Free! – 02
Just in case things weren’t flashy enough for you.
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Free! was hyped to the high heavens before airing. Whether or not it lives up to those expectations varies from person to person, but there’s no doubt that Free! is fun and playful. A series like this (full of muscular butts and appropriately timed dubstep) calls for an equally playful blogging style. As such, a different blogger will cover the show each week to give you a new take on the show! Well..not like there’s much else to take away from each episode other than dripping wet boys, but it’s more fun this way. Anyways, I’m up first so let’s dive in! |
Getting Haruka to swim (in places other than bath tubs and fish tanks) has been a bit of a chore up until now. Ever since he wrote off competitive swimming, he hasn’t done any actual swimming for quite a while. That’s not exactly a good state for the main character of a swimming show. Episode 2 remedies this by going through a whirlwind of events that get Haruka just a little bit closer to the pool. Furthermore, we learn more about why Haruka suddenly stopped swimming competitively when he’s practically a dolphin masquerading as a human. All of this ties into Rin’s story, who we mostly hear secondhand from his sister and the team’s ex-coach.
I’m glad everyone has stopped sneaking into pools at night and started doing something a little more on the legal side of things. The montage of them pulling weeds and recruiting members was also surprisingly funny, from Haruka’s dedicated woodcutting to the art club trying to steal him. They had to really work to get that club started, which makes it seem all the more important. This club is the start of where all the real action will take place. Tournaments! Intense training montages! Poolside shots of the guys in swimsuits while Rin drools in delight! Ah, yes, this is the start of something wonderful. I feel like we were a bit cheated by only seeing Rin and Haruka’s battle in small parts, so hopefully future tournaments will have a bit more swimming action. If anyone can make swimming interesting to watch, it’s Kyoani.
I thought this would be the episode where the mysterious megane-kun would join the team. Instead, he outright rejects them and joins another club. This gives Kou some screentime to get to know the members. I guess I don’t understand because I have no siblings, but she is very worried about her brother and wants to use every resource she can to find out what’s wrong with him. The closest link to her brother that she knows is the swim club. It doesn’t take her long to befriend them and help establish their club.
I was worried she might be more of a burden or a tacked-on love interest, but she’s quite charming. Kou is supposed to represent the audience and their reactions, by being completely enamoured with all the fanservice thrown her way. The boys don’t think much of the constant stripping, but any teenage girl would go at least a little bit red in the presence of all these toned bodies. If you’re not watching this show with a friend, it’s kind of like having someone to sympathize with you. Someone to fangirl with. She’s not obsessed to the point where she’s being a pervert and feeling all the guys up either, so it never becomes annoying. It’s all innocent fun.
Aside from going ga-ga over all those biceps, triceps, pecs etc., Kou spends a lot of time trying to find out what’s up with her brother. It’s Makoto who actually pieces together all the bits and pieces from what he sees and what he hears from others. He’s like the glue holding the group together, although so far that magic has not quite worked on Rin yet. It’s a promising start, but someone that stubborn will take a long time to come around. Through stories told be Makoto himself, Kou and the…er..ornate ex-coach, we learn why both Rin and Haruka quit swimming competitively. Rin took the competition aspect so seriously that he dedicated all his training towards beating Haruka. When he still lost after swimming in Australia, he was devastated. That was the start of his bitter attitude.
Haruka, on the other hand, just wants to be in water. He doesn’t care about winning. That nonchalence pisses off Rin, because he has dedicated his life to beating someone who doesn’t even acknowledge that there’s a rivalry between them. He feels like he’s being looked down upon, when it’s just Haruka being…Haruka. Things might get a little more friendly after they swim out their frustrations. Neither are really the type who talk to solve their problems, so it’ll most likely be settled in a swim battle. That’s fine by me, because this kind of drama is kind of petty when you boil it all down.
If you couldn’t already tell, Fosh is providing the captions each week ;D
Preview: Enough with this NTR crap, it’s time to win back megane-kun’s heart! A new episode, a new character, and a new blogger…stay tuned!
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
There was less striping this episode. What is this madness!? D:
*cough* Other than the lack of stripping, I love Kou. The more screentime she gets, the more I love her character, which is incredibly surprising since I always feel like the girls in these kind of shows are just tacked on just to have a female around.
I wonder how megane is going to join the swimclub since he outright rejected Nagisa before.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
How else will he join, but outright bribery and or extortion.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Reminds me of the way Kai got Glasses join the club in R;N…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
If they know he’s a good swimmer, they’ll hunt him down. But…will they? I kinda hope he’s a swimming newbie who accidentally discovers a love for water that rivals Haruka and then joins. Highly unlikely given his gruff personality, but I personally want Haruka to have someone to “fanboy with over water”, so to speak.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
And then strip at every pool they see, arm in arm together!POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
My vote is “Learns he’s not good enough for the track team”.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
My bet is on he realizes that track is not where he can reach his full potential.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yep, the hype reveals another, pretty much, decent high school drama. I liked Kou-chan’s reactions, for the most, part; hoping the keep it toned down in following episodes.
So far, so good story. About the only guy I’m hot for is Nagisa, and he is becoming more endearing this episode. He’ll grow out of his adolescent keet pretty soon.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It’s not the powerhouse a lot of people were predicting, but it’s actually pretty good! I’m pleased a lot of guys are watching it too and not just writing it off.
Maybe we’ll learn about some tragic past that made him revert to being so childish. Who knows! He’s definitely a cutie though. Nice pick, skylion =w=
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I liked this episode better than the first one, enough so for me that I feel more interested in watching the show weekly now than I did prior to watching ep. 2, seeing the club form and knowing that there’s plenty of swimming still to be done.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Awesome, Free! has you in its grasp! There’s no escape now. As much I love the fanservice, the promise of more of the actual “sports” aspect of the anime being present sounds great.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
Kouuu, god what a cutie! She is us and we are her. Anyway, I loved this episode much more than the first. The relationship between Haru and Rin is just… aaawww. They shall be my otp. Can’t wait to see more of megane-kun next week.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I think this episode was better because it had so much more direction. Last week they just kinda stood around talking.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I really liked Kou’s part in the show, it really makes it more like a ‘standard’ anime, gender-flipped, than most of the bishie shows that I’ve seen. There’ve been tons of shows with guys who nosebleed from seeing girls in swimsuits, peep in the girls swim practice, get voiced by Yuki Kaji or Hiro Shimono, hide in locker rooms. I don’t think Kou will go that far, but filling part of that role is good, I think.
Unrealistic Club Activity Go! You know what fixes a swimming pool? Money. Yeah, there’s some distance that straight up labor can go, but it’s not going to get the filter machinery refurbished, it’s really not going to get the cracks fixed. But it’s an anime, and the power of positivity wins out, I guess. 🙂
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I feel like Kou will end up just walking into the guys changing or whatever. I think she will get immune to Haruka stripping soon enough though. XD
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It’s nice to see girls drooling over guys. Usually the only female characters who do that in anime are the stereotyped “slut” characters. Kou is just a normal girl with normal hormone levels…for her age. Which means they’re raging like a shark during a feeding frenzy. Anyways, it’s good to have the tables turned! Girls can drool over guys too!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, what happened to when the girls of K-ON had to work jobs to get Yui a guitar? Oh, yeah, Mugi’s eyebrows happened….
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I really like Gou too, and I like that the genders are flipped this time around, but that she acts like a normal teen girl would and not a majority of anime females that seem to behave at extremes.
I also thought of all the pluming, construction, and maintenance that would have to go into fixing that kind of a pool. Stuff that a majority of HS students would not be trained for. I couldn’t even imagine the type of work that would go into fixing that kind of damage to the pools in my university. But it’s a sports show, and it does show their dedication. So it’s a good scene despite how unlikely the case would be.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I laughed at the tag XD
Damn, female students can’t help but be cute, even though she just outright drools liters and liters on those muscles. And can’t Haru be… less tactless? Like, why are you half naked in front of a girl? .-.
But, anyways, I’m glad how things are turning out. I just don’t know what else can I talk about it right now… i just want to see some swimming soon XP
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
To me, Haru is like Hyouka’s Houtarou. He’s in his own personal world, never is concerned about things that happens around him and sticks to what he does as a habit regardless of what people may think of it. He even has the same lazy persona and only moves if there’s something of real interest.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I still like to imagine that Haruka has some sort of autism spectrum disorder, which is why he acts so weird. For him, that’s totally normal, so he thinks everyone else has the same view of life.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
That is a very fascinating way to look at his character. 0_0
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Maybe it’s more than he prefers to keep to himself and hasn’t really learned/had it reinforced that stripping down and taking a dip in an aquarium isn’t exactly kosher….
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Wouldn’t you count his friends screaming and clawing at him as negative reinforcement?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…his own opinion of himself is obviously higher….
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
But negative reinforcement is not as strong as positive reinforcement plus who knows how many times he has done this when his friends were not around? It isn’t like Makoto follows him 24/7 to make sure he Nagisa doesn’t strip inappropriate places.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Honestly, I don’t even think Haru notices. He’s willing to take off his clothes anywhere if it means going swimming, so I don’t even think he has enough tact for that.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
But… He’s not swimming in his house D= Taking a dip at a bathtub counts as swimming.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I think once it’s a body of water, Haru’s mind goes blank and he just acts on an over developed instinct.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
What a awesome episode and it was great to see the guys form a club and restore the pool! I died laughing when Haruka tried to swim at the pool store? LOL
Kou was great I was happy that she got some screentime and I sort of guessed she would eventually join the swim club as the manager! I hope her heart can take all the man-service around her xD
I can’t tell who I like out of the main cast of dudes probably Nagisa because he seems to be the joker of the group like his whole back and forth thing with Kou? That was funny.
MORE SHARKS NEXT WEEK! YAY
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Nagisa’s antics with Kou are so special. Shall we ship?
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
That is a good ship I like it <3
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I breaks my heart thou.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
He seems kind of childish for her but I see no real reason for them not to be shipped. It could work.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It could work, but now I’m thinking of getting in the way. She isn’t good enough for Nagachi.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I said it could work but personally, I think she’d do better paired with Haru. All she has to do is understand his habits.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I don’t think I said enough. Skylion x Nagachi. There, said it…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
We can always dream.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
::paraphrases Higurashi’s Rena:: “I’m taking him home with meeeeeeee!”
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’d be totally fine with skylion suddenly appearing in the anime to whisk Nagisa away.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I still got the dimples….and dem eyes. And wrinkles….
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I shipped them ever since I saw them arguing. Classic first indicator of future romance. 😉
I love that he’s the only one other than her brother who calls her Gou, and not completely as a joke, but because he thinks it’s a cool name for a girl.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah, KyoAni’s brew of Dekomori and Nibutani…Oh, how they argue…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What you’re saying is true and you should see the OVA for Chuunibyou. A new flag has been raised. 😉
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Seen it, loved it, wanting more and more and more.
“No flag has been raised”….ah, those two…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Whoever let that pool get that far has no pride. Didn’t it disturb anyone to see it in such a pathetic state? Not to mention it’s a school pool. Show some kind of responsibility.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Not so much pride as practicality…”Why have a pool when the sea is so close”.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s probably a cheap excuse to weasel out of a responsibility.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It’s also called plot development…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
And it’s a very convenient one at that.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Even KyoAni takes short cuts. Both Chu2Koi and Tamako market had the Dead Relative Drama Point in common. So a Blase Obvious Missing Piece is in order.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I have to agree there. What school lets its pool get that way, unless they totally closed it down. And even then, have the students repair and maintain it? Not that my HS would ever let the students do the job of repairing, cleaning and maintaining the school pool, they wouldn’t have even let us near the plumbing…
However, it did lead to a nice clean-up montage, so I can forgive it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, any scene in any anime where the students are on cleaning duty is an actual thing. That’s why when so arch-right conservative suggested kids earn money cleaning their school, I shot back, “They do it as a duty in Japan”.
Cleaning the pool/club room/stock room/hyperdrive reactor is an fictional extension of that.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
None of the schools in my city would ever let the students do such a thing. Cleaning boards, desks, floors, etc. Fine. But they draw the line in construction repair or anything of that magnitude. Not only would the students not be experienced enough for the job, but there would be too much of a chance that the student getting hurt, or even unfortunately doing something destructive or even malicious to the system. And then the students wouldn’t expect to do such a level of work for free, even if it is for their ultimate usage. It’s just too much of a problem for the schools in the money, legal, political, and public relations department.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, most of the stuff they did was weeding and grouting and painting. Not exactly heavy machinery or very dangerous. They completely glossed over the plumbing and filter stuff, which is the really unrealistic part. Basically, it was a teen movie cleanup. “If we put our backs into it, we can make this place great again!”
Also, this awesome movie…
🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The school with higher priorities for the limited amount of money they have. Pools are expensive. And if you don’t have a swim club, and you have the ocean, why have a pool sucking down funds?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, if the school had closed down the pool or something, fine. But I still doubt they would have just told the students, “There it is! Fix it, and you can use it.” My HS didn’t have a pool and so the swimming team just used another schools and organizations pools for practice and competitions.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This played out better than last week and another show forming a club this season. There was some sentimentality when the old pool house was being torn down. It must suck seeing something from your childhood being reduced to rubble in front of you.
I understand how Rin is so upset. Using time and money to go abroad to come back and challenge someone and realize nothing has changed. It’s natural he’d end up bitter. Who could blame the guy? Moreover, it’s a given he knows Haru wasn’t being serious and all it ends up doing is adding insult to injury.
Haru is someone who should do himself a favor and live a life out in the ocean. You know a person is a lost cause if they’re willing to even jump in a fish tank to go swimming.
I had to laugh at Kou swooning over every half naked guy who crosses her path. Come on, girl, maintain some compusure. You’re too easy to figure out. Even Psycho-Pass’s Akane was more discreet when she was staring at Kougami’s abs.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I cracked up at him trying to swim in an aquarium! The guy should save his money buy a houseboat with an indoor pool, and marry a mermaid. LOL
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Mourami!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I don’t think money would be an issue. Something tells me he’d settle for any boat as long as it gets him where he wants to go.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, it would have to be one with a pool so he could swim in the winter. Even he said in the beginning that he hoped the ocean could warm up so he could go swimming, so even he mostly knows not to swim in ice cold waters (most of the time -_-) and I don’t think even he would be stupid enough to swim outside or in the ocean during a swim.
No, just get him a really nice houseboat with a pool, and he can marry one of Ponyo’s sisters or something. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Haha oh wow, I can perfectly see this as his future. Not sure how he’d make money, but it still seems like the perfect future for him.
I’m surprised Haruka isn’t secretly a mermaid (merman?) himself, at this rate.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I don’t know what type of career he would have either. I’d say swimming instructor, but I don’t know if he would have the fortitude to actually instruct. However, I guess a professional sports swimmer or professional diver are possibilities. If he likes science, he could always help out with marine biology research or something like that as well?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Actually, I think Gou is a better name, especially since she’s named after such an awesome lady. So, I will continue to call her “Gou” along with Nagisa-kun! 😛
Anyway, this was a better episode than even last week as we learn what went down between Haruka and Rin. Haru and Rin seem to hold a special kind of bond where as Haru was hurt by Rin leaving and sees him as a close friend, but Rin has always been more competitive and seems to make it his life goal to beat Haru since Haru is pretty much the best swimmer in town. However, even after getting Olympic swim training in Australia, he was still not able to beat his friend who has never truly trained a day in his life. That’s got to be a harsh blow to such a young male ego, so it’s understandable why Rin was angry. Haru being young himself, blames himself for hurting his friend in such a way, and thus totally gave up competitive swimming.
Even after years have gone by, neither boy seems to have move on from that time at least until one boy is able to truly beat the other in a true swim off. Even as Rin won the competition this episode, it wasn’t a true win, at least not to him. Did Haru let him win? Yes, but not the way most think.
I don’t think he threw the race, at least not in the usual sense. We know that Haruka gave up swimming competitively after Rin lost to him that year. During this recent race between the two, as Makato says, he not really trying to do things competitively anymore, he does it because he enjoys it. He not trying. So when Rin won, he didn’t win because Haru purposefully slowed down or messed up or anything, Haru wasn’t even trying from the beginning! That’s why Rin is so pissed off.
Anyway, while Rin and Haruka’s relationship is the main crux of the show, there are other members to this cast as well. Makoto, the mother hen of the group, and Nagisa, the unsinkable optimistic little puppy, are wonderful supporting characters.
Gou is an awesome self-insert female protagonist with an actual personality and a valid reason for being involved in the plot. If one of my brothers came home from a totally different continent after being gone for months, but never came the house, never answered my calls or messages, and never came to see me to at least say hi. I would also be very concerned and look for anyway to get in contact with him and find out what’s going on. It’s not bro-con, it’s simply being concerned about one’s sibling and family. I can see where Gou is coming from.
I am excited to see what goes on next week. With a summer full of lolis, it’s wonderful to see some dedicated man-service! 🙂
Next time: Megane-kun gets a proper introduction!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Haru reminds me of Sam Anders from BSG. He isn’t concerned about the stats or who wins when he plays Pyramid; just that he can play the perfect game.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Haruka and Rin have an interesting relationship, even though it was sparked by really petty drama. They’re both being really stubborn about this. It will make for some tense races though!
I agree that Haruka didn’t really want to beat Rin. He just swims for the sake of swimming.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Stubborn is purely an understatement. Those two butt heads like a couple of angry mountain goats.
It was obvious Haru wasn’t trying. I guess he was trying to make Rin feel better after their last race when Rin had to suffer the fact his training abroad didn’t close the gap of performance between them.
POWUH: iLurker with 10 comments
After this episode I actually took a deeper look at the opening and ending for this show. I had a weird thought but here goes. What ever the opening and ending somewhat represent Rin and Haru thoughts and feeling respectively.
The opening matches Rin in that it’s starts out with this magical sort of wonder and then changes into this fierce and filled with the need to compete.Even the image of Him standing alone on dried earth while the other are floating in water is symbolic in a way.
Now that brings up the ending and after the second episode I have a good feeling we are looking at Haru’s psyche. For one he’s in a desert on a real look out for water. Everyone one he goes to doesn’t have some to share except Rin. Like how Rin was the one who’s really been swimming and getting wet all this time. I wouldn’t even put it past the guy to dream about things like dancing in the pool of the Taj Mahal with a bunch of random guys with air masks. But the last part really cemented it for me. All his friends just swimming around in that oasis having fun and even Rin is there. That’s all that Haru wants.
Or maybe I’m over thinking things who knows. ;w;
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Interesting analysis! I really like the ED song because it mashes up some dance club stuff with Haruka’s journey for water. I think it’s safe to say Haruka would be super happy if all of his friends were together again…and in water. That’s the ultimate dream for him~
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Fun fact: Iwatobi town, where the series takes place, is based on the real-life coastal town of Iwami, in south-western Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwami,_Tottori
Comparison pics between Ep 1 and real life: http://etesuke.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-546.html
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Very interesting. Reminds me on how PA Works did their homework for Hanasaku Iroha. But then again, if I remember K-On! used some real places as well.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Almost all kyoani works uses real life location. Hyouka/TamakoMa has it too.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And Chuu2Koi as well.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
And k-On! <3
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Woah, neat! I actually didn’t know that any of these shows used real locations as a reference.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
How the boys’s names in Free! are girlish in Japanese:
Haruka, 遙: 遙 = distance. Although the kanji used for his name is not feminine, the name itself and its kanji variants are more commonly used as feminine given names. Male usage is very rare. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruka_(given_name)
Makoto, 真琴 : 真 = pure;true, 琴 = koto, the Japanese stringed musical instrument. This specific kanji combination is a feminine given name.
Makoto is a masculine name if 誠 = sincerity is used.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%BE%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8#Japanese
Nagisa, 渚: 渚 = beach/seashore. The name is unisex. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagisa PS.I can’t confirm whether male usage of this name has decreased in recent years in Japan.
Rin, 凛 : 凛 = dignified. A feminine given name. http://www.20000-names.com/female_japanese_names_02.htm
Rei, 怜 : 怜 = wise. http://www.mahou.org/Kanji/4E67/
The hiragana れい(rei) attributed to 怜 makes the name feminine. However, if the hiragana さとし(satoshi) was attributed to 怜, the name would be masculine. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%80%9C#Japanese
Bonus: Gou, 江: 江 = inlet,bay. As mentioned in ep 1, Gou was named after the real-life Lady Gou, aka Oeyo, a prominent female historical figure in late Sengoku era Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oeyo
However, the hiragana for Gou,ごう, can also be attributed to the name 剛 = strong/tough, a masculine name.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Thanks~ I only knew the meaning behind Haruka and Makoto so this is nice info. I like how Nagisa’s and Gou’s kind of relate to water.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Haruka sure is amazing.
first, he can cook.
Then the painting club wants to take Haruka when they find out how good at painting he is.
And after that we find out he makes some kind of chicks out of wood.
Multi-talented guy, heh?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I have to admit that I was pretty impressed too. I wonder what other hidden talents he has?
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
I think he needs to play some music instrument, after that I won’t be surprised at anything. XD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
It’s kind of funny how I tried to study the ed of the first episode as to find out in which styles the guys swim by their dance moves.
Since the op shows them actually swimming. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to it, I usually pay attention to the song more. But I was right about Makoto.
So this time, I’m pretty sure that:
Nagisa- breast-stroke.
Makoto- Back-stroke.
Rei- Butterfly.
Well, about Haruka you don’t even need to think, we all know he only does freestyle.
In the op Rin is swimming in freestyle, but I have no idea what other styles can he do.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
“Dude lets smoke all the weed”. I have no idea who of you guys thought about that, but this made me laugh so hard. XDD
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ooooh that was me! I was thinking about that when it happened like wow that is a lot of grass…haha
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I see you’re taking on OC as an apprentice for your captions. I knew something was off.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
lol noooo, I didn’t do anything, it was all Fosh’s skills. Kyo told me there will be shark pictures every week and how could I decline?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A shark in a show about swimming? No one can deny that.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
hehe. I love the idea with the sharks 😀 as expected of Kyokai-san
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 318 comments
Foshizzel-san, good job! *thumbs up*
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
thanks!!!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You should get an award for this kind of work.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
dawwww thanks
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
Please keep including a shark in the screencaps each week. :>
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Hahah yes I shall keep em going on for all the posts xDD
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I like Shark-kun too! 🙂
I really like the motif of Haruka with the dolphin and Rin with the shark, though I would think it would make more sense for Haruka to be the fish, while Rin was the marine mammal since Haruka is in the water more, but I guess each animal fits their perspective character’s personality. The shark may have speed but the dolphin has maneuverability and the strength of friends.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I think the shark should be there whenever there’s a screenshot of Rin in the water. They both have the same kind of teeth so it’s rather appropriate.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I said before in the previous post that the reason I’m using to watch this is for the imouto and it looks like I’m right. Her reactions are so amusing to watch in here, even if they’re for fawning over naked men.
mfw I will never have a body like that orzAnd it looks like she’ll at least be a part of the story. I guess they want a self-insert character for the ladies since her reactions pretty much mirror every fangirls watching this.
I will rage though if we don’t even get to see her in a swimsuit. Being in a swimming club and not swimming is ridiculous. And I need some female service too in this show. Kuroko no Basket gave us that episode with Momoi.
Do it please.
Storywise, it’s again fairly straightforward but I think I like it more when they’re in the water(not because of the naked bodies mind you). Haru stripping everytime he sees water just makes me facepalm so much. And Nagisa gets on my nerves as well. Rin and his emo phase isn’t that bad yet but let’s hope he doesn’t stay brooding over the losses he had before. He’s still tolerable for now.
No megane yet but I wonder how they’ll get him in the story. Makoto is Makoto and he’s fine.
Better than the first episode at least which is good. Hoping it steps up more. The hype is kind of slowing down now and last I checked, preorder rankings seem to be going steady. So much for the sales competition between this and Monogatari that was said to happen when this season starts but oh well.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
There, now the guys have a little something to keep them happy too. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see her in a swimsuit. I kind of don’t want too much male-targeted fanservice to creep into this show so that I can feel 100% pandered to.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
The only thing I have to say is – give us our megane-kun! >3< I want to see what kind of cookie is he
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
[…] to another review of Free on Metanorn and just like Overcooled, Kara and now I am tackling this episode this week! So you can expect to see more posts from the […]
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
[…] Overcooled, Kara, and Fosh review the past episodes of Free!, now is my turn to do so. Other will get their […]