So after so much hype over a 30-second commercial, KyoAni has decided to make it into an anime! Free! – Iwatobi Swim School Episode 1 opens up with the protagonist Haruka Nanase’s thoughts and his bond with water which in turn is the primary reason for his love for swimming as well. Even as a kid, he has a more pessimistic and arguably even realistic outlook on his life (which doesn’t change when he’s older), but all of that is overshadowed by his love for swimming. Along with him, the other three characters that are introduced include: Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki and Rin Matsuoka. Makoto is your big-brother all-round nice guy while Nagisa is the overly innocent, clueless, random and cheerful one. Rin, though not so obvious right away is actually the conflict of the story. The four boys start out as friends and seem to get along very well until we realise it is all just a flashback…
Haruka is now a 17 year old boy who still has a love for water and is still as pessimistic as ever. At school, they meet up with Nagisa who has transferred to their school. We then find out that Haruka has quit swimming competively though the reason is unknown. Nagisa then reveals that their elementary school along with the pool is getting torn down. At first Haruka is adamant in not going but after Makoto mentions he might be able to swim, his whole expression changes. Another flashback reveals that Rin has gone to Australia to pursue his dreams of being an olympic swimmer. The four of them had swam a relay together as children and won. The trophy they won, they took and buried under a tree.
Back to the present and we see a mysterious figure appear who turns out to be Rin. His persona has changed completely and is no short of the word ‘jerk’. He blatantly ignores Makoto and Nagisa and chides Haruka in his choice of friends then challenges him to a race. The atmosphere is tense between the two boys until they realise there is no water in the pool…Rin leaves and drops the trophy on the ground. We are then introduced to another character called Gou Matsuoka who is actually Rin’s sister. Makoto and Nagisa find out more about Rin from her and she confesses to telling her brother about their trip to the elementary school. They find out that Rin is attending Samezuka Academy and Nagisa wants to go. Again Haruka is not interested until Makoto tells him they have an indoor pool.
Upon arriving at the academy, they don’t find Rin. They wait until dark before sneaking into the pool where Haruka immediately dives in. The fun time is interrupted by Rin who catches them and is not happy. This time, Haruka is the one to challenge Rin to a race and the episode stops there…
In my opinion, this episode did not feel like one episode but like 2-in-1. There is definitely something happening but as of right now it is not over the top awesome but that does not mean future episodes will be the same. A lot of stuff happened but it did not feel rushed for me. Yes the characters and the story was quite typical but most of the people are watching just for the fanservice. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one if mainly just for theΒ boys. π
