At long last, the dream has come true. Haru, Rin and Ikuya step onto the world
stage, competing against the best of the best in a world tournament. But with this advancement comes new
challenges and new rivals whose strength dwarfs the trio of prodigies. One in particular, Albert, manages to shake
Haru’s swimming views to the core.
Obsessed with defeating this powerful rival, Haru intensifies his
training, pushing himself to the breaking point physically and mentally. How far is Haru willing to go to become
unbeatable and is he willing to sacrifice the bonds that have brought him this
far?
The setup for The Final Stroke feels perfect for a
theatrical finale. The World Stage, the
place Haru has been aiming for since Endless Summer and Rin since, well
forever. This is the culmination of
several dreams coming true and really, I’m surprised we go through several of
these events across two movies. The
first world tournament segment of this two parter has great stuff for Haru, Rin
and Ikuya getting to experience the immense challenge presented at swimming at
this level. I guess I was a bit naieve
thinking the entire movie would focus on one tournament. The guys need the experience and needed to grow
from it. That said, if The Final Stroke
was going to cover multiple tournaments like this, maybe it shouldntve been a 2
Part Movie and instead been a 4th TV Season. There’s a lot of time jumping and sometimes,
it feels like we’re speedrunning through training montage after training
montage just to get to the next race.
The is especially prevalent in Part 2, particularly when the emotionally
charged cliffhanger of Part 1 is resolved before the first half of the movie is
concluded. It’s a touching moment for
sure but it also feels very rushed.
A 4th Season would definitely work better not just to
slow down the progression of time but also to give each of the almost two dozen
characters in Free a proper send off.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Season Three, aka Dive to the Future,
was how the cast ballooned from two teams between two high schools to multiple
teams between High Schools and Colleges, which also brining in players
introduced in the High Speed Prequel Movie.
It took a minute to get reacquainted with everyone and how theyre all
connected to one another. And, just like
Dive to the Future, there were some characters I honestly couldn’t care less
about, such as the next generation of Iwatobi Swimmers. Poor Nagisa and Rei hardly feel present
anymore given that much of the focus is on Haru, Rin and Ikuya (more on them in
a second). The only other character who
gets some real closure to their arc is Sousuke, who honestly has come just as
far as those aforementioned three and deserves to stand with them during the
biggest moment of the movie. But yeah,
if you have a favorite character who isn’t Haru, Rin, Ikuya or Sousuke, it’ll
vary how well that characters arc has been wrapped up.
While you could say The Final Arc is Haru’s show, it
actually tries to give shared spotlight to him, Rin and Ikuya with varied
results. Haru’s put through the ringer
more than anyone thanks to a soul shattering encounter with Albert, Free’s
equivalent of Rocky IV’s Ivan Drago.
Haru is so raddled by this guy that he becomes obsessed like we’ve never
seen before. It’s tough to see Haru push
himself so far that he risks permanent injury to not just his body but his
friendships too, all because he cant look at the super soldier swimmer and
share the same wisdom that he’s shared with everyone: why he really swims. Thankfully, Rin is there to make up for
Haru’s sometimes frustrating arc. Rin’s
been through a lot and seems to have a better understanding of what he
wants. He hits his own roadblocks too
but theyre hardly ever as bad as Harus.
The two still have some good moments together, reminding viewers why
their friendship is the heart of the series.
As for Ikuya, well he probably gets the least development of the three
leads but considering where we first found him, as a loner set on perfection,
it’s good to see his improved interactions with everyone. And he smiles more, so does everyone who
seems scared to smile in Free (looking at you Haru).
One spot where The Final Stroke doesn’t succeed are the
new rivals introduced. We never get the
full picture as to why Kinjo is such a jerk towards everyone, only that is has
something to do with a past transgression involving Haru’s coach, Ryuji. He even has a past connection to Hiyori
that’s never fully fleshed out either.
He just becomes lost in the sea of characters Free has long since become. But then there’s Albert, oh boy this
guy. Like I said, he’s played as this
sort of near perfect, invincible swimmer who looks down on everyone cause
there’s no challenge involved. Even is
benefactor is a shadowy type who is presented as arrogant and kind of
nefarious, almost to the point where I swear he did grow Albert in a petri dish
to create the perfect swimmer. The dude
even has Gendo Ikari’s office from Rebuild of Evangelion (I kind you not, look
at the room and tell me it isn’t Gendo inspired). We barely spend any time with Albert and get
to know him beyond the fact that he’s a spectre in Haru’s mind, haunting and
driving Haru to the breaking point.
Albert couldve been a great Final Boss for the Free boys. As he is, I’m surprised he doesn’t just stare
Haru down and utter “I must break you.”
The story and character arcs are a mixed bag for
sure. But what about the swimming? It still looks pretty good, hardly a surprise
given this is Kyoto Animation. While I
don’t think the animation itself looks any better than the TV Series, the
emotions in the water more than make up for it, even if some races are
criminally shorter than others thanks to the rapid pacing of both parts. However, the final relay is easily in the Top
10 Best Races in all of Free.
Considering the line up involved, this is the true culimation of
everything the series has been building towards since the first episode. And while all of the major swimming
characters of Free all get a race to themselves, or get in the water to compete
in some way, there’s something truly magical about ending the franchise on one
more epic relay. As I’d hoped, it made the shortcomings of Part 2 feel worth
the speedrunning.
As a two part conclusion to Free, The Final Stroke leaves
a lot to be desired. The premise is
solid and the character work is still as top notch as the animation. But a lot of characters need attention and
every ending probably wont satisfy longtime fans who have a particular
favorite. Even the resolutions for Haru
and Ikuya might vary (Rin and Sousuke however are done right, ngl). There’s pacing issues and a lack of
development for the big new rivals of the finale. Even the smaller races at times feel
sacrificed for getting to the bigger ones.
So it’s choppy to say the least.
Am I disappointed? A little, this
could have been better served as a TV Season, or just one movie focused on one
tournament. Still, this is Free and even
at its weakest its still a very special Anime built on the bonds of friends and
the races they take part in together in the water. And that’s something always worth coming back
to from time to time.
Free: The Final Stroke (Part 1) gets a 7.5/10
Free: The Final Stroke (Part 2) gets a 6/10
Free: The Final Stroke (Part 2) gets a 6/10
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