Free! Movie 2: Timeless Medley - Yakusoku

All you need to know about this movie is that it's all focused on Rin and the Samezuka swim team. It's a retelling of Eternal Summer at face value, however, the extra scenes and emphasis on Rin and his swim team really made for this movie to be so good. If you're a Rin fan (like myself) you will absolutely enjoy this movie.

The beginning actually brought me to tears because there are extra scenes of Rin's childhood when his father was alive and he was a happy little kid who admired his father. But then you also see that same child lose his father ... trying to deal with the pain that comes with it. You see him feel like he has to fill his father's shoes because he's the only son and male in the family anymore. You see how much it really hurt him and how hard he tried to stay strong for his mom and sister. How swimming was the most important thing his father ever gave him. These scenes were strong enough to break my heart. Even though we already know the details of Rin's past, seeing these extra scenes allowed me to understand why Rin became a sort of "antagonist" in the first season, the strength Rin really had and his unchangeable love for swimming relays.

All in all, the extra scenes really helped me comprehend Rin's character and see his side of the story. It made me realize why his friendships with everyone are so important, like why he became so upset that Sousuke didn't tell him about his injury or why he insists on swimming relays or who he exactly swims for. If you want an eye-opener on this series especially in terms of Rin and the Samezuka swim team, give this movie a definite watch!

Wow, that was good. -Kizuna- was okay but in comparison -Yakusoku- was more fulfilling. This second movie also adapts season 2 of the anime, but from Rin's perspective and with some added scenes. The movie gave us insights into Sosuke, Rin and the other kids from Samezuka. Basically you'll switch from cheering for the Iwatobi boys to screaming for Samezuka bishies to win. So much hype.

I rewatched Starting Days before watching this and boy, I'm glad I did. Our lovely boys Ikyua, Asahi and Kisumi return, looking mature and handsome as ever. What makes this film so great is the foreshadowing, or closure that the ... 2nd season lacked. It leaves the thread for the 3rd season to expand upon, while managing to give the audience a fresh perspective on the 2nd season without feeling bored. So yeah, this is a must-watch! Especially for Rin fans. Skim through parts the original season covered, watch the new scenes, and you're good to go.

Okay, first things first, you're getting new Style Five music in this movie and the art and story are good as always. Second, don't watch this as a replacement to the anime series because it isn't.

However, unlike the first movie, I do actually recommend that you skim through this movie. Let me explain: the first movie and this movie are both compilations of Free!: Eternal Summer. Each movie shows different scenes to tell the same story, but you can get most of those scenes by watching the anime, so it's kind of useless to watch the movies. Except for the fact that you're gonna ... get a few brand new scenes in both movies. The first movie's extra scenes don't really add much to the main storyline; they're just there as Easter eggs. This movie, though, does feature some content that benefits the main story. You'll also get more extra scenes in this movie than you will in the first one.

I think this is because the first movie essentially followed Haru and Iwatobi while this one followed Rin and Samezuka. Since the original story is mostly about Iwatobi, there isn't as much content on Samezuka so they had to add more to this movie to fill the time. They do rework the scene where Haru asks Rin to come to Iwatobi. Instead of him asking Rin after a tournament, he asks Rin over the phone. Not that big of a deal, but it's still different.

The rest of the scenes either show you something that the original story just told you about or they add something completely different to the story. For example, in the parent story, Makoto says something like "I discussed the issues about Haru with Rin." In this movie you actually get to see that conversation. At the end of this movie, you'll see Sosuke tell Rin about Ikuya, warning him to watch his back should he ever race against him. That's one of the main things I think adds to the parent story because in the current storyline (Free!: Dive to the Future), it's very possible that Rin may end up racing against Ikuya.

Some things you need to know before watching this move: It's a good idea if you've seen at least Starting Days before watching this. There will be more Easter eggs in here that won't seem as cool to you if you haven't seen Starting Days. Also, I'd recommend watching Take Your Marks before this as well just because this movie will lead into it and it's nice to know where it's leading to.

Again, don't watch this as a replacement for Free! For one, this movie and the first skip past the first season, so you need to watch that anyway. For two, it doesn't have the little details in it that the actual series does, so you'll miss good bits and pieces. Also, this movie is mostly about Samezuka, Rin, and Sosuke, so just watching this movie is a bad idea anyway.

However, if you haven't seen Free! in a while or if you want to catch up on it before watching the third season or Take Your Marks, these movies are pretty good tools to use to refresh your memory and even get a few new insights on the characters. Basically, I just skimmed through the parts that are already shown in the series, and I think it was pretty effective. If you like Free!, at least take the time to watch the extra scenes because they're worth it.