, and adding in two bookending sequences that have us checking in on some familiar faces, The Bond feels more like a subtle sequel to High Speed! Free! Starting Days.  Everyone’s roles from Eternal Summer are still intact and very little has changed from the main story. It’s only that Haru and Mako have priority over Rei and Nagisa.  This is a Compilation Movie though and that means corners are going to be cut, even if those corners include some pretty important character development for essential characters.  So yeah, fans of Rei and Nagisa might come away letdown by their lack of growth since theyre here to be observers to the changes happening with Makoto and especially Haru, rather than focusing on their own stories.

This is both a good and bad thing for The Bond.  It’s good because the double edged sword of Compilation Films is choosing one particular element to focus on from a TV Series and delivering a more concise final product.  And if there’s one relationship that could merit such a movie…besides Haru and Rin, it’s Haru and Makoto.  The two have the oldest friendship in the series and arguably the deepest.  This adds to the feeling that The Bond is a follow up to High Speed.  Haru and Mako end up in arguments over change and the future similar to that they brought up back in middle school.  All of their most powerful triumphs and heartbreaking arguments are here.  Surprisingly, one of my favorite episodes of Free ever is still mostly intact, that being Haru’s trip to Australia with Rin.  I half expected this bit to maybe be in Rin’s story in The Promise.  However, the Australia trip was more about getting Haru’s head clear, so it’s better to have it here. 

The bad I mentioned above is that while all the big emotional hits are here, the pacing and jumping into all of them is textbook Compilation Film editing.  The Bond’s pacing is lightning fast, more so than High Speed.  This is particularly in the first half of the movie, which seems to jump from swim meet to swim meet in a matter of minutes with the interludes checking in on Haru and Makoto before moving on.  Nagisa’s homelife subplot, gone.  Rei training under Rin to become a better swimmer, not here.  And while you feel for Haru and Makoto’s struggling friendship, there’s not a lot of time to let it simmer or properly build up without the rest of the story surrounding it.  It’s one of the reasons I hold Eternal Summer in such high regard.  It’s perfectly paced, perfectly animated and present a perfect payoff after 13 episodes.  And in my opinion, that’s the best way to watch Season 2, not through this Compilation Film.

The Bond is Free! Eternal Summer’s greatest hits from the side of Haru and Makoto while the rest of Iwatobi is witnessing it all go down.  The rapid pace robs some emotional pay offs and the lack of abundant new footage does hurt any reason to just skip this altogether and just watch all of Eternal Summer in a very enjoyable binge.  When it comes to Haru and Makoto, The Bond is fine.  This is Part 1 of 2 however and I hope that The Promise has more to offer.  As much as I hate to say it, while I don’t hate The Bond, it’s not the strongest entry in the Free franchise by a longshot.

6.5/10

But what about Part 2 of this Two Part Project (3 if you count Free! Take Your Marks).  Well what are you sitting around here for, I promised you a Double Feature didn’t I?  The review for Free! Timeless Medley-The Promise should is up right now and you can go check it out right here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/free-timeless-medley-promise.html