Free! Iwatobi Swim Club Anime Review~

Hay buddies~! n.n
This marks 3 blogs in a row! Am I on a roll or what?! xD

So for today's blog, I thought I'd mix it up a bit and talk about a specific Anime I have been watching recently :3
You all know by now that I LOOOOVE Anime, so...what better thing to do than to do a bit of a review, yush? <:
..even though I do Anime Reviews on YouTube, but...details, details! DOO DOO LEE DOO~

And if you haven't already guessed what Anime I'll be reviewing (just look to the title) I'll be reviewing..
Free! Iwatobi Swim Club 
(Still currently airing; episode 5/12)

So without further delay, let's begin~! :D

So, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (or just Free! for short) is one of the more recent Anime's to be produced by Kyoto Animation.
And, of course, Kyoto Animation has got a brilliant reputation after producing Anime's such as Air TV, Kanon, Lucky Star, CLANNAD, CLANNAD After Story, K-ON!,
K-ON!!, Tamako Market etc etc.
So with them producing a sport themed Anime with definite eye-candy, it's no wonder it's become so popular! :,)

So, the basic plot line for Free! is that it starts with 4 boys before graduating from primary school. Those boys being Makoto, Nagisa, Rin and Haru. They were all part of that schools swimming club and gained a huge victory in a competition but at the end of their primary school years, parted ways.
As it turns out, Haru, Makoto and Nagisa all attend the same high school and are still good friends. Later on, we also find out that Rin, who was thought to still be at a school in Australia, is in Japan and he challenges Haru to a race and coincidently, wins.
Even after winning, Rin's victory means nothing to him as we find out that Haru stopped swimming competitively after him and Rin raced as children and Haru won causing Rin to cry which pained them both.
Rin tells Haru that he won't accept his victory unless he races him for real, to which Haru responds by telling him that that won't happen any time soon.
While at school, Nagisa suggests to Haru and Makoto that they start a swimming club at their high school which, after persuading, Haru finally agrees to.
They enlist the help of Rin's younger sister, Gou (who insists that everyone calls her 'Kou') and later on, Rei joins the swimming team.
They all work hard in making the club a success and they soon apply to enter a swimming tournament that Rin is also entering. He sees this as his chance to get a true victory against Haru.

So, with that basic plot line down...let's introduce the main characters! :D

This is Haruka 'Haru' Nanase!

So, Haru loves swimming and loves being in the water. Even after he stopped swimming competitively he stills loves it (although he regains his passion for swimming after him and Rin race again).
He is very strong and quiet and...will often instantly strip down at the sight of water in order to go swimming :,) ...but HEY! I'm not complaining ;D
He appears quite cold on the surface, but deep down, he is very kind and cares for his friends. This is shown when he teaches Rei how to swim after multiple times of trying :3
He is the vice-captain of the swimming club and his favourite form of swimming is freestyle~! c:

Next we have Makoto Tachibana!

Makoto is Haru's best friend. Unlike him, Makoto is more outgoing and speaks up for Haru on many occasions >w<
Let's all just 'awwhh' in unison, ready?
1, 2, 3..
Awwwhhhhh~! <3
Makoto is also very kind and considerate, but he has a...'weak' heart, let's say. So, he can get scared very easily :,) He is also the captain of the Iwatobi Swim Club!
His favourite form of swimming is backstroke~! c:

Next we have Nagisa Hazuki!

Just...just LOOK at that face?! >3< isn't he just...SO CUUUTE~?!
But don't let that fool you! He is pretty ripped underneath that school uniform.. :,3
Personality wise, he is a bit like Makoto in a sense that he isn't afraid to speak his mind and he is also very strong! :3
He has admired Haru since their primary school years and entered the same high school as him in the hope that he would get to swim with him again and then put forward the idea of starting the swimming club.
Nagisa is the treasurer for the club and his favourite form of swimming is
breaststroke~! c:

Next we have Rei Ryugazaki!

Rei is the final member to join the Iwatobi Swim Club.
He is in the same class as Nagisa and, before the swimming club, was part of the track team because he only cared about sports that involved beauty and calculation.
He is very handsome and intelligent and is quickly targeted by Nagisa to join the swim team after Nagisa observed him during his practice for the track team.
Rei is reluctant to join at first because he believes that swimming is not a beautiful sport, but after seeing Haru swim freestyle (which Rei thought was beautiful) he agreed to join.
We then find out that Rei can't swim, so each member takes a turn in trying to teach him until Haru steps in and offers support.
After trying everything to help him, Rei discovers that after lots of work...the only form of swimming he can do is the butterfly stroke, making it is favourite :,3

Next we have Rin Matsuoka! <333
(my faaavourite) >;3 ...kyaaah~! How I love his shark teeth.. *dreamy sighhh* ^////^

After being Haru's friend in primary school, it soon becomes obvious that they are both rivals now.
He went to a school in Australia, but returns to Japan and becomes estranged to his former friends due to a personality change which happened after he lost to Haru after challenging him to a swimming race in their first year of secondary school.
Rin goes to Samezuka Academy but did not join the swimming team their straight away; but he soon joins as he sees it as a way to finally beat Haru and gain a victory against him.
His favourite form of swimming is freestyle and butterfly~! c:
...how I love you Rin ;3; will you just please marry me~? <333

Next we have Gou 'Kou' Matsuoka!

Gou is Rin's younger sister and the reason I also put Kou as part of her name is because she prefers it when people call her Kou as she feels that Gou is too much of a boyish name.
She joins the swim club as their manager since she only really joined to help the clubs number go up so it wouldn't be disbanded. She also joins the club in the hope that she can help change her brother back to his old self as she really cares about him, even though she rarely hears from him.. 3:
As the picture I chose suggests, she also has the tendency to blush around men while admiring their muscles :,)
(maybe a secret motive to joining the club there..) xD

And finally we have Miho 'Ama-chan' Amakata!

Ama-chan is Haru and Makoto's homeroom teacher and also teaches Literature at their school. She has a very quirky and upbeat personality but sometimes uses old literature phrases to make a point which...often confuses her students! :,)
The students all nicknamed her Ama-chan even though she is their teacher! :p rumours about her spread around the school that she went to Tokyo in order to pursue her dream, but failed doing so. At which point, she decided to become a teacher.
Nagisa though soon finds out that she went to Tokyo to be a swimsuit model, so he uses this as a...almost bribe to get her to be the faculty adviser for the Iwatobi Swim Club! xD

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Even though this Anime is still airing, I am really enjoying it so far! :D
I think it's really funny (especially Nagisa) and it also definitely has it's dramatic moments! O: like at the end of the most recent episode..! WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!
I really like the characters (even more so in their swimsuits >;3) and the plot line is pretty decent considering it's a spots based Anime! n.n I hope that doesn't sound arrogant, it's just that I'm not a very sporty person, so I wasn't expecting much of a story line with this Anime, but I am being proven wrong as it's VERY good! :D
So, if I was to rate this Anime out of 10 based on currents events, characters, plot lines etc etc. I would go wiiiiith..

7/10
simply because it isn't finished yet and I am reeeeeally hoping for a nice and happy closure with Rin, Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and his sister, Gou :3 (Rei isn't counted in that since he wasn't part of the group in primary school) :p

I really recommend this Anime, though! :D to some people, it may seem like one of those Anime's that aims to get girls throwing their pantsu across the room *shifty eyes* but it is a lot of fun to watch and I think anyone can enjoy it :3

~~~

Well gaiz! :D
I hope you enjoyed my Anime Review of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club :3 I hope it was informative, enjoyable to read and interesting enough to convince you to watch the Anime, because it really is worth it~! n.

THANKYOUU SO MUCH FOR READING~!
I hope you are enjoying my blogs and I also hope that you like they are becoming more frequent nao~! <,:
Feel Free! (see what I did thurr? c;) to leave a comment letting me know whether you are watching Free! or will start watching Free! because of my little blog :3 hehehh~

Once again, thankyouu for reading and have a beautiful daaay~!
BYESIES~!
                                xoxo~