Free! was definitely an anime that I wasn't sure I wanted to watch. There was so much hype and the sports anime trend was going around the otaku community in a storm, that I was scared that all the hype would make me expect so much for this anime and be disappointed like so many before. I was mistaken.
As my first sports anime, I really enjoyed Free!. Not only was the art beautiful, but I did enjoy the story too. It's story wasn't as well developed as it could've been, but it was still very good. I did enjoy the character development throughout the first season although part of me felt as if it was a little bit rushed. Which ended up being the only thing I didn't like about this anime.
Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed this anime and recommend it to anyone who wants a story of friendship, comedy and competition.