(L+CR) Free!

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Witch of Uncertainty

How well is Free recieved by the way? In terms of sales.
Anyone knows?

Here are the sales figures someone posted two pages ago.

Originally Posted by mistress_kisara

Woah Free vol. 1 BD/DVD sold 25,726!! It sold better than any Kyoani series since K-on!

http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=664041

[mistress_kisara]

+1 for Seijuurou taking Rin out of the relay, he's right in saying that he doesn't care about his team..but I wonder how he'll race Haru now?

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Originally Posted by mistress_kisara

+1 for Seijuurou taking Rin out of the relay, he's right in saying that he doesn't care about his team..but I wonder how he'll race Haru now?

I'm thinking of Gattaca right now.

[GDiddy]

I'm thinking more of 'here comes season two'.

Not a bad episode. I really like the Rin/Rei confrontation. For once, Rin wasn't a total tool....but his obsession with Haru sure kicked him in the ass in the end with Senjurou kicking him off the relay.

I'm looking forward to next week already.

[ginger02]

I need to get the OST for this show when it comes out.

[ookamigirl]

Rei really has good intuition.
Looks like both Rei and Rin were inspired by Haruka.
That's why they feel like rivals for his attention.
So basically both of them are the same, except Rin has more emotional baggage.
Next time we'll finally get to see that epic relay, I hope.

[TrueDevil]

very good episode.
Finally you can clearly see a change in Mackerel-kun. He became much more involved and you can see he opened up.
Kudos to the VAs of Butterfly and Shark teeth they did a good job it really sounded that the characters were alive and real.
So hope the final relay will open the stage to the second season.
And damn, the soundtrack in this episode was freaking amazing.

[Bern-san]

Originally Posted by Kanon

For a moment here I thought they would come to blows.

Same here, a couple of times I thought one of them was going to punch the other I liked the scene and the seiyuus did a good performance there (to think that Rei's seiyuu is Diabolik Lovers' "bitch-chan" guy...)

It's nice to see Haru open up more to his friends and how Rei is considered part of the group even if they talked a lot about Rin. The best thing of the episode.

We get more insight of Rin's thoughts and I can feel sorry for him during his time in Australia but that doesn't justify his actions in previous episodes. That Mikoshiba kicked him out of the team was to be expected, the relay involved being a team and so far Rin has been too self-centered.

On another note... I totally recommend listening to the drama cd because all the tracks are great (there's a couple of places with translations). I have more respect for Haru after we learn how he and Nagisa became friends and they totally have to animate Samezuka's maid cafe track

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Bern-san

I have more respect for Haru after we learn how he and Nagisa became friends

Would you be willing to give a summary of how they became friends? (In a spoiler box, of course.)

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Rin and Rei's confrontation at the beginning of the episode was so over-dramatic. It's like they were fighting over a girl.

A girl's new boyfriend is pissed off over her being so lost in the past, seemingly being obsessed over her ex from years ago. The new boyfriend has had enough of this, especially since the recent actions of the ex has greatly complicated matters. So the girl's new boyfriend decides to confront his girlfriend's ex about it.

It's not that far off from what we saw in this episode, is it?


On the whole, I really liked the latest episode of Free! I liked finding out about what happened to Rin in Australia, though admittedly it was a touch underwhelming giving how heavily dramatic the first Rei/Rin confrontation was.

But what I really like is the big twist at the end of Rin getting kicked off the relay team. I think that's a pretty bold move on the part of the writers, since the easy thing to do would be to give us a finale where Rin goes head-to-head against Haru once more. In spite of how it was kinda surprising at a meta-level, having Rin kicked off the relay team still had very good foreshadowing to it and makes perfect sense in-story. Rin has been pretty disrespectful towards his fellow swimming teammates and coach. If I was Mikoshiba, I'd be a bit annoyed with this constantly brooding, moody, pushy guy too.

[LKK]

Any speculation as to why Makoto was so winded running up the stairs to view the pool from above? It puzzled me to see someone who's supposed to be in great physical condition bent over and gasping for breath half-way through the climb and again at the finish when everyone else seemed to be fine the entire time.

[Tranhieu]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Rin and Rei's confrontation at the beginning of the episode was so over-dramatic. It's like they were fighting over a girl.

No they were fighting over a handsome muscular boy.

"How do you feel about Haruka sempai?" oh my~~

[orion]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

A girl's new boyfriend is pissed off over her being so lost in the past, seemingly being obsessed over her ex from years ago. The new boyfriend has had enough of this, especially since the recent actions of the ex has greatly complicated matters. So the girl's new boyfriend decides to confront his girlfriend's ex about it.

It's not that far off from what we saw in this episode, is it?


On the whole, I really liked the latest episode of Free! I liked finding out about what happened to Rin in Australia, though admittedly it was a touch underwhelming giving how heavily dramatic the first Rei/Rin confrontation was.

But what I really like is the big twist at the end of Rin getting kicked off the relay team. I think that's a pretty bold move on the part of the writers, since the easy thing to do would be to give us a finale where Rin goes head-to-head against Haru once more. In spite of how it was kinda surprising at a meta-level, having Rin kicked off the relay team still had very good foreshadowing to it and makes perfect sense in-story. Rin has been pretty disrespectful towards his fellow swimming teammates and coach. If I was Mikoshiba, I'd be a bit annoyed with this constantly brooding, moody, pushy guy too.

It just gives KyoAni an excuse to string us along with a rematch years down the road in college.

[MisaoFan]

Spoiler for Episode 12 (End):

I was really impressed by the final episode. Haruka really managed to bought Rei back while they are going to the swimming tournament with the rest of the Iwatobi Swim Club. The metaphors are really great and revisit the reason behind their swimming skills...That was just great and I appreciated KyoAni for giving a swimming anime with proper water animation while keeping the story simple.
I can't believe I managed to bring myself back to watch a sport anime for a while, it's like I don't have any expectations from the start and makes me surprised as time goes on. The drama was not bad and doesn't feel too over the top, the characterization was okay, the swimming scenes were one of the best aspects of the anime and I'm glad I did enjoy it. The ending scene with a particular message makes me wish it'll get another season.

[RainbowMagnet]

Well that was underwhelming, if not really bad. I don't think I'll be watching season 2 if it were to ever happen.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

What they did was predictable, with the show being generally realistic the consequences were predictable... but it still felt good.

The race animation was worth it, even if the mental imagery bits made me laugh a little.

[Cloudedmind]

I enjoyed the episode over all, and the development between the characters, the power of friendship and all that, but honestly I'm pissed that Rin got his way by throwing a b**ch tantrum. I mean seriously?! I honestly think it would have been a much more affective lesson if he had had to sit this one out, and reflect on his actions. Thus, resolving to get over himself, grow up and come back a better stronger person after watching Haru and co. use the power of friendship to win. I understand he's the angsty teenager, but geez. I am excited about certain prospects after seeing that end card.

[kuromitsu]

Uuum. I guess if I liked Rin and cared about him I'd be happy with this episode, but given that I don't, and that Rei is my favorite character...

.....

.....yeah.

Spoiler for ep 12:

So basically, everyone twists themselves into pretzels because Rin can't get over himself and needs to get his issues mended solely by other people's effort, Rei goes as far as actually stepping back, getting excluded again, and watch the others being all "yay we belong together" so Rin can be happy and his team can disqualify itself by effectively turning into another team, and after all this are we supposed to take the episode motto "For The Team" in an unironic way? Really?

It's nice that Rin has stopped being an overdramatic angsty jerk, but it would've been much nicer if it had been achieved in another way.

I suppose the episode was meant to be uplifting and inspiring but all the while I was thinking "would someone please just slap Rin really hard? preferrably his kouhai" and "Jesus F Christ writers, poor Rei."

So yeah. Overall, I support what Free stands for, and applaud KyoAni for making it, but Rin irritated me so much that I just couldn't enjoy it freely (lol pun). If there's a second season I'll watch it only as long as 1) Rin isn't in it, or has only a small role (yeah right), 2) nobody angsts about Rin, and 3) Rei gets more respect, because damn it he deserves it after this episode.

Originally Posted by Cloudedmind

I enjoyed the episode over all, and the development between the characters, the power of friendship and all that, but honestly I'm pissed that Rin got his way by throwing a b**ch tantrum.

Yep, and everything else you wrote. The hell, writers?

[Sound of Azure]

Rei truly embodied "for the team", didn't he?

[RainbowMagnet]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Uuum. I guess if I liked Rin and cared about him I'd be happy with this episode, but given that I don't, and that Rei is my favorite character...

.....

.....yeah.

Spoiler for ep 12:

So basically, everyone twists themselves into pretzels because Rin can't get over himself and needs to get his issues mended solely by other people's effort, Rei goes as far as actually stepping back, getting excluded again, and watch the others being all "yay we belong together" so Rin can be happy and his team can disqualify itself by effectively turning into another team, and after all this are we supposed to take the episode motto "For The Team" in an unironic way? Really?

It's nice that Rin has stopped being an overdramatic angsty jerk, but it would've been much nicer if it had been achieved in another way.

I suppose the episode was meant to be uplifting and inspiring but all the while I was thinking "would someone please just slap Rin really hard? preferrably his kouhai" and "Jesus F Christ writers, poor Rei."

So yeah. Overall, I support what Free stands for, and applaud KyoAni for making it, but Rin irritated me so much that I just couldn't enjoy it freely (lol pun). If there's a second season I'll watch it only as long as 1) Rin isn't in it, or has only a small role (yeah right), 2) nobody angsts about Rin, and 3) Rei gets more respect, because damn it he deserves it after this episode.


Yep, and everything else you wrote. The hell, writers?

The Rin swap with Rei bugged the hell out of me. I probably wouldn't have cared as much if they didn't spend the previous episodes showing how Rei felt left out and was finallly happy to be a real team with them from now on, but they did. The director said that this was an anime about the bonds of five people, but honestly all I see is that of 4 people, and I'm not including Rei, because for some reason he conveniently gets left out time and time again.