• The characters are basic typical reverse-harem archetypes, but through further exploration into the series, they become very likable. Haruka (Haru) is the kuudere character whose only motivation for anything is his passion for swimming, but because his love of swimming is so pure, he refuses to swim competitively; therefore, having empty prospects for a future after high school, because his love of the water is practically the only thing he carries any value in. I relate really heavily to Haru’s plight, being a freelance musician and writer, because sometimes when you love something so much and hold it dear to your heart―you just want to do it, just for the sake of making yourself happy, rather than sullying the thing you love with marketing and monetization. Sometimes, despite having to pay the bills, you just want to be “free.”
• Rin (the voluble, shark-mouthed rival character) is Haruka’s foil, in essence. Because of something tragic that happened in his past, Rin is unable to find value in himself as a swimmer (seemingly, more than that; his ENTIRE self-worth rides on his career); so, unsurprisingly, Rin clashes with Haru fairly frequently on the basis of ideals. The idea that Haruka doesn’t compete, despite having more natural talent than he does, drives Rin mad and makes him feel insecure. The dynamic between these two is a very interesting focal point to the series; KyoAni even goes as far to making their characters colors red and blue (contrasting colors that signify duality between the two). As well as their “spirit” animals, Rin is represented by the sharkーits characteristics being vicious and carnivorousーrepresenting Rin’s ruthless passion for proving to the world that he’s the best; whereas, Haru is symbologized frequently as a dolphinーwhich aptly represents his gentle and carefree spirit. Like warring philosophies, the contrast between these two characters is essential, metaphorical meat to the plot.
• The other characters don’t carry as much weight and intrigue as Haru and Rin, but they are equally as likable… except for Rei, the underappreciated-glasses-kun character. His backstory isn’t fleshed out in nearly as much detail as the other four cast members, his socially inept personality-type creates needless drama, and he’s persuaded to join the swim club… when doesn’t even know how to swim AND he’s already an excellent pole-vaulter! It makes no sense; I guess because he possibly has the hots for the blonde shouta character (though KyoAni will never made anything more than implied gay; the closest we’re going to get is probably Miss Kobayashi)? Makoto is practically perfectーhe’s good at everything, kind, sweet, great with children, good at cooking, caring; the perfect husbando. Unfortunately, his implied crush on Haruka is more one-sided than not. As far as the shouta character (Nagisa) goes, his personality was delicately stitched together by his backstory in Free: Eternal Summer, but I think that KyoAni’s later BL seriesーTsuruneーperfected the parts of his archetype that were lacking in their newly formulated shouta character.
• While, Free and Free: Eternal Summer were very similar in the feeling of a character-based drama, Free: Dive to the Future wanders into a different direction than its predecessors. While, Free is more character-centric and less focused on the actual sport of swimming; it’s comparable to Hibike! Euphonium, to the fans out there: you can’t even lie and say that you watch it for the orchestral-band angle! Free: Dive to the Future is more based on the competitive side of swimming and introduces a ton of new characters, so there is less personalized character drama; it's kind of like how Shokugeki no Soma is focused more on culinary craft and competition, rather than focusing on each individual character in each episode. While this turned many of the original fans away, I thought that Dive to the Future was a fresh take on the storyーthe original series and Free: Eternal Summer fleshed out the main cast enough that I think that a series centered more about their lives going forward, plus a cast of new, beautifully designed characters wasn’t the worst direction to take the story.
• A complaint that I did have with the new characters, however, was how similar many of them were to the original cast. Some of them were practically the same character, with a different hair-color and a pair of glasses added, with the same personality and facial expressions! Does Free! actually exist in an alternate universe where Japan clones pretty boys who are good at swimming? The world will never know! I actually liked the Haru clone, Ikuyaーhis internal conflicts seemed pretty concrete and he is a beautiful, little bishounen who has a fixation with Anderson’s telling of The Little Mermaidーhe is adorable! I feel like there could have more meat to the bones in Dive to the Future, but alternately, I felt the same way about the original series and Eternal Summer made all of lingering wants from the previous season dissipate! There’s a sequel for Dive to the Future coming up, so we can see for ourselves if they will meaningfully develop the outliers that didn’t get much attention! Another positive step that the third season made was that it still had the original cast working through and getting over their issues, as the title indicates, it’s a reflection of the characters striving towards their dreams and being the best people that they can be. While the newest season didn’t leave me feeling touched and inspired, like Eternal Summer did, I think that it brought unexpected things to the table and went out on a limb to do something new.
• All in all, Free! is a heart-warming, coming-of-age story between a bunch of pretty boys. It’s admirable that this series not only treated its main cast with respect, but also its female characters (despite being a low-key BL show) and the older coach characters that used to competitively compete; many male fanservice series have treated female characters an anthropomorphized version of human trash and old people like geezers. I appreciate how KyoAni has grown from a studio that only focuses on pretty people, to a studio that learns how to show due diligence to every character, from every walk of life. I think it’s an important narrative choice to not only focus on the characters you’re supposed to focus on, but give respect to the surroundings in ones’ real life as well. Free succeeds as a respectable sports show and more than meets the eye, despite there being nothing but GIFs of bare abs online! I give Free! a 6/10, Free!: Eternal Summer a 7/10, and Free!: Dive to the Future a 6/10.
