Okay, so I just finished watching the first episode of
Free!, KyoAni's most recent anime that's been as controversial as it's been anticipated by both fujoshi/fudanshi and Western audiences who have been sick of the flack the series has been getting for it pandering to the females. For a quick rundown of the controversy, male KyoAni fans feel betrayed by the company for making a fanservice anime that appeals to the other gender. Insults and nasty words get thrown. People raise a point that male otaku are always pandered to, so why act like the little brat who whines to his mommy when he's forced to share his 23rd candy bar with the neighborhood girl? And everything devolves into war.
It was all sparked off when this commercial was shown:
FREE! PV. A lot of folks on Anime News Network (and other places) saw it and hoped that it would become an actual series. The detractors were all, "Nope, this is just KyoAni demonstrating their skills like they've done before with other commercials. They'd be stupid to do so, because it would piss off their already established fanbase. There isn't much of a market with the fujoshi crowd." Which started a pissing match between the two sides. And then KyoAni revealed that YES, it was an anime scheduled to release in Summer '13. And the shit hit the fan.
But enough about that. I'm here to convince you to give the first episode a chance, which you really REALLY should. The story is pretty standard - a group of friends who share a love of swimming (and of all having female names) split up, grow apart, then get back together again in high school and have a rivalry going on. The four main characters are standard stock personality types - the kind big brother, the genki "cute" one (don't worry, he still has plenty of abs like the rest), the one-track-mind serious lead, the emo dude. And there's a bunch of "high school buddies doing high school stuff together" that many moe, slice-of-life otaku anime focus on. In fact, the genders could probably be easily switched in this anime, and one wouldn't find too much of a difference - it's pretty reminiscent of K-On, another well-known KyoAni show.
The difference? This show is filled to the brim with half-naked men with well-formed abs. And the gay innuendos and camera shots really amp up the campiness. By just simply switching the genders, tropes and fanservice that are standard for male otaku shows suddenly becomes so hilarious when it's a bunch of male characters doing it. One could even say that a statement is being made that the show is actually demonstrating how ridiculous and over-the-top those tropes are simply from flipping the characters' genders.
But, really, who cares much for the messages (which I'm probably just pulling out of my ass anyways)? It's all tertiary to what the show is really selling: (1) fanservice for females (or males, if you're so inclined... really, we're willing to share) and (2) hilarious campy humor (one and two can be easily switched). Because, really, how the hell can you keep a straight face
that female boner down from a scene like the one below (
BEST ENDING EVER)?
Haruka x Rin OTP :3
Or whenever Haruka dramatically rips his clothes off whenever swimming or pools are mentioned? His eagerness to
"thrust his fingers into the surface and carve an opening" (his words, not mine) cannot be contained.
And then you get exchanges like this:
Additionally, this anime probably holds further interest for previous competitive swimmers. The animation during the swimming moments are quite well done, and the show has done pretty good with keeping details in check (medley relay being back, breast, fly, free, the types of swimsuits worn, etc). Also, while the story and characters are pretty standard at this point, there's a lot of promise for development and growth.
Anyways, episodes are out every Wednesday, with the first episode out last week. If you're even just the slightest intrigued, then please check it out, whether for the lulz, the toned bodies, the swimming, or the story of friendship, it doesn't matter!
Need any more convincing? Try just one more
quick preview from ANN executive editor, Zac Bertschy.
Rating: 4-pack, halfway to a 6, gotta do more crunches this summer
Nanase is an odd young man with a shredded-up swimmer's body who knows water in the biblical sense, and can't wait to jump back in the pool (take it, you pool, take it like a good pool) once summer rolls around. He chills with the rest of his former swim club bros who used to go down together (in the water and also in a K2-sized mountain of doujinshi coming soon to a Comiket near you); there's mild-mannered Makoto and super-genki Nagisa, both of which lament the high school's lack of a decent pool or a swim club. So they roll on up to their old abandoned swim crib, only to run into estranged swim bro Rin, who left for Australia before he could become the One True OTP with Nanase. Now he's a aggressively competitive walking hard-on who challenges Nanase to a swimming competition right there, ripping his clothes off to reveal the swim trunks beneath, even though there's no water in the pool (and tosses aside the glass dildo trophy they were given for being elementary school swim champs as though he didn't care about it anymore or had purchased a new one from AdamandEve.com). Turns out Rin attends a school with a top-notch competitive swim club, and the boys head over there to challenge him, promising the clothes-rippingest, butt-slappingist, skinny-dippingest, most AB-normal swim competition ever put to film.
So this is Swimming Anime, or Free!, and it's two things: one, really well-animated (as is to be expected by KyoAni) and two, hilariously brazen and pretty fun to watch. The fanservice in it is as over-the-top as you could really expect without just directly hovering over speedo-clad packages (although that does happen a couple times) and if you have a sense of humor about this sort of thing, it'll make you laugh (and probably get you going if you're so inclined). The story ain't much; friendship turns to rivalry is nothing new, but the pacing is pretty quick, and the characters are kinda fun even if they're fairly cardboard at this stage. It's just a fun, silly, really hilariously sex-drenched piece of fujoshi bait with great animation.P.S. Just to get this straight right now, Rin, the red-haired, shark-teeth, emo butterfly swimmer? Yeah, he's mine. You'll need to fight me in the death match. BUTTERFLIERS SWIM TOGETHER!
