Free!
 

[yan]
No, not that free...
Free, also known as Swimming Anime, is a thing that's happening at the moment. What do you guys think of it, if you watch.
If you don't watch, have you heard of it before? What kinds of things are you hearing?

I heard about it on tumblr, and decided to give it a go when it finally came out. I actually quite enjoy it though, and now I'm just curious as to what kind of publicity it has in the rest of the internet.

I haven't seen it yet (I'll get around to it eventually) but I have heard of it. All I know about the show is that it evolves swimming and hot practically nekkid guys. >> << >> That's all I know about the anime itself. Something about a guy with red hair and steams of water falling on him.

About the show though I've heard plenty. Something about male otaku are upset about it because the company that makes the show normally makes the moe/harem anime targeted guys. Then the company all of a sudden makes this show about hot guys that target females and they're upset about it. It was interesting to read.

Yep, you've pretty much got the basic idea.

Haha well that's good. At least I know what I'm getting myself into when I finally get around to watching it. xD

Where can I even go to watch Free? I've heard tons about it and all of my friend seem to like it pretty well, so I figured I might as well jump on the band wagon and watch it too just to see if I like it.

Reading this thread was actually the first time I heard of this. I was surprised after googling it that it was a meme of sorts just from a brief trailer.

Out of curiousity I watched the first episode online...and I'm guessing that it was created for those who like beautiful feminine looking male anime characters...for the heck of seeing them half naked when they swim. I don't think it'd be one that I'd enjoy because from the first episode it doesn't seem to have much of a plot.

You can watch it over at Anime Season. That's we're I've been watching both it and Shingeki no Kyojin, at any rate.

So far all I can say is: so much stripping.

Not entirely sure what I think about the series just yet.

Ling: Naw, there's not much of a plot, but it is a lot of fun. The latest episode was completely hilarious.

Hahah oh yes, I've been following it and I don't exactly know why. I think the story is pretty average but for some reason I get excited for it every week?

I have no idea.

I love Free! along with Brothers Conflict which is also a ongoing anime :3 ^^ My favorite character is Nagisa <3

---------- Post added 07-26-2013 at 09:33 PM ----------

Hot guys in wetsuits, swimwear, and speedos? Maybe c:

---------- Post added 07-26-2013 at 09:34 PM ----------



I use Anime Center c: It lets you know whenever a new episode is out on the front page.

I heard about the male reaction, ha. They always seem to throw around that term for older/adult female anime fans dismissively. What is it? It starts with a J?

Are you thinking of Josei Biggles?

I googled it, I was thinking of Fujoshi. There is a j in it, at least.

My friend says that its really good but I haven't had the chance to check it out.

After having watched a few episodes of it now, I feel...exactly the same way. By all accounts, it's pretty average. The plot is meh, and I'm not much of one for sports based animes but, for some reason, the quirky characters and their wacky hi-jinks have me coming back for more each week and...I think I rather like it.

I havent watch the actual series although the anime review says it is good to watch!

I mostly keep up with it 'cause my TL explodes with it every week. It's alright, I appreciate the animation and all that but the plot is pretty average right now.

Just finished the series. I was more or less pleased with it (I was in serious need of a feel good anime). Not entirely sure how they're going to pull off a second season of it but /shrugs I'm not complaining.

I'm on episode 12. I agree that the plot isn't exceptional or anything, but it's still cute and a feel-good anime (like Seri said). :) I like it, even if it's not the most memorable.

I've heard a lot of great things about it, but so far I've only had the chance to watch about the first ten minutes of the first episode, before I got very annoyed with my incredibly slow internet. I've seen lots about it on Tumblr, though, and one of my best friends told me to watch it, so I'm certainly going to when my internet gets faster. The art is absolutely gorgeous.

As to where you can watch it - it's on Crunchyroll, which is legal, but it has ads and might not be available in all regions.

Can i plop my Free! rant down here? Is that allowed? i can do that right?

I was part of the fandom that literally cried when Free! ended on Tumblr. i even made a text post about character development amidst my crying, but that's beside the point.

Yes, this show has a lot of fanservice and caters a lot to the fandom, but to be quite serious, it is literally a swimming anime. With lots of emphasis on friendships. The anime didn't really go into depth with the backstory of the series, but if you pick up the light novel (or read translations) High Speed! which free! is based on, you get a better understanding of the characters.

It isn't all about the fanservice, we get some really great character development through the series. Yes, there are points where you'll stare at you screen like 'wtf' but despite all those moments, I feel like Free! was really well done. KyoAni did their research down to the littlest detail. From the swimsuits that each member wears down to even their sleeping positions and horoscope signs, each detail that was used, if you look it up, adds up. Even the animation and stuff was really accurate.

The plot suffered a bit I think, there was so much more they could have done, but with what they had, I don't think it was a big disappointment at all. they got across the conflict between the boys and they showed how they worked to resolve that conflict. I wish there'd been more backstory so that people who haven't read the novel could understand the characters more, but whatever, i guess.

To be honest i actually haven't watched episodes 6-11 yet but with my dash being taken over by Free! I don't think I missed much (though i'll be going back to watch it anyway).

If anything people should give it a try and watch at least 2 or three episodes, cause i'll be honest that that first episode was a bit....hahahahaha >.>

You're right, Aoi; I agree that it was totally not purely fanservice. I really enjoyed seeing the friendships between the guys... Rei especially. He just wanted to be part of a FAMILY. ;A;

Re is a precious baby. Oh my god. Nobody can convince me otherwise after that last episode. Nobody.

Just that Makoto, Rin, and Haru dynamic got to me a lot. And the parallels throughout the show. And just how happy Gou/Kou was to see her brother smiling happily again. And and...ahhhh i could go on and on about this, haha