"Free!" Reverses Anime Tropes With Shirtless Glory

The Free! opening title

After a 30 second teaser clip was released as a “fake anime” and Tumblr went wild over what we dubbed the “swimming anime,” we were shocked/pleased/enthralled to realize that it would become a fully-fledged series – “Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.”

Three episodes in, and the series has successfully delivered on its promise of much shirtless fan service and homoerotic subtext. Put those two together and you have an instant hit with fangirls.

Now, anime almost always contains fan service that caters to the heteronormative Male Gaze. The worst example of this is High School of the Dead, which I deplore. How many countless times have we endured those unrealistic jiggly anime boobs or unnecessary panty shots or almost tentacle rape (I’m looking at you, Sword Art Online)?

Free!, however, takes those expectations of what anime should include and flips them on their head. Instead, we receive almost unrealistically muscular young men, one of whom seems to strip at the mention of water. The camera panders to the female/gay gaze, and it’s wonderful, especially considering that Kyoto Animation, a company renowned for cutesy girl anime such as K-On! and Lucky Star, is putting its massive resources behind it.

Free! promotional image

Before people act offended and says, “That’s disgusting, that shouldn’t be in anime,” or “Oversexualizing guys in the swimming anime is gross and fetishy,” they should consider how often this is done to females in anime, and how it must feel for the female watcher to deal with unrealistically proportioned women being manipulated on screen anime after anime after anime. It’s refreshing to see an anime actually cater to the Female Gaze and do it well.

Free! does have a plot though, one that is actually well-written. Free! concerns five high school boys – Haruka Nanase, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, Rei Ryugazaki, and Rin Matsuoka – and their love of swimming and attempts to start a competitive swimming club. There are underlying motivations, rivalries, and challenges to overcome, however, and other side characters such as Rin’s sister, Kou, who come into the mix as well.

It really isn’t a lie when I say I watch for the plot (too).

Sure, it may not be the best anime I’ve ever watched, or even the best anime of the 2013 season (that title goes to Attack on Titan) but Free! entertains and challenges anime tropes all while dealing out a great dosage of humor, and just happens to include a cast of extremely sexy shirtless strip-happy men and a hilariously catching ending sequence. (Seriously, if you take anything away from this article, take that video.)

What’s not to adore?