Free! Take Your Marks

While High School might be ending for most of them, the journey to college is just beginning for the boys of Iwatobi and Sumezaka.  Before Haru, Makoto, Rin and Sousuke head their separate ways, there’s  plenty of unfinished business to attend to: debts to be repaid, personal projects to complete and the last adventures with their fellow teammates in High School.  Along the way, familiar faces from the past return and meet newer faces in the present.  All of this is leading to the next stage of competition.  Before the Dive to the Future, its time to Take Your Marks.

At its core, Free has always been about the bonds of brotherhood and how they can withstand the test of time and distance.  Yeah, it’s full of chiseled bishonen boys and larger than life swimming sequences, but this show has always had a big heart and has never been afraid to show it.  Because of this, even if youre watching something like Free! Take Your Marks, where nothing really happens, you can still have fun watching it because the writing is solid and the cast is amazing.

T5W#289-Top 5 Immortal Gundam Moments

As of this coming April, the Mobile Suit Gundam Franchise will be 42 years old.  That’s just over 4 decades of time to produces dozens of stories and features from TV Series to Movies, OVAs, Manga, Video Games and more.  Since it has become one of, if not THE, most definitive name in Mecha Anime of all time, you can be there are a few moments that have been immortalized in history, the ones most closely associated with the name “Gundam”.  So I did a bit of a deep dive to see if I could find 5 of those moments that I hopefully hadn’t touched on already in other Top 5 lists.  These are the moments that define the Gundam franchise, these are the Top 5 Immortal Gundam Moments. 

Free! Timeless Medley-The Promise

Rin Matsuouka has always wanted to swim as part of a team, ever since his father showed him the joy of doing do.  After spending years in Australia, Rin returns to Japan and now takes his place as Captain of the Sumezuka High School Swim Team.  Joining the ranks of his final year is his best friend, Sousuke Yamazaki.  Along with genius backstroker Momotaro Makoshiba and the eager Aiichiro Nitori, Sumezuka might have a relay team to rival the boys of Iwatobi.  However, Rin and Sousuke’s personal trials might threaten their chances.  But the two made a promise a long time ago…and Rin is determined to keep it.

Rin Matsuoka takes center stage alongside the boys of Sumezeka Academy in the second part of the Free! Timeless Medley Duology, The Promise, and I’ve gotta say, it’s about damn time.  While the First Season of Free focused on Rin finding his passion again after losing his way, Eternal Summer aka Season Two, saw him building his own team as Captain and they were such a great bunch.  The Promise not only gives about 90% of it’s runtime to Sumezeka but it also does a fantastic job expanding everyones character arc and gives us a lot more footage in a Compilation Film than The Bond.  Overall, The Promise is a great movie…save for one nitpick I cant ignore when it comes to the finale.

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.

High Speed! Free! Starting Days

Long before their high school triumphs, Haruka Nanase and his childhood friend, Makoto Tachibana, arrived at Iwatobi Middle School.  Here they meet hyperactive Asahi Shiina and the reclusive Ikuya Kirishima,  Like Haru and Mako, these two are lifelong swimmers and Asahi is quick to recommend they join Iwatobi Middles Swim Club and form a relay team.  Haru wants nothing more than to swim free and alone but little does he know that by joining this little band of swimmers, he could find something more than that.  This is where the journey that would continue at Iwatobi High School, and beyond, begins.

I’ll admit, when I heard about a Free prequel movie, I was expecting it to follow the first meetings of Haru and Rin and the team they formed together with Makoto and Nagisa years before their rivalry in High School.  Instead, High Speed is a very welcome surprise focusing on a new team dynamic that would be unknown to anyone who hasn’t seen the third season, Free! Dive to the Future.  And while High Speed is a little too long of a movie and feels like it could have been a prequel TV Series rather than a movie, it’s still a Free story and that means if you love the show, you’re gonna enjoy this one too.