dokuganryuvienna-blog - Tumblr blog

dokuganryuvienna-blog · 8 years ago

Photo

I watched the Free! Take Your Marks premiere screening of the movie at the Kyoto Animation Special Event and wrote a comprehensive summary of the entire movie. I will watch the movie several more times and will be updating my initial summary, but for now, enjoy~

Also, for those interested in Free! TYM movie merchandise, be sure to check out Aitai☆Kuji for limited edition movie goods~

The movie was divided into four episodes but pretty much was a very linear storyline that connected to each other if it weren’t for the interludes that showed each episode’s title. I will summarize the movie by episode, and I will also add more content once I rewatch the movie and add to the summary.

Episode 1 The Choice of Destiny

Makoto and Haru go to Tokyo for Spring Break before they graduate high school to help Haru find an apartment. Makoto has a dream on the bus of him and Haruka living in Tokyo, and Makoto is making breakfast for Haru in Haru’s apartment. Haru then starts stripping and is shown wearing swim trunks. He then steps onto the veranda and Makoto follows him, and the scenery of Tokyo becomes a swimming pool, and as Haru dives in, Makoto tries to catch him but trips and loses him.

Makoto then wakes up from the dream and Haru extends his hand to him to help him get out of his seat in the bus. They head to the train station together and look for their next destination together.

The next scene is the opening song sequence with a ton of AMAZING scenes with a super catchy song that has the lyrics “Take Your Marks.” The scenes that you see are as follows (not in order): 1) Makoto and Haruka in Tokyo 2) Natsuya and Nao sitting at a cafe together somewhere 3) Kisumi sitting with Asahi at a temple as they smile and laugh with each other 4) Hiyori and Ikuya together overlooking some city at night 5) Rei and Nagisa chilling together with Gou 6) Rin and Sousuke (I forgot where they were) 7) Group picture of Misaki, blonde Capibara guy, and Kisumi’s Uncle 7) Group picture of Asahi, Kisumi, Hayato, Ikuya, Hiyori, Natsuya, and Nao 9) Group picture of Iwatobi + Samezuka with Seijuro and Gou 10) Free! Take Your Marks main key art

After the opening, we see Nagisa, Rei, and Gou talking to Rin about making a promotional video to recruit new members. Nagisa then tells Rin that Haruka hasn’t decided on an apartment in Tokyo yet, and Rin says how come it’s taking so long? After talking a bit more on the phone, they hang up, and Nagisa says that it seems like Nitori and the others are pretty busy wrapping up the school year.

The scene then switches to Makoto and Haruka going to the Shigino Real Estate agency as per a recommendation from Coach Sasabe. When they enter, they see Kisumi working there part-time helping out his Uncle during his Spring Break. As soon as Haru sees that Kisumi is working there, he immediately tries to leave, twice. Makoto tells Haru they should just let Kisumi show them around, and Haru reluctantly agrees.

Kisumi brings Haru and Makoto to see various apartments in a car, and Makoto says it’s awesome that Kisumi can drive now. Kisumi said it’s not that difficult, and apparently Haru can drive too? After house hunting, none of the apartments really stand out. After a few rounds of house hunting, Kisumi brings Makoto and Haru to a cafe to have a break. Kisumi then shows one more apartment that is currently on the market but the owner had not moved out yet. He tells Makoto and Haru that they can see the apartment on another day, but for now if they want they can go see the outside of the apartment on their own.

Kisumi then gets a call from his Uncle in regards to helping with the movers for another client, and he leaves to pay. Makoto and Haru then decide to go to check out the apartment exterior.

When they get to the apartment, they see that the place is very close to an indoor swimming pool. As they check out the apartment, a small boy approaches them and asks him if they know the Coach who lives in that apartment.

Makoto and Haruka say they don’t, and then are curious about why the kid looks like he’s angry. The kid introduces himself (I think his name was Misaki), and then says that he has a friend who is his rival, and he wants to swim faster and better than his friend. This reminds Haru of Rin, and he and Makoto ask Mitsuki to bring them to the swimming pool where he usually practices. Misaki also mentions that his specialty is freestyle.

Once they are in the pool, Mitsuki swims his freestyle, and Makoto gives him pointers, much like how he helped the kids in Season 2 as a coach. Haru watches as Makoto helps Misaki improve his form, and then he goes to swim a lap and the people in the swimming pool are at awe at Haru’s skill. Mitsuki then says that he wants to swim like Haru, and Makoto and Haru said maybe one day they will be able to see each other again and compete on a professional level.

Afterwards, Makoto and Haru head back to Makoto’s apartment that he had already started renting. Makoto said that he was nervous today that their life in Tokyo might be more than he expected, but he said that after meeting with Kisumi and seeing Misaki and his swimming, he is more confident now that his decision to become a coach and study coaching in college was correct.

The next day Kisumi’s uncle tells Makoto and Haruka that they can check out the apartment now that the previous tenant has completely moved out. Haru borrows the real estate agency’s car and drives him and Makoto to go see the apartment. Makoto gets really nervous since this is one of the first times that Haru is driving and is a loud backseat driver. Haru just calmly drives them nonetheless. They go and see the apartment and decide that this is the perfect apartment for Haruka.

Back at the Shigino Real Estate agency, Shigino-san mentions that the previous tenant had left his cellphone in the apartment and forgot to claim it. However, a few moments later, the previous tenant, who is also the “Coach” that Misaki was talking about, comes to pick up his phone. We then see that the previous tenant of Haru’s new apartmenet is none other than Nao Serizawa.

Episode 2 Cooling Down at a Secret Hot Springs

Nitori and Momo want to give Sousuke and Rin a farewell gift and go to the shopping district to find something special to give to their senpai. Before they go shopping, they see Rin in the dorm room packing his stuff away to bring back home. Momo asks Rin to give Gou a book about beetles, to which Rin says no and asks Sousuke to “take care of it.” Sousuke then takes the book and says that he will donate it, and Momo tries to pry the book out of his hand, an homage to Season 2 when Sousuke had an iron grip on Pyunsuke as Momo tried to take it out of his hand lol.

After Rin leaves, Momo and Nitori go to the shopping district together. Nitori has trouble figuring out what to get them, but Momo sees a lottery where you can win a stag beetle and thinks that it’s the perfect gift! Nitori says no, but Momo takes all of their lottery coupons that they got from buying other items earlier that day and tries out the lottery. He says he has the power of the Otter Gods on his side and turns the lottery wheel and is disappointed when he sees the yellow ball pop out of the lottery wheel, which is not the prize for the beetle. However, what he actually wins is the super rare first prize- a trip to an onsen for two!

Meanwhile, Rin had packed most of his items and was already back home with Gou and his mom, and when he enters the house, he is greeted by a huge black and white fat cat, who is his mom’s cat. The cat is somewhat happy to see Rin, and Rin says it’s nice to see you again, Steve (LOL). Back in Samezuka, Nitori and Momo give Sousuke the tickets, but the way they went about giving it was hilarious.

Because it was nearing White Day, the boys at Samezuka try to think of what to give back to the girls who they received Valentine’s presents from. Minami ponders but Uozumi says to Minami, “What are you even pondering about? We go to an all male school and none of us got Valentine’s Dates last month!”

Sousuke then goes back to his room and sees that Rin has left already. He sullenly looks around and then sees a bag of cookies wrapped nicely. He then takes the bag and brings it to Minami, Uozumi, and Iwashimizu and asks if any of them gave them cookies for some reason. One of the guys mention that there are letters written on the cookies, and it must be some kind of clue for a treasure hunt.

The guys try to rearrange the cookies, and Nitori and Momo watch from the corner as they fail miserably. They then come into the room and assist them with scrambling the cookies to decode the message, even though they were the ones who made the message in the first place.

The cookie message reads, “You will find the treasure in the mouth of the red shark.”

The guys are completely confused, so Nitori and Momo have to help them out by suggesting they check out the shark statue that’s in the middle of the Samezuka Academy courtyard. Once they go and see the statue, they notice that the shark isn’t red at all. Nitori then says, “Oh, but if we wait until sunset, doesn’t the shark kind of look red?”

They then wait for the sun to set a bit more and notice that the statue’s shadow on the ground where the shark’s mouth is has something sticking out of it. Sousuke then digs in that spot and finds an envelope that contains a pair of special onsen tickets.

He then calls Rin telling him that Momo and Nitori gave them tickets to go to an onsen together, and while Rin is talking to Sousuke, his mom mentions that she coincidentally also received free tickets to the onsen as well. She then tells Rin that he can use the two tickets she has to invite his other friends along as well.

The four Samezuka boys end up going to the onsen together, which was an overnight stay at a popular onsen resort area. During the daytime, they visit the nearby shopping district to do touristy things. Apparently the mascot of the area is a capybara, and Momo insists that they must find the mascot so he can take a picture with him.

On the way, they pass by a cut-out photo spot where you can put your head in the cut-out. Momo asks Rin to take a picture for him and Nitori, but then after they take the picture, they tell Rin and Sousuke that they should take a picture too! Rin drags a reluctant Sousuke to the cut-out, and when Nitori says “Smile!” Sousuke has a grumpy face. Nitori then tells Sousuke he’s too stiff and needs to loosen up, but it has no effect on Sousuke and his face still remains grumpy.

Rin then starts tickling Sousuke and Sousuke starts smiling and laughing a lot, and during this moment, Nitori takes the perfect picture for Rin and Sousuke, with Sousuke smiling a huge smile in the picture.

After they finish their photo op spot, they finally find the capybara mascot that Momo was looking for. He then takes a picture with the mascot and drags Rin along since Rin told Momo he would take a picture with him and the capybara. After he takes the picture, he also buys a capybara plush for a souvenir. Momo and then sees a toy sword and asks Nitori if this is a good present to give to Rin as thanks for the boomerang he received from Australia. Nitori then says it’s probably not a good idea, so Momo asks if it’s something that Gou would like. Nitori just sighs.

As the four are walking back to the hotel, they notice a huge bus unload a group of guys who are part of a swim team. One of the blonde team members gives Momo the stink eye for no apparent reason, and this makes Momo mad. However, before he is able to do anything, the captain of the swim team steps out of the bus, and it is revealed that the captain is Natsuya Kirishima.

That night, Momo, Nitori, Sousuke, and Rin have dinner in their ryokan room, but before they eat, Nitori makes a small speech on why he is really thankful for all of the things that he learned while being on the same team with Sousuke, Rin, and Momo. After his monologue, they finish dinner and head to the onsen.

The next scene we see is Sousuke soaking (naked) in the onsen, and Nitori joins him. Nitori asks where is Rin, and Sousuke said that he just left a few moments ago. Sousuke asks why Momo wasn’t joining them, and Nitori said that Momo ate too much and couldn’t come since he had major food coma.

Nitori then tells Sousuke that he is truly thankful for Sousuke’s coaching throughout the year, and that without that, he would not be able to fulfill his role as a captain well. Sousuke says it’s no problem.

After Nitori and Sousuke are done with the onsen, they see that Momo is up and about and ran into the same blonde team member who gave him the stink eye earlier. Momo asks him what is his problem, and the blonde team member says that he wanted the capybara plush that Momo got earlier that day since there was only one left.

Momo then says it’s too bad that he couldn’t get the capybara plush, but then the blonde team member says something that riles up Momo, and the two of the end up facing off in an intense ping pong challenge.

As the blonde guy’s team members and Sousuke and Nitori join in as spectators, Rin is seen sitting in a vibrating massage chair lol. When he overhears that a fight is breaking out between two guys in the onsen, he immediately gets up and runs to the rowdy room.

When he enters, he sees that Momo and the blonde team member are fighting furiously…in a game of ping pong. He then is relieved that there was no real fight going on.

During Momo’s ping pong match, Sousuke goes to buy a drink at the vending machine and bumps into Natsuya, who is the captain of the team that the blonde guy is on. Natsuya sees Sousuke, dressed in a loose yukata, and notices that his shoulder sling is showing. Natsuya asks if Sousuke is a swimmer and what happened to his shoulder. Sousuke explains that he used to swim but cannot anymore because of his shoulder.

Natsuya then says that he also has a very close friend who suffered from an injury. However even so, he still prays that his friend can recover and come back to swim with him in the future. That is one of the biggest things he hopes can come true.

Sousuke listens to Natsuya talk fondly of his friend and is visibly moved.

Later that night, the Samezuka boys are sleeping in their ryokan room with Momo and Nitori side by side and Sousuke and Rin opposite them. While Momo and Nitori are sleeping soundly, Rin rolls over and faces Sousuke, only to see that Sousuke is also awake. Sousuke then asks Rin, “You awake too? What’s wrong?”

Rin then props his shoulder and scoots a bit closer to Sousuke and says, “Hey Sousuke, do you really plan to not…” only to be interrupted by Momo kicking in his sleep. Rin then gets mad that Momo interrupted him, but Momo immediately goes back to sleep, and Sousuke asks Rin what was he trying to say again?

Rin then rolls to the opposite side and says it’s nothing. Sousuke then stares at the ceiling with a knowing look on his face.

The next day, the boys visit a local shrine, and Momo and Nitori decide to buy good luck charms for Sousuke and Rin. Nitori tells Momo to choose a charm for Sousuke and he will do the same for Rin. They then hand the charms to Rin and Sousuke, and Rin’s charm reads “Good studies and a successful career” while Sousuke’s charm reads “��勝,” which means “You Will Win.”

Sousuke is very touched by this and keeps the charm with him.

When the boys finally go back to Samezuka, Sousuke is seen in his dorm room packing up his items, and he looks at the framed photo of him, Rin, Momo, and Nitori from the prefectural tournament when Sousuke’s shoulder problem was revealed. He picks up the photo and looks at it and then takes out his good luck charm that Momo gave him, smiles, and says, “Looks like I have no other choice but to win.”

Episode 3 The Butterfly of Promises

The episode begins with Rei, Nagisa, Gou trying to film a promotional video to show the entire school during orientation in hopes that their video will bring more new recruits to the swim club.

Rei has a dream that he is stranded in a desert and finds a magic lamp. When he rubs the lamp, out comes a magical Genie who tells Rei he will grant him a wish, and Rei wishes that the swim club will get a lot of new members this year.

Rei then suddenly wakes up in his room and Nagisa is taking a nap on the floor. Nagisa then wakes up and you see that they are both working on making costumes to use for the promotional video.

Later that day, Makoto and Haru meet up with them to help out with the video. Rin also tells Nagisa that he will help with the promotional video.

Gou is then seen cleaning the swim club room and finds a very old manual written by members of the Iwatobi Swim Club of the past, and the way to recruit members is cryptically termed as “PKH.” She then tells everyone that the best way to recruit members is to try out the “PKH” method, but what the PKH method means is not written in the manual.

They then still proceed with creating the promotional video, with a setting of Rei at a desert finding a magical lamp that will grant wishes.

The next day, Rin comes to pick everyone up in his mom’s car to drive them to the Tottori Sand Dunes to film the promotional video. Makoto, Haru, and Nagisa sit in Rin’s car, and he speeds around the winding roads leading up to the sand dunes. Makoto and Haru are a bit scared of Rin’s driving but Nagisa thinks it’s fun.

Ama-chan Sensei follows suit with Rei and Gou in her car and notes that Rin’s driving is really good. She then floors it and tries to keep up with Rin’s speed as she drives behind them.

Once they get to the sand dunes, Nagisa brings out costumes for Haru and Makoto to wear, which are the EXACT SAME costumes as Season 1 Free!’s ending theme!!! Haru and Makoto embarrassingly put on the clothes, and Nagisa tells Rin that he should join in on the promotional video.

Rin then says that he promised Nagisa he would only help drive everyone to the place and then needs to leave because he has to help Nitori with deciding on next year’s training regime.

Nagisa pouts but then says okay fine. Later, we see Nagisa being the director and directing the various scenes of the promotional video. They even ask a camel owner if they can get a few scenes with his camel, and there is a hilarious scene when Haruka is monotonously reciting his lines on camera with the camel trainer holding the camel’s reigns.

Makoto is seen mumbling his lines trying to last minute remember what to say. We then see Makoto posing as the powerful Sultan of the video.

As the boys proceed to film more scenes, we then see Rin meeting up with Nitori at a fast food chain that recently opened. Rin orders a meal and gets the “lucky set,” which comes with a weird special rare toy that he says he’ll give to Momo since he doesn’t need it. As they are talking about the training regime for next year, Nitori sees someone walk by and mistakens him for Momo. When he says “Momo?” the person turns around and we see that it is Asahi.

As Asahi looks at Rin and Nitori, he sees that he’s getting a call on his phone and looks down at the number. His friends call from their table and asks what’s up, and Asahi says, “Oh nothing!” He then picks up the phone and says (what sounded like), “Hey, good work today!”

He then hurries outside while on the phone, and we see that the person he’s actually talking to is Kisumi.

His conversation with Kisumi actually continues off of where Free! Timeless Medley ~Promises~ left off, with Asahi telling Kisumi he will be back in Iwatobi around May, so he wanted to meet up with Kisumi. Asahi’s voice is also way deeper compared to his voice in High☆Speed.

The phone conversation then goes as follows:

Asahi: Hey, why exactly are you in Tokyo? I thought we said we were going to meet up in March, right?

Kisumi (shown sitting in his Uncle’s Real Estate agency while on the phone): Wait, March? But you wrote that you would be here in May!

Asahi: Hold up, seriously?

Kisumi: Woah, wait Asahi, you mean you typed the wrong date? No wonder! I thought it was weird that you wanted to hang out at such a random time of the year.

Asahi (blushing furiously): Damnit, Kisumi…you should have told me that! Man, I even bought you a bunch of different souvenirs I thought you’d like, like “kibidango”… A few days later, we see Rei and Nagisa waiting at a red light to cross the street, and they are talking about what they think is missing from the video they made. Rei says he’s not too sure, but then he hears someone walk by him, telling his friends that “someone once told me that the only person who holds you back is yourself, and you have to realize your full potential yourself to achieve something great (i think this is what he said but I don’t remember for sure).” We see that the person who’s talking is Asahi, and his friend asks him, “Wait a minute, so you’re going back to Tokyo RIGHT NOW!??”

Asahi then tells his friend that he might just go to Kisumi’s home nearby to give the “kibidango” sweets to his family (and I guess Hayato) instead.

His friends then tease him and says, “Kibidango??” and Asahi blushingly says (off screen), “Shut up…the souvenir I bought my friend is food that will expire today if someone doesn’t eat it…” and then the conversation fades in the distance.

(T/N: However, it seems like Asahi DID go back to Tokyo that day as the clothes he was wearing when he was talking to his friends about giving Kisumi’s family the “kibidango” is the same exact outfit he is wearing in the opening sequence when he and Kisumi as sitting together at a temple and laughing together. Also, Asahi and Kisumi are sitting together during sunset, and the conversation Asahi has with his friends about going to Tokyo or giving Kisumi’s family the “kibidango” happened in the morning, and Kisumi looks a bit dressed up in a blazer, shirt, and slacks. Maybe he ended up going to Tokyo after all??)

After this scene, we see that Rei and Nagisa is watching the movie that they shot and edited together. After watching the video, they decide that something is still missing from the video, but they can’t figure out what it is.

Sometime during the episode, Gou asks Sasabe if he remembers what “PKH” means, and Sasabe at first does not remember. However, later in the episode, he tells them that he does remember what “PKH” meant, and it means “Perfect Kinniku (Muscle) Handsome.” The reason why the old swim club wrote about “PKH” was because they had a member who was extremely muscular and popular with the ladies. Rei and Gou then find the yearbook of the year that the “PKH” manual was created, and they see that most of the swim club team members were girls who didn’t even swim. They were only there because of the hot muscular swim team captain.

Since “PKH” is obviously not effective in recruiting people who are passionate about swimming, Rei, Nagisa, and Gou are still stumped as to what they should do to make their promotional video better.

There is also a scene where it’s a homage to Season 1 again when Rei asks Haru how does he swim, and Haru says he swims because he feels free. They brings this scene again with the same white butterfly that landed on Rei before, and Rei tells Haru that he is thankful for what Haru told him when he was a first year, and that swimming makes him feel free. As he says this, the white butterfly comes back and lands on Rei once more. After thanking Haru for all he has done for him, Rei then realizes what the promotional video is missing!

Makoto then suggests that since the new school year will start soon, they should all clean the pool like old time’s sake. This scene was really touching as it brought back a lot of nostalgia from Season 1 of Free! when everyone cleaned the pool together.

That night, after they finish cleaning the pool, Rei tells everyone that they should watch the promotional video together before they fill the pool with water later. They then have a “movie night” in the pool, and while the video is pretty hilariously put together, the ending of the video has a beautiful monologue made by Rei saying that the most important thing about the swim club that he hopes will inspire people is that the swim club is not just about swimming. It’s about making friends with amazing people who will continue to inspire you for years to come. It’s about going through hardships with your teammates but overcoming them and creating bonds that will last forever.

Rei then mentions that there’s way more to the video, but all Iwatobi Swim Club members look at each other and then smile as the camera pans towards the sky to show the stars.

Episode 4 Eternal Blue Departure

The beginning of episode 4 starts with a flashback scene with Makoto and Ikuya talking about the disbanding of the swim team at Iwatobi Middle School. Makoto says he is sorry that they were not able to continue the swim team. Ikuya says it’s fine since he will be following his brother to America (?), and that he was planning to eventually leave anyway.

He says to Makoto that the next time he sees Haru, it will be at the international level of swimming.

The next scene we see is of the Iwatobi Swim Club members holding a meeting to make a surprise party to thank Rin for surprising them with the cherry blossom pool, like in the end of Season 2. They all try to brainstorm with ways to surprise Rin, including carrying him to the pool while he’s sleeping and once he wakes up, surprise him with a huge party. One of the members thinks that’s too scary, and Gou then suggests that all four of them take off their shirts to show off their muscle and do a muscle dance for Rin. All members think that is dumb and say that they should think of a better way to surprise Rin.

Haru then suggests that one of the best ways to surprise Rin is to prepare several dishes for him, all filled with mackerel. They then decide that that might not be a good idea at all. They decide on a way to surprise him, but in order for it to work, they have to team up with Nitori and Momo to make the surprise work.

Sousuke and Rin are seen watching a movie set in a steam punk kind of setting about a scientist who was trying to experiment with teleportation. During one of the experiments, a rat went into the teleportation machine, and the scientist wound up with a horrible side effect. The scientist is so embarrassed about the mishap that he tries to avoid his lover. However, his lover comes to the laboratory on a rainy day and confronts the scientist, and the scientist tells her, “I’m sorry. I did not want you to see me this way. Because…I am now…RATMAN” and he reveals that his head is now a rat’s head because of the teleportation accident. His lover then breaks down crying.

We then see Rin crying, and Sousuke looks at him as he sniffs and has tears running down his face. Sousuke and Rin finish the movie, and Sousuke teases Rin about crying in the movie. Rin blushes and denies that he was crying, and Sousuke laughs. He then says he needs to go to the bathroom, and Rin says he’ll wait for Sousuke here.

Rin then sees in a nearby restaurant that Gou is waiting for someone to show up. He doesn’t want to invade her private affairs but then sees that the person she’s waiting for is Momo. He then immediately remembers scenes of the movie and thinks that Gou and Momo are on a date.

He is shocked to see that the two of them are on a date and is about to do something when he gets a call from Sousuke telling him that he got lost in the movie theater and has no idea where he is.

Rin sighs and then tells Sousuke what does he see around him? Sousuke then explains his surroundings and Rin says, “Okay. DON’T MOVE AT ALL. I’ll come and get you.”

The next scene we see is Gou and Momo talking about how to surprise Rin for his surprise party and we also see that Nagisa, Rei, and Nitori join them at the restaurant as well. Momo does give Gou a gift that he wanted her to have for the longest time, and Gou brings it home with her.

When Gou returns to her Mom’s house, we see Rin there, uncomfortable that Gou is now a “big girl” and most likely dating Momo. He asks her where she’s been and sees that she has a present that Momo gave her, and she is hesitant to tell him because she doesn’t want to spill the beans that she met up with all the third years to talk about Rin’s surprise party. As he tries to press further, his mom tells Rin that Gou is an adult now and has secrets that she might not want to share.

There is then a hilarious scene where Rin is trying to pry information out of Gou but is nervous and has an internal struggle with him realizing that Gou is not a child anymore and he can’t always protect her. Even if she…has to date…….someone…eventually…..and if that person happens to be…..Mikoshiba……..UGHHHHHH, he ponders. He then says to Gou, “You know, I uh…you know, Mo…mo…mo….momo….mo…..” and Gou says, “Uh…Momo…?” and then Rin gets nervous and blurts, “OH UH YOU KNOW UH, do you know the saying that peaches (Momo in Japanese) and chestnuts take 3 years to bear fruit and persimmons take 8 years**??” And Gou looks at him confused. (**T/N: this is an old saying that means “it often takes time for one to bear the fruit of one’s own actions”).

We then see Rin going back to the Samezuka dorm when he is confronted by Momo. He gets really nervous and wants to ask Momo about what happened at the restaurant but is shy and embarrassed. Momo then tells Rin that he needs something from Rin. Rin then gets paranoid and misunderstands him, and says, “Uh…I know what you want…and I can’t give it to you. It’s not something that I can just, you know, give…….” (thinking about Gou).

Momo then tells Rin that he will race him for “it.” The “thing” that Momo wants is the super rare “lucky set” prize that Rin got when he was eating with Nitori in Episode 3, but Rin doesn’t know that.

Minami and Uozumi then overhear Momo and Rin’s conversation, and because Rin made it sound like the thing that they were going to race for was his sister, they immediately get the wrong idea. Seijuro, Momo’s brother, is here to go over the new training regime and help out with overseeing some operations later that day, and he so happens to bump into Minami and Uozumi snooping around and asks them what’s going on? They then tell Seijuro that Momo and Rin are going to have a swim race to see if Momo can win the heart of Gou. Seijuro is immediately interested and wants to also participate in this race if it gives him the chance to win Gou’s heart.

Seijuro then sees Momo later and says that he will never forgive him if he is to win “the thing” from Rin. He says that he wants to also participate in this race.

Later, word gets out to Iwatobi that Momo is going to race Rin, and if Rin loses, he will never forgive himself and will not be able to go to Australia in peace. Makoto and Haru then immediately freak out and remember all the struggles that happened during Season 1 and become paranoid that Rin is going to be quitting swimming again if he loses to Momo.

Gou then mentions that Rin tried to talk to her the other day about an old saying that a peach (Momo) and chestnuts take 3 years to bear fruit while persimmons take 8 years, meaning that it takes time for one to bear fruit of it’s own actions. She then freaks out and says what if he loses and never returns to Australia and takes 8 years to complete his training? Everyone is freaking out, and Haru then volunteers and says that he will ALSO enter the race to join Rin on a team so that if Haru wins, Momo will not get the “thing he wants” and Rin will not NOT go to Australia.

Haru then calls Rin out to have a serious talk with him about swimming and their futures. They meet up at a park bench at night, and Haru tells Rin that he is REALLY concerned about Rin and will NOT let all they went through be for naught all due to this race with Momo. He asks Rin if he was serious that if he lost the race, he would not be able to go to Australia. Rin then hesitates because he doesn’t want to tell Haru that the reason for this is personal since it’s about him and Gou, but he makes it seem like it’s an internal conflict.

Haru then gets worried and practically throws himself onto Rin and gets all in his face and says if there’s something wrong, he wants to help him since this involves their future. Rin then finally spills and tells him about his fears that Momo wants to take Gou away from him.

Haru is then surprised and is like wait, what? He then says that all of this is a misunderstanding, and the reason why Momo is racing Rin is actually because of a kind of surprise party that they wanted to hold for Rin.

After the confusion is cleared and Momo is NOT dating Gou, they still proceed with the race anyway with Seijuro, Rin, Haru, and Momo. Seijuro takes the lead against Haru with Momo on his team, but Momo loses to Rin at the end of the race when they both do freestyle. After they race, all the lights go out, and when the lights go back on, there are floaties EVERYWHERE in the pool, all in the motifs of each character’s animal (Rin as a shark, Nagisa as a penguin, etc.)

The scene then fades out to just music as we see Rin talking to everyone and talking to Sousuke, and Sousuke also looks hopeful. They fist bump, and the next scene we see is of Rin’s Mom, Steve, and Gou seeing Rin off at the airport. We then see Haru and Makoto working out by running together, and they stop by the Iwatobi Elementary school and look at the tree there, with the bricks still having the writing “I swim Free! for the team” on it.

The last scene of the movie is Ikuya and his roommate at a cafe talking to each other. Hiyori (is that his name?) notes that the roster for people who will be competing on the international level include Haru and Rin. He then asks Ikuya if he’s ready to compete against them, and Ikuya says of course. Hiyori (?) then says, “Guess I also gotta get better too since I want to join you in the world championships.”

The scene then fades to black and the words “SEE YOU NEXT STAGE” is written. After that, the credits is a long pan of the boys drawn chibi-like wearing Elvis outfits with a brand new song sung by Style Five (I think). The last picture after the credits roll is of Haru wearing a red and white Jersey, with the words “Free! continues Summer 2018!”

—

T/N: The movie was AMAZING. I loved everything about this movie, and it really brought back so many memories and made me remember why I like Free! so much. I think that this movie really gave you the sense that everyone is older now, and the third years are now graduating and going to college.

The way the boys carry themselves shows maturity, and I know for a fact that this entire movie was made to build up to another continuation, perhaps in the form of either another movie or a season. Though this is my own personal opinion, I feel like the way that this movie was paced really does not seem like everything can be resolved in just another one movie.

I feel like there should be another season to flesh out all the characters. Even Uozumi and Minami had a lot of focus this time around, and I feel like this was done to continue Nitori’s story as captain, and we never see how many people end up joining the Iwatobi Swim Club with Rei as Captain.

However, we shall see what is in store from Free! from here on out, and this movie was so well paced and served as a great transition to an even better storyline of global competitive swimming.

1K notes · View notes