Free! Eternal Summer – Episodes 1-8

Makoto is like the big brother to everyone. Haru's obsessive fixation on water (H2O) is now unintentionally comical. Nagisa lives to eat. Rei is a bit of an overachiever. Rin has his own issues.

It's the second season, and each swimmer has found their own quirk – and Eternal Summer definitely won't let you forget it.

Relationships in the Spotlight

If the first season of Free! was about establishing the boys as characters, the second season clearly focuses on their relationships with each other.

Frankly, many viewers are here for the "ships" (relationship constellations), and new character developments are explicitly introduced to deepen the characters' emotional interactions – with the inevitable results.

With the introduction of three new characters, all tailored to a specific "fetish," the possibilities for pairings are virtually endless.

More Swimming, Less Sports Drama

A refreshing difference from the first season: there was actually swimming in the first eight episodes! But don't expect a typical sports anime in Free! Eternal Summer.

Interpersonal subplots, male friendships, and close-ups of muscles (hello, Gou as female eye candy!) are more important than the swimmers' victory or defeat and often even serve as motivation for their swimming.

Rin: From Antagonist to Team Player

If that's exactly your thing, you've probably already been looking forward to the following aspects of this season: Rin with his shark-like grin as the new coach of Samezuka is the clear candidate for the biggest positive development since season one.

A whiny antagonist is transformed into a more capable Rin, who is now the captain of the Samezuka swim team.

Instead of longing to swim on the Iwatobi team, he puts together his own team, with the ever-loyal Kohai Nitori and two new characters: Sousuke Yamazaki, retroactively introduced as a "I've known you since childhood" friend, and Momotaro, the equally fiery brother of former captain Mikoshiba.

Rin's entire inner turmoil seems to have transferred to Sousuke, and for good reason. At the end of episode eight, it was revealed that a sports injury is looming.

Fears About the Future in Iwatobi

On the Iwatobi side, we focus on the two seniors on the team, Makoto and Haru, who are struggling with anxieties about the future, what they should do after high school.

No attentive viewer wonders if they will make it to the Nationals; they certainly will. (Especially since Rei can actually swim now.) Instead, we can only wonder what their innermost feelings will be like when they get there.

We've been made aware from the start of how much Makoto feels inferior to Haru since they were children; in the latest episode, Makoto's middle school friend Kisumi (with the telling name) forces Haru to confront what his life would be like without Makoto.

More Than Just Fanservice

You're here for a group of handsome boys onto whom you can project your own relationship fantasies.

Or maybe not.

In contrast to typical "manservice" shows (note: shows that mainly feature male characters in attractive poses to appeal to female viewers), Free! benefits from excellent pacing, first-class animation, a cheerful soundtrack, and relatable character dramas that aren't just for the ladies.

If you're not going swimming yourself this summer, you should at least watch this swimming anime.