Free! Eternal Summer Episode 12: Clarity

Impression
There is only one word needed to describe this episode: Clarity.
It was such a magical moment when Haruka was connecting the dots and envisioning what things could be, and finally coming to terms of his dream is. It made me heart all warm and fuzzy and I couldn’t help but have tears in my eyes, it was truly, a beautiful moment. Haruka had initially accepted going onto the trip to Autralia with Rin because he wanted to get away from home. He was upset that he and Makoto had a fight, he was suffocating from all the pressure, Australia, though a foreign land helped him breathe and find clarity again. This trip was exactly what Haruka needed. He needed to experience it for himself. To be inspired and motivated and have a chance to breathe again so that his clouded vision would finally clear and remember what he had always wanted to do: Swim forever. I definitely believe that Rin apologizing to Haruka for imposing his own dreams onto him during the tournament helped ease the burden of pressure from Haruka’s shoulders. I also firmly believe that explaining to Haruka without burdening him how he admired his swimming abilities and have always dreamed and thought that they would be following the same path. Rin admitted that it is hard to swim without Haruka in front of him because it was him who gave him that boost of motivation to become stronger.
Now the dream has been found, Haruka now has his own map to follow. Sadly, this means everyone will now be going their separate ways. Rin revealed at the end of the episode that he had come to Australia to accept his coach’s invitation to join their team again, and get revenge by ensuring that he closed the gaps or surpassed his rivals. Makoto plans to attend Tokyo University, though we have yet to learn what he will be pursuing there, and Haruka, we don’t know exactly where or how he wants to swim, but I am quite curious to see whether he will follow Rin to Australia if he is given the opportunity to.
It was a pleasant surprise to learn a little bit about Rin’s back-story in Australia and how he struggled with the language barrier and constantly hitting a wall in swimming while the gap only grew between him and the others. I was kind of surprised to see that Rin and Haruka didn’t crash at with Russel and Lori’s place given that they had taken care of Rin while he was studying there in the past. But hey, if they had there is no way we could have had the hilarious (though totally shipping fanservice) hotel mishap of sharing one room with only one bed! It was was amusing to watch, especially when Haruka initially had thought maybe it was normal in Australia while Rin was freaking out. Poor guy didn’t have any luck with the lady at the front desk. Also naturally, because they were in Australia there was a lot of English featured in this episode. In fact, it was probably the most I have heard within a single episode of a Japanese Dub in a while. It was definitely better than most (though at times a tad creepy), but it did throw me off a bit missing the Australian Accents (since they are in Australia and all), but what can do you do? It’s just a dub, I can look past it.
Last but not least: Who else thought the world was about to end when Haruka revealed that he didn’t want to swim and he didn’t bring his swimsuit. *LE GASPS* HOW COULD HARUKA OF ALL PEOPLE, FORGET HIS SWIMSUIT!?
Ugh I am not ready for next week’s finale. Grab your tissue boxes everyone, it’s gonna be an emotional one.