mood: wangxian

We get to see Haru's interview for the camera crew (like we saw from the others in Part 1), and he's asked two questions for which he has no real answer: "What is something important to you?" and "What's something that's changed your life?" He doesn't have responses to those--but he does think of something. Or rather, someone: Matsuoka Rin.

I think in my review I made it seem like Haru imagined him speaking his mind to Rin in their fight, having it go the way he wanted it to; it's actually a conversation--between the both of them: Haru: "At the next tournament, I want to swim in the lane next to you:" Rin: "Haru, I want to continue along the same path as you going forward!"

A more detailed breakdown of the fight between Rin and Azuma: Rin: "Why isn't Haru in the training hall?! If he slacks off for a whole week, he won't be in peak form! I don't care what YOU think is best, to him--to him, swimming is…!!" // Azuma: "Let me tell you something as an adult. If you feel that strongly about it, then speak up! Grab tight to what you value and don't let it go! Don't rely on others [to get what you want]! Don't blame others! This is YOUR life. Settle things YOURSELF." (context is that Rin has been beating himself up for the fight with Haru, wondering if he made the right decision, broken up that his decision has hurt someone he cares about. Azuma is pretty much saying: "Hey, you feel sad? SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP. This is a decision you made and you have to accept the consequences for it.").

Rin knows where Haru's apartment is and which apartment is his without having to ask anyone. This means he's been there, probably multiple times.

Rin's words before they race at the night pool: "Yo, Haru. How are you feeling? You told me before to never tell you again that I was quitting swimming. A lot's happened since then, but I'm still swimming now. So let's stop pretending, yeah? If you feel the same now as you did back then, then race me. You've got a duty to do so."

The apology after the race (note that this entire conversation happens while Rin is wrapped around Haru in the world's tightest hug XD): Haru: "…I'm sorry for saying something so hurtful." // Rin: "It's fine. I've always been so selfish when it came to you. I'm sorry." // Haru: "You taught me something important, though. I'm grateful." // Rin: "…Idiot. I've always looked up to you. Stop making me repeat myself."

Now, I was so scared of this movie.

I have a thing, see. If a series ends, and it doesn't end EXACTLY the way I wanted it to? If it does something that I think is a sour note to end on, or even if it just makes some narrative decisions I disagree with?

I can't watch it anymore. I can't read it anymore. Everything I used to love about it turns sour to me and I can't enjoy it. It happened with Haikyuu, it happened with Evangelion. It's happened with dozens of series over the years. A series is pretty much never going to end the way I want it to, and in my case, for whatever reason, that means I can't enjoy it AT ALL anymore. I can't just imagine what happened DIDN'T happen. It's there. I can't forget it, and it ruins the story.

So I was scared of this movie. Because it was the end. Decisions would be made about characters' futures, and I probably wouldn't agree with them. Might even hate them. I was of course under no delusion that there would be any SHIPS confirmed--so that wasn't something I was worried about or excited about--but everything else. Everything else was something real and final that would be canon now.

I went anyway, though, knowing I'd never forgive myself if I just let someone else spoil me. I fought the knot in my stomach, settled in, and watched.

And I cried. Oh boy did I cry. There was definitely a moment there where I knew oh this is it, this was going to be what made me never able to watch this series again. It wasn't disappointment--it wasn't anger--it was just...sadness. A deep well of sadness.

But then they fixed it. And I won't bore you with those out-of-context details now. I'll just say read on, and you'll understand.

And then you'll start to see how amazing it was.

Movie opens with a semi-recap. Not a recap in so many words, but characters remembering things and flashing back to those scenes in the previous movie. No biggie.

Except. Except then KyoAni said, "Hi we're here to kick you in the stomach so settle in for two hours of emotional trauma :)))))" and RIPS INTO AN ACOUSTIC DRIED UP YOUTHFUL FAME. OH YEAH, THEY WERE IN. THIS. BITCH.

"But wait, flashbacks to previous scenes from the last movie? You mean we have to live through That Fight all over again?"

Oh, no don't worry. You don't have to live through it again as it happened.

You have to see how Haru imagined it going and then see his heartbreak when he realizes it didn't happen that way.

You have to hear him tell Rin, beaming and whole-heartedly committed, "Rin, I want to swim in the lane next to you in our next tournament. I want to keep walking forward with you."

Yes, he was explicit in that he wanted to go there with Rin. He wanted his future to be, explicitly, swimming alongside Rin. Competing alongside Rin. Forever.

But then, of course, that's not how it happened.

A lot of this movie takes place in imaginary sequences, dreams and nightmares and memories that never happened. It's very cool, but also a little weird XD So, par for the course for Free! For example, early on as Haru is reliving his fight with Rin, we see lots of flashbacks to them as kids, but viewed in a movie theater (whoa trippy) with baby Makoto and baby Nagisa giving commentary. Scenes of young Haru and Rin fighting morph into them as Power Ranger standins (blue and red ofc), fighting but then deciding to work together, their union being stronger than either of them alone.

Haru has nightmares that play out over and over and over--most of the time of Rin leaving him…but occasionally of him leaving Rin, of him pushing Rin away and avoiding him for so long, refusing to swim with him. Haru resents Rin for his decision to 'leave' him, but he also recognizes that it's his own selfishness and stubbornness that has hurt Rin too.

Elsewhere, the coaches discuss their students. Mikhail remarks that Rin was crying.

Part 2 is set one year after Part 1, for context--and in that time, Nagisa and Rei and Nitori have all graduated…and moved to Tokyo! Rei and Nitori have joined the swim team at Ikuya and Hiyori's school, while Nagisa has joined Kinjou's school's team. The gang's all back together again!

Haru has been training HARD this whole time…to the point that he's hurting himself. He's working himself to exhaustion, and after nearly fainting after one training session, Azuma makes him take a break to rest, warning him that he's trying to do the equivalent of strapping a huge engine into a tiny car--it's going to destroy the car eventually.

Makoto hears about Haru being made to rest because he'd worked himself to exhaustion and immediately tells Rin…who absolutely wants to MURDER Azuma. Makoto has to almost physically restrain him, begging him not to do anything rash when Rin confronts Azuma in a rage over the state he feels he's brought Haru to. Azuma snaps back, "If something's really that important to you, then you shouldn't have let it go in the first place!" Makoto and Rin split up, looking for Haru, who's nowhere to be found.

Rin runs himself ragged searching all over the city, regretting how selfish he'd been. Muttering, "I'm so lame…" he collapses on a sidewalk and rolls over…and sees a beautiful glimmering sakura tree towering over him, lit up in the night. He squints at its brilliance--and just beyond it, standing atop a building, he finally spots Haru.

Rin calls Makoto and tells him he's found Haru, and they meet up at the top of the building, where there's a night pool you can swim in. Haru is floating aimlessly on his back in the pool alone. Makoto moves to go to him--but Rin holds out a hand to stop him. Then Rin jumps in the pool and approaches Haru.

Apologies are made, challenges are issued. "You have a duty to race me," Rin says, harkening back to their first real clash when they reunited in Season 1.

They race. Rin keeps glancing over, watching Haru, as they push each other further and further.

They reach the finish, both panting, and in Haru's mind he sees himself standing once more at that railroad crossing. Rin is there, on the other side. And this time, the crossing guard lifts and Rin rushes toward him.

Back in the present, Rin launches himself into the neighboring lane, wrapping Haru in the biggest, tightest hug. (in a booth, monitoring pool usage, two night guards stare gobsmacked at each other: "Was that…was that a WORLD RECORD?" but of course it isn't official.)

Haru reflects that it didn't hurt this time. It doesn't hurt when he races Rin--or at least he doesn't feel the pain, if it's there.

Makoto approaches the poolside and reaches down, this time to help out not just Haru but the both Haru and Rin. They respond by clasping his hand--and yanking him into the pool with them.

Randomly, but here's where one of the funniest moments imho of the entire movie came, where there's a flashback showing baby Makoto and Nagisa searching for an omamori to give to baby Haru. They find a nice one from the shrine that (they think) reads "Peace of Mind." When Makoto gives it to Haru after much dithering, Haru frowns in confusion at the kanji on the trinket: "Safe Birth" (meant to be given to pregnant women to pray for a healthy, safe delivery XD).

Rin declares that he wants to help Haru find his dream again--he's going to train with Haru directly. This training with Rin blooms into training with just about EVERYONE, as everyone pitches in to help get Haru ready for the World Championships Selection Event coming up soon.

But even with all his friends' help, Haru is still pushing himself, and when the tournament comes around, Kinjou tells Haru, "Looks like you're about at your limit." When Makoto asks Azuma about this, Azuma confesses that he's pretty sure Haru only has one more good race in him--and it's this one, where rumor has it Albert is going to retire. If Haru wants to race Albert again, it has to be now or never.

Ikuya wins his own heat, and Rin wins his butterfly heat -- but when Hiyori hops in the pool for his backstroke heat, who's there in the lane next to him but SOUSUKE. Yup, Sousuke has been brushing up his backstroke since Part 1, as Nao has informed him that it's much easier on the shoulders than butterfly (I bet you can see where this is going!)

Haru takes first in his heat as well--but nearly collapses and has to be taken away to rest before the finals where he'll face off against Kinjou and Albert.

Ikuya wins Bronze in breastroke, and Rin finally gets his first bronze as well. Rin lets Gou wear his medal, and she reflects on how heavy it feels. Rin's mother then tells Rin that he should go do now the thing he really wants to do.

Haru, sleeping, confronts his younger self. "You're you and I'm me." Their experiences and feelings are both valid. They don't need to beat themselves up over it.

When Haru wakes up, he's slept through the 100-meter freestyle finals and his last chance to race Al.

But there's still one more chance for him to swim with his friends--and it's here that Rin, Ikuya, and Sousuke beg their coach to let Haru swim the freestyle leg of the relay with them. This is unorthodox, as Kinjou is the faster swimmer, and the relay team is already established. They therefore decide to split the difference: one team will race the semifinals, and another will race the finals. Of course, the finals team being allowed to race will only happen if the semifinals team does good enough.

Swimming the medley relay in the semifinals is: Hiyori (back) Ikuya (breast) Natsuya (butterfly) Kinjou (free). Kinjou finally gets to see that sight, even if he's not swimming with Haru directly.

In the finals, the lineup is Sousuke (back) Ikuya (again, breast) Rin (fly) Haru (free). Albert is swimming the freestyle leg for his own team too. It's a heated race--and one of the absolute best parts of it for me was that we got to see one last time the image of Rin, glancing up, eyes wide, screaming Haru's name, as we see Haru dive over him in slow motion, his form reflected in Rin's goggles.

It's a bit ambiguous if they win, but we do see in a picture later all four with huge smiles on their faces wearing gold medals. They won that bitch.

But victory is bittersweet: Haru has indeed pushed himself too far, and he collapses.

The next time we see Ikuya and Nitori discussing how he's doing, we learn that after that race, Haru retired from swimming.

I want you to know it was at this point I was absolutely legit bawling in my seat. I was so, so fucking sad. It wasn't an angry sadness, it wasn't really frustration. It was like someone had just died. Because swimming is Haru's life--and not just swimming, but swimming with Rin. Professionally. Competing. Forever. The whole damn movie OPENED WITH THAT. And now it was closing telling us that Haru's dream had been cut short.

ETA: lol ignore the above, I gave myself stress ulcers from mishearing taiin (discharged from a hospital) as intai (retire). Haru does NOT retire. He's discharged from the hospital. He still takes a break from swimming, but it's not that serious.

Haru goes back to Iwatobi after he retires he's discharged from the hospital, and we find out he's entered into some lucrative advertising deals, his face plastered in prominent locations in Tokyo advertising swimwear. He's popular, he's famous, even though he's not swimming professionally.

This is where the credits rolled. It was calm and tasteful, a montage of all the official art from the series over the years. The tears continued. I prayed. I begged. I hoped.

let there be a post-credits scene. please.

Someone heard me. For there was a post-credits scene. Rin is traveling the world. Nagisa and Rei are training in Tokyo with their friends and sempai. Everyone's got their eyes on the next step in their careers, professional and otherwise.

And then we learn: Albert's coming out of retirement.

Why?

"Because there's someone he wants to race again."

Yes. Haru's rehabilitation is finished, and he's returning to the circuit. His first major tournament is in Hungary--where Rin has already arrived and Makoto joins him. It's clear Haru hasn't seen either of them in quite some time (which makes sense--Haru went back to Iwatobi after he took his break from swimming, but Makoto would have needed to stay in Tokyo to study, and Rin has been globetrotting).

Haru heads to the tournament site--and stops at a railroad crossing to let a trolley pass. Between the passing cars, he can see someone on the other side. Rin.

The crossing guards lift, and they walk towards each other, finally reaching one another.

"I dreamed about a race between us," Rin says.

"Me too," Haru says.

Rin grins. "Wanna see how it ends?"

Haru smiles. "Absolutely."

The movie ends with Haru and Rin finally standing alongside each other in matching lanes. On Haru's other side, we can see Albert, who looks equally excited to be back and racing Haru again.

Final clip of the movie: A letter Haru wrote that says "Even once I'm a normal person, I'll keep on swimming."

The final words of the movie are Haru's voice: "I think I'll wait a little bit longer before I become a normal person."