I wish some day someone would release a full translation of High Speed! Well I guess in a little while it won't be necessary since there will be a movie/the manga, but it still would be nice to read.

I'm actually kind of worried about the High Speed movie - I hope they'll find a way to incorporate Rei and Rin into it. Rei isn't present at all in either book and Rin is off in Australia so while I'm sure he'll have a role it will probably be tiny.   Plus no Momo or Nitori at all either. I was hoping for something fun that involved all of the boys, I hope they'll find a way to fit everyone in. The thing I'm most looking forward to seeing animated is Rin's letter to Haru [that he got too embarrassed to send so he sent it to Sousuke instead after making a poor effort to cover up the fact that it was meant for Haru. Sousuke wasn't fooled and showed it to Haru. ]

I got the new plushies the other day, they're super adorable: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFEgu69VIAALGxy.jpg

I had the old plushies too, so now they're all one big happy family: http://41.media.tumblr.com/0f990cea242a … 4_1280.jpg

Last edited by HonorableShadow (05-18-2015 08:28:05 AM)

Those plushies are really, really cute!

I can't see how they can incorporate Rei into the High Speed movie but Nitori might be possible as he knew Haruka and Rin back in the day, at least by sight. And it'd be fun to see some of the novel only characters animated. Sousuke fans will rejoice as there is plenty of him as well. But it is a bit strange that they chose to do a prequel instead of a sequel. What would also be very cool to see is a spinoff with the first ED, have all the boys in an alternate Arabian Nights scenario just for the fun of it. The second ED would work as well.

About the novels, they are surprisingly serious. Kyoani added a lot of comedy and light hearted moments with all of the boys just hanging out, it worked remarkably well and made the darker moments pack a punch. The novels have virtually no humor at all, at least so far, and the lack of Rei is severly felt on occasion.
It probably does not help that Haruka's geeky side is absent as well. In the anime apart from being a cold fish Haruka also goes on about mackerel and likes to draw things like the (in)famous Iwatobi-chan but in the novels he has none of that. What he does do is go out of his way to avoid Rin, even literally so. Very mild spoilers for the novel: [When Rin joins the IWSC Haruka is so eager to put a little distance between himself and Rin that he drags Makoto away under the pretext of getting timed in the short course. This when Haruka has absolutely no interest in times at all. Rin eventually joins them and more or less forces Haruka to race him, all this time Makoto is timing with a stopwatch. Haruka ends up barely winning, Rin asks Makoto for the time when lo and behold, Haruka takes the stopwatch and resets it. You get a greater feeling of antagonism than in the anime.]

From the anime I got the impression that the fishing village (that is based on a real place, I believe) is a beautiful and peaceful place but the novels make it seem almost ominous. It still comes across as gorgeous but the description of how the houses are almost squeezed between sea and mountains give it a claustrophic atmosphere. Maybe it is just my interpretation.

The novels' POV is not exclusively Haruka's. It often shifts to Rin and occasionally to Makoto. Odds are it will cover other characters, I am still on chapter 3. One very cool thing about the novels is that they expand the relationship between characters that we have not seen interact all that much like Rin/Nagisa and Rin/Makoto.

YamPuff wrote:

Matsuka sticks with Keith because [he believes that Keith is truly a good person deep, deep, deep down. For example, when Sam dies Keith acts indifferent, however, with his empath skills Matuska can see that Keith is distraught and upset inside. Even though he is aware that Keith is using him, he feels as though he owes Keith his life for not outing him as a Mu and killing him. In fact, Keith decides not to kill Matsuka long before he discovers his full strengths and realizes just how useful and powerful Matuksa is. He believes in Matsuka's abilities and tells him so. As well, the way Keith lowers his defenses around Matsuka, almost as if he's asking Matsuka to go ahead, kill him and end this all, seems to make Matsuka hesitate and stick to him even more. And writing this just made me realize how complicated their relationship is and reconfirmed my love for it.] It also helps that Keith is not hard on the eyes IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

Thanks for refreshing my memory. Keith/Matsuka is probably the most twisted relationship in the entire series. It is also rather complex and way too rife with possibilities. That stun gun, I don't even.

Last edited by Nocturnalux (05-18-2015 01:54:47 PM)

Ooh enlighten me if you will, Nocturnal, on Makoto's relationship with Haruka in the novels; how does Makoto view Haru, in his POVs?
I'm happy with my own anime headcanon but curious as the novel canon.

Mmmmm excellent, thank you!
There's an index on Tumblr of fan translations and summaries: http://sayasamax3.tumblr.com/post/56013 … -summaries

Makoto is my next fave character after Rei snd I like what you've said, may check out the novels


I like to think of the two in a co-dependant relationship, personally: There is a tendency for loved ones of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) to slip into caretaker roles, giving priority and focus to problems in the life of the person with BPD rather than to issues in their own lives. Too often in these kinds of relationships, the codependent will gain a sense of worth by being “the sane one” or “the responsible one.” (wikipedia) That's my headcanon & I'm sticking to it.

Last edited by YamPuff (05-20-2015 04:14:01 AM)

Swimming and hot boys!

Hello, Free! folk!

Have an AMV


While I couldn't truly get into the series (I have that problem with slice-of-life), the eyecandy is superb. Makoto is luf

Riri-kins wrote:

My friends have recommended this to me cuz it's full of hot guys showing their abs. I need to see it.

I think you definitely should! It's a nice refreshing anime and I really like it a lot. Summer is coming up and since it's a summer themed anime it's perfect.

NEVER Rin and Haru, I wont touch that ship with a ten foot pole.

Haha, awkward... RinHaru is my all time favorite ship out of any anime and the only thing I ship in Free. I think we're destined to never ship the same things! Maybe some day.

I really liked that AMV Snow! Thanks for sharing.

There's some adorable new figurines that were announced today of the boys as kids. Getting ready for HS I guess.
http://hobby.dengeki.com/news/71115/

Last edited by HonorableShadow (05-21-2015 05:34:24 PM)

Great timing for this thread, I just received my Free! doujin

Including this beauty:


Arabian Nights theme for the win!

As far as pairing goes, mine is Rin/Haru all the way. I like it because while it is rife with tension (hell, and *because* it is so) Rin is capable of making Haruka evolve into an actual human being. Left to his devices Haruka borders on autism and even the creator has described me as a someone who is lacking fundamental. By shaking Haruka's convinctions and more or less forcing him to face him, Rin causes Haruka to become a more rounded individual.

I never could get into Haruka/Makoto even though I really like them both, just not together. It is probably it strikes me as too co-depended a relationship. As sweet and adorable as Makoto is I cannot help wondering whether he is not something of an enabler.

I also really like Rei/Nagisa and occasionally Haruka/Rei. And Kisume/Everyone.

And I was forgetting, I'm fond of Sousuke/Nitori.

Last edited by Nocturnalux (05-21-2015 07:01:09 PM)

As far as pairing goes, mine is Rin/Haru all the way. I like it because while it is rife with tension (hell, and *because* it is so) Rin is capable of making Haruka evolve into an actual human being. Left to his devices Haruka borders on autism and even the creator has described me as a someone who is lacking fundamental. By shaking Haruka's convinctions and more or less forcing him to face him, Rin causes Haruka to become a more rounded individual.

I never could get into Haruka/Makoto even though I really like them both, just not together. It is probably it strikes me as too co-depended a relationship. As sweet and adorable as Makoto is I cannot help wondering whether he is not something of an enabler.

Yeah, I totally agree with this. Something about MakoHaru is just, idk...really off-putting to me. It's supposed to be this really sweet relationship and I'm sure they're great friends, but it never did much for me.

One of the reasons I like Rin and Haru so much is because they brought about changes for the better in each other. Their relationship could be rocky at times and sometimes they didn't get along, but they fought for their friendship.  Haru didn't just abandon Rin when he was depressed in s1, though he could have easily done so after Rin coldly said he never wanted to swim with him again. He wanted to swim with Rin, he wanted to mend their relationship, and so he chased after him. In s2 Haru told Rei something along the lines of "thanks to you, we were saved" ("we" referring to his relationship with Rin) and Rin said something similar to Rei as well when he was giving him swimming lessons.

Rin in s1 wasn't a very good friend and I'll be the first one to admit that, but as the director said in an interview, that type of behavior from Rin was the outlier and not the norm. When he was younger he was (according to Haru himself) "an idiot who went around smiling all the time." And once his issues were dealt with, he went back to his normal sweet self. Australia brought him to an all time low and he was depressed because of it, and depression doesn't always cause you to act rationally. Not that it's an excuse to be an asshole to your friends, but I can see why it happened.

In s2, Rin helped Haru find his dream by taking him away from the situation that was stressing him out. He let him find his dream on his own terms, and so Haru was able to stop and think and realize what he wanted to do more than anything. Just like when they were kids, Rin pushed Haru and challenged him and tried to get him to swim in the relay. Once Haru stopped protesting about the relay, he found that he actually liked it a lot. Haru is just very tsun and stubborn a lot of times about admitting what he likes even to himself. (You could see throughout the season that he really did want to swim pro by the way his eyes shined every time someone brought up "pro-swimming" and his speech in the bath about how the water felt like it had been neutered and wasn't enough for him anymore.) Rin helps Haru be honest with himself instead of stagnating. I think they both changed each other and helped each other grow and that's why I love them so much. Plus their teasing (once they made up) is seriously adorable. You can tell how fond they are of each other.

Anyway! Nocturnalx, I've read that doujinshi before and I liked it a lot. I can recommend some more to you if you want?

Last edited by HonorableShadow (05-21-2015 07:56:38 PM)

I would accept Rin not being able to handle his ~strong emotions~ if he was a thirteen year old, not a 17 year old.  And there is no excuse for bullying, being emotionally manipulative and at the end- physically violent with someone. At the very least, it should never be that person's targeted victim who is made responsible for "healing" them and Rin is pretty much rarely to never taken to task for how downright awful he behaves.  He is consistently framed as an emotional angsty weeaboo, and I find it pretty offensive.  Rin barely acknowledges that Haru is a human being and not just a person that swims really damn well for him to compete against for the majority of S1 [this being a HUGE insecurity of Haru's, that people only see him for his talent, see his swimming as valuable in what it means to them], and when Rin starts behaving similarly in S2 Haru finally tells him to back off.  Because S2 Rin is awesome, he immediately realizes his error. 

(It's weird, I LOATHE S1 Rin sooooooooooooooooo much, but adore him in S2; the way he is written, his storyline and interaction with the other characters, his coming of age and how he defines himself as a leader and a teacher, the dimension added to his personality when we see him with his host family, how he actually seems to have learned lessons instead of being rewarded by the narrative for being a shitlord... he's this fantastic, subtle force that affects all of the characters in their journeys, while have an overarching one of his own.)

Just because Makoto and Haruka as a ship doesn't have dysfunction and angst doesn't mean there is no depth to their relationship.  S2 was full of Makoto, of all people, coming to terms with his own feelings of inadequacy when compared to Haru's talents and whether or not Haru's incomparable skill would eventually separate them.  Makoto never pushed Haru to think about his future so long as Haru himself was happy coasting along, but when he realized that Haru wasn't happy, and was actively self-sabotaging himself in order to stay safe in the space that Makoto himself had helped create for him that Makoto and Haru had their biggest clash.  But unlike with Rin, I felt Makoto's strong feelings had everything to do with the fact that he cared about Haru and wanted Haru to care about himself just as much, where as Rin was always more or less just projecting his own issues onto an easy target.  Makoto was willing to spur Haru into the world of professional swimming even if it meant it would create a distance between them. 

One of the reasons Haru became increasingly afraid of succeeding was that doing so would naturally mean distance growing between him and his friends.  His parents are rarely home and he has a hard time making friends.  This would be a legitimate fear.   If anyone encouraged and actually assisted Haru with getting out and making those critical friendships in the first place every step of the way, and did so purely because he wanted Haru himself to be happy, it was Makoto.

Last edited by OnlyInThisLight (05-21-2015 10:13:44 PM)

Free! is meant to be slashable, to the point I've even seen Makoto/Rin doujin. Odds are because they look cute together.

Thanks for the recs! I like to think that Haruka is one of the Sea People from Nagi no Asuka. It'd make so much sense.

One thing that always made me wonder, how come Makoto is the one who is afraid of the ocean when it was Rin who lost his father in a fishing accident? You'd figure Rin would be the one to develop such a phobia instead of Makoto.

EDIT: I also just received this doujin:
http://the-chilz.tumblr.com/post/102492 … -safaia-no

Last edited by Nocturnalux (05-21-2015 11:29:25 PM)

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

Honestly, I really dislike Haru/Rin.  Makoto accepts Haru for who he is (there is nothing wrong with being autistic, or being "autistic like") and Rin was nothing but an insanely self-centered asshole the entire first season.  What you refer to tension I refer to someone bullying another person who struggles to emote and communicate.  Makoto and Haru act like friends, and have history together that comes from positive places.  I can imagine them in a relationship and having conversations that actual couples would. 

Nothing Rin did in the first season was for Haru's benefit.  He emotionally punishes Haru for not being the competitor HE wants Haru to be so that he'll feel less like shit for having lost to him as kid, he acts like a fucking ten year old rather than up and tell his friends he wants to fucking swim with them and feels bad about Australia, and makes no effort to understand Haru's own perspective towards swimming.   That this causes Haru a lot of emotional conflict and to struggle with trying to figure out why he swims is pretty sad, actually, because he's doing it thinking he OWES something to Rin, he does it out of quilt.  A feeling Rin's open animosity does little to ameliorate.  Oh, and let's not forget that after an entire season of being nothing but nice to him (sans one well deserved rant from Rei), when Haru offers Rin the damn thing he's acting like such a child about, Rin PHYSICALLY ATTACKS HARU. 

It isn't until the second season, when Rin finally becomes fantastic, that he instead seeks to motivate Haru for the sake of making Haru happy, and does that by showing Haru that swimming can be a way to connect with people on a global scale and explore the world, in much they way that it connects him to his friends.  He didn't try and force a competitive spirit into Haru.  He just showed him that a bit of competitive mindset will be able to help him achieve other goals.  Considering that Rin was acting as a coach the entire 2nd season, it is a really fitting storyline for him.  But he wasn't able to do this without the lesson Haru and the other's taught him in the first season. If anyone inspired someone to shape up, develop and grow it's Haru and his friends who changed Rin, not Rin "improving" Haru.

EXACTLY HOW I FEEL. I also agree with Rin in season 2 being a MUCH better character but still not as a pair for Haru, IMO.

I have a soft spot for Haru, because he is a lot like me. I do have trouble communicating, connecting and emoting with other people, it has caused me real problems in the workplace and during school, and his relationship with swimming, not wanting to 'cheapen' his passion by relegating it to times and scores, and his fear of people defining him by his talent, is something that resonates with me and my own love of art. So when I see Rin trying to 'fix' and 'change' Haru, it kind of feels like a personal attack. We're not broken, we don't need to be fixed. We can grow and evolve and change, but don't attack us into being 'better' by some more socially acceptable definition. And while Haru x Mako is a rather co-dependent relationship (as I talked about in the other thread) I think it's one that's on the positive side, and a very respecting, trusting and loving one that can grow and last.

But I do totally understand the foe-yay thing, I get why Haru x Rin a popular couple. It just totally turns me off, like I can't even read a Haru x Rin doujin, they turn my stomach. But I'm totally okay with other people shipping them. XD And I usually like love-hate, dysfunctional relationships! I'm even totally okay with shipping abusive relationships - it's fiction, whatever. But not Haru x Rin, lol! Can not do.

Last edited by YamPuff (05-22-2015 09:20:41 AM)