free! dtf ep 03 thoughts of the RH kind
You know, I was just thinking to myself - man is Rin’s personality toned down in Australia, when:
Ah, there he is! Of course, he would get fired up like this when Haru’s involved.
But Rin, my darling. Your bias is showing. Since when is Haru the only guy in Iwatobi?! lol
I have to say that to be honest, I thought the first 15/20 mins of the episode were lacking heart. But it pulled through in the end and there were quite a few tidbits I liked a lot, especially in the RinHaru front as per usual lol
Rin’s expressions of this episode were the gift that kept on giving. In particular, his face whenever Natsuya mentioned that Haru quit swimming hurt my heart in all the right ways.
I’m wondering if all this means that even Rin will end up feeling guilty about Ikuya’s current state, something that - while unwarranted - would tie him even closer to Haru’s storyline with Ikuya. Especially since we have this gem right here:
He already is in more ways than one, IMO. While Ikuya’s been looking at Haru, Haru’s been looking at Rin all along. What Haru represented to Ikuya, Rin represented to Haru.
The previous episode made all that pretty clear, but it’d be really nice to see all this actually explored and even stated somewhere down the line.
Because now we have this:
Obviously, just like Rin showed, you can wish to swim with more than one person. It’s what makes loving swimming so precious.
But what this comes to show I feel, is that there will always be that one person that fires you up and inspires you more than others. The one person you want to swim with most of all.
And Haru and Rin are that for each other. We saw it in the first season, we saw it in the second. We saw it in the movie.
And so far in the third season, we saw it in the first episode when both sought each other - expected to find the other by their side.
And now, in this beautiful exchange right here:
(Notice the great fisted hands of determination)
The beauty of a shared dream, everyone. Every effort they put in, every race they swim in, every meter they run just brings them closer to their goal and to each other. And I think that’s beautiful.
Which doesn’t mean I wasn’t frustrated when Rin - as expected - decided not to call lol
Of course, Yokotani will keep their communication to a minimum because it’s convenient for the drama to keep going. Of course.
(The icon though. Who chose it? Was it Rin? Was it Haru who specifically put that as the icon for his own contact?? Either way, this is too precious).
Also, I laughed at this because this is the second time Rin has had someone tease him with a romantic implication about Haru.
First was Sousuke’s with his “I can see why you’re in love with him/are so taken with him”, and now is Natsuya who only had to listen to Rin talk for five minutes to tease him like this lol
OH AND RIN’S EXPRESSION HERE. RUSSEL HOTEL HOW I MISSED THEE.
OH AND THIS ONE.
Sobs he’s so healed now that he can even laugh about that traumatic experience. I’m so happy for him.
Other tidbits that caught my eye:
- Ikuya on his own doesn’t really interest me yet and I have already said all my thoughts (so far) when it comes to him as a mirror for Haru, so I won’t even touch the imagery of Ikuya’s dream and all the comments throughout the episode.
- The rhythm of new sensation is the title of the track Rin was listening to. Is it a new track? Did it already play in the movies? If it’s the latter, I’d be curious as to which scenes it played.
- I’m super happy that Rin’s got a coach that people bend themselves over backward for. The fact that he’s pretty much male Gou is just the cherry on top lol
- Haru came in second in the 200m Freestyle race. Was it because he wasn’t in top form? In either case, it means there’s at least one guy that’s better than him in there, which is great.
- Seeing those girls stretching at Ikuya’s school/pool was like a breath of fresh air. Bless.
- I spent 99% of Hiyori’s screen-time wishing he would just shut up. That said, I am intrigued by this communication/Update Diary On Ikuya he’s keeping up for Natsuya, though.
- Pleasantly surprised by the fact that Sousuke and Makoto got close enough for Makoto to confide in him like this! It’s already way better than we got last season in terms of Samezuka / Iwatobi interaction, so please do keep it coming. I’m also expecting this to play a role in the sense that Sousuke may have some info to feed Rin later lol
