Free -Dive to the Future- Episode 6 Review: The Mermaid of the Abyss

After showing the absolute worst of Hiyori, the powers that be decided that perhaps he needed an entire episode dedicated to fleshing out his character a bit more… Yay? Fans of Hiyori rejoice, as we got some much-needed character development. For everyone else, it’s gonna be a long episode…

Plot

This week we get to spend a bit of time learning about Hiyori and Ikuya’s history by delving into their time in America. Meanwhile, Haru contemplates the reason he only swims freestyle, and an unlikely individual helps him discover the answer to a question he didn’t know he needed answering. Oh, and Ikuya and Hiyori have a fight…

Episode Highlights

From the Mouths of Babes: Ever notice that children have the uncanny ability to see straight through all your BS and hit you right where it hurts? Or maybe you’ve experienced the clear-headed brutal honesty of a 10-year old that’s just told you that you made a mistake… Well, Haru and Makoto get a taste of this when they get schooled by one of Makoto’s students. Haru has been struggling to understand why he only swims Free, so when he and Makoto mention it during one of Makoto’s coaching practices, one of his students suggests that perhaps Haru should try a different swimming style. You can actually see the moment when Makoto and Haru’s minds are blown… it’s priceless.

Are we sure this isn’t BL?: Hiyori and Ikuya’s fight is a bit more emotionally charged than what you’d expect from two friends having a disagreement. In fact, their fight seems to be riddled with sexual tension to the point that it feels more like a lover’s spat… I’m just saying, leave it to Free! to take the subtext to the next level!

Themes & Trivia

The Little Mermaid: Ikuya mentions that his favorite story is The Little Mermaid when talking with Hiyori after his accident. ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a Danish fairytale by author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a young mermaid that is willing to give up her life in the sea to live on land with the prince that she loves. Unfortunately, the original fairytale does not have a happy ending, as the mermaid fails to earn the prince’s love at the end of the story. There are a few parallels between the story and the relationship between Hiyori and Ikuya…

Tanuki Soba: Soba is a Japanese dish that consists of thin buckwheat noodles. It can be eaten hot or cold, with broth and without. In the episode, there is mention of Tanuki Soba, a form of hot soba which is served as a soup and topped with either tenkasu (bits of deep-fried tempura batter) or aburaage (deep-fried tofu).

Comments

Right, so, I’ve said this before, but I suppose I should probably say it again: I don’t care for Hiyori all that much. Imagine my surprise when I realized this week’s episode was all about the character I love to hate!! They really went out of their way to get me to sympathize with Hiyori… and it worked! *sigh*

I really liked the parallels between The Little Mermaid and Hiyori and Ikuya’s relationship. I am a sucker for stuff like this, hell I was drawing them myself a few episodes back. Ikuya is the oblivious Prince, Hiyori is the Little Mermaid, and Haru is the Princess that the Prince falls in love with… it’s perfect… almost too perfect because they practically force feed you every single detail to the point that you’d have to be blind to miss all the parallels! I kept waiting for the characters to turn and look at the screen and say, ‘hey, did you get that allusion to The Little Mermaid?; I promise fans of Free! are not that dense…

The Drama Continues

This week’s episode was rather amusing, because in traditional Free! fashion, they turn the angst and drama up to eleven! I mean, come on, it’s like watching a soap opera; each and every character interaction is just dripping with heaping amounts of drama. It’s a wonder they don’t choke on all the tension. So, I suppose if you like over-the-top character drama and hamfisted allusions to popular fairytales, then this week’s episode is a slam dunk. But, for everyone else… It’s just another drama-filled episode of Free!

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: Solitary Medley