English Dub Review: Free! Dive to the Future “A Promise on a Shooting Star!”

My shooting star wish is that this plot speeds up soon!

Overview (Spoilers Below!)

While Haru and friends search for Ikuya (this is gonna take a while), we’re treated to a flashback to their middle school days. Although Haru is already excellent at freestyle, the Iwatobi Middle School Swim Club suffers a crushing defeat in a major competition. In order to improve at swimming, Asahi creates a summer boot camp for his friends; he plans a ludicrously rigorous schedule, failing to include any breaks. During a meteor shower, Haru finds Ikuya by the pool, and Ikuya confesses that he wants to learn to swim like Haru.

In the modern day, Haru, Makoto, and Asahi have a somewhat hostile first meeting with the other members of Ikuya’s swim team. Meanwhile, Rei and Nagisa discover that the speediest high school swimmers have a chance of attending a tournament in Tokyo—and possibly swimming against Haru.

Back in middle school, Ikuya almost drowns because he’s exhausted from constant swimming without breaks. He makes Haru promise to race against him next summer, and Haru agrees.

Watching Ikuya swim in the individual relay event, Haru, Makoto, and Asahi discover that Ikuya has improved massively at all strokes. A mysterious man approaches Haru and asks why he only swims freestyle. After his event, Ikuya’s friend Hiyori tries to bond with him, but Ikuya doesn’t seem interested in friendship.

Finally, Haru and Ikuya run into each other by chance. Ikuya says that he no longer swims relays because he doesn’t need other people, and Hiyori prevents Haru from any further interaction. The gang theorizes that Ikuya is angry at Haru for breaking his promise. Meanwhile, Ikuya’s older brother Natsuya arrives in Sydney (Will he meet Rin? Find out next week on Free! Dive to the Future!).

Our Take

This episode continued to deliver on gorgeous animation and fun hijinks—but the plot is moving a little slow for my taste. In a season that’s only 12 episodes, episode two probably shouldn’t still be focused on flashbacks and backstory. And the non-flashback part of this episode? A bunch of friends running around looking for another friend because they keep missing him even though he’s in the same building. It just… isn’t all that compelling a plotline.

The transitions between the middle school and college segments of this episode are a little confusing, and it always took me a moment to realize I’d jumped in time. And it’s jarring that the dub voices sound virtually the same in both sequences, despite the fact that they take place ten years apart. Middle school Ikuya has a rounder face and a fluffy, girlish haircut, so it’s pretty weird when Lee George’s clearly adult voice comes out of his mouth (but kudos to the animators for Ikuya’s beautiful hair).

I’m also still pretty worried about the volume of characters introduced in this season. There are so many different threads being set up here that I have a hard time following them all, let alone seeing how they’re all connected. The main story is about Haru rekindling his friendship with Ikuya, but there’s also Rei and Nagisa’s desire to swim with Haru again, Natsuya’s adventures in Sydney, Ikuya’s relationship with Hiyori, this mysterious man questioning Haru… and we certainly can’t forget about Rin and his new coach. Not to mention all the new characters that aren’t plot-relevant yet but threaten to become more important later (Ikuya’s swim team, the new Iwatobi swimmers, Haru’s new team). Somehow, this episode managed to make me simultaneously feel like the plot is moving too slowly and like there’s way too much going on.

There are some pretty funny moments in this episode, though, that stand out from the otherwise generic dialogue. I absolutely loved a reveal that the iconic season one ending “Splash Free!”—which featured visuals of the gang posing with a camel in dashing Arabian attire—was actually a recruitment video to attract new swimmers to the Iwatobi Swim Club. Romio’s desire to meet Chappy the Camel is so hilarious to me, and I really hope he gets to (and that we learn how high schoolers were able to shoot video with a live, literal camel?! amazing).

I also really like this episode’s focus on Ikuya’s obsession with improvement, how this drags him down both because he forgoes relationships with others and because he puts himself in danger by ignoring his body’s limits. We live in an era when teenagers are constantly pushed to do more, to achieve perfect grades and pursue multiple sports and look great on a college application above all else. I like that Ikuya’s arc seems like it’s going to be about the importance of rest and of pursuing healthy relationships with others, that success isn’t the only important thing in life. It makes Ikuya a nice foil to Haru, who also didn’t see the value in swimming with others at the beginning of Free!.

The relationship between these two looks like it’s going to become very important. From their passionate talk under the stars (in one shot, Ikuya leans in like he’s about to kiss Haru) to their emotional sunset meetup after all these years, Haru and Ikuya are set up almost like a pair of reuniting lovers. Certainly, it’ll give shippers something to chew on. Although I do hope this series doesn’t neglect Haru’s other relationships in favor of Ikuya, because I would hate for Makoto or Rin to get lost in the mix.

On an unrelated note, I’m super curious about what this stubbly man’s deal is. What is his stake in Haru? How does he know Haru only swims free? I’m intrigued.

Overall, this episode didn’t really tug on my heartstrings or make my pulse race. But it did succeed in making me want to see what happens next, so I can’t judge it too harshly.