Naah, I'm weird enough myself. xD And being weird is nothing bad at all. ^^
Sousuke was just put in there so people got SouRin, lol. At least sometimes I feel like that. I'm not a big Sousuke fan either - don't know if I mentioned that before. And that's not mean. You just enjoy Rei and Nagisa's characters more than Makoto. I even enjoy Kisumi way more than Makoto, Sousuke and Nitori and he only appeared like 3 times and only for 2 minutes, lol. Cutie. <3
Meh, I'll watch the OVA, but I won't get my hopes up too far or I'll fall hard. And I don't pay much attention to Seiyuu events, so yeah. Not excited for that. ^^"
OVA will maybe be about MakoHaru life in Tokyo (big ugh...), NagiRei's life at the new Swimclub (yay!) and SouRin getting back together or something (another big ugh...). We'll probably get like 5 minutes of a reuinon of all characters in the end, but that's too little. I bet there won't be any RinHaru either. Or maybe also just 5 minutes, or even less, seeing them at the Olympics or something. Big minus if it ends like the last episode. >.> So, if it turns out to be even a bit like what I'm predicting, it will be horrible, for me at least.
I wish NagiRei would be my OTP than I wouldn't feel so much pain. x'D
Way too many MakoHaru posters in the past. Was there even ONE RinHaru poster? I remember one, but that was the 2 of them cut out of a group picture and just put on a poster together. Hardly counts as a real RH poster to me... And I guess the Duet CD picture was also released as poster? Though I somehow missed that completely or else I would have gotten that magazine immediately. xD I wish there was a poster of that New Year's picture! That's cute.
Nothing depressing or freaky about your message! It's perfectly fine. ^^
Omg, would you believe me when I say I didn't see your comment from SEPTEMBER till now?? Because I really didn't. x'( No one ever writes me comments so I never check them (why are there notifications for that?)... It's the sad truth, lol. x'D
I'm glad someone understands me. The last episode just made me sad. And I don't mean a good kind of sad, lol. Too little Rin x Iwatobi - like the whole season. Just too little Rin. Those 2 minutes in the beginning and in the end with the Sakura pool were nice, but way too little Rin. He IS one of the 2 main characters, so what the heck??
About shipping, I mean, I do dislike both - Sousuke and Nitori - but I still can see why people ship them and I respect their ships. If they wanna ship it they should do that. I just ignore everything about those ships (+ MakoHaru). I'm a HaruRin shipper, yep. And NagiRei.
Yeah, Mako hype is weird to me. As you said, he is nothing special at all. I'm just glad Utsumi is a Rin fangirl or else there'd probably be even less Rin in S2. Horror. I wouldn't remove Makoto, but he was way too important in S2, he even had like 2 or so episodes dedicated to him? Why not only one? Rei and Nagisa only got one and then it was like they disappeared in the last few episodes. They didn't do anything important anymore and just were there. They only cried in the last (or so?) episode and that was it. Such a waste as they are way more interesting and entertaining then Makoto. All 3 of them should get the same screen time as they ALL are side characters. But yeah, they did that because of too many people loving Makoto to death.
Thanks for your message. And I'm really sorry it took so long for me to even see it. x')
ohmyGOSHnonono, I always have enough time to talk about Free!, I’ve been tapping a reply to you for a while. I hope you know what you’ve got yourself in for. x/
I started an apprenticeship last Monday at an accountancy! I’m pretty tired, tired doesn’t even come close, I do 8:30-5 Mon-Fri but I feel sorta fulfilled from it, ya know? It’s not the sort of thing you can ‘enjoy’ as it’s number crunching and calculations but time passes quickly when I have to think about stuff, after work I don’t even want to look at my PC because I have a huge monitor I’m staring at all day. I’m managing a client right now and he’s something like £900 overdrawn, I have to try and balance that as well as set up all his direct debits, he uses his business card for drawings and it just makes me want to cry because I have to check the recipes of EVERY STORE he goes into on the database and keep up with his payments. Aaaand I’m complaining. xD I just feel tired as hell. I’m doing a study thing there, too, so I haven’t even scratched what I have to know for the job.
Anyway, how is life with you? Is uni going okay? I hope you get your degree!! Good luck with your business too, do you know what kind of thing you’d like to be doing? If you can set up something like that I think it’s so impressive and awesome, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. But I can imagine how scary it must be to come out of uni and hurled into the world, I heard that in America it’s really easy to become self-made and there’s tons of opportunity, I don’t know if that’s true or cinema propaganda.
NOW onto Free!! I know I’m gonna be really negative, please just ignore this if you don’t agree. >.<
OKAY so this is completely my opinion, but I wanted to like ES. I really did because S1 made me cry buckets and I fell in love with everyone and thing and it was the perfect anime, but ES really disappointed me because not a lot of things happened that I wanted to happen and I thought the things that did were badly executed/out of place. I want to scream and fangirl but PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE and they just get in the way. ._.
I really liked ES (especially the first episode) until about ep 5. I think Nagisa’s episode was the first one I didn’t like because I didn’t find it engaging and thought he was creating problems for himself, then when he said about his studies it got solved with one phonecall to their homeroom teacher, which I found sort of ridiculous, even by drama standards.
Then came Kisumi’s episode and I spent the whole thing asking myself why I cared about his younger brother swimming. I didn’t see the point in Kisumi, I know he’s a reference to the novels and his little brother is supposed to inspire Makoto or whatever but it felt like filler to me, I found it boring and Kisumi seemed like a plot device to add that part about Sousuke’s shoulder. I also don’t get why Kyoani would tell us that he and Haru used to be good friends and NEVER show Kisumi again after that? (I liked Kisumi tbh but he was just forgotten about? Kyoani don’t even tell us what he does?)
Onto Sousuke! I really loved Sousuke. When he backed Haru against the vending machine, I had these: ‘shit’s gonna go down’ vibes and he’s manly, clever, hnng, perfect man, but he was so damn hyped up then underwhelmed. There was so much suspense around him to start with so he was this threatening/scary/sexy swimming man with shoulder bones that went on forever and a huge secret and I loved him for that, I didn’t like the way the SouRin drama was done and didn’t think it got justice. I feel like Sousuke emerged from nowhere, was vaguely threatening to Haru for no explained reason (other than: 'you're in Rin's way because you're not serious’, Sou is that really merited) then comes out with this 'I WAS RIN'S FRIEND ALL ALONG' speech and the stuff with his shoulder, then suddenly cares about Haru’s future because of Rin, despite refusing to acknowledge him about two episodes previous, he has a random, unexplained change of mind. I also feel like Rin is more important to Sousuke than Sousuke is to Rin, because I get the vibes that Sousuke came to Samezuka because he wanted to spend some time with Rin and see him happy and moving up in the world, but as soon as Rin finds out Sousuke can’t swim he behaves like it’s the end of the line for their friendship if they can’t get into a pool together when (whispers) that’s not the way it has to be. They can be friends and NOT swim, right?
Rin is also a big prob for me in ES and that’s why I disliked ES a LOT because I super loved Rin, but liked him less and less during ES. You can disagree with this if you’d like but towards the end I got the feeling that although he cares about his friends, he doesn’t make a lot of effort toward them and I understand his dream comes first and he has to work to achieve his future goal, etc., but I think there was more he could do but didn’t. Like the way he left things with Sousuke, Sousuke SAID he can’t ever swim again and Rin says ‘I’ll be waiting for you,’ that’s kind of rubbing it in, Rin, and after Haru had his ‘breakdown’ (whatever you wanna call it) Rin didn’t make any effort to contact him or check that he was okay after what happened in the lockerooms?! Being Rin, if he was the one to speak to Haru, just get the train to his house on a weekend or something, I’m sure Rin could have brought him around or at least lessened the pressure he felt a little. the RinHaru relationship was built up so much in S1 then brushed aside in S2, and I hated that. (I’m gonna talk about that if you don’t mind. obvs I ship them but I’ll try not to make it bias)
In S1 Rin and Haru go through so much and motivate and inspire each other, they have a bond through swimming and what they want is the same at their cores, but I feel like in S2 they just become more and more desperate to beat each other and that’s it. you could argue that it’s some bullshit message of the show of growing up and getting serious, but I feel like that doesn’t hold water. Even though their paths are the same (competitive) and they do cross each other occasionally, their relationship diverges despite that which really upsets me. In S2 they hardly ever talk (EVER) because Rin is so preoccupied with his own team that he pushes Haru to the back of his mind until he gets a text from Makoto telling him about Haru, then takes him to Australia and although admittedly I was bleeding through the nose the entire episode so much I almost had a seizure, I just feel like it was a fanservice episode and there was no deep relationship behind it, like the bond from s1 wasn’t there anymore. I feel like in S2 Rin cares deeply about Haru’s future and wants Haru to have a good life, but doesn’t really care about Haru being a part of HIS life (if you know what I mean). and that upsets me because I thought they’d be friends forever at the very least from S1 if not married and repeatedly renewing their vows by the time they got out of uni. in ES it’s more like they’re important to each other, but don’t care about each other’s company which is messed up, since I thought they were each other’s drives and motivation?. Like back to the Australian trip again, they get on a PLANE together and share a bed and exchange their innermost dreams then get back to Iwatobi and don’t talk again like it never even happened, which I don’t like. I just feel like that episode is kyoani trying to service ALL the ships, trying to balance the omnipresent SouRin with one RinHaru dedicated ep and the end result is Rin being disinterested in them both.
THEN the FINALE, I’m sorry cuz this is just me complaining but I I hated the end. They spent about 7 minutes on flashbacks and I felt really uncomfortable when Nagisa was riding that whale during their race (I went from hurr to what aRE YOU DOING KYOANI) because the sight was Rin and Haru’s THING, they can’t give it to Nagisa, Rei, Makoto and Sousuke and they did it waaay too camply.
I feel like they went overboard and tried to make it too overemotional, it didn’t work for me at all and didn’t seem meaningful like S1. And what kind of an ending is that, it jumps to Haru in the (uni?) apartment then this huge leap to swimming with Rin and doesn’t explain anything about how/if their friendship developed or if they even stayed in contact or what happened to anyone inc. Sousuke, or how Haru feels about competitive swimming considering he was distraught and having nightmares before, then suddenly it’s okay without any hiccups after just going into an Australian pool? I thought Rin would be the one to want to make Haru swim like how Haru did to Rin in S1, but it was actually the godamn POOL that changed Haru’s mind? Like, why was the Australian pool different to the stadium one? I was expecting the Sousuke drama to be a bigger deal (I was expecting him to have shoulder cancer and be in a hospital bed with Rin crying over him but it was just dislocated and swollen) ...everything just felt rushed and underwhelmed, melodramatic and didn’t meet my expectations, I know S1 set a high bar but I honestly wish I didn’t watch past episode 6 of ES. I still love Free! but I prefer to read fanfics and AUs about how ES COULD have gone, instead of how it actually went because I am sads beyond rationality. It would have been easy for Kyoani to do more, but they deliberately didn’t.
Oh my gosh, I ranted about it forever, PLEASE tell me how you feel and any points where you disagree/agree because I would love to know! I feel like I’m the only person who criticises ES, I love Free! but I can’t just like any show with the Free! characters in it, everyone is screaming about how ES was perfect and they can die happily but I just don’t feel that way. I know I’m hard to please but ahrfhworh, I was looking forward to it so much. anyway, you do some talking now. xD what did you think of it? I want to hear everything. *_*
I don’t read the Haikyuu! manga, I have a really low attention spam for manga unless it’s yaoi. And i refused to go on tumblr until I watched the new episode of Free! each week to stop myself from seeing spoilers, I actually liked book of circus a lot and really looked forward to it each week so I’m excited for the OVAs. What did you think of it?
I wouldn’t recommend Tokyo Ghoul, the animation is gorgeous but I’ve heard so many bad things about it, but I’m picky. :p You might like it, idk, the story just seems generic to me and I hate MC’s who cry at everything. Tokyo Ghoul’s is like that.
I had to go through so much crap to play the DRAMAtical murder game, I had to change a bunch of stuff on my PC which scared me because I didn’t know what I was doing so uninstalled it after two endings but it’s an awesome game. I dropped the anime because it was boring, I literally couldn’t sit through it. They took out all the blood, romance, psychology, what do you even have left when you take that from DM?
I also don’t really ship the main couple in Love Stage!! because I don’t think they go together, they’re so different and bicker so much, they’re both really immature characters, even though they have sex they don’t take it seriously so I don’t see it working, but I like the show, I don’t know if it’s the kinda thing you can marathon, but it’s still good???
Speaking of which, did you hear about Junjou S3?! :D
The apprenteships start in September but I don’t know if I have any yet! (gonna complain rn, sorry) I went to a meeting last month, but it was a tiny building in the middle of nowhere and they told me that my grades are too high so I didn’t go for it. I had another meeting with a housing company where 200 people went for the same position (yeah, really) and I got through to the shortlist of 20 people but they can only pick 6, so now I have to go to ANOTHER one with the same company on the 29th. I also have an interview with a different company on the 21st, literally all I’ve done this past month is write out letters and print CVs, haha. I just really want to get something because I need money for driving lessons as I have to get a job at eighteen (education stops being free here at 18) and I live in a bunch of fields so I need a car to get around. Also don’t want to go to college next year because my closest college is a ditch, people have sex in the toilets, the lecturers never show up, someone got stabbed to death in the underpass between the labs, it is such a shit place honestly.
*exhales* sooo yeah, sorry for making you read that! Anyway, how are things for you? Do you know how much longer you plan to stay at university?
I read some summaries for high speed II and (maybe spoiler?) there are some really dark themes nnd I’m thinking: these kids are twelve years old, I could see the teenage versions having those kind of thoughts but surely they’re not gonna start getting emotionally crippled over winning/losing a race at this stage. I know there has to be some drama but idk... some of the stuff seems like the author is running out of plot so he/she’s creating needless drama, maybe for money like you said. i want to read the actual thing but it’s just motivation/time.
You’re at episode 3 of Eternal summer on your list... What do you think of it so far? Did Rin take steroids or what because his muscles got super hot (hotter) :p
I’m also REALLY interested in the tension between Haru and Sousuke, like how Haru was speaking to Gou in episode 3 shows that what Sousuke said had been playing on his mind, I want to know if there’s more to Sousuke’s behaviour than ‘not wanting Haru to get in the way of Rin’s dream,’ I get the feeling there’s something under the surface and I’m kinda interested in if/how Haru and Sousuke’s relationship will change. Do you have any headcannons for the rest of the series?
Rin needs to make more moves on Haru or they’re gonna drift apart. *sighs*
But yeah, Season 2 is SO much better than I expected, I worried it would be rushed and badly done but everything is perfect so far, ahhh.
My main Free! ship is RinHaru. ^^ Not trying to start a war, but yep... yep. :) There’s so much subtle-not-so-subtle tension between them and I just love it. I also like Momotarou/Nitori, Regisa and MakoSou... maybe SouHaru as a sub-ship, perhaps, ehheheh. And yours?
Haikyuu!! is so good, the comedy is a hit and the leads have such strong personalities and I love that! I would definitely recommend it, the cliffhangers are like KNB where they cut halfway through a match. Waiting is always a pain, waiting for Free! absolutely kills me. =.=
Space dandy is kinda like a Japanese Futurama, I’m watching the second season too!
I think Book of circus is super good so far but I’m kinda disappointed in the animation, cause it’s black butler and that’s a huge name I thought they’d go all out, but it’s just... norm. oh, well, I like it anyways. ^^ Have you started that one yet?
I played some of DRAMAtical murder (like 2 ends) and I loved it but I’m not sure about the anime, I’ve only watched ep 1. Any thoughts on it?
I think I did well on my history exams, they were both SO easy, like seriously I streamrolled them. xD It helped that I spent about two weeks before doing nothing but revising, soooo... I think I got an A. :)
Oh my gosh, yes, maths is complete make believe! I know there are laws you’re supposed to apply but it’s ridiculous-I don’t get science, either. I get you far too much.
I saw a picture from the eternal summer artbook online and there were three new boys pictured with kid Haru? There was one with grey whispy hair and another one with pink-red hair which I think was Sousuke but I don’t know. I’m far too excited about Eternal Summer, I know I’m going to get over-emotional and cry again. xD I’m so ready for it.
I can’t wait for Sousuke, either, he looks so yummy and I agree about Rin! Mikoshiba is way too stern with him and Nitori is a cuuuuuutie, but he’s not on the same level as Rin, bless him. I like the idea of Rin having someone who can rise up to his level and I think Rin NEEDS someone to be with at school-I love happy Rin. :p He deserves to smile.
I kind of hope Haru gets jealous of Sousuke, I would love to see the sparks and I think their friendship is adorable so want him to stay a part of Rin’s life. Plus drama-I love drama so much. xD what do you think S2 will be about?
I haven’t read High Speed but I want to. Have you?
(FIST-BUMPS FOREVER)
HHMMMM, well, for manga, Death Note is better by a long shot but for anime I liked Geass more. Geass was more fun to watch with more twists and turns and action whereas DN was more strategy. DN had more atmosphere but Geass had more of an emotional range-that’s my opinion, anyway. :p Lelouche is so much like Light.
All of my friends kept bugging me to get skype but now I have it and they’re NEVER online. I don’t use it much, either, it’s kind of just... there. XD
I have a two week holiday, then I go back to college for two weeks and then I have two months away! BUT I may not, cause I’ve applied for several apprenticeships and they start in July (they’re full time, too, cries) so I might have to start working soon depending on if I pass the interviews. (I have one interview this Friday and lots more in June) How are things with you? Do you have your break right now?
I don’t like a lot of the anime airing now. :( Haikyuu!! is AMAZING and I like Selector Infected but I’m thinking about dropping most of the rest. I need to watch more, too, but I’m mostly waiting for summer! Summer has so many great anime planned, doesn't it?
It's fine, don't worry. I also have a problem with too much studying right now, I have a year of history to memorise in six days. :/
Are you excited for season 2 of Free!? I'm so, so (exasperates) SO pumped for the new series! There's going to be a new character, too. Do you have an opinion on Sousuke?
No, no, YOU are awesome! -^^-
I'm the same, I don't have any female characters, it's kind of bad. (laughs)
Lelouche is from Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion and there are two series (R1, R2) with 25 episodes each, 50 in total! Geass is basically about the main character (Lelouche) deciding there is something wrong with the world and trying to change it with his Geass power, which lets him hypnotise a person into doing anything he wants once. It's a lot like death note because the relationships between the two male leads are like Light and L's. I watched it over Christmas. :D
also, do you use skype? I got it recently and I thought it might be better for talking. >.<
I heard something about Rin being 'violent' (uh, whatever) but I don't think so-he just went through a period of being upset because he was lonely and started doubting himself. I think he felt like the whole world was laughing at him and that he'd been replaced which is why he tried to punch Haru-Rin didn't know that Haru wanted to swim with him because Haru never says anything about the way he feels, so how was Rin supposed to know?
I like that Rin has a variation of emotions: it makes him complicated but I think you're right in that a lot of people 'hate' him because he's misunderstood. :D
But don't even get me started on Rin, because I will talk to you forever about him. ^^
Sebastian, Nezumi, Light, Tamaki, Ryouta and Usami... you have such a great taste in male anime characters! *hugs*
Yes, the art is gorgeous! When I saw it, I had to comment... :3
tbh I love all the Free! characters, too, but Rin... yush. ^^ He is defiantly my favourite.
There are people in the world who hate Rin?! *brandishes bloody knife* ...whyyy? What is there to dislike about him? D:
Yeah x3
Haha, I know what you mean, it's one of the most epic matches so far <3 Really glad to see it animated x3
Same here ^^ I wonder if they'll censor or leave out some of the Alex scenes xDDD
All Comments (92) Comments
Let's hope the whole thing is about the watergun fight and nothing else. xD
Sousuke was just put in there so people got SouRin, lol. At least sometimes I feel like that. I'm not a big Sousuke fan either - don't know if I mentioned that before. And that's not mean. You just enjoy Rei and Nagisa's characters more than Makoto. I even enjoy Kisumi way more than Makoto, Sousuke and Nitori and he only appeared like 3 times and only for 2 minutes, lol. Cutie. <3
Meh, I'll watch the OVA, but I won't get my hopes up too far or I'll fall hard. And I don't pay much attention to Seiyuu events, so yeah. Not excited for that. ^^"
OVA will maybe be about MakoHaru life in Tokyo (big ugh...), NagiRei's life at the new Swimclub (yay!) and SouRin getting back together or something (another big ugh...). We'll probably get like 5 minutes of a reuinon of all characters in the end, but that's too little. I bet there won't be any RinHaru either. Or maybe also just 5 minutes, or even less, seeing them at the Olympics or something. Big minus if it ends like the last episode. >.> So, if it turns out to be even a bit like what I'm predicting, it will be horrible, for me at least.
I wish NagiRei would be my OTP than I wouldn't feel so much pain. x'D
Way too many MakoHaru posters in the past. Was there even ONE RinHaru poster? I remember one, but that was the 2 of them cut out of a group picture and just put on a poster together. Hardly counts as a real RH poster to me... And I guess the Duet CD picture was also released as poster? Though I somehow missed that completely or else I would have gotten that magazine immediately. xD I wish there was a poster of that New Year's picture! That's cute.
Nothing depressing or freaky about your message! It's perfectly fine. ^^
I'm glad someone understands me. The last episode just made me sad. And I don't mean a good kind of sad, lol. Too little Rin x Iwatobi - like the whole season. Just too little Rin. Those 2 minutes in the beginning and in the end with the Sakura pool were nice, but way too little Rin. He IS one of the 2 main characters, so what the heck??
About shipping, I mean, I do dislike both - Sousuke and Nitori - but I still can see why people ship them and I respect their ships. If they wanna ship it they should do that. I just ignore everything about those ships (+ MakoHaru). I'm a HaruRin shipper, yep. And NagiRei.
Yeah, Mako hype is weird to me. As you said, he is nothing special at all. I'm just glad Utsumi is a Rin fangirl or else there'd probably be even less Rin in S2. Horror. I wouldn't remove Makoto, but he was way too important in S2, he even had like 2 or so episodes dedicated to him? Why not only one? Rei and Nagisa only got one and then it was like they disappeared in the last few episodes. They didn't do anything important anymore and just were there. They only cried in the last (or so?) episode and that was it. Such a waste as they are way more interesting and entertaining then Makoto. All 3 of them should get the same screen time as they ALL are side characters. But yeah, they did that because of too many people loving Makoto to death.
Thanks for your message. And I'm really sorry it took so long for me to even see it. x')
I started an apprenticeship last Monday at an accountancy! I’m pretty tired, tired doesn’t even come close, I do 8:30-5 Mon-Fri but I feel sorta fulfilled from it, ya know? It’s not the sort of thing you can ‘enjoy’ as it’s number crunching and calculations but time passes quickly when I have to think about stuff, after work I don’t even want to look at my PC because I have a huge monitor I’m staring at all day. I’m managing a client right now and he’s something like £900 overdrawn, I have to try and balance that as well as set up all his direct debits, he uses his business card for drawings and it just makes me want to cry because I have to check the recipes of EVERY STORE he goes into on the database and keep up with his payments. Aaaand I’m complaining. xD I just feel tired as hell. I’m doing a study thing there, too, so I haven’t even scratched what I have to know for the job.
Anyway, how is life with you? Is uni going okay? I hope you get your degree!! Good luck with your business too, do you know what kind of thing you’d like to be doing? If you can set up something like that I think it’s so impressive and awesome, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. But I can imagine how scary it must be to come out of uni and hurled into the world, I heard that in America it’s really easy to become self-made and there’s tons of opportunity, I don’t know if that’s true or cinema propaganda.
NOW onto Free!! I know I’m gonna be really negative, please just ignore this if you don’t agree. >.<
OKAY so this is completely my opinion, but I wanted to like ES. I really did because S1 made me cry buckets and I fell in love with everyone and thing and it was the perfect anime, but ES really disappointed me because not a lot of things happened that I wanted to happen and I thought the things that did were badly executed/out of place. I want to scream and fangirl but PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE and they just get in the way. ._.
I really liked ES (especially the first episode) until about ep 5. I think Nagisa’s episode was the first one I didn’t like because I didn’t find it engaging and thought he was creating problems for himself, then when he said about his studies it got solved with one phonecall to their homeroom teacher, which I found sort of ridiculous, even by drama standards.
Then came Kisumi’s episode and I spent the whole thing asking myself why I cared about his younger brother swimming. I didn’t see the point in Kisumi, I know he’s a reference to the novels and his little brother is supposed to inspire Makoto or whatever but it felt like filler to me, I found it boring and Kisumi seemed like a plot device to add that part about Sousuke’s shoulder. I also don’t get why Kyoani would tell us that he and Haru used to be good friends and NEVER show Kisumi again after that? (I liked Kisumi tbh but he was just forgotten about? Kyoani don’t even tell us what he does?)
Onto Sousuke! I really loved Sousuke. When he backed Haru against the vending machine, I had these: ‘shit’s gonna go down’ vibes and he’s manly, clever, hnng, perfect man, but he was so damn hyped up then underwhelmed. There was so much suspense around him to start with so he was this threatening/scary/sexy swimming man with shoulder bones that went on forever and a huge secret and I loved him for that, I didn’t like the way the SouRin drama was done and didn’t think it got justice. I feel like Sousuke emerged from nowhere, was vaguely threatening to Haru for no explained reason (other than: 'you're in Rin's way because you're not serious’, Sou is that really merited) then comes out with this 'I WAS RIN'S FRIEND ALL ALONG' speech and the stuff with his shoulder, then suddenly cares about Haru’s future because of Rin, despite refusing to acknowledge him about two episodes previous, he has a random, unexplained change of mind. I also feel like Rin is more important to Sousuke than Sousuke is to Rin, because I get the vibes that Sousuke came to Samezuka because he wanted to spend some time with Rin and see him happy and moving up in the world, but as soon as Rin finds out Sousuke can’t swim he behaves like it’s the end of the line for their friendship if they can’t get into a pool together when (whispers) that’s not the way it has to be. They can be friends and NOT swim, right?
Rin is also a big prob for me in ES and that’s why I disliked ES a LOT because I super loved Rin, but liked him less and less during ES. You can disagree with this if you’d like but towards the end I got the feeling that although he cares about his friends, he doesn’t make a lot of effort toward them and I understand his dream comes first and he has to work to achieve his future goal, etc., but I think there was more he could do but didn’t. Like the way he left things with Sousuke, Sousuke SAID he can’t ever swim again and Rin says ‘I’ll be waiting for you,’ that’s kind of rubbing it in, Rin, and after Haru had his ‘breakdown’ (whatever you wanna call it) Rin didn’t make any effort to contact him or check that he was okay after what happened in the lockerooms?! Being Rin, if he was the one to speak to Haru, just get the train to his house on a weekend or something, I’m sure Rin could have brought him around or at least lessened the pressure he felt a little. the RinHaru relationship was built up so much in S1 then brushed aside in S2, and I hated that. (I’m gonna talk about that if you don’t mind. obvs I ship them but I’ll try not to make it bias)
In S1 Rin and Haru go through so much and motivate and inspire each other, they have a bond through swimming and what they want is the same at their cores, but I feel like in S2 they just become more and more desperate to beat each other and that’s it. you could argue that it’s some bullshit message of the show of growing up and getting serious, but I feel like that doesn’t hold water. Even though their paths are the same (competitive) and they do cross each other occasionally, their relationship diverges despite that which really upsets me. In S2 they hardly ever talk (EVER) because Rin is so preoccupied with his own team that he pushes Haru to the back of his mind until he gets a text from Makoto telling him about Haru, then takes him to Australia and although admittedly I was bleeding through the nose the entire episode so much I almost had a seizure, I just feel like it was a fanservice episode and there was no deep relationship behind it, like the bond from s1 wasn’t there anymore. I feel like in S2 Rin cares deeply about Haru’s future and wants Haru to have a good life, but doesn’t really care about Haru being a part of HIS life (if you know what I mean). and that upsets me because I thought they’d be friends forever at the very least from S1 if not married and repeatedly renewing their vows by the time they got out of uni. in ES it’s more like they’re important to each other, but don’t care about each other’s company which is messed up, since I thought they were each other’s drives and motivation?. Like back to the Australian trip again, they get on a PLANE together and share a bed and exchange their innermost dreams then get back to Iwatobi and don’t talk again like it never even happened, which I don’t like. I just feel like that episode is kyoani trying to service ALL the ships, trying to balance the omnipresent SouRin with one RinHaru dedicated ep and the end result is Rin being disinterested in them both.
THEN the FINALE, I’m sorry cuz this is just me complaining but I I hated the end. They spent about 7 minutes on flashbacks and I felt really uncomfortable when Nagisa was riding that whale during their race (I went from hurr to what aRE YOU DOING KYOANI) because the sight was Rin and Haru’s THING, they can’t give it to Nagisa, Rei, Makoto and Sousuke and they did it waaay too camply.
I feel like they went overboard and tried to make it too overemotional, it didn’t work for me at all and didn’t seem meaningful like S1. And what kind of an ending is that, it jumps to Haru in the (uni?) apartment then this huge leap to swimming with Rin and doesn’t explain anything about how/if their friendship developed or if they even stayed in contact or what happened to anyone inc. Sousuke, or how Haru feels about competitive swimming considering he was distraught and having nightmares before, then suddenly it’s okay without any hiccups after just going into an Australian pool? I thought Rin would be the one to want to make Haru swim like how Haru did to Rin in S1, but it was actually the godamn POOL that changed Haru’s mind? Like, why was the Australian pool different to the stadium one? I was expecting the Sousuke drama to be a bigger deal (I was expecting him to have shoulder cancer and be in a hospital bed with Rin crying over him but it was just dislocated and swollen) ...everything just felt rushed and underwhelmed, melodramatic and didn’t meet my expectations, I know S1 set a high bar but I honestly wish I didn’t watch past episode 6 of ES. I still love Free! but I prefer to read fanfics and AUs about how ES COULD have gone, instead of how it actually went because I am sads beyond rationality. It would have been easy for Kyoani to do more, but they deliberately didn’t.
Oh my gosh, I ranted about it forever, PLEASE tell me how you feel and any points where you disagree/agree because I would love to know! I feel like I’m the only person who criticises ES, I love Free! but I can’t just like any show with the Free! characters in it, everyone is screaming about how ES was perfect and they can die happily but I just don’t feel that way. I know I’m hard to please but ahrfhworh, I was looking forward to it so much. anyway, you do some talking now. xD what did you think of it? I want to hear everything. *_*
I don’t read the Haikyuu! manga, I have a really low attention spam for manga unless it’s yaoi. And i refused to go on tumblr until I watched the new episode of Free! each week to stop myself from seeing spoilers, I actually liked book of circus a lot and really looked forward to it each week so I’m excited for the OVAs. What did you think of it?
I wouldn’t recommend Tokyo Ghoul, the animation is gorgeous but I’ve heard so many bad things about it, but I’m picky. :p You might like it, idk, the story just seems generic to me and I hate MC’s who cry at everything. Tokyo Ghoul’s is like that.
I had to go through so much crap to play the DRAMAtical murder game, I had to change a bunch of stuff on my PC which scared me because I didn’t know what I was doing so uninstalled it after two endings but it’s an awesome game. I dropped the anime because it was boring, I literally couldn’t sit through it. They took out all the blood, romance, psychology, what do you even have left when you take that from DM?
I also don’t really ship the main couple in Love Stage!! because I don’t think they go together, they’re so different and bicker so much, they’re both really immature characters, even though they have sex they don’t take it seriously so I don’t see it working, but I like the show, I don’t know if it’s the kinda thing you can marathon, but it’s still good???
Speaking of which, did you hear about Junjou S3?! :D
*exhales* sooo yeah, sorry for making you read that! Anyway, how are things for you? Do you know how much longer you plan to stay at university?
I read some summaries for high speed II and (maybe spoiler?) there are some really dark themes nnd I’m thinking: these kids are twelve years old, I could see the teenage versions having those kind of thoughts but surely they’re not gonna start getting emotionally crippled over winning/losing a race at this stage. I know there has to be some drama but idk... some of the stuff seems like the author is running out of plot so he/she’s creating needless drama, maybe for money like you said. i want to read the actual thing but it’s just motivation/time.
You’re at episode 3 of Eternal summer on your list... What do you think of it so far? Did Rin take steroids or what because his muscles got super hot (hotter) :p
I’m also REALLY interested in the tension between Haru and Sousuke, like how Haru was speaking to Gou in episode 3 shows that what Sousuke said had been playing on his mind, I want to know if there’s more to Sousuke’s behaviour than ‘not wanting Haru to get in the way of Rin’s dream,’ I get the feeling there’s something under the surface and I’m kinda interested in if/how Haru and Sousuke’s relationship will change. Do you have any headcannons for the rest of the series?
Rin needs to make more moves on Haru or they’re gonna drift apart. *sighs*
But yeah, Season 2 is SO much better than I expected, I worried it would be rushed and badly done but everything is perfect so far, ahhh.
My main Free! ship is RinHaru. ^^ Not trying to start a war, but yep... yep. :) There’s so much subtle-not-so-subtle tension between them and I just love it. I also like Momotarou/Nitori, Regisa and MakoSou... maybe SouHaru as a sub-ship, perhaps, ehheheh. And yours?
Haikyuu!! is so good, the comedy is a hit and the leads have such strong personalities and I love that! I would definitely recommend it, the cliffhangers are like KNB where they cut halfway through a match. Waiting is always a pain, waiting for Free! absolutely kills me. =.=
Space dandy is kinda like a Japanese Futurama, I’m watching the second season too!
I think Book of circus is super good so far but I’m kinda disappointed in the animation, cause it’s black butler and that’s a huge name I thought they’d go all out, but it’s just... norm. oh, well, I like it anyways. ^^ Have you started that one yet?
I played some of DRAMAtical murder (like 2 ends) and I loved it but I’m not sure about the anime, I’ve only watched ep 1. Any thoughts on it?
ALSOOooo, are you watching Love Stage?
Oh my gosh, yes, maths is complete make believe! I know there are laws you’re supposed to apply but it’s ridiculous-I don’t get science, either. I get you far too much.
I saw a picture from the eternal summer artbook online and there were three new boys pictured with kid Haru? There was one with grey whispy hair and another one with pink-red hair which I think was Sousuke but I don’t know. I’m far too excited about Eternal Summer, I know I’m going to get over-emotional and cry again. xD I’m so ready for it.
I can’t wait for Sousuke, either, he looks so yummy and I agree about Rin! Mikoshiba is way too stern with him and Nitori is a cuuuuuutie, but he’s not on the same level as Rin, bless him. I like the idea of Rin having someone who can rise up to his level and I think Rin NEEDS someone to be with at school-I love happy Rin. :p He deserves to smile.
I kind of hope Haru gets jealous of Sousuke, I would love to see the sparks and I think their friendship is adorable so want him to stay a part of Rin’s life. Plus drama-I love drama so much. xD what do you think S2 will be about?
I haven’t read High Speed but I want to. Have you?
(FIST-BUMPS FOREVER)
HHMMMM, well, for manga, Death Note is better by a long shot but for anime I liked Geass more. Geass was more fun to watch with more twists and turns and action whereas DN was more strategy. DN had more atmosphere but Geass had more of an emotional range-that’s my opinion, anyway. :p Lelouche is so much like Light.
All of my friends kept bugging me to get skype but now I have it and they’re NEVER online. I don’t use it much, either, it’s kind of just... there. XD
I have a two week holiday, then I go back to college for two weeks and then I have two months away! BUT I may not, cause I’ve applied for several apprenticeships and they start in July (they’re full time, too, cries) so I might have to start working soon depending on if I pass the interviews. (I have one interview this Friday and lots more in June) How are things with you? Do you have your break right now?
I don’t like a lot of the anime airing now. :( Haikyuu!! is AMAZING and I like Selector Infected but I’m thinking about dropping most of the rest. I need to watch more, too, but I’m mostly waiting for summer! Summer has so many great anime planned, doesn't it?
Are you excited for season 2 of Free!? I'm so, so (exasperates) SO pumped for the new series! There's going to be a new character, too. Do you have an opinion on Sousuke?
No, no, YOU are awesome! -^^-
I'm the same, I don't have any female characters, it's kind of bad. (laughs)
Lelouche is from Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion and there are two series (R1, R2) with 25 episodes each, 50 in total! Geass is basically about the main character (Lelouche) deciding there is something wrong with the world and trying to change it with his Geass power, which lets him hypnotise a person into doing anything he wants once. It's a lot like death note because the relationships between the two male leads are like Light and L's. I watched it over Christmas. :D
also, do you use skype? I got it recently and I thought it might be better for talking. >.<
I heard something about Rin being 'violent' (uh, whatever) but I don't think so-he just went through a period of being upset because he was lonely and started doubting himself. I think he felt like the whole world was laughing at him and that he'd been replaced which is why he tried to punch Haru-Rin didn't know that Haru wanted to swim with him because Haru never says anything about the way he feels, so how was Rin supposed to know?
I like that Rin has a variation of emotions: it makes him complicated but I think you're right in that a lot of people 'hate' him because he's misunderstood. :D
But don't even get me started on Rin, because I will talk to you forever about him. ^^
Sebastian, Nezumi, Light, Tamaki, Ryouta and Usami... you have such a great taste in male anime characters! *hugs*
tbh I love all the Free! characters, too, but Rin... yush. ^^ He is defiantly my favourite.
There are people in the world who hate Rin?! *brandishes bloody knife* ...whyyy? What is there to dislike about him? D:
*nosebleeds*
...gorgeous....
Haha, yeah, she's awesome :3
Haha, I know what you mean xD Yeah, her English is surprisingly good xD
Yeah, I'm glad they didn't take that out xD
Well, since my reply is hella late (really sorry about that xP), guess it's pointless to reply on this part now xDDD
Yup, thanks :3 But still being busy xP
Yeah x3
Haha, I know what you mean, it's one of the most epic matches so far <3 Really glad to see it animated x3
Same here ^^ I wonder if they'll censor or leave out some of the Alex scenes xDDD
I'm fine, thanks :D Except that school starts again on Wednesday, so I'm going to be busy again T_T
What about you?