FREE! -TIMELESS MEDLEY- THE BOND (劇場版 FREE! TIMELESS MEDLEY 絆) (2017)

Genre: Animation
Director: Eisaku Kawanami
Cast: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Tsubasa Yonaga, Daisuke Hirakawa, Mamoru Miyano
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films 
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 22 February 2018

Synopsis: In the last summer before graduation, Haruka Nanase (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki), a third-year student at Iwatobi High School, finds himself lost and uncertain about his future after graduation. An extraordinary freestyle swimmer, Haruka; however, deliberates from becoming a professional competitive swimmer, because it goes against his beliefs. Haruka sets his mind on swimming the relay at the Nationals for one final time with his teammates Makoto Tachibana (voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki), Nagisa Hazuki (voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga) and Rei Ryugazaki (voiced by Daisuke Hirakawa) of the Iwatobi Swim Club. His teammates notice a change in him, as he seems to have given up on individual freestyle swimming, which he loved. Makoto, especially, is worried about Haruka, but a misunderstanding arises between them, as they draw closer to the Nationals.

Movie Review:

Free! - Timeless Medley - The Bond is a Japanese sports anime movie, based on a light novel, High Speed. The Free! series started off with the television anime in 2013, grew its popularity and the second season was released in 2014. The third season is also in the pipeline, targeted for release this summer.

The sports anime category is quite a popular genre in Japan. Other than Free!, a few other anime series such as Kuroko’s Basket and Haikyuu!! are also well received. Unlike sports anime in the past like Slam Dunk, recent sports anime no longerly solely focus on the sports itself. While sports is still the threading theme, it is really more about the passion towards the sports and the relationship built over sports. That’s exactly the premise of the movie, Free! - Timeless Medley - The Bond.

For the uninitiated, it will probably surprise you to be caught in an audience that squeals at the appearance and ‘cute’ gestures of the well sculptured animated swimmers. That’s the popularity and fan following the series has gained, even in Singapore. While each of the characters from Iwatobi Swim Club has a distinct character and are nicely designed, the narrative for the movie lacks depth. Not only was it a clear ‘fan service’ session with many flashbacks and references to earlier Free! series, the secondary story arc was also a clear steer to give airtime to the second lead of the movie, Makoto.

The primary story arc talks about Haruka and his struggle to continuing swimming. He entered a phase of uncertainty and frustration, otherwise as growing up, as they enter the last year of high school (equivalent to our JC2 or Polytechnic Year 3). When made to think about the future, he doesn’t see himself swimming competitively as he never believes in swimming to win. Having realized Haruka’s struggles, Rin brought him on a spontaneous journey just days before the nationals to help Haruka re-discover his true passion and aspiration. What happens after is then fairly predictable…

While the interactions between the boys are indeed ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’, overall it felt cheesy and the excitement derived from the competitive sports was missing. Success of a sports anime these days is not only measured by how infectious the passion for the sports is, it’s also important to be entertaining. Comparing to animes in the same category like Haikyuu!! and Kuroko’s Basketball, Free! wasn’t as humouring. Even some parts in the movie felt awkward; for example, the English voiceovers (the accent for the setting was wrong and the voice acting felt unnatural).

All in all, Free! - Timeless Medley - The Bond doesn’t hit at the sweet spot. While the popularity of the series is backed by the animation awards and fans following, the movie is perhaps not the right starting point.

Movie Rating:

(Fans will love it! But for the rest of us, no loss in passing on it)

Review by Tho Shu Ling