(L+CR) Free!

[Mikasa Ackerman]

Hey there xD I've seen adverts showing this series on several sites, I was wondering if anyone thinks it's any good?

[Blonto]

Originally Posted by rulfo

So if me and my friends went to Japan and did this we just did a very unmanly like gesture?

I don't know if it's unmanly, but it's primarily a part of female etiquette.

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

.....Uh, no, it's not. Sorry.

Well that's funny, because people who've been to Japan told me this is common among girls. Clearly your experiences revealed something different.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Mikasa Ackerman

Hey there xD I've seen adverts showing this series on several sites, I was wondering if anyone thinks it's any good?

Watch it for yourself and tell us!

[Blonto]

Originally Posted by Mikasa Ackerman

Hey there xD I've seen adverts showing this series on several sites, I was wondering if anyone thinks it's any good?

There's only one episode out, go watch it.
As for whether it's good, that depends on what you're looking for. If you only want fanservice, it's great. If you want character and story...eeeh. But that's just my impression based on the first episode.

[mistress_kisara]

I found this on tumblr

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by Blonto

Well that's funny, because people who've been to Japan told me this is common among girls. Clearly your experiences revealed something different.

Common among girls doesn't automatically equate to verboten for males.

The degree to which a behavior scans as masculine or feminine varies enormously between and within cultures anyway. A lot of men in Japan tote around handbags that, in many parts of the U.S., would get mocked as being too much like women's purses.

I don't care if the Free characters are labeled unrealistic. Realism is a virtue, sure, but it's not one that--to my mind--trumps all others. Many of the best characters and narratives I've come across in my life would fail the realism test... however, even the most exaggerated or improbable or stylized personalities and stories can contain a powerful and resonant emotional truth. Do I seek that in Free? Nope, I'm just here for the entertainment, haha. Entertainment value is a virtue, too!

But what irks me is calling the Free character unrealistic because they seem too feminine. There is so much else for people to pick on if they aren't amused by these characters--I mean, how "realistic" is Haruka's obsession with water? The guy sits in a tub in his freaking swimming trunks before breakfast. In real life, we'd probably be urging him to go to therapy.

So out of all the silliness and comic behavior, why zero in on feminine traits (whatever that really means) as being particularly problematic? To me, this seems like saying that boys or men who do not perfectly adhere to some kind of narrow conception of acceptable masculinity cannot and should not exist in real life, or, at the very least, that boys/men who bend gender norms are implausible as fictional characters. That disturbs me.

[ninryu]

First episode wasn't bad. Defiantly an eye candy, though.

[Blonto]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Common among girls doesn't automatically equate to verboten for males.

Originally Posted by blonto

I don't know if it's unmanly, but it's primarily a part of female etiquette.

Do I really have to quote myself? Come on.

As I already said, there's a huge difference between unrealistic with the purpose of creativity and emphasis (such as Haruka's obsession with water) and making characters, and more problematically a whole group of them, needlessly act in ways you simply don't see in real life.

However, I realized that my and some other posters' disagreement might actually come from our misunderstanding of the reason these characters are acting girly. See, I assumed that they're acting like that because whoever wrote this show doesn't know how to write convincing male characters (hardly surprising considering Kyoani's track record), which does seem to be a common problem among female authors (and vice versa of course). However, there is the explanation that they're written like this because girls simply dig girly guys. I admit I find female otaku's tastes hard to grasp, but putting it that way explains why you and others see this as believable in the same way as Haruka's weird quirk.

[cyth]

How about you guys just accept that Free guys aren't supposed to be treated like they were modeled after any kind of male found in the real world? They are supposed to be objects of affection, they aren't to be treated like real people. Good God, are you unable to handle imagination of this sort? There is no connection to reality at all! One might say that they bring out as much emotion as real human beings, but so can cute little puppies. Until you realize that, just stay the fuck away from anime; you'll get hurt otherwise.

So this is perfect grounds to make further criticism: Free!'s characters are soulless because we can recognise them as imaginary constructs from a mile away. Some stories try to make their characters believeable, this just isn't Free!'s goal. If you enjoy artificial constructs, which I do in this case, this show is for you, but don't say they act like real people, c'mon. The only thing genuine in their case could be their ripped bodies, just like huge tits from harem shows. Everything else is fantasy.

[GoldenLand]

Originally Posted by Blonto

See, I assumed that they're acting like that because whoever wrote this show doesn't know how to write convincing male characters (hardly surprising considering Kyoani's track record), which does seem to be a common problem among female authors

Speaking of that...in Free!'s case, unless I'm guessing the genders of the names wrong, the original author whose novel the series was based on is male, and so is the person who wrote the script for the first episode.

[musouka]

Originally Posted by Blonto

See, I assumed that they're acting like that because whoever wrote this show doesn't know how to write convincing male characters (hardly surprising considering Kyoani's track record), which does seem to be a common problem among female authors (and vice versa of course).

Gee, too bad Free!'s series composer is a man, then! The poor guy, being incapable of writing men. I sure do remember all those complaints about his work on Hataraku Maou-sama...oh, wait.

[jaziek]

The only thing that really struck me during the first episode is that I should probably hit the gym.

These guys are shredded.

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by jaziek

The only thing that really struck me during the first episode is that I should probably hit the gym.

These guys are shredded.

HGH my friend.

[Blonto]

Originally Posted by GoldenLand

Speaking of that...in Free!'s case, unless I'm guessing the genders of the names wrong, the original author whose novel the series was based on is male, and so is the person who wrote the script for the first episode.

My mistake, I was thinking of the director. Didn't read who the scriptwriter was, though I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had a lot of input from the director. The gender of the author of the source material doesn't really matter. The characters in it were kids and we have no idea how faithful the adaptation is.

Originally Posted by musouka

Gee, too bad Free!'s series composer is a man, then! The poor guy, being incapable of writing men. I sure do remember all those complaints about his work on Hataraku Maou-sama...oh, wait.

You do realize that just because you're of one gender doesn't mean you know how to write that gender convincingly? Plenty of female authors fail at writing female characters (the already mentioned K-On being one example of this). Kyoani is very used to writing schoolgirls and they haven't exactly shown that they can be creative when it comes to writing characters.
Not to mention, this show is aimed at women. Even if the guy behind the script knows how to write convincing guys, I'm sure he'd know better than to do so in a show that's basically fujoshi bait.

[rulfo]

Originally Posted by jaziek

The only thing that really struck me during the first episode is that I should probably hit the gym.

These guys are shredded.

I just miss my endurance and speed. Swimming drills are awesome. Doing kickboards for minutes hurts a lot but the endurance gained from that is really noticeable.

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by musouka

Gee, too bad Free!'s series composer is a man, then! The poor guy, being incapable of writing men. I sure do remember all those complaints about his work on Hataraku Maou-sama...oh, wait.

I didn't know Wagahara Satoshi is doing the composition of this series...oh, wait.

[musouka]

Originally Posted by Blaat

I didn't know Wagahara Satoshi is doing the composition of this series...oh, wait.

Do you not understand what a series composer is?

[ginger02]

Originally Posted by Westlo

HGH my friend.

Eh i think you need to hang out with more high school athletes

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Grandma's phrase also resonated with me a lot.

There's a certain level of talent and/or intelligence that'll get you heavily noticed as a kid, noticed to a fair degree as a teenager, but seen as just normal for an adult.

The reason is that a school/community is only a "small pond" (or a small pool might be a better analogy in this case ) compared to the wider world. As a kid you're measured against your immediate peers, so it's not hard to stand out in one way or another - "immediate" peers meaning your peers that go to the same school as you do. As an adult, you're measured against the general population - So you go from a small pond to a much larger pond, or rather from a small pool to a huge pool. So it's a lot harder to stand out as an adult than as a kid. So a lot of kids are treated like a big deal during their youth, but then are just ordinary in the adult world.

I liked this part too. Never really thought of it, but it is really true. At 10 they call you a prodigy, 15 a genius, and 20 you're ordinary.

Kind of a depressing perspective though, albeit not inaccurate.

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by musouka

Do you not understand what a series composer is?

I fully understand it you on the other hand doesn't understand the difference between an adaptation and an original work.

[musouka]

Originally Posted by Blaat

I fully understand it you on the other hand doesn't understand the difference between an adaptation and an original work.

This is also an adapted work. The original was also written by a guy, even.

Which is why I didn't think it was worth bringing up, but sure!