(L+CR) Free!

[germanturkey]

Spoiler for Haruka:

too much gay, not enough genderbent on pixiv. come on japan..

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by MeggieMay

MY random thoughts after two episodes:

I'm with ginger02 - Ama-chan is a former swimsuit model . I actually thought that was as clear as you can get without stating it. Being a model/sexy actress who seems ditzy but isn't is a very old trope based on reality (Jayne Mansfield comes to mind)

Gou ending up with Haruka - I can see her with Nagisa or Makoto, but not Haruka . Haruka and Rin are the clear "couple" here. I'd usually make a comment about it just being played that way for the B/L fans to eat up but I'm getting the vibe that these two actually getting together for real in this show isn't out of the question! As for Gou brocon-ing for her brother, I don't feel that at all. If I remember correctly, Gou mentioned in Ep 1 she stayed in Japan with her mother, while her brother went with her dad to Australia. Then he's not been home at all since he returned and is going to a private boarding school, while she's going to another school. While it could just be a case of her parents wanting Rin to have a super good education, I got the feeling at the time that the show might hinting that Rin and her parents are either separated or divorced. It could explain some of the distance that's happened between the two siblings and why Gou is going out of her way to re-connect with him in such an aggressive way (either she does it or it won't happen and she knows it) but I could be reading this wrong. Even if it didn't explain Gou and Rin's relationship, it would explain why he didn't even check in with his mother yet . That seems unusually disrespectful for a young Japanese male to do.

So what really is going on with Haruku and Rin? While I think what's going on between them from Rin's perspective was made much more clear in this episode (I believe Rin was upset by Haruka winning and he does think Haruka threw the race), I'm not sure what exactly is going on with Haruka . I will say I don't think Haruka consciously threw the race but that he easily could have done it unconsciously. Of interest to me, we saw Haruka's 1st person point of view at that moment and once again he was seemingly off in la la land philosophizing. Haruka seems to be a deep person but he also seems to be very troubled by something or somethings going on in his life. My current theory is some of the weirdness Haruka's putting forth is part of him trying to put up a wall to hide some of his internal issues from others, while also protecting himself. I also do think he is, at least unconsciously, trying to fix things with Rin (in a very childish way, because he's old enough he should have realized that might just make things worse ). One thing that I will note right now, though it may end up just being a tangent thought long run, is that Haruka seems to be all alone. We know he had a grandmother from Ep 1 but she seems to have passed on and we've yet to see either parent of his. Yet Makoto has both parents and siblings (who look to be fraternal twins?) and Rin has both parents and a sister. Hmm, even if this is a red hearing tangent, it is always refreshing to see anime characters with family .

I never thought of Gou as a bro-con no more than I though Satomi was a sis-con in Valvrave. Can't siblings just be worried about each other anymore? I just think she's a sister who is concerned and worried about her brother who has been so out of character and out of touch lately. I know I would be, if that was my brother.

I think you are completely right about Haruka. Also, just so you know, Haruka does live alone. His grandmother is dead and Makoto said that his mother travels around with his father for work. But you are right, its refreshing to see some school teens that actually have families that live with them. It makes them so much more relatable to me, more so then all of those Japanese high school students that somehow live alone with their own apartments/houses.

[Lota]

I liked this episode more than the first one. First things first, those two songs are earworms. Parts of both the OP and ED are stuck in my head on replay... it never ends! Plus, the part of the ED that stuck was the club scene, so now not only do I have to hear the song in my head, I see the image of them dancing too =.=

The episode was rather funny, I laughed when Haru tried to swim in a fish tank, Makoto's vision of "Haru-the-captain" was funny too, as was the intoduction of the coach. And I really liked some small things throughout the episode: Gou ogling the guys, Haru and Makoto backing away from the pool, Haru's little smile...

Also, I found myself really liking Makoto. I'm glad he's not just a satellite that we get to see only when he's around the main char, it was nice to see him on his own too. Surprised he called Rin though. Aaaaand, after this ep I kinda like Gou and Makoto together, so I'ma start shipping them

About Rin, I like that he's not all about Haru, seems like he's got some other rivals or people he admires too. Anyway, seems like Free is gonna be better than I thought, so I already can't wait for my next week's eye candy!

[monir]

Is it fair enough to label Gou as the resident Fujoshi of this show, or am I out of line? I won't mind getting educated by one of the Fujoshi experts.

[cyth]

Man, you haven't met any real fujoshi, have you?

[monir]

Originally Posted by cyth

Man, you haven't met any real fujoshi, have you?

No, I have not encountered any of those creatures, and dear me.... judging from your tone, I think it's in my best interest to not to cross path with one.

[kenjiharima]

Originally Posted by ustatsu

ED Card

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

When I saw that it immediately reminded me of this

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Either way ep.2 Kou is made it great. All boys have all good characters except Rin who is all emo at the moment, had a few laughs in some situations. It's just slice of life anime with a simple plot on what happened in the past what changed Rin.

ep.2 gets an 8/10

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by monir

No, I have not encountered any of those creatures, and dear me.... judging from your tone, I think it's in my best interest to not to cross path with one.

Oh, don't worry, we don't bite.

I'm not really a hardcore fujoshi though, so I can't really say anything regarding that incredibly virile subspecies..

But anyway, Gou doesn't act a bit like a fujoshi by the way. She actually is one of the very rare mostly normal girls I see in anime. She's not an idiot, not a doormat, isn't completely guided by her emotions, yet is not tsundere fighter or eccentric. She's really just a normal teenage girl. And most teenage girls, would definitely notice muscles like those.

[Natsuki Hyuga]

Originally Posted by monir

No, I have not encountered any of those creatures, and dear me.... judging from your tone, I think it's in my best interest to not to cross path with one.

.... Monir? Moniiirrr? MONIIIIRRRRR?

<-

I think Gou is able to be the representative of the fujoshi's fangirling side buuuuuuuut... She lacks the 'heart'.




You know, the rotten, obsessive, filtered, and deluded shipping heart.

So... Let's just keep her at 'representative of the perverted healthy female fans' instead of the representative of the fujoshis, should we? But actually why are we having this discussion now that I think about it?

[Bern-san]

I don't see why Gou is a fujoshi. She appreciates a male body but I think that can apply to any girl, not only a fujoshi

A friend sent me this, it's random trivia about the main characters:

Spoiler for space:

Nanase Haruka

Family composition: Dad, mom
Father had to transfer because of work and mother went with him, so Haruka began living alone since starting high school
Interests: Submerging himself in water
Likes to eat: Foods related to water*
Good subjects: Home economics, art
Bad subjects: English
Likes: Cooking, chores

*Either that, or carbonated foods (drinks??) but i’m pretty sure that it’s water-related foods due to his love of fish.

Tachibana Makoto

Family composition: Dad, mom, younger brother and sister (twins)
Interests: Playing with his younger siblings
Likes eating: Curry (green curry), chocolate
Good subjects: Literature
Bad subjects: English, art
Likes: physical activity, manual labor

Matsuoka Rin

Family composition: Mother, Sister (Gou)
Now living campus life at boarding school Samezuka Academy
Interests: Muscle training
Likes eating: Meat, kimchi
Good subjects: English, math
Bad subjects: Literature, old Japanese
Likes: Sports that he’s good at

Hazuki Nagisa

Family composition: Dad, mom, adult older sister
Interests: Exploring, joining activities
Likes eating: Strawberry ice cream, strawberry cake
Good subject: History
Bad subject: Math
Likes: History, all sorts of insects, horror movies, thrill parks

Ryugazaki Rei

Family composition: Dad, mom, older brother
Interests: Reading, running
Likes eating: Sushi
Good subjects: Math, chemistry
Bad subjects: Art, music
Likes: Calculations, pole-vaulting

[Blonto]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter

So Kou is the representative of all the fujoshi and lady staff involved in this show.

Originally Posted by monir

Is it fair enough to label Gou as the resident Fujoshi of this show, or am I out of line? I won't mind getting educated by one of the Fujoshi experts.

I understand that she's a self-insert for the ladies, but where are you getting the idea that she's a fujoshi? She's literally shown 0 interest in yaoi or shipping guys. The only thing she's shown is that she finds the opposite sex attractive without their clothes on which is normal for teenagers of any gender (I think).
Did fujoshi become another term for female otaku while I wasn't looking? Even then it doesn't make sense.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by monir

Is it fair enough to label Gou as the resident Fujoshi of this show, or am I out of line? I won't mind getting educated by one of the Fujoshi experts.

I don't think she's a fujoshi, but I do think she's an insert character for fujoshi. In much the same way non-otaku male leads in shows with mostly cute-girl casts are otaku stand-ins.

Originally Posted by monir

No, I have not encountered any of those creatures, and dear me.... judging from your tone, I think it's in my best interest to not to cross path with one.

I will relate to you that in my experience at the last Comiket, fujoshi are far, far better to deal with than male otaku. Also, soon after I arrived here I went to a doujin fair not realizing it was a fujoshi event (honestly) and while the crowd was about 97% women, they were quite polite and pleasant and no one seemed to be giving me the evil eye.

[Kirarakim]

When Gou starts playing matchmaker between her brother and Haruka, then we will know she is a fujoshi.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Natsuki Hyuga

So... Let's just keep her at 'representative of the perverted healthy female fans' instead of the representative of the fujoshis, should we? But actually why are we having this discussion now that I think about it?

Not even representative for "normal' teen female fans. She's a stylized version of a "normal" teen female. Teen females are looking at other factors nowadays. The triceps alone wouldn't do it.

[cyth]

They also have big hands.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I will relate to you that in my experience at the last Comiket, fujoshi are far, far better to deal with than male otaku. Also, soon after I arrived here I went to a doujin fair not realizing it was a fujoshi event (honestly) and while the crowd was about 97% women, they were quite polite and pleasant and no one seemed to be giving me the evil eye.

I'm a woman so of course it's a bit different for me, but for what it's worth, those evil, evil rotten women I've talked/communicated with were some of the most pleasant fans I've ever met.

Which should come as a surprise to nobody, really (women who like BL are just people like everyone else? oh no what is the world coming to! ), it's just that certain male otaku have a very strong tendency to vilify women who don't fit their standards, and this then trickles down into the English speaking fandom which already has its own issues with female fans. (I'm willing to bet that most people who go "eeeww fujoshi!" barely have any idea of what they're talking about.)

[GDiddy]

you know, we're not all yaoi-shipping, paddle smacking fans who have to ship every single male character together....I'm a woman and I don't even like that shit.

and until this show has a scene where either Gou has pinups of manga characters in her room and BL manga strewn about or where we see Gou in BL/yaoi lusting mode, she's not a fujioshi.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

I'm a woman so of course it's a bit different for me, but for what it's worth, those evil, evil rotten women I've talked/communicated with were some of the most pleasant fans I've ever met.

Which should come as a surprise to nobody, really (women who like BL are just people like everyone else? oh no what is the world coming to! ), it's just that certain male otaku have a very strong tendency to vilify women who don't fit their standards, and this then trickles down into the English speaking fandom which already has its own issues with female fans. (I'm willing to bet that most people who go "eeeww fujoshi!" barely have any idea of what they're talking about.)

Haha, yes, just because the word translates to rotten girl doesn't mean we're all a bunch of crazy rotten people shoving our pairings in people's faces.

At the moment Gou just acts like a normal straight teenage girl.

[DragoonKain3]

Kou not a brocon? If the flashback scene where she was watching her bro win with blushed cheeks and sparkly eyes on her face isn't implied brocon, I dunno what is.

Believe me, I'm all for Kou not being a brocon, having 'lost' to one such character last cour and all. But like that show where I suspected almost from the very beginning that she was one, I'm not going to deny the clues laid down just because it's convenient for my ship.

Not that I'm accusing anyone doing so, just that in order for me to ship Kou with any of her osananajimis, I HAVE to acknowledge that the 'incest is wincest' ship currently has more ground to stand on, or so to speak. Heck, I have next to nothing that even RinXHaruka has more than mine. XD

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Kou not a brocon? If the flashback scene where she was watching her bro win with blushed cheeks and sparkly eyes on her face isn't implied brocon, I dunno what is.
Believe me, I'm all for Kou not being a brocon, having 'lost' to one such character last cour and all. But like that show where I suspected almost from the very beginning that she was one, I'm not going to deny the clues laid down just because it's convenient for my ship.

But was she actually blushing for her brother? After all, Rin wasn't the only half-naked guy in the pool. Besides, can't a little sister be impressed with her brother anymore? I mean, he did win the race, and depending how much she looked up to him back then, she could just have merely been ecstatic for him winning.

Not that I'm accusing anyone doing so, just that in order for me to ship Kou with any of her osananajimis, I HAVE to acknowledge that the 'incest is wincest' ship currently has more ground to stand on, or so to speak. Heck, I have next to nothing that even RinXHaruka has more than mine. XD

I don't really see it that way. In fact, I think it's too soon to make any conclusion on who likes who. Gou seems to like Haruka, but if so, does he like her back that way, too?