Free! -Dive to the Future-

Episode 6

If you've been watching Free! -Dive to the Future- and have even once wanted to punch Hiyori in the face, that simply makes you human. Over the first five episodes, the show worked overtime to build up this bespectacled bishonen as a villain. That all turned around in “The Mermaid of the Abyss!” where we learn that Hiyori was a sympathetic, self-sacrificing friend this whole time. Rather than being too little too late, this powerful turnaround is just in time to show a different perspective on Hiyori and Ikuya's dysfunctional relationship. Unfortunately, this otherwise emotional story is slowed down by lots of necessary but tedious worldbuilding.

We've spent five episodes hating on Hiyori, and now it's time to humanize him. Hiyori is just as flawed and angsty as any Free! character, and as usual, the trauma originates from his childhood. I was surprised to learn that Hiyori and Ikuya met first in Japan and then coincidentally ended up in the same swimming pool in America (because the U.S. is just so tiny). Anyway, Ikuya is the first friend Hiyori ever had. I'd like to say he's also the last friend Hiyori will ever have because of his unpleasantly protective behavior, but this episode was nothing but sympathy-building for Haru and friends to eventually discover. This episode does a good job of showing the narrowness of Hiyori's world, with wide shots that show Hiyori as a child taking up just a small bit of space in the swimming pool. On a lighter note, we also learn that Hiyori loves sweets, a small touch that is supposed to make him seem cuter. It's working for me.

The most powerful discovery we make is that Ikuya is just as capable of being abrasive as Hiyori. “Hurt people hurt other people” is the name of the game, and just as Hiyori masks his own hurt by lashing out at Haru, Ikuya yells at Hiyori to conceal his own. Ikuya may love The Little Mermaid, but Hiyori sees himself playing that title role, while Ikuya is his prince. It was Hiyori, not Natsuya, who saved Ikuya from drowning. So if you're keeping track, both Haru and Hiyori have saved Ikuya at separate times—but Ikuya only knows about one of those rescues. For some reason, Hiyori doesn't want Ikuya to know this, and that's backfiring on him as Ikuya spirals ever more deeply into his obsession with Haru. “He's still on your mind that much?” Hiyori asks. Later, in a sexually suggestive pose on a playground slide, Hiyori pins Ikuya with his body and flat out asks him to forget about Haru. The possessiveness of Hiyori's body language is not lost on Ikuya, who finally snaps at this friend who always thinks he knows what's best for him. It's hard to imagine Ikuya would be so harsh if he knew all the details of Hiyori's self-sacrifice, and this dramatic irony is what makes Hiyori's story so effectively tragic.

Of course, Free! -Dive to the Future- has a massive cast and a lot of balls in the air, so we can't stick around with Hiyori and Ikuya's melodrama for too long. Instead we get a mix of discussions across three settings and multiple continents all about that scruffy cafeteria guy. Ryuuji is a food blogger (I thought this gag was great) and more importantly, he's a coach. Just like I predicted two weeks ago, he wants to train Haru to swim in more styles, and Haru, after several seasons, realizes he has no real reason behind his frequent insistence that he only swims freestyle. We need all this background to connect the story and stay in touch with our overwhelming cast, but it can't help but take screen time away from the stories with real emotional payoff. This show is going to be better as a marathon, but watching it week to week, it's too packed with exposition to be anything but sluggish.

Rating: B

Free! -Dive to the Future- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.