Free! Ep 9: Mission! Keep Rin and Haru From Encountering Each Other!

Impression:
ASJDLSAKJDASKJD!!! THIS EPISODE WAS SO PERFECT- UGH MY KOKORO! ALL THE FEELS MAN, ALL THE FEELS!!!! THEY MADE IT TO THE REGIONALS! YOU GO HARU!!!!! <3 <3 <3 Their next objective is to make it to the Nationals!!!
Holy shit, the whole mission of keeping Rin and Haru from encountering each other was handled so well. Most of the time, the characters end up bumping into each other but Rin and Haru already had plenty of that, so it was a really smart move on KyoAni to have the two not encounter each other this episode. And during the entire event, it was absolutely hilarious to watch because Rei and Nagisa were on a roll and Makoto did a really good job playing along, but it’s Rei who deserves ALL the awards. He was tailing Rin like a boss without being caught! That’s some major skills man! This guy hands down, is the best character of the entire Summer season, nobody can top him except for maybe some characters in Shingeki no Kyojin...
Haru, oh my goodness. You precious boy. AKSDJLAKSDJ THAT MOMENT, WHEN HE TOLD MAKOTO THAT SWIMMING ON A TEAM MADE HIM HAPPY- I CANNOT. ALL THE FEELS. The entire scene was just so precious, that I just wanted to run up to him and give him a big hug. He tells the team that he wants to participate in the relay!
As we all expected, Rin isn’t happy, or more accurately, he is absolutely heartbroken. Throughout the entire he was mopping about. He misses his friends who he will always consider deep within his heart as his ultimate dream team. Seeing Rei in his spot hurts like a bitch. As result he is requesting Seijuro to let him join the relay team. I don’t know whether he will be doing the butterfly to crush Rei, or freestyle for the sake of swimming with Haru again. While Rin had said he would never swim with Haru again, like we all suspected that came out wrong as that isn’t how he truly feels. He always thought that by beating Haru that he would be able to move on, but it’s the team that’s really tying him down. At this point, I don’t know how Rin is going to become free. He’s stuck really because either he lets go of his ultimate dream team Haru, Nagisa and Makoto or he be able to properly move on and form a new team that he can be just as passionate about being on.