Review: Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

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Today I will be reviewing: Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

From left to right: Rei, Nagisa, Rin, Haruka & Makoto.

What can I say I love sports-anime/manga. It all started with Slam Dunk and since then I've followed several series like Prince of Tennis, Eyeshield 21, Mr. Fullswing, Cross Manage, etc.

The anime is based on a novel written by Koji Oji and focuses on four boys participating in a swimming tournament.

Plot:
When they are in elementry school Rin, Nagisa, Haruka & Makoto are in the same swimming club. Haruka claims he only wants to swim freestyle but eventually joins in the Medley* race after much convincing of Rin. The boys win the race and they bury their trophy like a time capsule. Rin announces that he goes to Australia to train to become an Olympic swimmer, a wish his dad held but never achieved.

*Medley is a combination of four swimming styles into one race: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle.

Rin and Haruka accidentally meet the next year when Rin visits his family for Christmas and he challenges Haruka to a race but ends up losing. Frustrated by his loss he never contacts his former teammates and continues his training in Australia. Haruka shocked by Rin's reaction quits the swimming club and team completely falls apart.

In highschool Makoto, Haruka en Nagisa are reunited and revive try to revive the school's swimming club with the help of Rin's sister Gou. Participation in schooltrainings and competition require 4 members and Nagisa gets a track-and-field-member to join the club. But during the practice training they find out he can't swim.

Rin decides to return to Japan to enter highschool and forces Haruka to race him once again, resulting as a win for Rin. But Rin realises Haruka has not been in shape and is angered by his lack of training and says his victory is meaningless like this. Haruka is shocked by his loss but turns to his teammates with the wish to swim together in the Medley.

The boys of Iwatobi swim club train hard together to enter the national swimming competition in order to beat Rin in the Medley race.

Sadly I've only seen 11 of the 12 episodes so far. And the final race will be battled in the last epi that will be released next week by one of the fan-subbers. Not that I would have spoiled the ending to you guys ;).

It's a shame the series is only 12 episodes long but I think it's just the right amount to tell the full story. What I find very funny in the series the boys look like regular pretty boys when dressed but are muscle packed when in their swimming gear. A lot of fangirl-service is provided in those shots ;).

Also the characters are pretty interesting. They all have very girly names ;).

Haruka: he rarely smiles and always thinks about swimming, he even tried to climb in a fishtank at the store xD. When they club went to buy swimming gear for Rei he ended up buying the same pair of swimming trunks as he already owns, claiming they fit him better while the rest of the group sees no difference.

Nagisa: Very high spirited and is not afraid to speak his mind to much frustration of Rei at times. He is the cute one of the club.

Makoto: Haruka's best friend, he is very nice and takes care of others but is also a big scaredy-cat and hides behind Haru for protection. Makoto developed a fear of the ocean when a person he admired died in a typhoon.

Rei: loves everything thats beautiful and is a very intelligent boy. He didn't want to join the swimming club at first because he said swimming wasn't beautiful enough but when he sees Haruka swim he finally joins. Doesn't know how to swim but learns the Butterfly later on in the series.

Rin: Haruka's rival and former teammate. Despite his self-proclaimed rivalry towards Iwatobi, he demonstrates concern of them, especially Haruka. 

Free! has a very large fanbase and because of it's popularity it was made into an anime-series. I've seen the fanfictions and fanart appear regular on Pixiv (a Japanese social site) and was thrilled when the series was released. I'll have to watch the final episode from my new home in Belfast but the series went on my must buy list when released on DVD and that will be around Febuary 2014.

Free! is a fun series to watch, especially for those who like sports & pretty boys. I highly recommend it.

This will be my last review for the time being. I am moving to Belfast and I don't know when I will have a computer or a steady internet connection. 

I'll see you in the future ;)!

Review: DVD Kids on the Slope

Wow, it has been a few months since I last posted on this blog. I have been really busy with irl stuff and the weather was too hot to be sitting behind the pc.

New series from the creators of Cowboy Bebop. So I had high expectations from this studio and they didn't dissapoint me.

The story is about a boy, Kaoru, that has to move houses again because his dad is a sailor. This time he moves to a seaside town in Kyushu. The often relocation turned into a painful experience for Kaoru and he has trouble adjusting to his new environment and classmates. When he rushes to the schoolroof to escape the chaos he meet a boy who asks him if he is an angel. This is the beginning of their friendship and mutual love for jazz music.

Their friendship will be tested when it comes to the matters of love and hardships but as is said in the anime itself: "Friendship lasts a lifetime".

The songs they use in the anime might be wellknown to jazzlovers and one I even knew as a non-jazz fan. You will hear these songs when watching: "Bag's Groove" by Milt Jackson, "Lullabys of Birdland" by Chris Connor, "But not for Me" by Chet Baker and "Four" by Miles Davis. They also turn "My Favorite Things" of the musical The Sound of Music in a swinging jazznumber, I particularly liked that.

The art is true to the manga written by Yuki Kodama and follows the story pretty well as in the books.

I still giggle at the pronunciation of the Japanese when it comes to English but us Europeans make the Japanese frown too when we try to speak their language, our sounds are totally different then theirs. I still praise Junichi Suwabe for still making "But Not for Me" so awsome.

This series will leave you with a feel-good mood. Sometimes it is frustrating that the main character takes such a long time to confess his love but that is just the difference of culture. The Dutch are too much of a blabbermouth in my opinion :P.

Animation: 5/5

Music: 4/5

Story: 5/5

Overall: 4,7/5. I recommend this for non-jazz-lovers. It makes you appreciate the genre.

Review: Vassalord OVA

By chance I stumbled on the Vassalord OVA on youtube. So I explored the internet to find a good fansub and found it with my trusted fansubbers Aarinfantasy.

The OVA is based on a josei (ladies comics) series written and illustrated by Nanae Chrono. 7 volumes of the manga have been released as with four drama cd's. The OVA was released in spring 2013.

Plot (with courtesy of Wiki):

Vampires Charles J. Chrishunds (Charley) and Johnny Rayflo have a strange relationship. Charley is a cyborg vampire mix, and a vampire hunter for the Vatican, while his master Johnny enjoys a playboy lifestyle. While fighting crimes involving vampires, Charley struggles to control his lust for blood and for Johnny, while Johnny (previously known as Addie before becoming a vampire) delights in seducing his servant and attempts to deal with issues from his own past. Johnny cares about Charley (also known as Cherry and Chris), and the feelings don't seem to be one-sided.

While the OVA is put in the fantasy, comedy, supernatural & shounen-ai catergories, the shounen-ai (Boy's love) value is very low opposite the manga. While Charley feeds on Rayflo to still his hunger the element of lust between the two characters is left in the middle. I miss the taunting and tempting that Rayflo does that drives Charley of the edge many times in the series. 

Oh Rayflo, you slut.

For the OVA they used the story of the first chapter of Vassalord, and because this chapter stands on itself don't really need to add anything else to finish it. The relationship between Chris (I know they call him Charley in the OVA but I am more used to the manga version were everyone calls him Chris) and Rayflo is clear, Rayflo turned Chris in to a vampire and Chris refuses to drink other blood than his masters. They battle on of Rayflo's ghosts of the past in order for Chris to recieve priesthood.

The animation compliments the typical style of Nanae Chrono. While its not a one-on-one copy of hers, it comes very close to it. The typical bickering and comic-relief appears in the OVA paired with the dark atmosphere Vassalord usually gives.

The voice-actors for Chris and Rayflo are well known in the world of anime. Ryotaro Okiayu (Chris) is best known for Byakuya Kuchiki (Bleach) and Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist) while Keiji Fujiwara (Rayflo) is known for Maes Hughes (Fullmetal Alchemist), Leorio (Hunter x Hunter) and my favorite Shiro Fujimoto (Ao no Exorcist). The pair worked together on Fullmetal Alchemist and I found them the ideal choice for this OVA, especially Keiji because his freaking out makes me giggle every time.

Sadly the episode was only 27 minutes long and while you can put more in to the story it would have just been putting too much information without adding to the value of it. It's just the fangirl in me that wants more.

Maybe Production I.G. is testing the waters with this OVA, seeing that the fanbase will be significantly smaller than with regular animes. But I do hope they will make it into a regular series so I can see my other favorite characters of the series. They did give me a small glimps at the end of my all time favorite madman 86, so a girl can only hope.

Animation: 4,5/5

Voice-cast: 5/5

Story: 3/5

The world of darkness isn't scary.