Free!: Eternal Summer review

Reviewed Free! season 1 in Episode 195, it got a 3.

Plot: 

The Iwatobi swim club is in its second year but as two of its founding members, Haruka and Makoto are in their third years the club has a shadow of the future lingering over it. In their last summer of swimming together, along with their friend Rin at a neighboring school, they will figure out what they swim for and what they want for their futures.

Director: Hiroko Utsumi

Utsumi directed the first free, in fact, most of the staff is the same between the two seasons of anime. Utsumi has worked on a number of projects as a key animator and episode director, but he is fairly new to just directing. His debut was just before the original Free! back in 2013 with Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!:Karameki no… Slapstick Noel, the special 13th episode of an anime with the same name.

Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation

Free!: Eternal Summer is PRETTY, and I don’t just mean the boys. The animation for this show is immaculate. The colors are vibrant and the framing on the shots is done well with glow, shadow, and blurring imitating real cameras. When they swim the characters movements are detailed and natural. While I’m sure there is some CG rendering in here none stood out. One of the most amazing things is how well the water flows around the characters as they swim. There is nothing negative to say about this show’s look.

Music: Tatsuya Kato

The music in Free!: Eternal Summer I would put solidly above average. There aren’t really sweeping orchestral or astounding arrangements. But there are themes that provoke emotion and really complement the show.

Kato has done the music for many high-profile shows, as well as the first Free! anime. He has done the music for Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, Gingitsune, Mirai Nikki, and a lot more.

Review:

This anime has one major thing going for it, everything. It has the success of a first season giving the studio confidence in investing in it. It has hype and merchandise sales. It has a tested staff, great animation, and a director who seems determined to grow. The stars aligned in just the right way and Free! was what we got.

I say all of that, because this anime is SO much better than it has any right to be. This is a show about pretty boy swim club. Come on, even the fans have to admit that. There is no reason why it should make you laugh, cry, or be on the edge of your seat. But Free! does just that.

If you haven’t seen the first Free! anime it is recommended. Not absolutely necessary, but you’ll likely get more from Free!: Eternal Summer.

At it’s core, Free! isn’t really an anime about swimming. It’s about the people who swim and their reasons to do so. In Eternal Summer the boys start out at regional tournaments and shoot for nationals. But, the training and swim practices are only a vessel for their character development.

Each of the main characters has some type of arc that shows their character type. They’re all dealing with a central struggle of what they want to do with their future and how their time invested in swimming does, or doesn’t, influence that. Nagisa, the energetic happy kid, has an arc where he confronts his parents about doing what makes him happy. Rei has an arc where he perseveres with swimming, even if he’s naturally more gifted at track. Makoto and Rin discover/decide what they want their futures to be. And, in line with this theme, the main story surrounds the protagonist Haruka and what he will ultimately decide to do.

That’s likely the weakest part of the show. Haruka is fairly blank, intentionally so. He kind of has zero presence when compared to the other characters. Maybe, it’s intentional, so that way the viewer can use him as a blank canvas. But I found it really hard to relate.

The other downside of the show is its extreme simplicity. Now, what they do, as I’ve said, they do it really well. But, it really isn’t that much. This show doesn’t set out to change the world and it doesn’t. Solidly above average, but if you look back on it there’s just the bones of a story idea.

This show is enjoyable though, a lot more so than shows that try to bite off more than they can chew. And, ladies, do I have to state the obvious? Pretty, pretty boys. It’s a little over-dramatic, and sure it doesn’t have much to say, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

[starrater]