Free! Eternal Summer – 04
Yes. Perfect.
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Hmm, well I missed out on the Rei episode, but a Rin one isn’t that bad now that his character has developed. Even better, the Samezuka swim team seems to be developing into being as… |
There was quite a bit on Rin and Sosuke’s past this episode, and they seem to have done a pretty good job at integrating this part into Rin’s childhood considering that as far as the first season was concerned, Sousuke didn’t even exist. I suppose there was more than enough room for him to be there, since Rin wasn’t with the other characters all of the time. Maybe he was in the original LN as well, I wouldn’t know. Rin refused giving up the bottom position the bottom bunk bed in the room, so I guess the next best thing is letting Sousuke the chance to swim in the team.
I would have assumed that Rin and Sousuke childhood decision not to swim together would have taken up more time to resolve, considering how Rin’s angst took a whole season to fix. This issue was brought up and fixed within a single episode. The faster pace is okay though, since maybe this will make Sousuke accepting Haruka come a bit faster. Seeing how Rin went and told Sousuke straightforwardly that Iwatobi having him join them in breaking the rules letting him swim with them made him less angsty, maybe Sousuke’s negative view on Haruka will be solved easier. Plus since the series’ main characters is the Iwatobi club and that’s where the majority of the focus is probably going to go for the rest of the season, I guess Samezuka needs to get their team together in the amount of screentime they get.
Samezuka’s swim club has a lot more members than Iwatobi, but that just makes establishing a team harder for Rin, apparently. The end members seem like they’ll be Rin, Momotarou, Sousuke and Nitori just judging from how the series has gone so far (plus, you know, the OP), but I guess it will take a bit to get to that. Nitori has definitely been a lot less annoying this season (though that probably has to do with Rin being way more mellow, so Nitori isn’t nagging him every other scene), and him trying to improve himself to be on the team is a bit heartwarming to watch. The same goes for Rin believing in him on the sidelines. Momotaru fawning over Gou doesn’t look like it will be annoying anytime soon (maybe I’m just biased), and his character’s high tension personality helps balance out the team, since everyone else is more… relaxed. Their personalities are pretty varied, so if this is the end team for Samezuka, it looks like they’ll be just as interesting to watch as Iwatobi.
Meanwhile, Iwatobi’s swim club was all about dieting. Though unlike most ridiculous anime dieting, this one seemed slightly more healthy (minus Gou’s uh, protein powder additions) and about nutritional balance. Maybe I’m wrong, but this seems better than most of the “okay, you have to survive off of two bowls of plain rice for an entire week” type diets. Anyways, it was Rin’s team that had all of the development this episode, but at least they threw in little reminders that Haruka and the others are training hard for the next meet.
Yay things still aren’t angsty. This is such a huge improvement to Free! from the last season around this episode, and seeing Samezuka was just as interesting as Iwatobi. …Actually, they sat around and ate pizza too this time last season, looking at some of the screencaps on Metanorn. Interesting. Anyways, this episode was a good mix of serious plot-related movement and comic relief moments. I look forward to seeing Samezuka’s completed team (even though I think we all know what the end result is going to be) and their next competition with Iwatobi. Both sides are putting in effort, so either one seems like they could win.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Ah, another great episode!
This time we get some look into Rin and Sousuke’s backstory. Those two were so cute and close as friends when they were young, and they are still good friends now too. However, they seem to have different ideals when it comes to swimming, with Sousuke thinking about the individual, while Rin thinks about the team.
Sousuke seems to have a lot of the thinking that Rin did post Australia when he was in his angst mode last season. It seems that Sousuke wants what Rin has now, after the end of last season. But Rin is right. He can’t just give it too him. Just as he had to learn, so does Sousuke.
Also, is it just me, or does the jealousy Sousuke has for Haru go both ways? Haru seems to perk up every time the two are mentioned being together, and Sousuke gets that shadowy look in his eyes every time Rin mentions Haru or his Iwatobi friends. Both of them are Rin’s best friends, but they seem to want to edge the other out of his life (or at least Sousuke does).
I have a feeling Sousuke is going to be a problem later on. It just seems way to fast and convenient for him to suddenly agree with Rin’s point of view and want to be more team minded. Especially since two seconds before, he was telling Rin to forget about friendship and be completely focused on himself. Seeing more of his way of thinking, I’m beginning to get the feeling that it’s not that he misunderstood what Haru and friends did for Rin last year, but he thinks of friendship as a crutch and that their friendship is dragging Rin down, even if he doesn’t realize it.
We’ll have to see how Sousuke develops as the show goes on. He’s going to learn the power of teamwork and friendship before this show ends, but probably not before he pulls some things to try to separate Rin from Haru and friends.
Next week seems to take a look at Nagisa. We’ll see if we get some more character development. 😉
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
So far, Gou appears to be able to make decent food. She just made a misstep trying to nutri-boost her food with protein powders.
The girl coach from Kuroko’s basketball, however, is just a hopeless case at cooking.(- _ -”)
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
As far as the first season was concerned, Sousuke didn’t even exist.Maybe he was in the original LN as well, I wouldn’t know.
Sousuke was mentioned in the 1st LN of High Speed.
http://fencer-x.tumblr.com/post/57136685017/high-speed-chapter-7a-summary-race
He’s appeared in the recently released LN vol 2 too.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I’m unconditionally loving this. I don’t know what has to happen to undo all of the fun and cuteness that has been free until now. Personally, I’d love it if there was no angst this season, but there’s no escaping it, I guess.