kristofer.legros - 2015-05-21 13:21:42

First, because of MakoHaru. Second, so feels. Third, many hints for fujo. Fourth, topless everywhere and its genre is sport, especially swimming! AND THIS IS MAKING BY KYOANI so the art is soft and sparkle.

alexandra92 - 2015-04-14 05:36:48

You know I knew it. Quite frankly when there is an anime series of this type like Free! which is very adorable but also pretty emotional gutting at times you can never go wrong. It will always give you 100% to you as an anime fan. That is why the second season was a great return for the fans of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club. This is for certain one of the anime that have the most complete and satisfying endings perhaps ever.

lowe.lavinia - 2015-04-10 13:46:18

My time spent with the group from Iwatobi was ratherunderwhelming considering how much I enjoyed the first season. Free! EternalSummer was something I went into with, I admit it, not very high expectations.& I came out feeling a little disappointed still.

Story-

The season picks up right where we left off, although itfeels as if no time has passed at all. Actually this show does a horrendous jobwith pacing which is something I found progressively more annoying as theseason went on. Either way, the story this season, is getting the swim club tonationals & that’s pretty much it. They don’t face many boundaries beforethis goal, save the rather underwhelming drama that seems to be a ‘monster ofthe week’ theme at this point. It’s slow and heavy on flashbacks, in fact theseason finale felt more of a recap episode than a finale.

Nothing really new occurs save the three new additions tothe cast but we’ll get around to them later.

Animation-

Kyoto Animation is back with yet another gorgeous series to lookat. Free! is more of a presentation of how well they can animate water butbackgrounds and natural lighting seem to stand out the most to me this season. Wevisit new areas & even Australia at one point which was by far thehighlight of the show for me.

The characters movements are not really telling of their personalitiesthis season, as in the previous you could tell which character was which basedon their walking pattern or their body language, but it seems that has beentossed out the window this season & replaced with ordinary, typical anime characteristics, reducing this show to a rather plain, fade into the background KyotoAnimation show.

Characters-

Alright, I knew I’d had to talk about them at some point.The characters in this show are painfully underdeveloped and come off as moreannoying than the characters I was once fond of. As a group they work welltogether & come off as rather genuine. Although singling them off, theyseem to only rely on the others to bring them actual characterisations. Otherinteractions with characters especially with Nagisa are very sparse & evenwhen around feel lazily written reducing Nagisa’s character down to a childlikepersona at one point. Don’t get me wrong Nagisa is a rather childlike characterbut just not to this extent.

Other additions to the cast; Sousuke, Momo & Kisumibounce off the original cast nicely, they fit and are by far the most enjoyablepart of the show. Rin and Nitori also get a bit development in this seasonwhich is nice to see.

Sound-

The soundtrack is nothing new, exactly the same to lastseason, dubstep swimming & what I can only describe as cheesy, in the formof the rest of the soundtrack. The sound of the water, the way it splashes& moves with the characters is the thing that stands out about the sounds,it doesn’t feel forced, it’s there and it’s the truth.

The opening & ending themes are exactly the same to whatlast season were just a tad different. Nothing new, still feels horribly out ofplace.

Voice acting is wonderful as usual, they’ve again foundvoices that suit the character designs wonderfully. All voices fit like a glovewhich is all I wanted.

Overall-

To say that I hated this anime would be an overstatement, it’snot the greatest slice of life & sports anime around. I would definitely avoidrecommending it to anyone who hasn’t seen the first season or someone who is keenon sports but not slice of life. As this season seems more about the charactersand less about the swimming.

Not to say I didn’t like these characters or the premise, I enjoyedthis anime enough to watch both seasons over 3 days which is a hugeembarrassment for me to admit.

Free! Eternal Summer is something that will please anyonewho enjoyed the first season, but it may also disappoint you. It's not the worst anime sequel around, everything is there from the first season but with the lack of development it reduced itself to a horrible attempt to please the audience with drama, that would work if the characters had more interactions. 

If you're looking for shows similar to this i'd look at Ping Pong The Animation or Kuroko No Basket.

Thanks for sticking around to read this. 

qnikolaus - 2015-01-17 10:40:37

A show that keeps you on edge cheering on for either team.  Keeping you motivated with the idea of who could possibly win. 

The struggles the characters go through in trying to discover who they are and what they want to do with their life.  The feeling of being trapped and strangled like you are drowning.  Finally being able to resurface and breath and ironically enough, be free.

After so much perseverance and work, this show really rewards as it all comes to a complete.

The animation was beautiful with their colors and textures.  The water animation and cherry blossom trees blew me away

The development of the characters truly progress over the time being and they become their each individual person, yet somehow still being one.  You felt for the characters and what they dealt with and even the minor characters.  The show put a lot of effort into their characters major and minor.

The story really pieces together as they all strive in the end to be free with each other.  Everyone making choices for themselves and finally coming to realization of what they should do.

Over all this story, though having some nice buff guys, really develops a plot and a theme.  It is even sad to see it go.  Their dreams coming true and finally discovering everything that makes them who they are.  A story that will be quite hard to ever forget, not that you would ever want to.

wlynch - 2015-01-14 02:39:34

Pretty gay but pretty good. The parts where they’re clearly hinting at homoerotic interaction is laughable for those not
emotionally invested.

boris92 - 2015-01-09 15:19:57

It's finally over! *cries* I don't want it to be over. I'm going to miss these handsome bitches. *cries even more*

harber.allene - 2014-11-02 03:34:41

So much implied BL. SO MUCH.
AKSDLFAHSDFASDF

In this season of free: the boys realize the struggle is real, and Rin gets a boyfriend who isn't taken.

marley76 - 2014-10-13 02:54:32

It was v gay and i loved it

pattie.rippin - 2014-10-12 19:39:15

BEST ANIME EVER!!!

I'm shocked that there actually exists an anime this good and I don't think anything I will watch for the rest of my life will live up to this 😄😄

acasper - 2014-09-19 00:31:50

Season 1 was amazing, funny, and just enjoyable! Season 2 ruined it for me.
Story:
At first, it was the usual. The boys swimming, nationals, training, and so on. Which was exactly what I came for. However, I feel like the creators made the story too over-dramatic. I wanted a swimming anime, not some "I'm scared of what the future holds and I want everything to stay the same because I don't want to leave my friends." I expected drama, but I wanted more of the team. The story focused on the main rivalry (Souske, Rin, and Haru, with Makoto somehow in the mix). They pushed Nagisa and Rei out, like they didn't really matter to the plot development. They had their moments, there even was a Reigisa episode. But in the races, Nagisa's race was barely anything, and Rei's race was reduced to pictures. They're main characters too, why do we just have to focus on the drama of the third years? I also wanted more team drama. Trust and friendship. Instead, in episode 11, when Rei and Nagisa tried to help Haru, he pushed them away and it ended up being all about the third-years - arguing about the future. I wanted swimming, but all this unnecessary drama was bothering me. The type of drama I want was training drama, team drama, and trust issues. There is not as much team in this season, and in episode 12 Haru and Rin go to Australia! I want the team to help him too, but instead they give us this.
Enjoyment:I'm just going to skip to enjoyment, since there is no main complaints about the other sections. The overall enjoyment was a 4. I could not enjoy this season. Too much drama for a sports anime. It just doesn't fit with the anime very well. Also, too much fanservice. Yes, I knew I was going to see shirtless boys, but there were too many yaoi hints for my liking.
Overall:Haikyuu!! was better, even though Free! is swimming and Haikyuu!! is volleyball. I wish it was portrayed in a similar way.