“Oh, come on… What kind of teen drama is this?”

guys. this is what haru’s face looks like when he thinks about his future.

also what it looks like when Rin gives him that look.

I’M SO DONE.

Story board translation!

I hear someone ordered up 10 of Haru’s best smiles. 

Video for the first of the new Free! Movies, out April 22nd in theaters in Japan this year! It’ll be a mix of old anime footage and new footage

yoi fandom: this is the gayest episode so fa―

next week episode:

T o u c h   T h e   H a i r 

 OK BUT GUYS I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HOW YUURI GOES FROM BEING A BLUSHING MESS BECAUSE OF A SIMPLE TOUCH, TO FULL ON “LET ME WASH YOUR HAIR”. 

THAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP BUILD UP I WANT TO SEE.

And i’ve said this before but in the beach sequence there’s no longer any type of boundaries when it comes to touching, their physical contact now is just another part of their relationship and this is huge because if we see the timeline of events, Yuuri and Victor WILL HAVE A WHOLE LOT MORE MOMENTS TOGETHER, EVEN AFTER THE GRAND COMPETITION. GOING TO FESTIVALS TOGETHER, EATING TOGETHER, DANCING IN THE BEACH, FOOLING AROUND, THEY’LL HAVE TIME FOR ALL OF THAT.

They are both facing the preassure of time, 23 and 27, one is being expected to retire soon, while the other thinks it might be time to do it, and we know “Figure skaters are only competitive for a short time…” But without even realizing it themselves, they will have time to think and face this future together, from this point on they’ll have to take decision thinking in the other and I couldn’t be happier.  

Even with the significant changes they did to HS!2 in Starting Days, this scene has a special meaning for me after SD. We’ve seen how much Haru missed Rin and how bitter he was because he left. Also, how reluctant he was to swim with another team and imagined Rin in Asahi’s place (AND how much it affected his swimming in that scene). But then, he somehow accepted this team after spending more time with them. And something that was really important was that his best friend, the one who was always there for him, said very precious words to him, too.

Anyways, even after all these events said above, Rin comes back and this happens (and not less important, he was the happiest, chattiest we’ve seen him… besides the Stage Directions for that part -which are in the same link than for the one for this post- are just so adorable!) and then as we know, Haru stops swimming. 

This is how much Rin means to Haru. And you know what’s what will always hit me the most? At this point, he had known Rin for just a couple of months. That’s it. That was enough to affect him in such way; to have such effect in him. And it was proven years later that it goes beyond feeling guilty, when the tables have turned and still, it was Haru who felt everything became dark and he didn’t care about anything at that point, about anything else.

He could have mope for a time and then gain strength with the help of what he learned with this other team or Makoto’s words (which were basically another “it’s meaningless without you”*); but no, he stopped swimming. For years. Without giving reasons to anyone (not even to Makoto who stopped swimming too? without knowing Haru’s reason, *even after how important his words were in SD). And then Rin came back again… and was the root again for him to gain that strenght along his friends (and just in case, I’ll repeat, since I said it before, that Haru’s the one who says in the last episode of ES, that thanks to what happened with Rin he could understand how his friends were feeling. He’s the one who felt he was saved too by making peace with Rin and is grateful to Rei because of this; this is the reason he gives Rei in S2E03 of why he can’t quit swimming when they think Rei was planning to do that).

So yeah, this is how much Rin means to Haru. Most important, here, it isn’t about swimming and races and all that because the first thing Haru feels is that if he doesn’t stop Rin now, he’ll never see him again.

On the Hair Touch in Episode Four

So that scene seems kinda random and I’ve seen some people confused by it so I just want to offer up my interpretation of it.

Overall I think the defining feature of Victor and Yuuri’s relationship is how natural it is. Watching them interact feels like watch two real people fall in love. The comforting touches, the way yuuri stares at victor at random moments, the way they’re comfortable with each in really tender and honest ways.

Love stories have a tendency to stick to the romantic, grandiose gestures. Emotions and actions are always big, but real love also reflects in tiny moments.

Yuuri touching Victors hair was light, silly, a throw away thing. I think the episode would have been fine without it but I was so delighted to see it cause I related to it so much. It’s the sort of dorky, weird thing people do in real life that’s so charming but left out in fiction. It shows how closely he stares at Victor. How he takes in all the small details and gets lost in them.

I took a storytelling class with Stephen Tobolowsky and he told us the brain is delighted by small moments of truth. I think that’s the essence of why relatability is so funny and why so many people adored that scene. It makes us connect to the couple in ways we wouldn’t it a standard hollywood romance.

Ugh I just love how lighthearted and healthy and natural this couple is. I’ve barely seen anything like it.

In addition, remember that Victor is a fair bit taller than Yuuri. This means that Yuuri has likely never seen the top of his head. Sure, it’s a weird thing to be intrigued by, but that’s what makes this moment so more special. It’s this fleeting glimpse of a part of Victor he’s never seen before! I mean, HE’S SEEN THE MAN’S DICK. But he’s never seen the little whorl on the top of his head!

It’s understandable that in that moment, met with this little piece of Victor that’s been hidden to him all this time, he just wants to touch it, to feel it, to recognize that it’s a real part of Victor. So he does, without thinking.

It really does feel like watching them fall in love in all these little ways, just like real people, and my heart does a little somersault every time I think about them.