Free! – Dive to the Future- Episode 4 Review: Interference of Loss

This week’s episode turned the Ikuya drama up to eleven and the kid was barely even in the episode at all! I’m not gonna lie, I’m getting much more invested in this series as time goes by… what can I say, Free! Fever is contagious! So let’s dive into this week’s drama-filled episode, Interference of Loss.

Plot

After going to see Ikuya, Haru, Asahi, and Makoto run into Hiyori, words are exchanged and Hiyori and Makoto agree to race for the chance to meet Ikuya and apologize for past mistakes.

Episode Highlights

Art Shift: At the start of the episode, there’s a bit of narration courtesy of Ikuya about the book The Little Mermaid and the art style during the sequence mirrors that of the book Ikuya is reading. Rather than the stylized appearance of the anime, this segment looks much more like something out of a fantasy novel.

Hiyori the Cockblock: I said this before, but, the lengths Hiyori goes to to keep Haru and Co. from meeting Ikuya is above and beyond that of a normal friend. His fanatical desire to keep Ikuya away from Haru is more in line with that of a new lover afraid that his boo is about to be snatched up by an ex that randomly popped up out of nowhere. I’m not saying Hiyori feels that way about Ikuya or anything like that… I’m just saying… there are a lot of similarities…

Lighting: I also want to draw attention to the lighting in some of the shots, particularly the outdoor shots: they get the balance between light and shadow down perfectly. Especially in the scenes where Hiyori and the pool posse meet up, for some reason they always seem to run into him around mid-afternoon/early evening, so the sun is low in the sky and everything has this light orange hue… and the light is usually right behind Hiyori, so that he appears to be slightly shrouded in shadow. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but, it almost seems like a reflection of Hiyori’s characterization.

Themes & Trivia

Mermaids: The episode starts with Ikuya reading a book about mermaids. Mermaids are mythical creatures said to have the face and torso of a human being while their lower half resembles that of a fish. There are several myths surrounding mermaids, with some making them out to be saviors of lost sailors and protectors of the sea, while other myths, portray them as terrors that lead sailors astray or cause them to crash their ships on rocky shores with their ethereal singing.

Archerfish of Naruto: This is the third time the series has referenced this, so it’s finally time that I make a note of it in my reviews. In the Free! franchise, most of the characters are likened to a specific aquatic animal… a spirit animal if you will, that usually appears during an intense swimming montage or an emotionally charged moment. Well, this time around we add Terashima as the list of characters with a fishy alter ego, his fish counterpart is the Archerfish, with his full title being the ‘Archerfish of Naruto’. This is funny on two levels, the first being that the archerfish is known for using a specialized technique to take down prey: it shoots water droplets from its mouth which it uses to trap its prey. Archerfish prefer live prey and are difficult to feed in captivity. In addition to their unique feeding style, the anime Naruto has a water-based ninjutsu technique name after the animal, in which users shoot a short jet of water at their opponents.

Comments

I, a self-proclaimed megane lover, am not a fan of Hiyori. I’m sorry, he just pisses me off every single time he’s on screen and I just wish he’d bugger off somewhere so Haru and the rest of the Pool Posse could just meet Ikuya and apologize…. But it’s only episode four and they have to drag out the angsty Free! drama for another eight episodes, so he’s gonna be sticking around.

I liked that we got to see a bit of Rei and Nagisa, albeit, very briefly… like, blink and you’d miss ‘em kind of cameo shots. But, I suppose, a little Rei is better than no Rei…

Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about Ikuya right now, I don’t hate him like I did Rin or Sousuke in seasons 1 and 2 respectively, but, I don’t necessarily like him either. I’m just not completely sold on him as a character yet, which is a shame, because, 99.9999999999% of the drama in this season revolves around him and I don’t think we’ve spent enough time with him for me to really care all that much about his say in the matter. If anything the only reason I’m invested in the drama at all is that of Haru and how everything with Ikuya is affecting him. I know Haru, I DON’T know Ikuya.

Swimming in the Deep

This week’s episode rehashed a lot of the same plot elements from previous seasons of Free! courtesy of the Ikuya/Haru drama. I appreciated seeing Makoto step up a bit and take the lead partway through the episode, but, ultimately, I find myself longing for time with the other characters in the Free! Pantheon… (Rin/Natsuya spinoff anyone?) Overall, the episode didn’t wow me, but, it wasn’t a complete flop either… it was just kind of meh.

I’ll be back next week with another Free! Dive to the Future review, but in the meantime, be sure to check out MANGA.TOKYO’s other amazing Summer 2018 reviews!!

NEXT TIME: An Ominous Workout