[speculation] why Sousuke may be necessary: because he isn’t rin
I briefly rambled about this last week, but I’m enjoying Sousuke so much that I wanted to organize my thoughts a bit better with all the imagery the 2nd episode provided.
But I’ll be sticking solely to the swimming department and not the character-dynamic one because I have a one-track Olympic/pro-swimming!Haru mind.
So! When you see this, one who doesn’t ship rinharu may think: oh, it’s the same, right?
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Wrong.
And I think Kyoani is deliberately establishing Sousuke and Haru’s ‘rivalry’ through similar visual means because it serves to both, show the similarities and highlight the vital differences at the same time.
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I may be jumping the gun in saying this, but given what has happened so far and what we know from HS!2, Sousuke seems to be necessary precisely because he isn’t Rin.
What I mean by that is that up to now, we know for a fact that Haru only gets truly fired up when it comes to racing Rin.
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It’s been that way from the get-go and leaving Rin’s personal effect on Haru aside, a good part of it is because - as Haru would put it - Rin feels the water.
The instant he realized who it was, he had snapped and something had erupted inside him. At the idea that there was someone in front of him who could feel the water more than he did, his body had grown hot. The heat had flowed all through him. He hadn’t even felt like trying to hold back. (x)
So for Haru, it’s not about timings, nor about the fact of winning. Haru simply doesn’t like to be beaten in the water, because he is the one who is supposed to understand it best.
It wasn’t that he wanted to win, or that he hated losing; it was just that he couldn’t simply accept that there was someone who could feel the water more than he could. (x)
And Rin himself brings attention to this fact in Episode 1:
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So that is part of what kicks Haru’s drive into motion - and as such, it isn't solely exclusive to Rin. And this is vital because if it were, there would be little chances of Haru going Olympic.
Alas - what is exclusive to Rin is that aside from being Haru’s 'best rival’:
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And I have no intention of losing, not even from here on
(Real Wave)
He is also his precious friend, someone who brings him joy. Someone who can “light a flame in Haru’s heart”.
The water with Rin in it doesn’t feel lonely.
It’s here that Haru realizes for the first time what he’s been feeling, this feeling that robs the water of life: loneliness. The water without Rin or Makoto feels lonely. (x)
The water with Rin in it, makes Haru feel the pull of hope.
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In the future, we will show that with our smiles I feel so260Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxIUyk5oZc
In the same water that we swim through now, something strong like absolute conviction260Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBxXKQOWLy
Conveys, more than dreams ever will, the pull of hope
Racing with Rin brings Haru both, the thrill of competition and emotional fulfillment - because he is not only getting fired up but sharing the water with someone who is very precious to him.
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By racing Rin, Haru gets the best of both worlds - and as such, I feel this keeps him from realizing the fact that he is getting enjoyment out of the thrill of the competition itself, too.
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Especially because not everyone can awaken this side of Haru.
It’s only in the turn, as he passes Shouta, that he even remembers he’s competing against someone. He doesn’t feel Shouta in the water at all and wonders what he’s thinking as he swims. It feels like he’s swimming against a doll, and as he touches the goal and Shouta slides in after him, they share a handshake across the coarse rope that is just as dead as their competition was. (x)
Enter Sousuke.
As he clasped hands with Sousuke, their energies flowed into one another, burning them to the core. They’d confirmed in this gesture that this was not an opponent either wanted to lose to. And that was why Haruka hadn’t wanted to shake hands in the first place. (x)
When Haru truly gets into swimming, he feels “like a mass of energy”, as Rin put it. That is what makes people’s skin tingle.
With about fifteen meters left, Haruka’s swimming changed. His stroke didn’t get faster, and he wasn’t putting more power into it. Even so, Rin could tell.
He could feel it. That intense drive, like a mass of energy. (x)
Sousuke felt it, too.
That swimming with you made his skin tingle. That’s the first time I’ve ever felt anything like that. (x)
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Haru does get fired up when competing with Sousuke. He doesn’t want to lose to him, either; and in HS!2, he even imagines Rin in Sousuke’s place.
Sousuke urges on Haruka, but there’s no need to. [can’t make out text] Everything is hot—his hands, his feet, his whole body burns red [more illegible text].
'He’s fast, right?’
Rin… (x)
And this is - where I feel - the big difference between their respective dynamics will play its role.
I have no clue of how the water feels with Sousuke in it - but episode 2 gave us really interesting imagery. Imagery that is a big, big contrast from “the sight” that Haru sees when he swims with Rin, or in relays with his friends.
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Leaving aside what implications that black-void might have when it comes to Sousuke and his perspective towards swimming, I personally took it as a representation of the fact that the water with Sousuke in it doesn’t feel the same way it does when Haru swims with Rin, or with Iwatobi.
In other words: I feel that Sousuke is capable of giving Haru the thrill of competition without the emotional reward.
And I believe that this separation between two things that - thanks to Rin - have become intrinsic in Haru’s mind, may allow Haru to realize that he has started to get enjoyment out of the challenge, too, and will hopefully lead him to make all this foreshadowing pay-off.
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Though all this is just my speculation, of course!
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