Impression:
Oh man Free! is really kicking off on a high note, this episode was fantastic. I was pleased that they addressed the reason why Rin had changed so much, and thanks to that this episode had so much depth.
When the boys were in Middle School, during winter break as Gou had pointed out, Rin would come home to visit the family for the holidays. However during that time, neither Nagisa nor Makoto knew that he was back. One year- Haru and Rin had met up and raced against each other. That race severed their friendship as Rin had lost against Haru and was extremely upset about it since he had expected to be stronger after having studied abroad. Then having seen that he had hurt Rin by that victory, Haru quit the swimming club he was in, and only added on to the list of reasons why he hates serious competitions.
This time round, Rin had won the race- and yet he was still unsatisfied and only grew agitated when Haru ‘congratulated’ him with, “That’s great, Rin.” It feels like Rin desperately wants Haru to acknowledge his abilities, his efforts that he had made while he was abroad- otherwise without receiving any acknowledgement, it’s was all in vain, that came with a sacrifice of being separated from his friends.
Last week I said I could care less about Nagisa, well this week he just earned himself a spot on the “Characters I care About” list. He surprised me by how bright he actually is, and knew exactly what he was doing when he was putting together the form to create the Swimming Club, making Makoto the Captain and Haru Vice-Captain (since he isn’t the leader type). He was also ridiculously adorable, and I am loving his personality more and more. And then we have Gou/Kou who is absolutely flawless. It’s hilarious to see her gushing over the triceps and being blown away. She definitely has a crush (or at least getting there) on Haru, especially when he gets extra brownie points for calling her Kou instead of Gou. She is the fourth member of their club who offer\ed to take on the role as the manager.
Can we all take a moment to appreciate Makoto’s keen eye? I said it last week, but I’ll say it again, he is exceptionally observant, not to mention accurate memory. It was really funny to see that he remembered Coach Sasabe. Speaking of skills and we also discovered Haru’s hidden talent as an artist (goodness gracious, his recruitment poster- I cannot!!!). Another surprise was the fact their homeroom teacher who is now also their club adviser had previously worked Swim Suits Designs field.
Although it wasn’t that long, the swimming animation this episode was gorgeous. I eagerly await the point when we will see them swimming in the competitions. It’s going to be amazing to watch!
Overall great episode, not much more to say. By the way, I didn’t notice it myself until someone had mentioned it on Youtube that made it’s way to Tumblr, but within dance sequence in the ED the boys’ shirts that they are wearing are actually telling us what they will be doing in the relay race.
KyoAni, you sly genius. =w=
