FallOutBoy Young Blood Chronicles part 6: Just One Yesterday ft Foxes

Okay I was wrong, I wasn't expecting Just One Yesterday to follow The Mighty Fall because I didn't think they would have two collaboration tracks one after the other but they did.

On The Might Fall post I had this cool comment about the videos being released every 2 months, the might fall was released on the 29th of august and this was released on the 14th of October which is pretty much spot on, I've looked on the dates of the videos on YouTube the first one came out on the 8th of feb, the second on the 24th of march  ans the third on the 18th april so those videos weren't released 2 months after each other, maybe that was just a way of getting the first out quicker so it would gain peoples attention then they started panning them out or maybe there is some kind of meaning (or maybe there is no real reason and they just put them out when they feel like it.)

I'm not great with maths but I'll try an work this out:

part 1 to 2 = 44 days

part 2 to 3 = 25 days

part 3 to 4 = 74 days

part 4 to 5 = 59 days

part 5 to 6 = 48 days

I guess this means the next video will come out late November to mid December.

 I honestly don't see any pattern what so ever but if you think it means something feel free to share in the comments.

About the video now, the first thing you see in this video is a snake and this snake is featured a lot in this video.

The snake first appeared in young volcanoes, to be honest I didn't really think much of the snake until now but it's clear now it's pretty important.
The snake is a milk snake and they aren't venomous although they do look like coral snakes which are poisonous.

http://www.nachi.org/images09/CompareCoralSnake.jpg

Looking at the diagram the snake in video is clearly a milk snake, I'm not sure why they use a milk snake specifically maybe because it resembles a dangerous snake and clearly it's not a good idea to have a deadly snake on set, maybe it's meant to represent something that seems dangerous but in reality it's harmless or maybe it's because it's red.
The colour red is often described as a dangerous colour and lots of people have a fear of snakes so maybe it's just meant to be scary or something (I for one don't really have a fear of things like spiders and snakes so I don't really understand if there is meant to be some kind of fear element.)

As the snake moves over Patrick there are some flash backs.
There is a flash back of the case from the phoenix , the women operating on Patrick from the phoenix and the snake on the table in young volcanoes and a shot of a red van/pick up truck, I'll talk about the truck later.

Patrick wakes up in some woodland area with a snake (where he ended up after the events of the mighty fall.) and starts to walk away, all the band members were separated in the last video and now they are wondering alone and injured.

I came to the conclusion that the videos represent different points in FallOutBoys break up/hiatus, the last video seemed to be about the split it's self (the title the mighty fall seems to describe a break up or fall from grace) so this video seems to be about how they regret the break up and are trying to get back together, the title indicates a feeling of nostalgia and wishing they could go back to the past so that's why they are trying to make their way back together in the video.

As Pete walks through a forest area he sees a red apple on a tree (that tree is clearly not an apple tree and the apple hanging from the branch is the only fruit present.) it's interesting to point out that all the food in young volcanoes was red such as grapes, apples and meat, the snake in the flash back was moving over the apples.
When Pete takes a bite of the apple it's bloody inside like it's made of flesh, he spits out the blood and coughs up a milk snake, this could be an Adam and eve reference because a snake encouraged even to eat an apple even though god had especially told them not to, I think that the apple is a metaphor of temptation but the thing he did wasn't worth the trouble it caused. The video for Young Volcanoes seems to be about temptation so maybe this is like repercussions for all the things they did in that video.

meanwhile Patrick is trying to hitch a ride and most people ignore him which I suppose is understandable seeing as he is covered in blood and has a hook for a hand but he eventually gets picked up by the woman in the red van, Foxes.

Foxes is an English singer/songwriter best known for the vocals on clarity by Zedd and she also features on this track, Foxes and Patrick have a duet whilst driving in the van.

Drummer Andy Hurley approaches a tramp sleeping on a wall, there is a can of beans next to the tramp and Andy tries to take it but gets chased by the tramp, I'm not sure if that has some kind of meaning but presuming it does it could describe how desperate he is that he has to steal from a homeless person and even then failing to do so, maybe there's some deeper meaning but I really don't see it, again if anyone thinks they understand anything or think they have a better explanation please share it in the comments.

Joe approaches a woman putting up her laundry who subsequently runs away in horror, This seems like a weird situation to me because if she was simply putting her washing on the line wouldn't it be in her garden the place looks more like a park or something.
if it were her garden wouldn't you be able to see her house, there is a weird hut thing but that doesn't looks like a house as such and they could've easily got a house (they had houses in The Phoenix) plus if it were a really big garden I doubt Joe could've gotten in her garden that easily, I think this symbolises the term "airing dirty laundry in public" although the laundry isn't dirty or not to begin with any way, it's like something bad has happened to you and everyone knows about it.
He wipes blood on the sheets, rips a bit off and uses it as a bandage followed by flash backs and a shot of a snake on his shoes.

Andy seems to be walking up a dried up artificial river and there is snake, the snakes seems to trigger flash backs, for Patrick it's the case, the snake on the table,the women in The Phoenix and sitting in the chair in Alone Together, for Pete it's the events of Young Volcanoes for Andy it's his room from Alone Together and for Joe it's Young Volcanoes and The mighty Fall.
I think the flash backs are about the things that bothered them the most/the thing they felt most guilty about it kind of relates back to the Bible story, after giving into the temptations in Young Volcanoes (albeit not full aware, more like semi concious.) and now this is their punishment.

whilst in the van foxes lets go of the wheel leans out the window and starts singing it's actually pretty cute watching Patrick Stump freak out and try to take the wheel with a hook for a hand, is this comic relief? it made me smirk.
The videos are pretty gruesome so any thing that's remotely funny stands out, as she sings:

If I spilled my guts
The world would never look at you the same way
And now I’m here to give you all my love
So I can watch your face as I take it all away.

 The video cuts to Pete Wentz chasing after a little girl in dressed as a princess, I mentioned before that children seems to represent fans in the Young Blood Chronicles but this seems different, firstly the child looks sad, Pete looks sad (he's screaming at her, he looks pretty distraught.) and the little girl is being dragged away by a woman and put in a car.
This could mean a number of things, the outfit suggests she's of importance, princess is often a pet name for a woman/girl you love dearly and someone you'd protect and the fact she is being pulled away suggests that they both mean something to each other but someone/some thing is pulling them apart.

Foxes lyrics suggest a relationship break up and although the lyrics are from foxes so they aren't going to be aimed at Pete but it seems to relate to what's happening to him.
The way I see music videos is if the lyrics seems to have a connection with what's happening in the video there probably is because other wise why would they do it?

The little girl still could be a fan but maybe someone who Pete knows personally, he has a son so the little girl could represent him but that seems strange, it could represent his ex wife or someone else entirely who knows, some artists feels more comfortable expressing their feelings and sharing things through music than via interviews and the media so there maybe themes and references that we won't get, like an inside joke.(except it's not really a joke...)
However I think it could be his ex or his son.

As Foxes continues to sing she leans out of the window even further, presuming this has some kind of meaning it is most likely her way of trying to escape, at this point it doesn't really seems like she has a reason for wanting to escape but almost climbing out the window would be a good sign of wanting to get out or ignore the situation at hand also by letting go of the wheel she risks both her life and Patrick's, their deaths  would also result in escape.

Mean while Pete is banging on the window of the car to try and get to the girl but the older woman pepper sprays him again this suggest that Pete thinks a lot about the child, maybe the child doesn't think of him as that important as she didn't fight the woman but she still doesn't want him to go, the woman pepper spraying him also suggests that something/someone is pulling them apart.

As the truck keeps driving the other members are found by the road side and picked up, this seemed weird right? I get the feeling who ever is behind this knows exactly what they are doing.
 They let them get away just to catch them again, it's like they are giving them hope and then taking it away like a game of cat and mouse.
I would seem unlikely that they would all just turn up right where the van was going and they would all be reunited so conveniently unless it was a trap.

They pull up at Linda vista community hospital, this hospital is well know for being a filming location often for music videos and films and infamous for paranormal investigations, Foxes eyes turn black and a snake slithers over the steering wheel.

I was wondering whether Foxes would turn out to be evil even before the video came out because all the women seems to be evil (excluding 2 chainz who wasn't a woman but also evil.) another thing was her solo, her lyrics were angry although they clearly weren't aimed at anyone in FallOutBoy and it was probably about a past boyfriend or something but I wondered if they could turn the focus onto someone but I'm not sure she really is evil, obviously going to Linda Vista isn't a good thing and black eyes and a snake on the steering wheel isn't great but I get the feeling she's being made to do this like she doesn't really want to do it maybe that's why she let go of the wheel because she didn't want to do it besides the snake doesn't make her evil i mean everyone had a snake of thier own at some point in the video any way, I guess the shocker is that she is some how linked to the organisation/gang then she seems.
  I think the thing with the eyes is similar to what happens to Patrick when his eyes turn yellow, a stimulus will cause their personalities to change for Patrick it's the music tape not sure what it is for Foxes.
I do wonder if she will appear in a later video, if you think about it Big Sean was in both Alone Together and The Mighty Fall so maybe she will made a second appearance, I want to know whether she is actually evil or like FallOutBoy and Big Sean who are just pawns in some horrible game of cat and mouse.

Foxes turns on the tape player and it starts playing the song that turns Patrick's eyes yellow, his personality changes and the band run off into the hospital as Patrick chases after them.

It wouldn't be stupid to assume that the next video what ever it is takes place in Linda Vista and There are probably people in there waiting for them but I guess were're just going to have to wait to see.

I wonder what the next video is? I still think they are saving Rat a tat and Saving Rock and Roll for later on, there aren't that many tracks left now but I think the next one will be Where Did The Party Go if not maybe Death Valley  , Where Did The Party Go just seems like a good progression from Just One Yesterday, moving on from a song about Nostalgia and regret to another song about nostalgia of better days.
But I have been wrong before.

Free! iwatobi swim club analysis

  I've been watching Free! Iwatobi swim club and I've really enjoyed it, there were some points about this anime I would like to share my thoughts on and you can comment on what you thought too, this is going to be riddled with spoilers but I did make a post about the show overall without any major spoilers but I think if you're interested you should just give it a chance and if you don't like it you can stop watching so there's no harm done.


I was watching the tributes videos and looking at fanart on the internet and someone on memebase said that evidence points to Haru being autistic because he: has poor people and communication skills, has an obsessive interest and excels in one particular activity (although he is pretty good at art as well as swimming) but as far as I can see that sounds about right and it would certainly explain a lot although I would say he has rather mild autism because he seems to understand how Rin feels and is feeling guilty about beating him in middle school, this isn't official of course but I feel it makes an interesting point none the less.


Another thing is this anime is great for shipping, I think it's because of the close friendships and the fact that they spend so much time semi nude together, I think the only relationship that will be made official will be Gou and the Samezuka swimming club's captain.
 I like that pairing because from what we've seen he seems nice and I like Gou, I think she's really cute, they are really the only pairing (other than the coach and the swimwear model turned teacher pairing) that seems to have mutual feelings for each other but at the same time I like the idea of her being with Haru.

Honestly I want to pair Haru with everyone, I want Haru to be with Gou because she swoons over him so much and he called her Kou!
She stated that she prefers to be called Kou but everyone else calls her Gou any way also they seem like a more likely coupling than Gou and any other member of the swim club.

It's true she swoons over pretty much everyone but Haru seems to be a favorite when it comes to ogling, I can't really explain but their relationship feels more romantic than her relationship with Makoto, does that make sense?
They just seem kind of awkward together, it's like when you have a bit of a crush on someone and  you're shy about and don't want to say anything bad and make them dislike you so you talk to them but not too much, well not until you feel more comfortable.
Maybe that's just me but Nagisa teases her too much and Mako openly criticizes her for ogling men, either way if there is something between those two it's probably unrequited on Gou's part as Haru is more interested in swimming than romance.

I also want to pair Haru with Rin, there was clearly some tension between Rin and Haru in epiosde 1, 8 and 12, they clearly like each other, Haru just wants Rin to be his friend again and for him to be happy and Rin doesn't really seem to know what he wants, he strives to beat Haru but he doesn't feel any better when he does and it's because he secretly just wants to swim with him and be his friend too and it was cool seeing Rin realizing this.

  I think Mako and Haru have a great friendship, they're just so close. Mako is so caring towards Haru, they are the kind of friends that are so close they practically live in each others pockets its so sweet.
They had an interesting moment in the first episode that seemed a bit over-intimate where Makoto pulled Haru out of the bath,he seemed slightly shocked that he was wearing swimming trunks in the bath which doesn't seem to dodgey but it implies that Mako was looking and worse still he was expecting him to be naked, maybe they're a little to close.

The more I think about it Haru only has eyes for water and nobody else will ever come close so, he even described finding a waterfall as a romantic encounter so maybe he won't have a romantic realtionship (well not with a person anyway), I hope that in season 2, which I guess they will make I hope they will cover a little bit of romance.


I think what made this so good in my opinion was the characterization and this anime is very character driven.

I think fiction is split into 3 groups; character driven, plot driven and world driven.
For any fiction to be good it has to be at least 2 of these for example:

Adventure time would be character and world driven because there isn't an ongoing plot, there is an on going theme and a history but that is more to do with the world it's self then an on going story, the world and characters are interesting and that drives the show.

A soap drama would be more plot and character driven because they are meant to live in the same world as us, it's meant to be familiar so the focus is on the people and their story lines.

Things like harry potter, and the hunger games have all 3.

Free! Iwatobi swim club is character driven and plot driven although the plot it's self is derived from the relationships of  the characters any way, I love the relationship of Rin and Haru, Haru and Mako, and Rei and Nagisa, the characters react with each other so well, it's almost like somone found a real group of people and modeled their relationships after real people, I loved that feeling as a kid watching cartoons like recess and ed,edd n eddy and feeling like some where in the world there must be people just like that, it's great writing.

I thought how each character represented an animal was cool, it was a bit in your face at times like Nagisa bringing up rock hopper penguins at every opportunity then being a penguin in charades and I don't think that was necessary there was enough subtle hints, I had no idea that Mako was a killer whale until the relay in episode 12, I liked the relay sequence in episode 12, it would have been so easy (and boring) to have had them simply swimming but I think how each of them had a fantasy swim sequence was cool and gave you something to think about, From the relay sequence you can interpret how each character feels and how they've grown.

Mako was relaxing in what looks like the ocean under a clear sky, this could show that he is relaxed and happy about having finally got through to Rin or it could show that he has overcome/accepted his fear of the ocean, I think it represents how he was scared of the ocean something he struggled with and wanted to get over it for the sake of the team and now he feels better about it.

Nagisa see's a dolphin, a killer whale, and shark and 2 butterflies.
The dolphin represents Haru (he is described as swimming like a dolphin, he has a toy dolphin in his bath and in the changing room his background was a dolphin.) Haru is an elegant swimmer like a dolphin, I also think his appearance is rather elegant too and out of penguins, sharks and killer whales he is the most elegant.

The killer whale is Makoto, I don't really see how/why they went with a killer whale seeing as Mako is a sweet quiet boy who wouldn't hurt a fly and killer whales will pretty much prey on everything, a killer whale might be more suited to to Rin but I guess sharks look intimating, maybe that is what they wanted for Mako something that looks cute but can actually be deadly like what Rin said episode 8 that he has a "rough dynamic stroke that leaves everyone behind." maybe he seems sweet and friendly but is a though opponent to beat, Interesting enough Makoto is tall so that could be why he was given such a big animal.

Rin is the shark, he is ruthless and quick.
He looks like a shark with his pointed teeth and a shark would seems like a natural predator to the other animals, I know that technically a killer whale could eat penguins, sharks and probably dolphins so the shark isn't really on top but I think that's the point. (I'm not saying that secretly Makoto is a bully or something.)
Rin is misunderstood really, he is angry because he feels guilty about his dad and he thinks that if his father hadn't had Rin he could've been an Olympic swimmer and wouldn't have died in a fishing accident and he doesn't know what he wants he just acts mean and like the shark isn't really that bad or maybe they didn't mean it like that, maybe killer whales have a different reputation in japan and he's just a shark because he's angsty.

There are butterflies in the sequence but if you blink you'll miss it, I played the clip back a few times to make sure and sure enough after the shark there are two white butterflies.

Butterflies represent Rei, during the swimming costume/changing room scene Rei has a butterfly for a background like Haru, Maokto and Nagisa who had a dolphin, a killer whale and penguins respectively, during the scene he tired on a butterfly swim suit like Nagisa who sometimes wears penguins on his speedos not to mention he also swims the butterfly stroke, I think he's a butterfly because he is interested in sports that looks beautiful and the perfect form and butterflies are very pretty, graceful creatures.
Butterflies can't swim and neither could Rei to begin with, they symbolise how he stands out from the group.

Rei doesn't actually swim in the end relay but he's in Nagisa's swimming fantsay probably because if it weren't for him they wouldn't be where they were, he's still apart of the team so he's still apart of the race.
 (metaphorically speaking.)
Nagisa's sequence concludes the fact he wanted to swim with his friends so had the idea for the swim club and now Rin is swimming with him his wish has been granted.

Rin's sequence is rather short and involves him swimming through the dark and into the light which I guess obviously shows how he learnt to love swimming (he had hated it for so long for not being good enough) he was enjoying it, swimming from light to dark shows the transition.

Haru's sequence involves him sinking in the dark depths of the water, hearing his friends cheering them on and swimming to the surface.

Haru for a long time has struggled with competitive swimming, he gave up when he beat Rin because he felt so bad about how Rin reacted he stopped, he still loved water but couldn't motivate himself to do anything serious about it, it's like he forgot why he liked swimming and has been sulking for years and letting himself go.
Now he worked out that he wanted to swim because of his friends and now he patched things up with Rin he could enjoy competitive swimming again, him coming to the surface was him regaining his motivation to swim properly.

I loved the end of the race when Rin hugged Haru, it was nice to see that they had rekindled their friendship it was such a happy ending even though they were disqualified, because of the win the samezuka captain put Rin on his relay team and it was nice to see they all remained friends afterwards, nice ending to a nice anime.

OneRepublic- something I need music video

I was so excited when I heard this Track was going to be a single and that a video was being made, it was also great timing that came out the day after counting stars finally got number 1 in the uk and I hope this does well in the charts too.

 I really liked this song when I heard it on the album, this song is the essence of OneRepublic because they have a habit of writing songs about the importance of life and living in the moment like good life, waking up, won't stop,life in colour ,I lived ect and then they have songs that are "looking at how bad certain things in life can be but it doesn't really matter because they aren't really important" like all I need, secrets and all the right moves, this song however has a sprinkling of morbidity for good measure.

The message of the song is that when you love someone, really love someone like the kind of "I can't imagine not being with you" kind of love you should treasure it, simply because when you die it's much nicer to die without regrets and if you love that person that much shouldn't let them go.

The video portrays this differently to how the song felt in my mind, in my mind it seemed to say "I'm sorry for all the stuff I put you through so thank you for putting up with me. I love you." when the video seemed to say "life is short, don't put things off like asking that person out on a date because your sacred or you will probably regret it in the long run." and I suppose it's a similar message it's both about love and keeping it alive but it just wasn't what I expected.

I think the video also parodies music videos by the likes of Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, the way that hashtags are flashed up in white mirrored Can't stop by Miley and then Blurred lines and give it to you by Robin Thicke only it is much more sarcastic in nature like when #blessed and #winning pop up while a man is being attacked by a dog and coughing blood up respectively, it's clearly meant to be a joke and the close up of Ryan Tedder in a white room is a clear parody of wrecking ball by Miley Cyrus, the lighting does nothing for him and the thumbnail of his face is goofy looking and I think that was their intention, it's meant to be funny.

They could have used anything for the thumbnail and there tons of shots they could've used that would've looked edgy or attractive but instead they opted for Ryan grinning creepily into the camera, it kind of sets the mood for the whole video without spoiling anything.


The video follows a man who see's a woman he likes the look of but is shy and reluctant to get her attention, he tries approaching her be gets embarrassed and then he gets attacked by a dog followed by "#blessed", obviously this man isn't blessed and I think it's meant to show how you feel people try and tell you (like OneRepublic do all the time) how great life is and you should be happy and grateful when you really aren't feeling it.

I think the dog is the personified (or cainieified/dogified) fear of rejection, he's scared to ask her out because he doesn't want to be rejected so the dog attacks him and he doesn't get the girl.

The man is then seen hobbling down the street, the fact he couldn't ask her out has made his fear of rejection worse and it's shown by the physical wounds inflicted on him by the dog.
He stops at newspaper stand and buys a newspaper which says there is a rabid dog on the lose with a picture of the dog that attacked him which must be scary because now he probably thinks he is going to die, if the dog is meant to be rejection and the he's scared the dog is killing him it must mean he has accpted/started to believe he will die alone.

This has double meaning, in the sense of the dog literally being a rabid dog (without symbolism) he will die alone because he has rabies and has no one to love but if you think of the dog as representing a fear of rejection it's like his fear is stopping him taking a chance to find someone so he will die alone.

The woman turns up an he is given a second chance to ask her out but he becomes scared and the dog comes out and chases him, he is still scared about rejection even though he is now worried about being forever alone, he is fulfilling his own prophesy.

For some reason the man stops running to pull some OneRepublic posters off a wall which seems like a stupid thing to do when you're being chased by a rabid dog but I guess it would've caught up with him sooner or later.
I think he pulls the posters because OneRepublic's songs (like I mentioned before) are about how amazingly great and how painfully short life is and he clearly disagree's because he feels like he is going to die a lonesome horrible death, Maybe the director/band are trying to tell us that you shouldn't give up so easily and to live a little not like this man.

As the man dies coughing up globs of lung the "#winning" hashtag flashes up, The hashtags seem to be based off things that people might say on twitter like when things are going their way or things looking up they might add a hashtag that says YOLO or winning or something and I guess they are taking the mickey out of that kind of culture, like with the blessed hashtag earlier I think it's meant to show people tell you to be grateful of what you have and to be happy when you aren't grateful or happy it's the same notion behind the pulling of the posters it's like he telling everyone to stop telling him to be happy because his situation feels impossible.

You know that feeling when you're in complete and utter despair and everyone is trying to tell you to cheer up, it could be so much worse and you don't understand how it can feel any worse, but at the end of the they were right and it wasn't really that bad or things got better eventually. This video is for those people who don't understand they were wrong yet.

At the man's funeral didn't have a massive turn out of people, possibly because he didn't take risks and also to show that he spent his whole life worried about dying alone and being rejected that he never found anyone to be with so he died lonely.

Ryan Tedder is singing at his funeral with a choir, I for one would love it for Ryan Tedder and the rest of the band to perform at my funeral but this guy probably didn't like them because he pulled their posters off a board in rage so he probably doesn't want Ryan there at his funeral.
This is probably Ryan's way of saying "I told you so", the man was so worried about being rejected and being alone he never got to ask the girl out, if he had listened to OneRepublic and took some more chances and lived a little he might not have ended up dying alone.

Despite the fact that the man is dead the dog runs into the church and starts attacking the man in his open coffin, possibly to show that now he is dead he regrets not taking the chance to ask the woman out, the dog pulls the man out of the coffin and the man wakes up.

The woman turns up to the funeral with a dog of her own and the other dog stops attacking the man and presumably the man and the woman can be together now, the fact the woman has a dog too shows (if the dogs really do symbolise fear of rejection) that she was also scared and that probably everyone is sacred of rejection but you shouldn't let it get in the way, the fact she has her dog on a lead and he has his dog attacking him shows that she has better control over her fears.
Showing the two dogs at the end of video sitting calmly probably indicates that the people started dating because they no longer had an issue with rejection.

I'm not sure whether the message is "to not let your fears get in the way of your happiness so go out there and make it happen", "don't give up on life, you can still be scared but things do get better just wait for it to happen" or "start apprenticing your self a little more you're going to find love some day".
I'm just not sure what they mean exactly but I guess all three of those could be right and maybe you should just do all three.

On a side note Where was OneRepublic? I just saw Ryan in this video, where was Brent, Zach, Drew and Eddie, they could have fit them in somewhere.

I don't know about you but I'm feeling guilty now , I need to get off the computer more out start going outside and doing social stuff, I promise I'll start tomorrow.I swear.

Free! Iwatobi swim club

I've been watching Free! Iwatobi swim club and first of all I want to say that it isn't Yaoi, everyone one who hasn't seen it seems to think it's a gay anime and yeah I guess I can sort of see why.


Free! is about  4 of guys with girly names who used to be in a swimming club when they were very young which disbanded after their fourth team mate left for Australia, the other 3 boys are reunited at high school and create a new swimming club.
The boy who moved to Australia as a little boy came back to japan with a sour attitude towards his old friends and swims for a rival school, the anime follows the efforts of the team to earn school funding, find a new team mate, win tournaments and patch things up with their old friend.

I guess the reason why people think it's a Yaoi and the reason it gets so much hate (from male anime fans in particular) is because it is so fanservice-y. (I didn't  know what fanservice was until recently and it is literally when a tv show/ film/comic book/whatever gives the audience what they want, I.E characters stripping at every opportunity, cameos, up skirt shots and other things that aren't really necessary to the plot but will hopefully please the audience.)

Fanservice for girls is  pretty rare in the west of the world and is usually really subtle, like in the first fantastic four film where the invisible woman has to take her clothes off because they change with her but then because she hasn't got to grips with her powers she ends up being visible and naked on a crowded bridge and when the human torch burns his clothes off that is fanservice just it's not as obvious and in your face as in Japanese anime.

Lots of anime use fanservice and if you like fanservice I suggest anime's like one piece and fairytail, they cater for women  with ripped men who always seem to be flashing a six pack but the fanservice is more aimed at men with scantily dressed clad women with huge chests, a weird anime with a bit for fanserivce is Sankarea which is about a romance between a boy with a creepy zombie fetish and a girl who died and was reanimated, the plot it's self is weird anyway but it being a romance I thought it would be aimed at girls but there was some clear male orientated fan service, the male fanservice in Sankarea confused me and I guess most anime fanservice will be for men however Free! is cool in the fact that the fanservice seems to be geared more towards girls than it is the guys.

Free! is other than it's plot and characterization is the fanservice for women in the form of topless men and you could argue that because it's about swimming they are obviously going to be in swim suits but the fanservice is more than that, now I like the fanservice don't get me wrong but I think it over shadows everything else that makes it so good.

I really love the characters you have Nanase Haruka:
A quiet boy who is sort of the main protagonist and he seems to have some kind of weird relationship with water bordering on romantic so he will only go some where if he can swim or if going there improves his chances of swimming in the future and he will strip in the presence of water.
He is close to  Nagisa Hazuki and very close to Makoto Tachibana  but is on bad terms with Rin Matsouka and feels guilty about beating him in a swimming race in middle school.
 Everyone says that he swims beautifully and Nagisa describes him as a dolphin he also likes eating mackerel.

Makoto Tachibana:
He is also pretty shy and is very relaxed, he seems to be scared of things like ghosts and haunted houses, as a child he was close to an elderly fisherman who won him some goldfish at a fair, the man died in a typhoon whilst fishing so when the goldfish died he buried them and made them a grave.
He keeps Haruka in check (like stopping him from stripping at inappropriate times.) he seems to get on with everyone but like everyone else Rin is talking to him, like all the other club members he gets depicted as an animal and he is described as a killer whale.

Nagisa Hazuki:
Nagisa is the cutest, the new swimming club was his idea and he is responsible for recruiting their fourth member Rei, he seems closest to Rei and likes to tease the other characters like adding chan to the end of the boys names but he still gets on with everyone but Rin, he mentions rock hopper penguins lot and likes squid.

Rin Matsouka:
He could be seen as the antagonist, before middle school Rin was a happy confident boy but since studying is Australia he has become mean and insecure and really hates Haru despite the fact he desperately wants to race and swim with him, upon returning to Japan he started attending Samezuka academy (which is a boarding school with a really good swim team) he and his sister lost their dad in a typhoon whilst he was fishing.
He feels guilty that maybe if it weren't for him being born his dad could have become an Olympic swimming and might still be alive.
He has sharp teeth and is often described as a shark.

Rei Ryūgazaki:
He used to be on the track team pole vaulting but was kicked off for being to technical and not working hard enough on the physical side of the sport, he was recruited for the swim team by Nagisa, he couldn't swim to begin with and was reluctant to join because he didn't think it was a very beautiful sport until he saw Haru swimming.
He is closest to Nagisa and sometimes feels like a replacement for Rin because of the teams history with him, he manged to learn the butterfly stroke, I think he is depicted as a butterfly because the butterfly is the only stroke he can do, often mentions butterflies and he nearly brought a swimsuit with butterflies on it, this would fit with the other animals as he is a bit of a misfit not being an aquatic animal.

Gou Matsouka:
Gou is the sister of rin and has a boyish name (like the other memebers of the swim team who are all boys with girlish names), she desperately wants her old happier brother back and helps manage the Iwatobi swim team.
She is often swooning over the boys in their swim suits however all the boys either seem to be oblivious to it or choose to ignore it.
She prefers to be called Kou because it's meant to be a girly pronunciation of her name but most people just call her Gou, the samezuka swim team's captain has a crush on her. 


I really like the anime and I would completely recommend it if the fanservice doesn't bother you. (but lets be honest if your a male anime fan you can't really complain when girls have to put up with the overwhelming amount of boobage when watching anime.) The plot was really sweet and endearing and can't wait for season 2 (I think there'll be a season 2 any way.)


I think it's great to have some fanservice for girls and I can only hope for a season 2 or something similar because I really enjoyed it.