myth720 said:me_here_me_there said:
Only read the novels, but from the tumblr spoilers it seems they removed probably the most important scenes. Makoto's plotline suffered the most. Not sure about Nagisa's, because I haven't seen the mentions of his plotline in the spoilers. So it seems that, unfortunately, they were devoid of character development - which is a shame, because Makoto gets a big one, and we come to understand his fears, his personality and his relationship with Haru on a much deeper level than it's even shown in Free! The same is with Sousuke, as I can already suppose, his character remains flat, though in the book he shows different sides of him.
Plus they took one moment from the 1st novel and kinda changed it to fit into the plot of the movie. Interesting, but still not as impactful as it would've been if they had preserved original 2nd novel's events.
They only kept a few things from the novel, but for the most part it's an original plot inspired by the book. I loved the novel, but the movie was good in a different way and tbh the main 4 characters had great development and fair treatment on the screen and have their own lives and depth that Nagisa and Rei sorely miss and even Makoto didn't get to show that often.
The rest of the characters were only support, with Nagisa, Rei reduced to cameos. Rin and Sousuke mostly kept true to the novel but didn't take much of the focus, and they don't in the book either so it's fine; the only thing is Sousuke who gets a little of his own development and sort of appreciation for Haru in the book, is only in the movie as Rin's voice and doesn't really have anything beyond that which is sad, but it sets him better aligned with his S2 entrance, which didn't correspond that well with his book version.
The movie is much more balanced and positive than the novel. There's lots of comical moments, but not over the top crack and characters aren't reduced to jokes or gag fillers. The comedy is woven so well with the unfolding drama, which really impressed me, especially as I disliked the episode this writer wrote for the show (Nagisa's episode in S2).
As for Makoto's important development; maybe we don't get to see his fears, but that I guess for kyoani was already dealt with in S1. His connection not just with Haru, but also swimming is brought up to front and center and he accepts himself and who he is, which is a great refreshment since Makoto is a character that usually doesn't tell how he really feels and hides behind his smile unless in a stressing situation.
Asahi and Ikuya are much better in the movie than in the books and unlike the book, Kyoani develops their friendship with Haru and Makoto, and do it in a natural way that really makes me feel pain when I remember it all ends in winter when Haru quits competitive swimming and the club.
Anyway, don't base your opinion of the movie based on spoilers, wait until you watch and see for yourself. For kyoani's rushed writing and magic fixes, this movie was really amazing and well-paced. It's not as deep as a novel can get due to the medium's restrictions of course, but I often prefer books over the film adaptations so I'm kind of glad in retrospect (they would've ruined the book!). I do hope the novel will get a manga (with a different artist than HS1 tho..), it would be nice to see it in a visual medium too.