So, episode six of this anime came out, and if there is anything I can conclude about this series, is that it’s always stronger in the second half. Writing this will be troubling because my fangirl side will want to come out occasionally, but I am going to be professional on this and comment on what was good, bad, and out of this world. If you want to see me be a fangirl, you can go ahead and view the gallery of screenshots from this episode, where I comments on the pictures with my fujoshi mind and what not, haha.
Last week’s episode was very iffy for some. I know some people really liked it (I did) and I know some people thought it could have been handled differently. Either way, whether you liked last week’s episode or not, this episode was a huge step up. It featured things that everyone loves, like more Haru and Makoto (not enough Rei or Nagisa in this one, though) and swimming. Oh my gosh, actual swimming and competitions in this one? This is great!
Of course, my first screenshot has to be of these two dorks. I can’t believe them. We start off by saying how preliminaries are in just one day, which I almost found ridiculous because we were never even told when they were being held. No complaints, just saying. Everyone is excited, and we are told what each of them are going to participate in. You know what I was really excited for? Well, I’ll tell you in a bit, but yeah. Nagisa would be in the breast stroke 100m, Rei in the 100m butterfly, Makoto in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle, which shocks everyone because, Haru would be participating in both 100m and 200m freestyle.
So the question is why is Makoto even competing against his own teammate? I mean, not only that, but his best friend. We see a screen where Haru and Makoto are both walking home together, when Makoto stops. Then he mentions how he has a request. *Cue theme song* Thanks for leaving me hanging. We won’t see this scene for a while.
We get back and we immediately go to a flashback scene, and it’s both Makoto and Haru playing in a playground. Makoto mentions how they both should join the swimclub, but Haru is as naive and selfish as ever, and says no. He says that if Makoto wants to join, then he should do so without him. Makoto says no, he’d only ever join if Haru was with him.
I think Haru starts to notice how much he’s kind of holding Makoto back, so he joins. Of course, Haru is already a natural at swimming, so everyone is like “Sugoi!!!” and shit, and Mako does the really cute thing which I love. He holds out his hand and helps Haru up and I’m just like “throwback…”
So we move on a little, and we see the two boys with Goro-san and Goro-san chats with them a bit and offers them a toy. They both have their eyes on the dolphin, which shocked me, considering Makoto’s animal is a whale, so I was like what? They both put their hands down, but Makoto being the amazing friend he is, grabs the clownfish instead, and offers the dolphin to Haru.
Then you go back to a scene where Haru is in a bath with the same exact dolphin. The ship is sailing quicker than ever. I’ll be honest, if this isn’t canon, then I don’t know what is. This was one of my favorite part of this episode, and I’ve had a lot of favorite parts.
This goes to show you how amazingly strong the relationship between both these characters are. A very subtle development for both characters.
Another very sweet scene is between the Matsuoka siblings, who I never get tired of seeing. They both are together to go visit the grave of their father. In truth, this scene can be considered emotional, but they turned it into a more innocent and sweet type feel, which I loved. They both give their prayers, and Rin even offers a few words to his father, and gives the picture he was so fixated on to Gou.
And we finally made it to the prelims! This is so exciting, because you really never know who’s going to win? I mean, both Samezuka and Iwatobi are going for it, but either or could make. I’m going for Iwatobi here, but we’ll see.
We finally get to see my baby Rei swim! I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again: Rei is my favorite character and the character that always saves the day. So, getting to see him swim would be the best fucking things ever. But, we’ll get to that in a little bit.
Moreover, there was just a lot of little gags in this one scene, and guess who we see again! It’s Mikoshiba! He’s here, supporting his little brother and his old team, and I was literally screaming my ass off in this part because I missed his character, though his brother does a really good job at replacing him.
This was a scene I was just waiting for: Both Mikoshiba brother’s look at Gou and scream her name out loud. A+ scene let me tell you. I love these two.
We get some more gags, a hilarious scene with Gou trying to hold herself back from looking at muscles, which come on, she can never be able to hold herself for that long, and a great and cute scene with the main shota boys, Nagisa and Nitori. I know everyone gives Nitori a whole bunch of shit, but I always loved how cute he was. So seeing him with Nagisa in this scene was honestly the best things ever.
I mean, just look at them.
Moving on, the competition starts. It starts off with Nagisa, and going back to last week’s episode, we see his parents watching him and supporting him, which is a lovely way to continue off this episode. Nagisa looks very confident, and I’m super excited, because not only is Nagisa in this race, but we also got Nitori!
I’m rooting for Nagisa, but I was hoping Nitori would at least come in a close second. So the race begins, and Nagisa is in the lead, with Nitori and the rest coming close behind. Oh yeah, going back to one of the things I missed the most and I was really excited to see: The cheering! The “ike, ike, ike, ike, ike, Nagisa!” Not even joking I used to say this all the time, it was so funny and it got me in the mood.
Luckily for us, Nagisa actually ends up winning! Sadly for me, and anyone else who is a fan of Nitori, he doesn’t end up qualifying! :-( It’s alright though, Mikoshiba and Rin both appreciate the effort he’s put into this team and I’m very happy he got the credit he deserves, though Sousuke was a bit of a dick about it.
Next up, we got the amazing Makoto, going verses two people in Samezuka! One we really don’t give a crap about, and the other is the very great Momotaro! You see Momo and Mikoshiba talking it out from the stands and it’s just a really funny scene. I’m worried for Makoto because Momo is really good, but I know Makoto has this.
And of course, he does got it, winning first, with Momo in second, meaning they both qualify in nationals! Woo!
Now, here is where my biggest complaint with this episode lied. So now it was Rei’s turn to swim! Yes, we finally get to see how much he’s improved and all that great stuff! We even see a hilarious scene with Rei just giving a speech about how beautiful he’ll be when he beats someone from Samezuka as well. Except he doesn’t because no one from Samezuka signed up for it. And we see him scream in the background as well which is the best.
So, he gets all cocky, saying how this won’t even be a challenge for him and Nagisa even comments how he totally just jinxed himself, and I was like “Rei!”
And then the race starts but guess what? It’s only three shots of him swimming. Three shots, and he wins. What!? Are you kidding me? Once again, Rei is sidetracked for the others, but Rei doesn’t even deserve to be sidetracked.
I would’ve loved to see how Rei put up with the race and what not, but nope, nothing. At least we get to see a very heart warming scene of him after he’s won, which got me very emotional, but the show took it very not serious, which is upsetting because that was the first time Rei ever won something by himself. I really wish his character would get the development he deserves because this BOY DESERVES IT.
Yes, though the episode is good, it would have been better if they just took Rei’s first win by himself (that he’s worked so hard for, for over a fucking year) seriously. It’s a serious complaint. They need to fix this ASAP.
You’re a trooper. I salute you.
Enough ranting, next we have the race between Makoto and Haru, how exciting. We see them in the locker talking about it very briefly, and then we go straight to the race. I’ll be honest, I’m nervous. I’m mostly rooting for Makoto, but I wouldn’t mind if Haru won. So the race begins and everyone is commenting back and forth about the two, and then another favorite scene of mine comes into play.
Also, this has got to be one of the best transitions shots I’ve ever see in my life, holy.
Stunning, and I can’t explain how much I loved this transition. So we see the two of them talking and we finally see what Makoto had requested. He wanted to race Haru for real. It’s a very sweet scene between the two, and it makes you want to root for Makoto even more.
Go back (with another beautiful transition) to the race, and we see that Haru won, and Makoto came in (I think) second. Makoto looks very distraught and we even see a tear come down Makoto face. You can’t even imagine my reaction right now (I’m literally sobbing.) He’s happy he lost, but why exactly?
Here’s where some theories come into play. First off, why would Makoto even want to race Haru? Nagisa asks him this question, and he answers that he really doesn’t know. That maybe he’s been jealous of Rin this entire time.
It’s not so much that he’s jealous of him, but more in the way of how Rin and Haru’s relationship goes. I’d like to think one of the reasons Haru enjoys swimming is because of how he feels whenever he races Rin. It puts some sort of feeling in him that no one else really can. Rin knows exactly what he’s doing and what exactly his goals are, but as for Makoto, he doesn’t exactly know where he’s going.
Maybe Makoto doesn’t know where he’s going because Haru still hasn’t decided what he wants to do. I mean, Makoto has always been a follower of Haru since childhood, as we see in this episode. What difference does it make now? Really, none.
Maybe Makoto thought that if he can somewhat beat Haru in today’s race, something would change. He’s obviously upset he’s lost, but he seems to cover it up. He knows exactly how he feels, and I think in the next episode, he’ll confront Haru about it and talk about the future and what not.
Very great character development for Makoto as well.
So yeah, the race against Haru and Rin was a close one, but Rin loses by 0.02 seconds… What the hell! You got lucky Haru. Sousuke also looks upset when he’s reminded of the relay they’ll be participating in. Maybe something’s up with him after all, I mean have you read all those theories with him? Yeah, looks like one of them might be a possibility.
And did you hear thw terrifying music that played with a close up of him? Yikes.
And the preview looks like (what plenty of people are calling it) a lovers quarrel will happen between both Haru and Makoto, and Rin and Sousuke. Though, Sousuke looks 100x more mad than I’ve seen anyone in this show look. Seriously, it’s scary.
And the adorable voiceover of both Momotaro and Nitori was adorable, with the splendid addition of Mikoshiba. Amazing.
this end card gets to me
Overall, one of the best episode so far. Beautiful, stunning, and a lot of character development. Still gets 100 points lower because of the little dilemma I had with Rei’s scene, but still an excellent episode.
What were your thoughts on this week’s episode? Did you like it? What theories have you made? Comment down below! Mid season is finally coming next week, so be prepared for a post about that. Zankyou no Terror episodic tomorrow as well!
Also, want to recommend the song Kanade, which was the ending song to Isshuukan Friends, except you guys have to listen’s to Hase-kun’s version. It’s absolutely adorable!
Enjoy guys! Have a wonderful day!
For a full gallery of Free! Eternal Summer Ep.6 screenshots, click here