Free! really knows how to use weird dream logic to make a point.
I've always found dream sequences fascinating, possibly because it's very easy for things to go wrong. How do you convey irrational dream-logic while still making it clear what is going on? Not to mention that dream sequences themselves are considered to be lazy writing; why show it in a dream when you can say it upfront in the storyline?
However, that's really the point here. Haru won't say what's bothering him outright because at this point in the show he wasn't really sure what his problem was. He had his concerns--that much was obvious from his behavior in the lead-up to the team's big race--but it's not apparent how much pressure Haru has placed on himself until we get this dream sequence.
There's even evidence that on some level his subconscious realizes that he's panicking over nothing--even if he fails, that doesn't mean that his friends will turn his back on him--but the fear is there all the same, building up until he's standing on the starting block surrounded by creepy puppets waiting for him to race.
This scene also provides a nice contrast with the first season, which used a dream sequence with Rin to flesh out some of his backstory that he refused to discuss during his waking hours. Here it's used to take a look inside Haru's mind, something that isn't always obvious because of his reserved character. It's short, but it gets the job done.
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| Although the puppet people are mostly just terrifying |
