FREE!

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ComedyFree!: Eternal Summer
SPECIAL ComedyFrFr!: Free! short movie
SPECIAL SportsKyoto Animation: Suiei-hen
MOVIE ComedyHigh☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days
MOVIE DramaFree!: Timeless Medley - Kizuna

REVIEWS

• 

  LycheePudding

  85/100
  Make some FREE time and watch this anime!

  I recall seeing a promo for Free two years ago before I started to actually watch it. The promo hooked me with the HD quality of the water and how well-drawn the characters were. Muscles, abs and how the water looked so damn refreshing! I completed Free and my expectations of this anime from seeing that promo were definitely met.

  After seeing this anime, I highly recommend anyone who hasn't seen it, to please watch it. This is a great casual anime to binge when you have the time and if you ever need a bit of inspiration/motivation. Free is a sports anime, but it's also a slice of life because it really emphasizes and focuses on friendships and following your dreams. Of course, the competitiveness is there and will have you rooting for your favorite character(s) to touch that wall and win! Honestly, this anime is great for girls with the close-ups on the bodies, but guys, don't let that stop you from watching this.

  You'll definitely relate to the characters no matter how old you are. If you finished high school already, it can create some nostalgia on memories of what you did with your friends in high school. And it will have you thinking and reflecting back on what you aspired to be when you were younger. I felt Free is one of those anime that can get you to feel inspired and get yourself motivated to fulfill what your younger self would have wanted or dream of doing. The friendship and how well-connected the characters are with each other is a must see. The bonds are beautifully developed and there are so many hilarious moments.

  Aside from friendships, this anime shows you real-life situations that anyone can relate. This anime will have characters that are naturally born with talent and characters who have to work hard to achieve their dreams You'll witness dedication, determination and confidence from the characters. Of course, you'll witness the struggles, jealousy, and hard-work that some of the characters had to endure to get to where they are.

  Watching Free, you'll definitely want to swim or learn how to swim if you don't know how already. It's such a refreshing and relaxing anime if you ever need a break from the shounen anime.Of course, I can't deny how incredible the characters look when they are swimming, so ladies or men you are definitely in for a treat on that part. Lastly, the animation as I mentioned in the beginning of this review, is spectacular.

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• 

  Benkei

  80/100
  Spoiler-Free review on Free!. For the team.

  ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Considerations ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ●__This is a spoiler-free review.__ ●__This review covers only the first season on Free!__ ●__80, in my view, means a very good media.__ ●__I've reduced the number of images and gifs so it can stay spoiler-free.__ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Story ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The story is centered around Haru, a boy who, in elementary school, used to swim with his friends and win a lot of competitions. But suddenly, when Haru starts middle school, he quits the swimming club and swimming competitively. Haru is now a second-year high schooler, and his friends from elementary school are trying to create a swimming club and bring Haru back to the pools. It's difficult for me to write a synopsis for Free! Because there's a lot of drama involving each character, as well as many conflicts and things that you only understand as you progress through the series. What I can easily say from the story is that it covers way more than the usual sports anime. First, they start looking for prefectures instead of directly aiming for nationals, which leaves a lot of room for personal improvement for each character. They also focus a lot on the mentality and emotions of each character. It's not only focused on the sports aspect. Another point for the sports aspect is that they cover medleys (a combination of four different swimmers in one race) in addition to individuals. So you get both individual development and team development. Really nice. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Animation ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ KyoAni outdid themselves with this work. There are a lot of angles when covering the swimming part. They use front, back, top, and bottom views to give you full immersion. They also use depth perspective to give you an impression of speed when showing the frontal part. The swimming is very well animated.  ‎ (An example of a fantastic angle) I know that as soon as you bring Free! into some conversation, people start talking about how they picture muscles and everything and can be even taxed as a girl's sport anime, but in my opinion, that could not be far from the reality. Yes, they portray a lot of muscle scenes and muscular men, but they also emphasize the importance of building your body, having endurance and how a swimmer builds their body, which is valid. (Example of how muscles are portrait on Free!) Backgrounds, characters, and everything else are very well animated, and I personally couldn't find anything really bad about it. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Characters ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ I really like the character aspect of Free!. Every character has their own unique style. As with any sports anime, we have the extroverted, the introverted, the energetic/angry, and so on. I like how they also show the foundation of the core character's mentality by going back and forth between the present and the past. Each character is unique and nicely done. The main character, Haru, has a really nice development during the season, and it's really nice to watch as he grows. ‎ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Conclusion ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ If you're like me, you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you don't want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point: __Watch it.__ Free! They have all the good points that you can expect from a sports anime. Training, competitions, physical and emotional development. Combine that with a really nice soundtrack, animation and character designs, and you've got a really steady show to watch.
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• 

  SilverHairedNB

  85/100
  Free!: Iwatobi Swim Club Review-I Believe in The Team.

  I wrestled for a while with whether or not to go back and review this, but eventually I felt like I had to, especially in the leadup to experiencing Dive to The Future for myself. This is where it all started, after all.

  A lot of series often don't start out the strongest, and it takes a half a season or maybe even one full season to find their footing. Iwatobi Swim Club, however, is not one of those seasons. By the end of the first episode, I was hooked. The pacing isn't exactly on point at first, but it very quickly recognizes the real strengths of this series andf hones in on those with the time it has to spend per episode. The biggest reason why is simply because this series creates a wonderful cast of characters, all with interesting personalities, appearances, goals, and desires. Their lives are all touching, intimate and compelling to see, and they really build the anticipation for intrapersonal conflicts to explode so well- and of course, they're all very funny and fun to see interact with each other as friends, and as a team. Haru is a reserved and somewhat flat but nonetheless captivating lead, Makoto is the loveable and purely precious bean, Nagisa is the somehow even MORE precious bean with a naivete about him, and Rei is the nerdy and ambitious but incredibly kind soul at heart. Rin might be the most intriguingly complex of all of them,, initially being built up as an antagonist but being redeemed in the end in a beautiful way that made me cry and cheer for the boys being reunited all together as friends.

  That's one of the main things I love about the writing, inf act. It's so optimistic and hopeful, even when the team can't win every race they enter, naturally. You want to see these boys succeed, and it feels like you're sharing that victory with them when they do- and of course you're rooting for them to solve their differences and grow closer together as they learn more about each other and work to give legitimacy to the resurrected swim team.

  And with how great the cast is, the swimming, and the animation that powers these sequences? Nothing short of visually arresting and electric. You can almost feel the power behind every stroke, and the breath leaving your own lungs as the boys push themselves to prove the worth of Iwatobi High's resurrected swimming club. Maybe some of the most beautiful looking water I've seen in any animated project, and the show in general has a very colorful, bright, and lively aesthetic that's infectious and endears you to it immediately.

  Shoutout to the music, particularly the character songs and the OP and Ed by OLDCODEX and STYLE FIVE respectively. They really fit the style and mood that the show is going for, and pump you up for the start of one episode and the ending-to beginning of another, as well.

  I also just appreciate how... gay this series was from the start? It's not explicit, and arguably unintentional as I'm aware this was mainly meant for younger women to enjoy from a commercial standpoint... but I get a lot of enjoyment from that aspect anyway and I think it's really cute and sweet how close this team with each other without any shame for being such. Nagisa definetly has feelings for Rei and Makoto, Rin and Haru are in a love triangle, that's my hot take

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