#and it makes haru strong. but he’s accepted that competitive swimming isn’t for him. and he quits happily

[skania]

The Final Stroke: Thoughts on Haru's conflict (+Rin)

Okay so reading all the summaries of The Final Stroke Part 1 has left me with A LOT of thoughts. About Haru, about Rin, about Rin & Haru and how all the different character conflicts will be tied together in Part 2.

BUT since I have been waiting YEARS for Free! to feed me some juicy Haru conflict, of course I'm sinking my teeth into that first because peeling off Haru's layers has always been my favorite Free! sport.

It's been a long while since I've tried to get into Haru's head AND I haven't even watched the movie yet so I'm probably wrong, but here goes nothing. As per usual, it will be long and image-heavy because I can't keep things short and sweet to save my life.

Also, it's heavy on spoilers about The Final Stroke so please do not read without reading Fencer's summary first!

AND since it's basically impossible to discuss Haru without discussing Rin and vice-versa, please do also expect a healthy dose of RinHaru.

Utsumi: Indeed; it’s a path Haruka never would have chosen himself. But despite claims that he doesn’t care about winning or losing or scoring certain times, he’s always been attentive to Rin’s presence. [x]

Please assume there's a huge "IMO" attached to this whole post.

In Season 1, we saw Haru struggle to understand that the reason for his emotional turmoil was quite simply that he wanted to swim with Rin again.

In Season 2, we saw Haru struggle because he wanted to follow Rin into the Pro world, but he felt like he didn't deserve to do so because he didn't have a dream and thus, no strong feelings about competitive swimming itself.

Needless to say, there's a pattern.

In Season 3, the series kind of took a detour. Still, it did plant some seeds, the most important IMO being the following:

"After I hit 20, I will be..."

"If you ask me what lies ahead of me, I..."

"You can't survive without throwing something away. I didn't want to throw anything away. But I lost."

"Maybe I don't deserve to compete at the global level."

Road to the World adds some extra layers to all that by showing us just what else is connected to that fear of Haru's.

Because, what do we see after Rin tells Haru that no matter what wall [Rin] faces, the one thing that doesn't change is his desire to keep swimming with [Haru]?

We see the moment Rin tells Haru "aim for the world with me, Haru!". Then, the moment Rin asks Haru what his dream is—right when Haru finally felt free after achieving the dream he had that season, that of swimming with Rin again. Lastly, we see the moment Rin asks Haru "what will you do?" when it comes to choosing between swimming in a recreational pool, or the one used by the National Team.

Every single one of these moments brought Haru closer to his dream—and Rin is the common factor in them all. So when Rin tells Haru,

It's obvious by those flashbacks alone what Haru's answer is. He, too, wants to keep swimming with Rin in that world.

But before the thought can fully form in Haru's mind, Albert flashes through it. We immediately see Haru's disposition change, and the result is the most telling of all.

Just like always, the imagery is on point. Rin and his desire to swim with him give Haru strength and purpose and Haru clenches his fist—but this time, Albert seeps that strength from him until his fist goes limp. And suddenly, Haru doesn't know what to say to Rin anymore.

Because, what Albert makes Haru wonder, is this:

From my limited perspective (like I said before, I haven't watched TFS yet), I think that might just be where the heart of Haru's issue in The Final Stroke lies.

I think a big part of why Haru wants to win against Albert so badly is probably because he wants to prove to himself that he does deserve to be in that world—like Rin. That all his friends are right to believe in him.

And he feels even more pressured because he thinks he's running out of time.

All this pressure to win—not to feel the water better or to be the best in the water he loves so much, but simply to win before he's "ordinary"—does not let Haru swim freely. He doesn’t swim like himself.

He is probably terrified of his own limits and of how close he might be to hitting them, and this fear and pressure are binding him.

Moreover, while Haru decided that he wanted to swim in that world, the truth is that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him.

He has no long-term, tangible plans. Unlike Rin, who wants to win a gold medal, Haru just wants to swim "in the whole world". This, added to the fact that he thinks he’ll be ordinary by 20 and that he has not managed to beat Albert, makes it so Haru is basically blinded to what the future can bring for him. He can’t see that sight.

Part of the reason for this, I feel, is that the series has never addressed the big elephant in the room.

What exactly does Haru get out of competitive swimming, besides swimming with Rin? Because "swimming in that world" is nice and sweet and idealistic, but it doesn't cover the fact of racing itself.

I used to talk a lot about why Haru needed to find a reason to enjoy competing even when it isn't against Rin. That he needed to find a reason to want that for himself. I even thought S3 may finally go for it, but it ended without Haru finding meaning in that "world of wins and losses", as he used to call it.

Usually, he’d look at Rin to point the way forward. And it is knowing that Rin (and to a lesser extent, Ikuya) is there fighting with him and aiming for the world as well that gives Haru some reassurance.

However, from what we know from the summaries, Haru isn’t thinking of them when he swims. He is entirely caught up on needing to beat Albert because of what it has come to represent to him.

There’s also the issue of Haru’s competitiveness. Haru spent a long time suppressing it and only indulging in it with Rin. But he has always wanted to be the best in the water—the one who "feels" it best.

It wasn’t that he wanted to win, or that he hated losing; it was just that he couldn’t simply accept that there was someone who could feel the water more than he could. (x)

So when you combine all of this, I feel like Haru has lost sight of the most important thing—that instead of swimming just to win, like it’s a job, he should swim to feel the water he loves so much and, most importantly, for the team (with his friend’s feelings in his heart).

That way, he could swim like himself and the water won’t be sad nor lonely.

This all sounds like a lot and it is. Haru is all but suffocating under this weight.

So, when Rin comes and tells him that [Haru] will be facing Albert alone—that they aren’t fighting him together, like Haru hoped for—Haru snaps.

It’s not only that what Haru perceives as the biggest obstacle to his dream (Albert) is standing before Haru (alone) and Rin won’t be there to share his struggles, but also that Rin is the reason he’s there in the first place because Rin is the one that made Haru stop wanting to be ordinary.

He’s the reason why he’s gotten to this point and the reason he came into the global stage and ran into Albert. He’s also the biggest thing Haru will lose if he can’t win against Albert—because if Haru’s dream ends, he won’t get to swim with Rin in that world anymore.

And now Rin’s walking away from swimming free and leaving him alone with this beast of a swimming machine and with [Haru’s] own limitations. And Haru feels trapped. He feels bitter. He feels betrayed. Terrified.

And, of course, lost. Because just like Rin once said, "Without you, I have nothing to aim for, you know?"

So, he snaps.

And by burning bridges with Rin, the very embodiment of "For the Team", the one person that he has always wanted to swim with most of all, the one whose feelings he was still connected to above all—by virtue of swimming together in that world, by sharing a dream—Haru now feels like he's truly alone in the water.

Haru is essentially turning his back on the very reason he swims for—in more ways than one. So, he’s becoming a second Albert. Only there to win, not to have fun.

Because that’s the thing. Haru says he’s doing it for his dream, but since he can’t see that dream clearly, he lacks direction. All he can see is the immediate future and all that stares back at him are his own limitations—embodied by Albert himself.

Albert represents, then, the road Haru must not take. Haru can’t be all about becoming stronger simply for the sake of winning—and he must definitely not do so alone. Like Ikuya said in S3, if Haru isn't gaining that strength for someone else (the team), there's no point.

So, since this is Free!, Haru needs to go back to his roots and truly swim for the team once again. But I feel like he also needs to re-contextualize his dream and truly define what it entails, for once and for all. Which, if we go by everything we've seen so far—should involve swimming with Rin.

Only then will he be able to swim freely again.

There's A LOT of foreshadowing and things from S3 that will most likely play a role in that and I haven't even touched Rin's choice to not swim free anymore, but this has gotten really long and I've run out of image slots lmao so I'll just have to ramble about those some other time 🙇‍♀️

#rinharu #harurin #nanase haruka #sharkbait #me: swimming idiots #the final stroke spoilers #skip this if you don't want any spoilers! #I am so sorry for this huge wall of ramblings but Haru is back to being fascinating and I'm loving every second of it #this post has a huge brain storming feel to it because it's basically while I wrote while trying to make sense of my thoughts on haru's #I may be 100% off though since visual cues are essential in getting haru and I haven't watched the movie #but making a fool of myself is part of the fun so speculating here I come lmao

[freeseafirefly]

A lot of thoughts are eating at my brain... The Final Stroke RH spoilers!

Wondering about the possible resolution of the RH fight, i can't help but think we are being led the "adults must make rational decisions and it's ok" route, where at the end it's Haru who will have to accept Rin's choice and at the same time find his own motivation to swim that isn't Rin (or at least, isn't swimming with Rin on the same event.) It is too sad to think about, because competing in free has always been the most RH thing, they originate from it, that incomparable fire only they could ignite in each other has always been the essence of their relationship, and to accept that they can't have it anymore? Rin says it wasn't an easy decision, Haru denies "you always decides things lightly" and accuses him in running away, in choosing the easier option since there is no Albert in fly. They both are right and wrong in their selfishness in their own way, and for Rin this decision is indeed rational--going for a more realistic way to secure his position in the pro world, but. Rational adult decisions often mean giving up on something bigger, like your dream and passion. And ironically, it's not Haru who follows Azuma's advice to sacrifice smth first, it is Rin. Following Mikhail's advice. Which turns out to be the same, and that was really unexpected, given how he seemed to oppose Azuma's ideas. But in the essense, Rin's decision to sacrifice free, to sacrifice them in order to become stronger, is the same "you can't win if you don't throw something away." Only Rin believes that " them " means them both swimming as pro, swimming for the National team, sharing the dream and the future in a larger sense, whereas for Haru...it's not enough. He feels betrayed and abandoned again. His outbreak just confirms that this is how he felt all the previous times, suppressing his feelings either for being scared of them or believing that Rin must be free. (Continue under the cut)

So, the ultimate question, will Rin's decision be proved right or wrong? Because on the other side of rationality, there is the heart and soul of the sport, and what can RH do if they ARE the embodiment of that for each other? Is it their weakness or their strength? This codependency. Probably both. Quoting Rin, "our relationship can't be sumed up in such simple terms", and indeed, they as much motivated each other along the way as they caused each other's setbacks, with so many strong emotions tangled up that one indeed might think it'd be healthier for them to try and find a way in pro that isn't as dependent of each other. "If you're not there, swimming ahead of me, i have nothing to aim at" by Rin always kind of hinted at that, that they would have to address it at some point, and although Haru didn't explicitly stated it, it had always been the same for him. Competitive swimming always meant Rin for him, he couldn't do it without him on his mind, as his guiding light even when they were apart. So, i LOVE the new movie for actually going there and digging right into the core of RH conflict instead of inventing some artificial challenge. Gosh, i even wrote about the same thing in my RH fanfiction (my native language one), posing the same question--is their codependency their strength or their weekness? Being that guiding light for each other, how can they evolve or regress when they're forced to? Rin fails to qualify there as well, it even has the similar angsting in the shower scene, that's also why I'm wheezing because who knew they would actually go there?? I also like how this problem is addressed in In pursuit of Olympic dreams by ladyzeia, but fics have the privilege of bringing their relationship on a different level while i doubt the canon will dare go that way.

Ok, back to the point. Even though rational and mature, I strongly dislike the idea of Rin throwing free away, for a few reasons. It will mean the RinHaru as we know and love them will be destroyed. And i can't even call it evolution (not unless KA somehow manages to do it in a veeery convincing way that won't leave me any doubts that they are happy like that.) Their unique, inspiring and precious relationship getting dismissed as something immature, something they must grow out of, i just can't stand this thought. But then again, i can't help but think about MakoHaru situation from S2, where they had to separate and go different ways as a part of a natural growing up process, and Haru took it bad at first as well. Yet there and then, it felt right, their future paths had to be different, after all, and they had to take a step on their own. I can't tell if it is the same with RinHaru now. I need to actually see the movie, to feel it, it's hard to choose the side rn.

I also hate the idea of Rin giving up on free because i hate when Rin gives up. Like, since S1. (Maybe only Haru hates it more lol.) I get that he isn't a genius of Haru level, yet he's pretty damn good, and their close times speak for themselves.

So, what i think could be a compromise solution is Rin focusing on fly for the next tournament, grabbing that sponsor contract, while in the meantime Haru goes through the process of finding his own motivation, and not the desperate one "I'm scared of losing i must beat Albert before i turn 20", but a positive one, something to do with loving the competition, reconnecting with water and the nakama spirit to complete it all, maybe digging up that time capsule which probably contains those recorded messages from the beginning scene? So, what i mean is a temporary separation to figure things out, and then reunion. Rin picking up free again once he's more confident in where he stands. Haru enjoying what he does, free of his fears and assured he won't break even if he's alone. And then...no longer being alone. Please, KA. This boy has suffered enough. Let him have his Rin at last, in whatever way they both want it. Please.

So, what do you guys think? Is Haru being selfish here, kinda pulling the S1!Rin's "you must swim for me!", or is it Rin who's wrong, cutting away something that inspired him so much and connected them together? Could he do both strokes and succeed, say, if he actually swam with Haru on one team, every day, drawing out each other's full potential? And if he sticks to his decision, after all, what should they do to save their bond? Will swimming relay together be enough?

We still have that S2 ending scene with them both competing in Rome in the same event, in the adjacent lanes, though. Unless they retcon it, or unless Haru swims fly, it is them swimming free together in the future.

#free! the final stroke #fs spoiler #SPOILERS #rinharu #harurin #free! #sea rants