If Final Stroke part 1 was rinharu angst, i bet Final Stroke part 2 will be makoharu angst.
You guys have seen the animedia cover right?
If rin helped haru in s2, it might be makoto's turn in the second movie.
Well, I'm fine with it. I like both anyways.
And tho I'm late with the fandom's discussion about the movie, and even tho i haven't seen it yet myself, i'll still put out mine *with a sprinkle of memes (it's more of an overall analysis tho, accuracy not guaranteed)---
• The spoilers point out that haru had another breakdown, wanting to get stronger and faster. In my opinion, it's because haru has only started to learn things the hard way. Come to think of it, he only began to care about his swimming during their nationals back in high school. And he still isn't used to being bested by someone else. Unlike rin who has better knowledge and experience (by haru in freestyle and sousuke in butterfly), haru has no idea how to handle getting worked up when competing against someone, he's not used to it.
• Haru has another hidden matra. Besides that mantra about being a normal person at 20, he got a hidden one: 'Never depend on others'. Yes, he doesn't say it himself but when you have watched the series several times enough, then you know that haru is quite independent in almost everything; whether at home or school. And more importantly, if you have read the High Speed light novels (if you haven't, i suggest you do so cuz why not), little haru doesn't like the idea of depending on others and was even pissed when he questioned himself if he was just being dependent on water. The only notable time he openly asked for help is when he asked coach azuma to help him with the IM race against ikuya. For the most time, he was being aided by makoto's keen (motherly-like) observation skills (although haru is also keen in his own way).
• Makoto-Haru-Rin assessment: haru lacks openness, makoto lacks initiative and rin can be impulsive sometimes. Wait, hold up! please put down your pitchforks if you have any. I'll explain it (it's connected with the previous bullet) *Ahemm, so, what i meant by that is, haru tends to keep everything to himself and doesn't feel the need to drag others into his business and rarely openly preaches his feelings, he usually does this if the other one does the talking first. Haru didn't talk about his meeting with rin back in junior high with others, not even with makoto. He kept his plans for the future on hold just because he doesn't want to be bothered by it. Even when pressure kept on bugging him, he never spoke about it with anyone. And what did it did to him? He ends up snapping at others.
Next is makoto. Yes, he got motherly instincts that makes him take action as what he thinks he should. We know that he has a good grip on haru. Still, there are times that makoto tends to give haru too much space. It's true that he was the one who called rin and told him about haru when they had a fight in s2. But he respects haru's privacy too much that he never asked what was up when haru suddenly decided to quit during high school. There's a good chance that haru would have told everything if only makoto pressed on it. Makoto has the right to know. And what's more, after the friendly competition against albert, makoto was able to hold on for two good weeks without checking on haru. If rin hadn't dragged him to visit haru, who knows until when would makoto stay still. Third blow on makoto: according to movie spoilers, he let the serious talk with haru be cut off just because he was reminded that he had some business with his twin siblings. Come on, i know keeping your word with your family is important but can't he at least be more aggressive when it comes to haru just like what he did in s2? And i think he's already spoiled the twins enough. He could have spared at least ten more minutes with haru. He has the right to question and speak to haru because, again, he has the right to know.
Now, let's have rin. This guy is prone to confronting others with physicality. Gosh, i salute ai for being able to put up with rin in s1. Remember? He tried to punch haru back in s1. He also has this habit of grabbing others by the collar (rei, sousuke) or their swimming goggles (haru). And if makoto lacks initiative, rin is the opposite who tends to be pushy and impulsive sometimes. Transferring to iwatobi, studying in australia, suddenly joining samezuka relay (as surprise counterattack after seeing iwatobi relay), bringing haru to australia, and quitting freestyle. He triggered haru's switch once in s2 by taunting about future plans so why did he had to do it again in the movie? They are not even halfway through college yet but rin was already rushing haru to come up with a decision about his next step. Not only that, rin shouldn't have brought down the blow on haru so suddenly, saying he'd quit freestyle. He should have known by now not to give haru sudden triggers (somehow i feel this is some sort of karma on haru for suddenly quiting during junior high).
• Another separate bullet for haru (because he's the mc). Haru can be indifferent and passive. I remembered that some fans speculate that haru has autism. I think that if it was true, then it's possible to connect it to this. Well anyways, haru is not the most sociable kid around, ever since High Speed light novel. And i was pissed off with his attitude towards nagisa in the second volume (yea just because he's already in junior high). Too bad, the movie version made haru more amiable. Of course, haru can act out of concern like what he did for makoto, nagisa and rei. He can help. But it doesn't change the fact that somethimes he thinks that concerning himself with others' business is such a drag. And when haru wants to make them stay or confront them, it ends up messy because he's not used to 'talking things out with them'. Haru is used to makoto being around him he ended up snapping. Not only because makoto will be away, but also because makoto went ahead of him in coming up with a decision. Let's just say that during that time, he had 'no sense of emergency' (sorry for the term hehe), he put the serious matter on hold. And of course, haru is used to rin giving him the push he needs. He realized his dream with the help of rin. His competitiveness is always driven by rin. No wonder that rin's decision to quit freestyle was a shot to the heart for haru. It's obvious that haru wants to take on albert together with rin. Haru should have been more open about it.
• Of course, let's add sousuke. Actually, i like sousuke's character development. My concern is that his surgery and recovery was covered way too briefly. And more than that, the build-up of dynamic between him and natsuya feels very unnatural. I know people of the same interest are bound to intersect in some way but it feels off that sousuke and natsuya immediately became familiar with each other. They could have at least dug the events from high speed. Like natsuya could at least point out that he remember sousuke as someone who had "temporary issues" with haru (this is more detailed in the light novel). Actually, instead of concentrating sousuke's interaction with natsuya, it would have been better that the focus was on him and rin. Like sousuke suddenly bringing up to rin that he is thankful that rin is not repeating what he did (when he cut off the correspondence back then) and that their connection and support towards each other are growing strong. It would be nice to see how sousuke is as rin's mental support (i consider sourin as the "bros of the bros" tandem)
• The ikurin pair. Yeah finally more interaction between these two. Still, i personally think that ikurin pair would have been portrayed better if not for the s3's awful pacing. If only they had compressed ikuya and haru's conflict into 3 episodes instead of 8, then perhaps ikuya would look less dramatic. More on, ikuya and rin would have met in s3 instead of Road to World movie. And a bigger chance for ikuya to be enlightened why haru quit back then. Imagine, what would ikuya do after learning about it. Because i find it off that ikuya only minded that haru quit the club and that even after they have reunited, it's still not known to him. Well, plot and characters felt less natural ever since s3 so... Anyways, ikuya and rin. They are similar when it comes to having fixation towards haru. But how they handle their conflicts with haru are so far apart. Rin acted like a badass, was a grump, and always ready to punch others. But nevertheless, despite his temper during s1, whenever he would calm down and think things over, he can respond properly to others. Just like with Ai and Rei. Ikuya on the other hand, he acted calm and cold. And whenever Hiyori confronts him about Haru, Ikuya just brushes it off until he finally snapped during that slide scene (which i enjoyed despite being 100% bait and 0% plot). He was too obsessed with haru and shrugged hiyori. He didn't even bother to at least explain properly like a mature athlete. Hiyori was so misunderstood but many don't see that ikuya doesn't treat his friend better. Makes me think that High Speed Ikuya is better than anime Ikuya.
• Our precious iwatobi and samezuka kids. Oh good grief, i've barely read anything about them in the spoilers. They were quite neglected (seriously, s3 started it). If in s2 haru and other's future plans were the main focus, how come the youngsters don't get the spotlight they deserve? Season 3 got 12 + 1 episodes, they could at least have 2 good episodes to focus on what Nagisa, Rei, Gou, and Ai are planning for their future. It would have been good if it was included that they have been scouted. Like ai and nagisa being scouted by shimogami while rei gets scouted by hidaka, gou decides to take similar career to makoto; she can also become a sports nutritionist (the proper way lol). Also, since ai and mikhail are relatives, it would have been interesting if it was revealed that ai persuaded his uncle to coach rin (because ai got ai for rin and would do what he can to give support). And sweet momo-kun would be expected to become the next captain (being captain runs in the blood) and have realization that he needs to be more serious in holding the team. I wish the new iwatobi and samezuka relay team were also given more appreciation. By the way, s3's ending theme was so misleading that i thought nagisa and nao would actually meet. I've never seen something more misleading. They could've at least let them meet during the time when makoto brought over the iwatobi kids at the swim club for practice. Imagine nao answering to nagisa's hyper questions. *sigh~ i feel bad for my kids. They deserved better.
• Then we have our candy boys kisumi and asahi. Kisumi needs more appreciation. I've read somewhere that he should be given some focus too (which i agree to). Like exploring about his basketball club, the others supporting kisumi and cheering him up during a game. He plays such an important role in connecting the others. It's even amazing that he and asahi have maintained connection somehow even after asahi moved out back in junior high. The hint to that is the TYM where the two of them had a phone call. And when it comes to asahi, it would have been good to see a deeper aspect of him. I wish they connected asahi and rin too. I mean it's actually canon, in a way (their dads were buddies). Anyways, asakisu pair is part of the refreshing pairs alongside nagirei. Come to think of it, asahi and kisumi are flexible when it comes to pairings (kisurin, kisuke, asaiku, asarei).
• Of course, the other characters too. The drama cds were such a blessing since they show more of other characters like teacher ama and coach sasabe. But still, i wish we saw more of them too. Imagine teacher ama's previous profession being revealed to the kids or having a flashback of coach sasabe's high school days (though there's little info on this one). Or better yet, let coach Goro and coach Azuma meet, since they are both iwatobi hs alumni. Another wishful thinking for me is to see coach mikhail and ai together (mikhail could've attended the nationals at least to support ai). And a bonus: a meeting between coach mikhail and gou (and have muscle talk all day long). The "vilains" or should i say "powerful rivals" were better off either removed from s3 or introduced early on. I'm not saying they are not necessary, but the plot line would have had a better flow if they have Kinjou for s3 and move Albert to a later timeline. *sigh~ makes me think that s3 should have neen 16 eps instead of 12 (13 if you include the ep 0)
