Free! Dive to the Future

FINALLY. I got a glimpse of what I wanted to see and what will hopefully follow in the next seasons. Im not talking about the friendship drama or the muscles, but about rivalry and Competition of athletes that want to win no matter what. They even indroduced characters I really have high expectations about. God was I hyped about the last episodes released, cause the patients I had over the previous seasons finally paid out. Im just genuinely happy, that even Haru developed ambition and will to win. Free just showed that a piece can really in change over just one season and I cant wait to see how well the series is gonna use its potential.

Gonna keep this short. This is the 3rd season of the 2013 swimming anime Free!, and in my opinion, it's worst season yet. The creators of this anime must have thought we watched the movies, but most of us skipped from the 2nd season to the 3rd. Even in the first 5 minutes of this show started off with showing us all of these random characters we didn't know, and honestly don't care about. They really focussed on the backstories and subplots having to do with these newer additions to the show, which took the fun out of it. I just wanted to see what was going on with the main characters (e.g Haru, Rin) and not these random people that have nothing to do with the storyline and don't effect it in any way. Half of the time when they we're talking about these new characters, I had no clue which character they we're talking about because there's so many.

This is my first ever review so please go easy on me. I'm too late to even review this but, i absolutely loved this anime despite all the other reviews. It's something i rewatch whenever i'm feeling down or some sort. It's my comfort anime and LOVE HARUKA NANASE the amount of screenshots i have of him from every scene he looked cute at. (His cute already but yk) Now lets get to the point. I don't really love the story nor hate it, a neutral maybe it's kinda bland and stereotypical and i'm not gonna deny that. But i didn't really focus on the part of the story i more or less focused on the characters personalities, the art and my enjoyment of it. It's not everyday i'd find an anime like this. And I love how they don't make someone the main attraction and they give out all different back stories like Haikyuu but even then i'm pissed off at the Haikyuu fandom for giving all the attention to Hinata and Kenma, like they can like what they like but they better stop telling me that Kageyama is gonna be the one to cheat if they ever get into a relationship. Now lets go back to the main topic, the last season was also one thing i absolutely love. I don't really mind the imperfections because of it but i REALLY loved the way they do this and that. Maybe i'm just bias, but the amount of comfort that this anime gives me is literally amazing. I'm looking forward to the movie sequel and i'd love to pay for it to watch it in theaters. THANK YOU SO MUCH WHOEVER MADE THIS

This show isn't bad by any means, but I must say that I'm surprised that it got three seasons and a movie that's soon to come. I guess it's not the type of show I would expect to be popular enough to get this much attention from a studio like Kyoto. This season was a huge step up from the previous season. Comparing this season and last season, I felt that the second season lost some of the energy the first season had, which the third season was able to revive. The story was also more engaging. At least in the second season, Haru doesn't really do much until end, which doesn't make the conclusion feel all that satisfying. He also doesn't say anything, which makes it harder for the audience to get a read on his character. I know that's his whole shtick and as someone who generally tends to be quieter, I get it, but I felt the writing failed a little in conveying who his character was in the second season. The third season definitely succeeded in making him a more interesting character though. I really liked the dynamic of having Haru confront the effects his swim career has had on those around him. It made for some interesting drama. This season was really interesting to me as well because of how busy it was. There was so much going on throughout the show with so many character arcs going on simultaneously, which was only compounding with the increase in the cast. Despite all the new characters and storylines, the season somehow works when it shouldn't, but I'm not really sure how. Like, after Ikuya's problem was solved, we don't really see much of him until the last episode, but somehow his race with his brother worked and landed the impact it needed to. I guess a large part of why I enjoyed this show was also because of how cathartic it was for me as I just finished my competitive swim career yesterday. I don't see myself quitting swimming for good, but the team aspect is something that this show does a good job at conveying and it's something that I won't forget in my own life. Pretty interested to see the movie.

For a show titled "Free", the characters sure are trapped by their childhood drama. Jokes aside, I enjoyed Dive to the Future. The drama was pretty good, the characters were likeable, and the humor was spot on. But, when it ended I couldn't help by say: "That's it?" While not a bad season, Dive to the Future felt weaker than the previous ones. There wasn't much for it to say. I mean, Eternal Summer had already did a heartfelt discussion about the fear of the unknown and what it meant to fulfill one's dreams. Here, it felt stretched too thin at this point. So instead, they did another childhood drama and while it was engaging I couldn't help but thought that the show already did this before and much better. What's even more sad is that they cut that drama short (in the quickest character transformation possible) to focus on the nationals which to be honest I don't really care about. Free! doesn't seem to be about tournaments, but rather about a group of friends who has been through a lot and learn from their mistakes. Their new resolve would then be reflected in their performance. In this season, the show tried to juggle the nationals and character drama, only to not say anything substantial for any of them. They didn't even end with the overall results. I don't know if everyone ended up qualified for the nationals. Speaking of which, let's talk about the characters. Free decided to expand the cast and while their way of doing it was creative through its pacing, I don't see the relevance of most of them--even the OGs at this point. New characters who were framed to be rivals were only introduced last minute into the series, and others seem to be just there to fill dialogue. Most of the original cast have already reached their character arcs since Eternal Summer so with the larger cast, I sometimes don't see why they are still present unless it's to keep the fans watching. While I do enjoy their company, sometimes their presence interrupts the main story. For instance, there's this main drama between Haruka and this other childhood friend and in the middle of that drama, there's an episode about Rin in Australia. It felt kind of jarring to be honest. The production is still great with well drawn characters and finesse in the swimming scenes. The OST is good. Dive to the Future was enjoyable, but I felt unsatisfied. There's nothing much it could say, and it's a shame because maybe if they focus on one thing over another then maybe it would've feel more full. I hope the series one day addresses what happens after Dive to the Future because I really want to know more.

(Spanish review below). Dive to the future is my favorite season of Free. There are too many things happening at the same time and they all excite me in the same way. The characters from the first two seasons, the OVAs, Take your marks and High Speed all come together in the same season and the connections between them intertwine and come to life. Even having seen it so many times, it never bores me, especially the first chapters, which focus on Ikuya. Ikuya is my favorite character on Free and one of my favorite characters overall and I really like how his dilemmas come to life in this season and also how they're resolved. Little by little, the rest of the conflicts of each of the characters are resolved or they find a solution in the future, as is the case of Natsuya or Sosuke (a character that I didn't like at all in the previous season, but that I liked a lot in this season). I was very happy to meet Mikoshiba Izusu, the only female character in Free who is also a swimmer. You could say that Izusu is a tomboy and I think she refreshes the series a lot. Also, I really like her friendship with Gou and Ayumu, mainly because the three of them are very different from each other and complement each other very well. The only character I didn't like (and that no one likes) is Hiyori. He is a Sosuke 2, but even more unbearable. And this is my problem with the season: that, despite the fact that I love it and everything I already mentioned, it recycles the same plot of the first and second seasons, but together: an old friend of Haru returns to the scene (Rin /Ikuya), and they have their conflicts to see if they swim together, if they're friends again, why they swim, and so on; and, that old friend, also has a possessive best friend who only wants the best for him (Sosuke / Hiyori) and that is, from his point of view, getting away from Haru, with whom Rin and Ikuya are a little obsessed. Around all of that there are incredible characters like Makoto (who is living his new adventure very well), Asahi (a character that I love and I really like to see again), Natsuya (the love of my life, although a little silly at times, luckily there is Nao to make him see it), Nao (very much in the chill vibe of Makoto), Kisumi (another character that I love and the only one who isn't a swimmer. Also, his friendship with Asahi is very cute) and the rest of the characters of Free that we already know. Towards the end, the season introduces us to two "enemies" that Haru must face in the movies. KyoAni's animation is wonderful, as always. You could even say that this season it shines even more. As I have already said in other reviews, I love Free for its slice of life and dramatic content, more than for its spokon content (which is secondary in the series), and there is a lot of that in this third season. Recommended? 100%. I am constantly quoting and thinking about this season. ... Dive to the future es mi temporada favorita de Free. Hay demasiadas cosas pasando al mismo tiempo y todas me emocionan de la misma manera. Los personajes de las dos primeras temporadas, de las OVAS, Take your marks y High Speed se reúnen todos en una misma temporada y los vínculos entre ellos se entrelazan y cobran vida. Incluso habiéndola visto tantas veces, nunca me aburre, sobre todos los primeros capítulos, que se centran en Ikuya. Ikuya es mi personaje favorito de Free y uno de mis personajes favoritos en general y me gusta mucho cómo sus dilemas toman vida en esta temporada y también cómo se resuelven. Poco a poco, el resto de conflictos de cada uno de los personajes se resuelven o estos encuentran una solución a futuro, como es el caso de Natsuya o Sosuke (personaje que no me gustaba nada en la temporada anterior, pero que me gustó mucho en esta temporada). Me dio mucho gusto conocer a Mikoshiba Izusu, el único personaje femenino de Free que también es una nadadora. Se podría decir que Izusu es una tomboy y creo que refresca mucho la serie. Además, su amistad con Gou y Ayumu me gusta mucho, principalmente porque las tres son muy diferentes entre sí y se complementan muy bien. El único personaje que no me gustó (y que a nadie le gusta) es Hiyori. Es un Sosuke 2, pero más insoportable aún. Y este es mi problema con la temporada: que, a pesar de que me encanta y de todo lo que ya comenté, recicla el mismo argumento de la primera y segunda temporada, pero juntas: un viejo amigo de Haru vuelve a la escena (Rin/Ikuya), y tienen sus tiras y aflojas para ver si nadan juntos, si vuelven a ser amigos, por qué es que nadan, y demás; y, ese viejo amigo, tiene además un mejor amigo posesivo que sólo quiere lo mejor para él (Sosuke/Hiyori) y eso es, desde su punto de vista, alejarse de Haru, con quien Rin e Ikuya están un poquito obsesionados. Alrededor de todo eso hay personajes increíbles como Makoto (quien está viviendo su nueva aventura muy bien), Asahi (un personaje que amo y me gusta mucho volver a ver), Natsuya (el amor de mi vida, aunque un poco tonto a veces, por suerte está Nao para hacérselo ver), Nao (muy en la onda chill de Makoto), Kisumi (otro personaje que me encanta y el único que no es nadador. Además, su amistad con Asahi es muy linda) y el resto de personajes de Free que ya conocemos. Hacia el final, la temporada nos presenta dos "enemigos" a los que Haru deberá enfrentarse en las películas. La animación de KyoAni es maravillosa, como siempre. Incluso podría decirse que en esta temporada brilla aún más. Como ya he dicho en otras reviews, Free me encanta por su contenido slice of life y dramático, más que por su contenido spokon (que es algo secundario en la serie), y de eso hay mucho en esta tercera temporada. ¿Recomendado? 100%. Estoy constantemente citando y pensando en esta temporada.

If you're not constantly getting bashed over the head with The Little Mermaid symbolism, you're not watching Free! Dive to the Future. Seriously, it's going to be a huge plot point for the first half of the season, so buckle up and enjoy the rollercoaster of emotions. Look, art is subjective and I appreciate the representation that two different people can pull two different connections to their own experiences out of the same story because that's what makes literature so beautiful... but only one of these kids understood the assignment! The first 7 episodes of this season largely focus on the drama between Ikuya and the rest of the kids from the Starting Days movie, which is where the main point of contention for fans of the series comes in. Because this series loves to give everyone who even so much as looks at the boy a Haru Complex, Haru is once again the center of another emotional character arc - but in order to keep Ikuya from talking to his childhood friends and resolving the issue within two or three episodes, Hiyori was introduced to the story as the emotional cockblock that keeps them apart until the dramatic climax. Someone in that writing room discussion must have realized that they couldn't risk making Hiyori too unlikable lest the shipbait not hit its mark in a sea of angry shippers, so they opted to give him deep-rooted psychological trauma as well because that's how Free! writes sympathetic and relatable characters. If you were to ask a large portion of the fandom at the time this season was airing, they would loudly tell you that this did not have the desired effect, but Hiyori's complex internal struggles sure did distress my maternal instincts! Episode 8 and onward finally shifts the attention back to the competition everyone has been training for up to this point and, as the full cast reunites in support of each other, the show finally settles back into its familiar pace - friends enthusiastically cheering each other on, swimming with friend and rival alike being a more sacred bond than matrimony, and much talk and contemplation about what the future holds. Most of the new cast is interesting, but it's the returning cast from the previous installments that are the real highlight. As always, the deep-rooted character bonds are beautifully written and offer a lot of touching moments to tug at the heartstrings. Overall, if you loved and wanted to see more of Kisumi and the Starting Days boys, this season will probably interest you like it did me! But if you're only here to catch up with the original cast, you'll probably still get some great moments out of their appearances even if you end up skipping around just to find them.

Honestly, this was the worst of all 3 seasons of this show. I thoroughly loved this show in the first two seasons and it made me really happy, and it was very lighthearted and cute and had fantastic characters. This season kind of let me down as it barely had any screentime of some of the best characters in the show Rin, Nagisa, Rei, and the Iwatobi swim club. This session felt out of context somewhat. Including what I just said it also just stopped showing the close relationship between the whole swim club and they kind of just went their separate ways. I also found the whole subplot around this new character Ikuya kinda boring. They also barely showed or introduced the new Iwatobi members at all... I still sort of enjoyed the theme of the show and the main characters nonetheless, but I'm still disappointed as it wasn't anything like the first two seasons.

Free Season 3 is by far the best the series has ever been and the two highly rated reviews on MAL flat out confuse me? I'll start by saying what I disliked about s1 and 2, and what I love about s3. Season 1 and 2 of Free are very solid but I would often be hit by a brick wall when watching it. I wasn't able to fully emotionally connect to the series due to its melodrama, fillerish strides, and lack of stake. I should clarify I didn't dislike the drama itself, rather the execution that made it overdramatic and sappy at times. This in combination with the episodes that felt somewhat like filler(despite having purpose) and the lacking stakes of the series. To elaborate on the point about stakes, the matches simply didn't have much tension or excitement for me because there was nothing major at stake. I feel season 3 minimized all of these issues while playing to the strengths of its cast, well-constructed character arcs, and small moments that raise your overall enjoyment. Season 3 from the start was meant for me. I really liked the Free Prequel movie(starting days) and was a MAJOR FAN of the cast; I loved Ikuya and Asahi and was a fan of Nao, Kisumi, and Natsuya. I was hoping for their eventual return and got that in full with season 3, even better, I got that with a solid character arc for Ikuya, tying up a loose thread left from the gap between the prequel and everything up to season 3. Ikuya's involvement in itself led to growth on Haru's part and spurred further change in the story. Following this, several plot lines such as Sousuke's surgery, Makoto's career path and part time job, Rei and Nagisa's current team - Samezuka cameos, Natsuya finding his path and its relation to Ikuya, Asahi growing with Haru and Ikuya - his sister's cafe which provided many wholesome moments, and still more going on. I loved every second of it but I can understand if someone else didn't. It focused on the movie cast and even some side characters outside of it, MANY people haven't seen the movie, so they have little connection to these characters but I think that's something fundamental for Free, especially season 3. If you like the cast up to this point, and the movie cast, you'll love season 3. Season 3 is exactly what it says, a dive into the future, and we see a majority of our cast make decisions pertaining to their future, making strides towards old and new goals. Season 3 did all of this while having the least melodramatic feel, excluding ep 2-4. We also see more growth and accumulative payoff to Haru's development up to this point. The end of the season had a specific clip, the scream at the sunset, that is symbolic of the growth he's made. Other small things like adorable or wholesome moments such as the movie cast reuniting, Ikuya confiding to Haru in the pool, Asahi's sister and the baby cheering on Haru, Ikuya surpassing Natsuya in the All Japan IM, the crew helping out at Asahi's sister's cafe, Misaki's little rivalry witnessed by Makoto, and so much more. There were so many moments that made me smile uncontrollably, helping my overall enjoyment and making this season the most emotionally connective Free season of them all Another thing to credit is the stakes of the season, while I knew he was more than likely going to succeed in his All Japan Endeavors, there feels like there is more at stake for Haru, Ikuya, Asahi, Hiyori, Natsuya, and Rin, simply because this is the global stage we are referring to. All in all, this is peak free, and this is coming from a person a bit skeptical after season 1. Go into this with an open mind, and don't forget to watch the movie(starting days).

Must admit, among the 3 seasons of Free, this is clearly the most powerful. A few shortcomings of the predecessors are removed. The plot took a rather surprising turn. As you could see from the second season, the team broke up because Haru and Makoto graduated from school. Everyone went their own way and several different stories were formed. Among other things, many new characters were introduced and solidly incorporated into the series. Can't say much about it. It also got better on the conversation side. There was a lot more character-related humor. There was no longer talk about the same subject for minutes. And the characters actually focused on something else. The development of some characters was also much more successful than the predecessor. But apart from the positive development, there were a few new areas of focus. The new characters were pretty irrelevant and unloving, since they were not given enough screen time. Too many new characters have been introduced in the first 2 episodes. The third season had much less of a main story. She practically dealt with a new pubescent problem of the characters. Unfortunately, this was also completed quite weakly. Personally, I really have to admit that this season had the most creativity. And finally some characters were able to develop better. Gar Haru, was less negative this season than before. The animations also got stronger. However, much more was cut away from swimming and CGI was used for some scenes. As mentioned, there was still no real main action. Except for introducing and incorporating the characters, this season served almost nothing. But the implementation was simply much better here and there was much less fan service. Conclusion In the end, Free is a title that you can watch if you can keep your demands very low. For someone who expects a sport title like Haikyuu, Hajime no Ippo or Kuroko No Basket, he will certainly not find anything.

The first season of Free! was a surprise discovery for me and I said a lot of nice things about it, together with the first movie Early Days. Since then I can't get enough of the show and have watched almost everything the series put out; up to this season... Where I feel like the fun waterpark ride has come to a stop. This isn't bad anime by any means, it's not even a bad installment of Free, but compared to how it started it's simply not as strong as before. The events of this season carry on where it left off with the Take Your Marks specials, with Haru, Makoto and Rin heading to university and the beginning of their adult lives. Gou, Nagisa and Rei are still in high school- they were underclassmen so this is obvious- but is where the problems begin. Then we have a whole new bunch of characters introduced from the different universities, setting up new rivalries for Haru and Rin to compete with in national competitions- the tournaments on the path toward international competition. THEN the show decides to reintroduce a couple of characters from the Early Days movie- Ikuya and Asahi- plus another- Hiyori (oh yes, I'll get to him in a minute!) ... AND THEN! They introduce some personal trainers who find their way toward Haru and Makoto who have their own backstories- and we still revisit Sousuke who is planning to head to Tokyo for surgery on his shoulder (busted rotator cup- ouch!!) but wait there's more- the Iwatobi Swim Club is still going but now headed by Rei & Nagisa who recruit a couple of new members (including a really cute girl I thought was a boy at first but still am not sure) OKAY HAVE YOU KEPT TRACK OF ALL THAT???? There are so many spinning plates in this act- that if you hadn't been paying really close attention to the first couple seasons and already know the main cast, you could never keep track of all the names. Not to mention there are some international swimmers who show up- in addition to Rin's Aussie friends... to put it another way, a new bishonen shows up every episode and they're getting harder to tell apart. Of course, the stakes have shifted completely from the first season of Free that was really about the four boys Nagisa, Haru, Rei and Makoto (and Rin) discovering themselves and trying to understand why they want to swim and what is the meaning of teamwork. But in Dive To the Future, it's about so many different characters going their own way on different paths toward adulthood- and the teamwork dynamic is no longer a thing. Now it's all about the INDIVIDUAL. What do YOU want to do? Why do YOU want to compete? What's it mean to YOU? And this is fine with Sousuke and Makoto- especially Makoto who has a very strong reason for wanting to contribute something to the next generation. But Haruka was never a well defined character- he spent 3 seasons staring into the blue and not saying much; and shouting at his friends when they tried to get him to just consider where he could go and who he should be. Now, he's making a decision- but it's never clear in the show if he has fully made it or not. He never seemed to care about winning before- "I just swim free" and probably because he always easily won. Now suddenly he has to care- and that transition hasn't fully matured. And then we have HIYORI who is by far the biggest problem. He isn't just a jerk who says nasty things to people; and naturally he's really good in the water- making him a difficult antagonist- but he's preventing Haru and Makoto and even Ahase from even seeing Ikuya, and acts as a barrier between Ikuya and every other character in the show. This is not a good thing. And his reasons for doing it only make him scary. His manipulative, possessive, passive aggressive demeanor that tries to shift a fake smile depending on who he is talking to- just gave me the creeps. But the show's biggest sin is simply the huge cast has forced it to prioritize some characters over others- and that meant Nagisa and Rei (and Gou even) get relegated to background roles and are hardly seen or heard from. And every other character in this is fighting his own personal battle, so it never feels like a cohesive unit the way Season 1 and Early Days did. And if you ask MOST fans of Free I think they would mention the teamwork aspect; or how they all felt like a family, as one of the strongest features of the anime. So as a result it feels like something is missing- everything above is what's missing. As anime it's just as good looking and well animated as previous seasons. I would say there wasn't quite as much movement in the water as before, and it doesn't try to do anything really special. For all these reasons I can't give Free! Dive To The Future nearly as high a score. It's only good if you have watched everything that came before, and those previous seasons and movies were better than this. So it's an extremely well made anime, that left me feeling somewhat disappointed.