Free! Eternal Summer Episode 2--You Might Get Bitten

I was going to title this post SPRASHU FREE, but after seeing the death stares that Sousuke was throwing around in this episode...


It turns out that my concerns about Sousuke mimicking Rin's arc from last season were unfounded...for the most part. My theory about him being Rin's rival from Austrailia was wrong as well, but the old childhood friends angle (Rin's known Sousuke longer than he's known Haru!) is fun to watch. The first few minutes of this episode were great for establishing their dynamic; Sousuke is comfortable enough with Rin to mess with him a bit, which is something that you can't say about a lot of characters on this show.


From the outset, it looked like Sousuke was another way for the show to widen the competitive aspect. He's objectively the most accomplished out of the entire group: he went to a top ranked school, has already been scouted, and gave Haru a good race at the end of the episode, to the point that I'm not sure if Haru won due to skill or just by dumb luck. Rin's question to Haru and Makoto last episode does seem to hint that this season will focus on them setting broader goals for themselves and deciding what to do once they leave school, and Sousuke could serve as a good motivator/rival to that end.

 
But of course, that's not the only thing he has going on. At first I thought that Sousuke just had a general grudge against Haru for his natural talent or something, but it turned out that he had a bone to pick with him over how the tournament relay was handled. I have to admit that I agree with him to a point. That race was ridiculous and they deserved to get disqualified. It shouldn't have happened that way. Yes, I'm still mad about Rei getting left out.


However, Sousuke obviously has a serious misunderstanding about how that went down. Rin wasn't forced into anything, it was offered to him. It was the result of Rin finally coming to terms with his past and fixing his friendships. It had nothing to do with his future. Yes, it was ridiculous. But Sousuke's acting like some kind of jealous boyfriend telling the ex to back off.


Making this even sillier is the fact that Rin is starting to pull away and make steps towards his goal on his own. Now that he doesn't have his old problems to angst over and knows that his friends will still be there for him no matter what, he's trying to build a team of his own. Once again, I'm impressed by the progress that Rin's character has made since the end of the last season. However, now I'm worried that Sousuke's misplaced protectiveness might throw a wrench in what Rin is working so hard to build.

And then on the opposite side of the spectrum is this guy

...Are we sure that he's not just a clone of his brother

Meanwhile, Haru's still the same as he always is, but I'm getting the feeling that this season will force him to make a more concrete decision than just "swim wherever." He's made his feelings on competition clear, but without it will he still be able to swim the way that he wants? What is his real definition of "free?"

And I'm going to stop that line of thought right there before I get too philosophical about homoerotic swimming anime. Good thing Rei is still King of the Dorks!

YOU BETTER HAVE BEEN KIDDING WITH THAT PREVIEW KYOANI IF YOU SPLIT UP REIGISA I SWEAR
I WILL CRY

Images from Crunchyroll.com.