Certainly the ending of “Free!” strongly implied there would be a second season; I just didn’t expect it to come so fast.

“Free! – Eternal Summer” continues/completes the saga of the Iwatobi Swim Club and the rivalry between them and Samezuka Academy and how they strive to prove who is the best, both individually and collectively, with the target of the Nationals well within their sight and grasp.

One thing that bothered me was the titles of the individual episodes, as they tethered it with swim terms. It’s just that it got corny to watch “The Butterfly of Farewell” or “The Crouching Start of Vindication”. Why not have “The Flip-turn of Despair”? This was one of two drag points. The other was fake problems that really weren’t problems, but everyone gets to sing an aria in this show, so you need something that causes them consternation. Oooh, oooh, I broke a nail!

When you grow up, you have problems. Things that you got used to have changed and they will not only continue to change, but once you have lost it, it never comes back. How can to adapt to those changes? How can you become and adult but retain your child-like excitement? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Look, I liked this show. I really enjoyed the first season and even the second season problems are not that overwhelming, just annoying, like when you get water in your ear and it won’t come out. It is nice to see them at least acknowledge that there are things more to life than swimming (although Haruka would argue that point against me, right?)

OK, again, I have problems with the fan service, as this is something for the ladies and I do not know how to properly evaluate it. I tried to ask a lady’s point of view, but the wife when “Ehhhhh………” and the daughter said there was something, but it did not appeal to her, as they had no nipples. Yeah, that was helpful….not.

Still, to see them passing the torch to the younger generation, while moving ahead with what they want to achieve in their personal lives makes for a nice, complete end to this series.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 7 (Fan service parts try too hard)
Plot 8 (Works even with the ‘problems’)
Pacing 8 (Good balance of things)
Effectiveness 7 (Still some drag points)
Conclusion 8 (At least, I think it really ends)
Fan Service 0 (Unable to correctly evaluate it)

Overall 7 (Some sappy moments)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. It’s up to you, now.