Alternative titles: Swimming Anime 2.0
Light Novel Adaptation/Anime Original by Kyoto Animation
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

After both a literal and an in-universe winter break, Haruka, Makoto, Rei, Nagisa and that girl reunite for another summer of swimming shenanigans, yet there’s a lot of work to be done before they can start training again. Meanwhile, Mikoshiba’s graduation leads to Rin becoming Samezakura’s new swimming team captain, with all due awkwardness.

Aqua’s verdict: Floatin’ Along Nicely

The bane of every white fedora enthusiast’s pitiful existence is back, and I probably won’t surprise you when I say it hasn’t changed a bit in all its gratuitous glory. People over the age of twelve who gave the original show a fair chance quickly realized that Free! was a lot more than a bunch of shirtless boys without nipples splashing water at each other in a more-than-platonic way. It’s a show that I often cite as the very pinnacle of ‘decent’. While Kyoto Animation’s splendid animation prowess and comedic timing has often shifted away attention from their proficiency at directing, Free! introduced the world to Hiroko Utsumi, whose kinetic style and generous use of the female gaze brought a distinct sense of athleticism to the show’s table, and not without the necessary nudges and winks. Free! quickly revealed itself as a show that wouldn’t hurt a fly, and, though it is one of the few recent anime to pass the obligatory shift to drama in its second half with flying colours, one that was at its best when it didn’t take itself too seriously.

Luckily, Eternal Summer wastes little time on re-establishing the characters and quickly submerges viewers in the quirky atmosphere many have come to know and love. The jokes are still as childish as they are diverting and the swimming races as tense as the muscles flexing, but a nice, nuanced sense of actual progression pervades throughout the entire episode. Rin’s on good terms with the other swimbros again, yet his little discussion with Haruka about the latter’s persistent lack of ambition still shows that that doesn’t have to mean they have to agree with each other on everything now. It’s a nice little touch. Rei’s still the straight man, but he feels like a real part of the team now, rather than being replaced by Rin like I feared he would. Gou is… Yeah, Gou didn’t get a lot of character development, didn’t she? Poor girl. It remains to be seen what exactly Eternal Summer will do to succeed where its predecessor failed a bit and give everyone in its surprisingly big cast something interesting to do. At least it’s nice to see Free! dive into a second season without an immediately noticeable drop in quality, though. It’s about as good as a show about obscenely attractive guys in tight swimming trunks could ever aspire to be. If anything, Free!‘s second season proves that the show is very much like a pool: It’s the most fun when you come back to it after a long, harsh winter without one, but it can get old rather quickly. Oh well, at least Free! has less noisy kids.