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Oh my god, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. Honestly, I was actually very worried about this movie. I didn't think that Free! really needed a prequel since there are so many flashbacks from elementary school in the anime show (which is taking place during high school), so we already knew a good amount backstory for Free!, but it was actually very interesting to see what was going on between elementary and high school.

Man, the story. I did keep my expectations low. Or, I didn't really expect anything at all (neither positive nor negative stuff) and I ended up being ... blown away.
It starts off by introducing all of the characters very well, one by one. About the first half of the movie, we're getting to know them and the setting. And then the emotional drama starts happening. Haruka, Makoto, Ikuya and Asahi go through mental challenges, Makoto is questioning his choices, Haruka isn't too sure about himself or his friends either. They're all facing struggles thats effects them as a team.
It's easy to keep up with this movie, the main aspects aren't too complicated and we only focus on one big thing at a time.


Kyoto Animation did an amazing job with the art, style, animation, background details and usage of colors. Everything goes so well with each other and this movie is just stunning to watch.
Same applies to the music. Free! wouldn't have been Free! without this music.


I was worried about the new characters, mainly Ikuya and Asahi. I'm sure that I wasn't the only one that got reminded of Haruka and Momotarou when I took my first glance at them. But High Speed suprised me! Yes, Ikuya's facial expressions are similar to Haru's, but he's still very different as a character. Asahi is energetic like Momo, but he's still different from him. What I'm trying to say is that all of the characters ended up being different and likable.
Haruka and Makoto are.. Well, pretty much just like how you would expect. Their strong bond is very known, and you can clearly see it in this movie. Haru knows when something is off about Makoto and same goes for Makoto. In the flashbacks from the actual show, their bond didn't seem that strong, so I'm glad that we got to see how close they actually were as kids/pre-teens. Makoto also shows a deeper side of himself.
I would say that Ikuya had the hardest time. He was a quiet boy, but he would still talk whenever he could and add a bunch of comments. I respect Ikuya as a character because he had so much more pressure on him than the others. As his bonds with the boys got stronger, he would open up more, and share more about his life. He's also a very cute character, almost being shy in the beginning.
Asahi would be more of a stereotypical character in anime, but there's still something special about him. The way that he interacts with the others makes him seem like an idiot, but being his confident self, it doesn't bother him. However, he's still facing other types of struggles.
All of the characters end up being very strong, and they have great developments.
I loved how Nagisa, Rei, Sousuke and Rin would pop up once in a while, I mean, they were still involved with the main characters' lives. Plus, it was so nice to see what /they/ were doing in the meanwhile. Don't get me wrong, they only showed up at occasions where it fit, when they were useful to the plot.
(During the dramatic, moments near the end, I WAS SO SCARED AND WORRIED FOR ALL OF THEM, I GOT EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO THEM SUPER QUICKLY. They went through so much ohh lord)

I truly enjoyed this movie to the fullest. I'm already very interested in swimming, and the messages that Free! is trying to bring about friendship, the future and freedom, are also important to me. Starting Days does bring up a lot of the same stuff from the actual show, but I would say that first and foremost; this movie is about acceptance, of oneself and of others (the key to happiness). It's all about these boys being willing to work together as a team. And It's so beautiful.
I recommend this movie to people that value these aspects in life, or just want to have a good time.

I'm going to go and rewatch this now.

The idea and base of this story was ok. I didn't think that Yoneda (the author) went the right way. This story was supposed to focus on Shima and Togawa, and she sort of left them behind when things just got started. At first it was all about sex, and when the love finally started blossoming, the attention went over to a completely different character ??? Why ?????? Whyyyy

Yoneda would have to add more to the characters in order to make them memorial. The only character I found interesting was Shima, but he still wasn't very out of the ordinary (in comparison to general manga ... characters). The characters just kept on showing the same reactions. At some point they would open up a little more and show a tiny bit of a "new" side of themselves, but other than that.. They never opened up as much as well written characters would.

The only things I liked about this manga was the incredible dialogue, the emotional scenes, sex scenes and the fact that nO ONE SAID "BUT WE'RE BOTH MEN". That last thing is so so important holy shit. This universe is already halfway set in the "homosexual side of the world", so homosexuality isn't seen as a sin and is accepted. Well, it definitely isn't considered normal there, but it's the same as the homosexual side in the real world: accepted. Instead of discussing the most cliché thing in yaoi and shounen ai ("but we're both men") they're are bringing up real issues with homosexuality. This following example is kind of spoilery, **but they would talk about stuff like family and having kids**. Bonus points to Doushitemo Furetakunai because of that.

Overall the manga was fine. I didn't find most of it that "new" or interesting, but this manga did manage to make me clap and cheer once in a while.

Reading the manga, a lot of stuff bugged me. Mostly how quickly the storyline just moved on. The characters and relationship didn't get time to properly develop or even be introduced well. The idea of this story was cute, but the way it was told turned the manga pretty shitty. However, in the movie they changed all of that. The creators stretched out all of the "soon-to-be-over" scenes, and ended up spending their time very well. This way it was easier for me to really get to know the characters, and for their relationship to build. They also managed to not stretch anything too far. ... They changed some of the moments in this story from being weird or feeling unnecessary to being absolutely adorable.

The artstyle is unique and simpler than what we're used to, I really liked it. It's very similar to the manga artist's artsyle. Animation is smooth and fits this movie perfectly. Just the animation itself made me laugh a several times. The backgrounds are also gorgeous. I loved all of the usage of colors.
The soundtrack somehow gave Doukyuusei a realistic vibe, and Galileo Galilei's song playing at the ending was perfect.

Both Kusakabe and Sajou are mostly chill characters, and seeing them get along like this makes me very happy. Their love doesn't seem forced, which is in my opinion the most important thing when it comes to love stories. Sajou is a typical nerd/careful character, but something about him makes him stand out, as if there's something that he really wants. Kusakabe is not like the typical rock star/talk-without-thinking character. He's calm and very nice. They are both just high school students, which is very easy to notice. They make dumb choices like every teenager does. I love how their ages actually show through their personalities.

I would recommend this movie to anyone, whether they like shounen-ai or not. This is what a good love story looks like: characters falling in love the most natural way.

The only thing I didn't like was one of the changes from the manga. I wish that they would tell us something about Sajou earlier. ***SPOILER He has a fear of trains SPOILER IS OVER*** In the manga, they made this very clear, and it cleared up what was going on in some of the scenes. In the anime, this didn't come through well at all, and has definitely caused confusions.

I read the manga and it was pretty bad. The story moved on way too quickly. The main characters and their relationship didn't get the time to properly develop or even be properly introduced. As soon as something started to "calm down", something new and bigger would happen right away. I really missed more of the peaceful and cute scenes that would allow us to really get to know the characters, story and setting better. Some of the scenes were very unique and interesting. But the moments could always somehow be easily ruined. Not all of them were though, luckily.
Overall it was an adorable story ... with an adorable little pairing, all I wanted was to get time to understand what was currently going on before the plot just moved on. This manga made me smile, laugh and groan in frustration.

I liked the artstyle. Sometimes it could be viewed as a little sloppy, but I still thought that it was very artistic.

If you're only planning to read this manga so you can watch the movie afterwards, I recommend skipping the manga and dive right into the movie. They don't really change anything about the story, if anything they improved it. They stretched all of the short moments out all the way and spent their time well, which is great. I did really like the idea of this story, but the way it was told in this manga bugged me a lot. It surprised me how the movie creators changed everything that nagged me and made it better. The movie is probably my personal favorite now.