Free! Starting Days

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 beingblown 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.

High☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days is a solid movie that will likely be enjoyable to fans of the TV anime, and potentially even those unfamiliar to the franchise as a standalone coming-of-age film. The story, while nothing exceptional, is solid. There is a degree of repetitiveness among the two seasons of the anime and this movie in terms of main themes and sources of conflict, and if this movie's other elements weren't so well-done I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. Fortunately, that's not the case. The movie had uncertainty about the future, family drama, and, as this is Free!, friendship being its maindrivers, and while it did get a bit too melodramatic sometimes, overall I feel that the story was handled well and made for a movie that had some substance instead of having it be an hour of fanservice, which was a route they could have easily gone down. There are some moments in the film that feel a bit awkward or shoehorned in (for example, Sousuke had more interaction with the gang than I'd previously thought from the way they act towards each other in the future, and I did question Haruka's future attitude towards competing.) but I don't think they detracted from my enjoyment of the film in a major way. Where I feel this movie did an exceptional job is its characters. I was worried, at first, with such a large number of the main cast (especially since there is already an established universe) being original characters (not counting the novels). I was pleasantly surprised that all of them received some amount of development and had good, believable dynamics with each other. Overall, both new and familiar characters were likeable in their own ways, and I found myself emotionally invested in them. One other thing that the movie did excellently is developing the relationship between Makoto and Haruka. For characters whose relationship in the future is already so well-known, their interaction in the movie never felt unimportant and are, in fact, what I believe are some of the strongest points of the movie, whether or not the larger franchise is considered. I left the theatre with a greater appreciation of their friendship, and I believe a better understanding of the relationship between the characters' older selves. This being a KyoAni production, it was definitely a visual treat. While I do think their style can be rather bland, the movie is undeniably very pretty, with fluid animation, great backgrounds, and good use of colour when it counts. There is one particular scene between Makoto and Haruka that was animated beautifully (more so than the rest if the film,) which I feel really emphasised it as a pivotal moment. The sound and music were also fine, and served their purpose well. The music will sound familiar to those who have seen the series. It's not a soundtrack that will merit multiple replays on its own, but it was definitely effective in the context of the movie. Overall, this is a movie I can recommend without reservations to a fan of the series. While I can see how it might be less interesting to someone not already interested in Free!, I think it still merits a watch for anyone who wants to see a beautifully animated but sometimes slow-moving coming-of-age film. Note: I saw this movie in Japanese with no English subtitles. I am currently a Japanese language student, and while I'm confident that I understood almost everything in the movie, there may have been some things I missed. I will update this review if my opinions change after I see it again once the DVD comes out.

This is a 10/10 for each category. Story:[9.7/10] The story was a prequel to my favorite anime:Free!.I loved how we got to explore their past selves and how they got to bound to be a team.The story was solid overall and the pacing was good.My feelings died completely after I passed 57 minutes when the so called feeling trains begun.It had a clear start,their middle was full of drama and struggle and it was taken out of our everyday life with the ending having the message that,a friend can get you through thick and thin. Art:[10/10] The art was beautiful,something I appreciated always about the Free anime. Music:[10/10]The music was very well executed and it was one of the few animes in which I actually paid attention to it,knowing from the previous two it is going to be great,OLD CODEX is really amazing at what they are doing. Characters:[10/10] The characters are really drawn from real life.My favorite is Makoto,a kind soul and a kid who struggled with finding his own identity and my heart broke when he and Haru became distant and I was melted at their pool scene and when Makoto panicked so bad when Haru fainted.He is the heart of the group and he keeps them all in check.Haru is the mysterious genius who feels cold at first,but once you know him you understand just how much he cares,in his own way,he showed Makoto who he was with a simple phrase which killed me yet again,he is the team's leader and their secret weapon.Asahi is one of the new characters introduced and he is the type that is up there on a stage and is very enthusiastic only to be brought to reality and be made to work harder for his goals,he was the motivation of the team.Ikuya was the silent one,the timid one,the one who tried to copy his role model to be as good or better than him and in doing so he tried to be noticed by a brother who pushed him away,he was I believe,the team's brain,always saying things how they were and his breaking scene broke me and shook me from inside. Enjoyment:[11/10] If you want a beautifully shaped story,a great art and to cry from inside out until you dry yourself of tears then watch this.I really missed Free! and this brought back the wonderful anime that I remembered.

Welcome to "High☆Speed!: Free! Starting Days" where this adaption of the light novel doesn't really cover the content in the light novel at all. In this anime adaption, the story covers our lovely boys, Makoto and Haruka as they have graduated from elementary and are now entering high school. They meet friends mentioned in the original anime, like Kisumi Shigino, and those not mentioned in the original, Asahi Shiina, and Ikuya Kirishima (though I swear I've seen Ikuya's green hair in the original anime somewhere). From there, these four boys play out their story as they join their middle school's swim club. Story ~5~: The story didn'tcaptivate too much. Honestly, it would have been more satisfying to watch the elementary boys, as us fangirls don't really know what it was like for Rin and Haruka to be friends before rivals. In any case, the anime adaption explores the flaws and mental problems of each character and how they overcome them. It was a nice sight to see how human they could become. Especially our aloof boy, Haruka. However, the story followed the same predictable path of New beginning>Faced with choice>Hardship>Sad moment that makes everyone cry>Resolution>Triumph! And of course, while that may be a satisfying watch at points, it got terribly boring at times. We've seen that formula for two seasons now. So while it was great to explore the troubles of the insecure middle schoolers, the story turned out mediocre at best. Art ~7~: As always, the art style has remained constantly beautiful. Nice proportions, insanely inaccurate muscles, and drop dead great-to-drool-over hot character designs. No art is without its flaws though, as it was sometimes hard to believe some characters were middle schoolers, and not high schoolers. Especially the third years. They looked like 2nd year high schoolers. While our boys tended to look like first year high schoolers at points. Sound ~7~: First, I'd like to mention, I had a real problem with their voices. No 1st year middle schooler has gone through puberty so much that they already have a bass-like tone. It was completely unrealistic to me and made them feel older than they should've. The only one to have an accurate voice, I felt, was Nagisa. He actually sounded his age, albeit he did sound a bit girly (but everyone knows Nagisa is best girl anyway). So yeah, there's that. The soundtrack is as beautiful as ever, though. Took me back to the days where we fangirls were just cooing over the beautiful scenes in the original. Also Tatsuhisa Suzuki's (Makoto) singing is always heavenly with band OLDCODEX. You can hear that at the end of the movie. Character ~7~: Character development is pretty good. Not as good as it could have been, but the anime still introduces some pretty heavy topics in the minds of these middle schoolers, such as isolation, unconfidence, and insecurity. Obviously, Haruka and Makoto go through the most development as they learn what it is to be the best of themselves. But side characters like Ikuya and Asahi go through that same development. It's a bit disappointing that they're not in the original series anywhere, even though it seems as though our main boys have formed a really good relationship with them. There's no explanation for that as there is with Kisumi, and that is a bit bothersome. It is also very nice to have scenes with Haruka's and Makoto's mothers, as they are practically nonexistent in the original anime (I'm looking right at you, Haru-chan). So, good characters. You've got the aloof, uncaring type, the mom af type, the rambunctious one, and the proud distant one. Enjoyment ~5~: Bored. I was so bored. Some points were interesting, and I really like the movie, and all, but it was in no way satisfying. I didn't at all get to see what I've longed to see. My elementary school boys. Instead, I'm stuck with middleschool problem children--half of which aren't even present in the original series. Of course, all those fanservice moments, I died for. So much delicious shonen ai. Overall ~6~: If I'm being honest, the show deserves a fair rating of ****** (see what I did there? I'm sooo good at puns), however, as you might see in my profile, I gave it a personal rating of 5, simply because it was predictable and boring. They way it was told and all the jazz were its redeeming qualities, but I just felt like I had seen the same thing for the third time. I am, admittedly, a fan of this series, but even I can tell you it is severely flawed. It's more of a slice of life than a sports anime. But it works, and it does what it does. And it's pretty okay for a casual watch. Favorite Song: "First Conversation" by Tasuya Katou which can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUW41m_TG3Y Favorite Ship: HaruxMakoto of course! Favorite Character: I want more Kisumi ;A;