#there she goes with her wall of text

Free! the Final Stroke finally made it to my local theatre and they even have posters!!

I haven’t watched many KyoAni shows for awhile now that I’ve almostforgotten how very fanservice-y this series is… however, I am pleased to report they’ve got the amount just right this time, where they established more bonds among characters that have yet to bond, and fed all the ships that can possibly be shipped without being excessively pandering (*koff* Looking at you, Dive to the Future *koff* ). 

Main spoilers aside, my favourite parts, definitely location cameos of all the sites from the original seasons back in Sydney, Tokyo and Iwami (pilgrimage nostalgia INTENSIFIES!!) Two specific scenes that I also loved to bits:

1) The part where the Tokyo/JP swim team reps, aka all the University kids aged 19 and above came together for a New Year reunion (?) party, and all of Haru’s circles, past and present were gathered together in one room. To me, Haru and his same age peers have felt even more scattered since HS graduation, drifted more apart as a squad… so it was really nostalgic and heartening to see them in such close proximity again. I missed them just doing things together at any time, all right? Squad feels give me life! 

2)The music montage where Haruka, Makoto, Rin, Sousuke, Asahi and Ikuya headed back to their hometown together riding on the local train and parting two by two along the way, with the last stop being Iwami for Haru and Makoto, where the juniors from Iwatobi are there to receive them. They’ve all come home! ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Free! is still what it is tho, so there’s the melodrama, angst and shenanigans we know and love, but it finally does feel like a proper movie rather than a cash grab made up of mostly flashback with “bonus” scenes. Final Stroke isn’t without its flaws (I have… issues with the English-speaking VAs), but I definitely haven’t felt the kind of feelings I used to have for this series at the peak of my obsession, and it’s only just part 1. I think those who fell in love with the original season and S2 would appreciate its return to form. KyoAni isn’t best known for unique storytelling, but if they can recapture the human aspect of the story again, then I have hopes the series will get the proper send off it deserves. 

Also yes, their animated water is still aesthetically captivating. As it should be.