(L+CR) Free!

[Lota]

Originally Posted by rulfo

B-But that's a boy and a girl. 2 men in a pairs figure skating is more interesting to watch.

XDDDD I'm dying XD Well, I remember when I was watching SYTYCD, the concept of 2 men dancing together worked pretty well, but pairs figure skating... One man lifting the other... The one lifted gracefully flapping his arms like a beautiful swan... Oh dear Lord, I can totally see Makoto and Nagisa doing that >///<

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

And i'm gonna call it: By the end of the series, Nagisa and Gou will become a couple!

Well, it's only been one episode, so I still don't care who, but I want her to end up with someone.

[Natsuki Hyuga]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

I dunno about that (wasn't he in UraBoku, anyway? and IIRC some BL drama CDs), but there's absolutely no way this is a BL show. Like, none. Ever. The most I expect from this is shiptease, and fandom will do the rest.

Now stop there, Miyano never appear in any BLCD. Even as a side character, nope. There are various reasons for that, but point is he never appears in a drama CD with ガチBL format.

And like Bern said, if Miyano is in a show, there is absolutely no chance it is going to have canon BL (This totally does not mean there won't be fujoshi fanservice, mind you), considering it is Miyano...

And UraBoku is considered to be 'shoujo with heavy tease on BL', so that's no count

But anyway, laughing at the ED myself (what is with hilarious EDs nowadays lol). And the water animation. Delicious.
Character wise... Err, still too early to go fangirling I guess? '_')mm I didn't really care for anyone, not even Gou...

[brocko]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Ah, but the key is their relationship; namely, the "Hello my rival. Good news! I am dating your sister!" Factor.

I can just imagine the drama now. "Likewise beloved rival, I have good news too for I am dating your brother!"

[kuromitsu]

>Natsuki Hyuga
If you say so. As I said I don't know, well, now I do. xD (As for the CDs I guess my memory is playing tricks on me again.)

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Sackett

Is it really that weird?

I had a roommate in college that was a swimmer. In the summer, he worn an apron over his swimsuit all the time when cooking.

He'd get up in the morning, go for a swim (we were right next to the pool) then come back and cook bacon and eggs for breakfast. He didn't change cause we had no AC and it was 90 degress even in the morning. He put the apron on cause hot bacon grease on bare flesh hurts.

So I guess while I know intellectually that it was done to provide fanservice for female fans, I also found Haruka's actions completely believable.

Haruka's apron over his swimsuit made sense to me, as well. Until Haruka gave his explanation as to why he wearing the apron, that is. I assumed he was protecting his chest from hot grease splatters, just like you say your ex-roommate did. But Haruka said he was protecting his swimsuit from the splatters. Uh... what?? He's protecting his swimsuit instead of his bare skin?? Haruka's explanation is what made the scene truly funny for me.

[Sackett]

Haruka: "My swimsuit is more precious then my body"

It was pretty funny.

[rulfo]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Ah, but the key is their relationship; namely, the "Hello my rival. Good news! I am dating your sister!" Factor.

That should be a plot twist. Early parts imply Guy A wants to get to Guy B's pants only to be revealed that Guy A's ulterior motive was gaining trust for Guy B's sister.

The hell am I saying....

Oh well I have Guo Kou to fill in for my eye candy.

[MeggieMay]

Originally Posted by Bern-san

By the way, what's up with the grandma's phrase? At 20 you become ordinary? The grandma sure was an optimistic person

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

No, I can see what she meant: you can show tremendous talent as a child, but if you don't nurture it it'll just waste away and you'll be just like anyone else. (Of course it doesn't work like that all the time, but I've seen this happen more than once.)

I took it to mean "be prepared that some day your glory days of youth are over," but your explanation makes sense as well. Either way, Haruka seems to have interpreted the saying to mean "your life is over at 20, so why try?" which I do not believe is the meaning his Grandmother was trying to get through to him . Haruka could easily purse the sport and just be prepared for it to end one day, which is what most people who do professional and/or Olympic sports have to do if they want to have a stable life as they age. This is more likely what the Grandmother was trying to instill in him.

My current theory of where this show could be going is that Rin has returned from Australia after realizing he is not Olympic material. You can be extremely good at a sport and still not be at the level of talent and skill to make the Olympics. Rin also may have gotten injured and that could play into things, but that has yet to be seen. Anyway, I think Rin knows Haruka has natural Olympic potential since they were young and he's resentful that Haruka hasn't pursued it. It's a real life phenomenon I personally don't hear much discussion of but know about it because of a real life situation in my own life. It's hard to deal with the fact you know someone has an ability you really wish you had but that they don't have any desire to use it . Anyway, I think Rin is having a passive/aggressive issue dealing with Haruka and his desire not to compete. He's coming off like a doushbag because he's angry about it and taking it out on all of his former friends, yet also seems to know, and maybe even want, Haruka to return to competitive swimming and possibly live the dream Rin knows he really can't accomplish. Rin seems to be the only one who can get Haruka to compete for whatever reason, which might explain why he even bothered to look him up (I'm hoping we learn more about Rin and he becomes a more sympathetic character, no matter where this story is going). It's all a theory, though, and with my luck I'm thinking of something a lot better than the animes writers are, so hey

[rulfo]

I could actually see that happening. Or that Rin just really lost sight of enjoying swimming and is too dead serious about it.

[germanturkey]

the lack of female racing suits. i am disappoint. granted, i haven't watched the whole ep yet..

narrating as i go along:
please let that dark red haired girl show up in a racing suit..

[GDiddy]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

I am grinning with delight watching this. Delicious, delicious Fujoshi fanservice.



And i'm gonna call it: By the end of the series, Nagisa and Gou will become a couple!

I kinda like her and Tachibana together. Or Haruka, just for kicks.

Speaking of.. Seeing a male character strip whenever is kind of refreshing...If it was legal, Haruka would seriously marry a pool.

And I'm sure Rin probably will be redeemed somehow but for now, he's a douchebag....but a sexy sexy douchebag....

Nagisa was the only character that seriously rubbed me wrong. Genki hyperactive shotabait is a trope now...

[Dark Wing]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Still, bromance is bromance though that Nagisa guy really pisses me off. It's like a retard is mandatory in every case.

Hey, he's not retarded!...He's just childish for his age...

[ookamigirl]

This anime got me fired up right from the start.
The opening was really nice ^^
Apron over a swimsuit ^///^
Seems like it's an easygoing anime.
The pace kinda reminds me of Sakamichi no Apollon..
The ED was unusual for what you would expect in a swimming anime, but cool.
Will be watching this one!

[Sides]

^^ The first episode was fun to watch. Kind of reminded me of kimi to boku, but with a main theme. I don't think the series/show takes itself too serious, which makes easy to watch.
Not sure about the ED..

[musouka]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

What you have is a bunch of impossibly buff hunks acting like middle-school girls

I remember your complaints about Kimi to Boku, which were honestly pretty ridiculous. The guys in Free don't act like middle school girls, they act like their tropes. Or, as my friend said, "Nagisa acts like no person ever."

Said tropes aren't necessarily "realistic", but by your logic you should have just as many complaints about the way girls act in other KyoAni productions.

[Bern-san]

Rivals?

Spoiler for new charas:

[Parchevich]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

There's a weird disconnect with these characters , at least for me. Imagine if the cast of Kimi to Boku were athletes instead of... whatever they were. And then imagine they took steroids, getting the physical manifestations without the 'roid rage. What you have is a bunch of impossibly buff hunks acting like middle-school girls - a strange combination of beefcake and male moe, not helped by a bunch of actors in their 30's or damn close trying to sound like youngsters (the 40 year-old joins next week).

There's nothing wrong with a show that's transparently a service series for fujoshi, if that's what Feee! turns out to be - otaku have had hundreds of them, so they have no call to complain now. There could be more here - maybe one or more of the characters will emerge as really interesting (or like KtB, it'll be the 5th lead who brings a new spark of life to the series) or the story or comedic aspects will find another gear, and Free! will reveal some hidden depths that weren't apparent in the premiere.

Ahahaha, dude, are you for real? If the show turns out to be a fanservice series for fujoshi? This show had "fanservice series for fujoshi" stamped on it clear as daylight from the moment it was announced.

Also, those aren't impossibly buff hunks. Those are just fit guys. Impossibly buff hunks is what you get in Jojo's bizarre adventure and Toriko, which are, interestingly enough, aimed at guys. If you hate men on roids' that much, I suggest you head out to those threads asap.

[EnOfEridu]

I really liked this one. The water animations were awesome, it reminded my days as a swimmer. And made me miss the pool. I liked the Haruka character, i share his love for the water (but sadly not his talent)

I wasn't bothered by the fanservice, in a certain way was a good change from all the "straight" fanservice i've been watching on anime.

I'm looking forward to the next episode, i want to know what did Rin show to Haruka.

[EnOfEridu]

Originally Posted by Parchevich

Also, those aren't impossibly buff hunks. Those are just fit guys. .

I think the anatomy of the characters is very accurate. They look like real life swimmers.

But i guess where do they train. Because if you just do nothing, well, yjay body is impossible.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by musouka

I remember your complaints about Kimi to Boku, which were honestly pretty ridiculous. The guys in Free don't act like middle school girls, they act like their tropes. Or, as my friend said, "Nagisa acts like no person ever."

Said tropes aren't necessarily "realistic", but by your logic you should have just as many complaints about the way girls act in other KyoAni productions.

*quiet applause from the corner*

The "but they don't act like Real Guys!" comments I see everywhere crack me up. Yes, because the girls in certain male-targeted anime/manga are totally realistic representations of Real Girls instead of being a bunch of tropes designed to appeal to the target demographic. Oh wait, that's exactly what they are.

I'm not saying this is great and realistic characterization, but if it's OK with shows targeted at males why is it suddenly wrong when it's in shows targeted at women? (And why is it suddenly a problem with this show in particular? It's not like Free! is the first ever anime of its kind.)

Originally Posted by Bern-san

Rivals?

Spoiler for new charas:

Oh! I hope Redhead shows up fast.

Originally Posted by EnOfEridu

I think the anatomy of the characters is very accurate. They look like real life swimmers.

I think they're too buff for their age, though, especially that they don't seem to spend all their time in the gym. They're what, 17? Although I guess it could be just the way muscles/etc. come off in 2D, the body looks sharper than it does IRL. And ultimately it's fanservice so yeah.