From the director of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, K-On and Clannad comes a show about swimming (Free!). And you know what? I like it.
Story
The story is about a guy, Nanase Haruka who really loves swimming but quits it competitively in childhood for a while. But, he gets motivated after losing to his childhood friend Rin Matsuoka and forms a swimming club with his friends Hazuki Nagisa, Tachibana Makoto, Matsouka Gou and Ryuugazaki Rei to race Rin again. The story is more or less original and has a lot of things to tells us about as swimming hasn't been explored in anime before.
Characters
Like with most sports series, Free! is a character-focused show. It's got a pretty decent sized cast (7 central characters) and most are given ample screen-time. Our MC, Nanase Haruka is a resident sports fanatic. But, like other MC's of sports anime he is a little indifferent which it comes to competing as he just wants to be in the water. He only gets motivated when its about his rival, and he only swims free style, which is where the title stems from, I guess. His rival is Rin, a member of the same swimming club as Haruka when they were kids, he left for Australia to chase his dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer. He is very good at Butterfly stroke, but is also proficient in others. While Tachibana Makoto, is the reliable guy and also the swimming team captain. He is very good at backstroke. Hazuki Nagisa, is the energy bunny and relentless optimist of the group. He is very good at breast-stroke. Ryuugazaki Rei, is the guy the three of them picked up for the final spot of the team, He is the brain of the team and swims butterfly stroke for them!
Animation and Sound
The artwork and animation are just outstanding! The animation is at the the peak of what the anime industry can deliver at the release and specially the animation for "diving and swimming in the water". The character designs are gorgeous. There is also no drop in the quality at any point of the anime. Its easily the best animated anime in Kyoani's portfolio.
The sound is also very good, and throughout the 12 episodes of the anime I never skipped the opening(s) and ending(s). The OST is also good, but it just didn't have any special soundtrack for me to remember. The voice actors also did a pretty good job, of-course their efforts are applauded.
Enjoyment
I obviously enjoyed Free! a lot! Every episode was fun, I laughed a lot about the ridiculous fan-service and the story was not half-bad. And if anyone says that they don't watch this show because it's gay, just slap them and tell them that they're pussies because they judge a book by it's cover and don't even give different things a chance. Its super-fun to watch and you won't regret it if you watch it.
Overall, I have just one word to describe Free! and its "gorgeous". Everything in the anime is just gorgeous, the idea of true friendship, the complex characterization and not to mention the artwork and animation, which is almost perfect! I highly recommend this series to everyone!
4 STAR ANIME.
0 comments:
Post a Comment