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Fight me, Haru!! ♥♥ – a love letter to Nozmo's Harurin comics

(full original)

As I mentioned before, I am going to hold out on actually commenting or analyzing S2 of Free! until the season finishes. Still, I wouldn't be me if I didn't take out the time to analyze something; the other day I jokingly told Nozmo / junjouprince that I should just do a simple lit interpretation of her Harurin comics in the meantime, and somehow that thought stuck with me.

Why not?

I mean, hell, why bother getting an MA if you can't put those skills into use with something you love? Because that's exactly what Nozmo's comics are to me: something that I love because they never fail to make me appreciate the original series even more. And I feel like every once in a while, each artist deserves to be recognized with more than just a press of the Like button; the time Nozmo has taken out to create these things should never be taken for granted, and through this extended love letter I hope to convey just how much I respect the love and enthusiasm she has put into wanting to share them with us.

So. I will discuss both the depictions of younger Rin and Haruka as well as older Rin and Haruka, including characterization and recurring themes between narrative and visuals. My purpose is to illustrate how beautifully Nozmo uses nuance and visual effect to flesh out Rin and Haruka's relationship, in a way that never overwhelms the original but adds to it instead. My argument is that through the use of stylistic shifts and self-awareness, Nozmo manages to tell multiple narratives in one, particularly celebrating Rin's personality. At the root of it all, two things distinguish these comics from anything I have read before: humour and intimacy.

Don't expect straight up critical deconstruction, son. Here's literally some 3000 words of me explaining why I love Nozmo, if just because I can.

1. On characterization

2. Recurring themes

2.1. The dynamic

2.2. The visuals

3. Conclusion

4. Links

*

1. On characterization

"I love Rin"

– Nozmo, probably

When depicting younger Haruka and Rin, we primarily have three things to fall back on for canonical characterization: High Speed!, High Speed! 2, and the brief flashback scenes in Free! (mainly episode 10). Admittedly, I haven't read HS2 in its entirety yet, but I feel that all this background material constructs a rather solid image of their personalities as children. I'm not going to do an in-depth recap of this (once again I direct you here and here instead, although both are in desperate need of revision), but what I will do is highlight the primary characteristics, since they are also what Nozmo's work largely operates on.

In short, we can sum up younger Haruka as detached, guarded, even easily angered. Meanwhile, younger Rin is brash and energetic, yet undeniably self-conscious at the same time. The beauty of Nozmo's younger Rin comes in the interplay of these two characteristics: the flamboyant brashness combined with his self-consciousness.

In Nozmo's comics, younger Rin always seems to catch himself two seconds too late: his natural passion drives him to pursue things, only to backpedal furiously when the repercussions of his actions become apparent. On one hand, he is exactly the kid who will say embarrassingly over-dramatic things with a straight face; on the other, he's also the kid who furiously denies ever having said this, upon realizing how dorky that made him sound (like with Sousuke in the comic below). This is why he becomes such a great character to contrast Haruka with: the kid who only ever says things when he means them, and rarely backtracks even if he thinks he messed up.

(full original)

(original)

What further adds another layer to this dynamic is Haruka's recurring perception that Rin is not self-aware enough; that Rin's embarrassing behaviour stems forth from his inability to contain his over-zealous, flamboyant, and above all romantic nature. Which is true, of course; but what it underlines is how differently Haruka and Rin view self-consciousness, and why this interplay yields moments of accidental seriousness, and a constant game of push-and-pull.

None of this yet all of this turns on its head once they're older.

The point is that Nozmo's portrayal doesn't drastically change, but evolves: older Rin is no less passionate, romantic, or dorky than his younger counterpart, but now catches himself if not quick enough to avoid blurting out embarrassing things altogether, then at least one second faster than before. Older Rin is quicker to become combative in place of embarrassed; in his eyes, Haruka is now the person who doesn't understand how painfully embarrassing he comes off as. Haruka is the one who says ridiculous things with a straight face, forcing Rin to confront things, and so Rin's entire existence becomes a struggle at trying regain control by downplaying the things he's most passionate about.

This would lead to a disaster, if younger Haruka hadn't evolved too. Which is why it is so important that Nozmo's characterization shows the gradual development of proactivity in Haruka, when it comes to Rin. It doesn't mean he's not still every bit as unimpressed at Rin's tsundere ways, but Haruka's matter-of-factness allows Rin to once more engage in his childhood brashness, almost as if in the guise of a joke.

(full original)

*

2. Recurring themes

Here I will try and elaborate on the things that inspire me, as a writer, to always keep looking at this relationship from different angles; I will both discuss the dynamic thematically, as welll as how Nozmo uses visual methods to further expand on those narratives and themes.

2.1. The dynamic

Thematically, the most prevalent recurring element in Nozmo's Harurin comics relies on the interplay I discussed above: the push-and-pull. What this essentially refers to is the idea that neither Haruka or Rin is ever given an "easy way out" in their relationship. Younger Haruka is at constant odds with being bombarded by younger Rin's emotions, which unnerves as much as it frustrates him. One of my favourite things about these comics is the subtlety in which Nozmo captures Haruka's tumultuous feelings towards Rin, and how much it always annoys younger Haruka to know that he cares. The Christmas comic is a good example:

(full original)

It's my firm interpretation on younger Haruka (supported by High Speed!) that he largely mistakes his attachment to Rin as anger, and Rin's ability to display his emotions as selfishness. I adore this particular comic because it so effectively condenses Haruka's frustration into a single scene; moreover, it showcases his natural ability (which he makes use of later on in life) to also proactively go after what he wants, even if it the strength of that emotion initially catches him by surprise. After all, this is a recurring theme on the show: Rin always gouging unexpected, instinctive reactions out of Haruka, no matter how embarrassing and troublesome.

In contrast, older Haruka seems less at odds with this knowledge, which resonates with the person he later becomes on the show. The process of accepting his feelings is no less cumbersome or filled with mild bouts of tsundere-like detachment, but his self-awareness doesn't come wrapped up in as many layers as Rin's does. Haruka's disdainful nature is still ever-present, but Nozmo uses humour and subdued intimacy to drive this point home better than any 10k word essay could: to older Haruka, Rin is still a nuisance who forces him to confront things too, but his methods of running away are no longer aggressively defiant, so much as simply equally challenging.

(full comic in the Free! BL Fanbook)

Yet as much as I absolutely love these portrayals of Haruka, both in his younger and older selves, I think few can disagree that it's Nozmo's rendition of Rin that makes her art and comics really stand out. I need to contextualize this a bit, first: as a character, Rin is far from someone the fandom universally used to embrace. Thanks to S2, many more people have now grown to understand and even like him better, but for the longest time it wasn't uncommon to hear questions like "Why would you even like Rin? He's such an insufferable, horrible person!" In times like these, finding art like Nozmo's was nothing short of an oasis in the middle of a desert. Not because of simply finding someone who loved Rin as passionately as I (and many others, luckily) did; but because the comics got it – the reason why we all loved this massive loser, even with all his faults.

Because the point is this: Nozmo's Rin is not –and never has been– one that condones or handwaves his actions away; but instead, sees beneath his exterior, into the person Rin was all along.

(full original here)

The element of self-awareness goes a long way in Nozmo's work, and is probably the one thing I love about it the most. Both younger Rin and older Rin are handled with an ever-prevalent air of sarcasm, unafraid to poke fun at even his biggest insecurities, but it's executed in a way that is clearly born from love instead of any malice. Rin is a complete, utter dork, and Nozmo loves nothing more than stressing this very fact. What I feel is that this also invariably makes Rin relatable in his struggle to maintain a balance between his natural passions and self-consciousness, almost to a painful degree – which is why most of the comics destroy me in the best way possible, like a memento of all the teenage years we spent hopelessly trying to be cool.

Because what Nozmo's Rin is, is also oblivious to what truly makes him cool; that his struggle to impress Nanase or Haruka is not rooted in his inability to overwhelm and charm someone, but since he continuously rejects so much of himself, he forgets that those embarrassing and dorky sides are what makes Haruka (and us, as readers) love him the most. It doesn't matter if his self-confidence is on the flamboyant side, because it's also what makes Rin Rin. There are few things that I feel capture this as well as this comic based off a piece of official art (which also condenses Haruka and Rin's relationship in a couple of tiny panels):

(original)

Again, Nozmo pulls out that quirkiness and dorkiness from Rin, making us fall in love with Rin all over again. I will always be in awe at how consistently this was always present in Nozmo's work, even at a time when most of the fandom was ready to denounce Rin as a lost cause. Every once in a while you come across people in fanworks who just understand a character in ways others might easily overlook, and for this very reason I feel like Nozmo's Rin in particular has helped a lot of people to perhaps come to enjoy Rin –and his dynamic with Haruka– in ways the original show may not have succeeded in.

2.2. The visuals

Since I'm a lit major first and only an art history minor second, I'm not going to act as though this segment will be filled with 100% credible art analysis (not that the above segments are much more than mindless gushing anyway). Still, I wanted to draw focus to a few recurring visual themes that Nozmo employs to execute what I have discussed above, since in comic form they bear even more importance in telling a narrative.

I'm personally extremely partial to any style that is stylistically sketch-like; artists like Hideyoshico, Isino Aya, even Koshino are the kind I will consume just for the subtlety and roughness of their expression. In short, I love an artist's personality shining through in their style, and for me Nozmo does exactly that: the visual choices always go hand in hand with the mood of the comic, adapting nuance depending on the atmosphere they are meant to convey. Given that most of Nozmo's comics deal with humour, her most well-known pieces rely on facial expression and slapstick signifiers; this in itself is an effective stylistic method of once again condensing the piece into the raw fundamentals of Rin and Haruka's dynamic, such as here:

(original)

The importance comes in distinguishing panels that are more "polished" than the others (like Haruka's second and third face), to transmit mood and message: this creates wordless flow and motion, and I can't stress how effectively Nozmo knows how to use it. This whole comic is such a great example of their never-ending spark, from Rin's inability to make himself directly vulnerable, to Haruka's obtuseness in reading his social cues. "Was it the wrong answer?" coupled with his expression is what fills the reader in on his complete lack of malice, a wonderful companion to Rin's direct frustration at being misunderstood. It confronts the disjointed side of their relationship through humour, but does not undermine the effects.

Another comic that combines "rough" with "smooth" is this one that I still come back to every once in a while, if just for those first three panels alone:

(original)

I am going to talk about Nozmo's use of shadows in a second, but I wanted to draw focus to this piece because it tells so many stories simultaneously. It cues us in on how Rin looks at Haruka when he thinks nobody's looking (again, note the deliberate use of "polished" style), and the immediate transition into awkward, arrogant Rin when Haruka catches him touching his neck. I am more than in love with the third to last panel and Haruka's expression, because it is not so much upset as it is filled with a combination of confusion and his standard disdain; it's not understanding, but not outright rejection either. Although he soon gets back to whatever it was he was doing before, it sets up the mood for Rin's subsequent meltdown. It gives the moment enough room to breathe for the reader to understand that Rin does not regret what happened, rather than the literal implications therein – of how far gone he already is, overwhelmed by this eccentric kid.

The use of shadows in general is something that exists as a reader guide to setting up the pace and atmosphere of panels. In this AU comic, they not only indicate the position of characters, but also literally shadow and underline dialogue. "What kind of dream?" and "I'm definitely not telling you" both come submerged in shade, which is a method of soft detachment; still, we're not dealing with antagonism so much as simply hinting at the underlying element of seriousness beneath the same old push-and-pull. I could talk about the placement of shadows in each panel endlessly, but I'll settle for pointing out how important they are to sharing wordless secondary narratives within the comics. The same is true of the Christmas comic throughout, but I could write 5k+ on that alone so I won't go there now. (I totally will if anyone wants me to, though!)

(full original)

The following comic, on the other hand, is a curious combination of rough and smooth, wherein the simplicity of the visual expression relies on the absence of backgrounds and shading altogether:

(full original)

The secondary narrative here is the story told by gestures, of Haruka's fingers lingering on Rin's neck; in both words and actions, it underlines what I discussed about older Haruka's proactive, even unreserved nature, and how it enables rare moments of "concession" for Rin to play off of his bluntness. With reserved dialogue and white space, the intimacy of the scene is far more palpable than any dramatic confessions of love; Haruka's expression in the second to last panel leaves just enough ambiguity over the chronology of this moment, which further stresses how little of importance that actually is at all – reduced to the basics, what matters is Rin's feelings, and Haruka's acceptance of them.

*

3. Conclusion

In conclusion, there are two things that are repeatedly present in Nozmo's work, both thematically and visually: humour and intimacy. The nuances of these both are what render these comics irreplaceable to me, because they convey so many stories all at once, condensed with careful subtlety: underneath each joke is an aspect of these characters' personalities that might feel self-conscious and raw, but they are treated with affection and self-awareness instead. The visual methods employed by Nozmo highlight mood and atmosphere, creating worlds of both bittersweet nostalgia and the exuberance of youth. Although closely following canonical portrayals, Nozmo's characterization expands on the original enough to give us glimpses into the more vulnerable sides of Haruka and Rin's mind; their dynamic is constantly alive, never once giving either one of them an easy way out, but also granting them rare moments of serenity where neither one rejects what they feel.

I've often expressed that to me, Nozmo is by far the best part of the Western fandom, because she manages to pull all of this off without being self-indulgent or exclusive. It's obvious she puts so much love and affection into these characters, and it's precisely for that reason that her interpretation of Rin, Haruka, and their dynamic never strikes me as anything other than completely believable. She understands both enough to be capable of extending canon, and emulates the eccentric and quirky nature of the show with enviable ease. Personally, whenever I feel lost trying to condense or grasp at a certain element of their dynamic, I often come back to these comics as a means of reminding myself of the core basics: how taken they both are with one another, even when it shakes them out of their regular, defensive patterns. And how that, in essence, is what makes the dynamic the most beautiful thing of all.

4. Links

Please like and reblog the originals I've linked to; for more on Nozmo's work, you should visit any of the following:

[on tumblr]

junjouprince

zeeenya

[on twitter]

punkblues

furii22

bakemono91

also, don't forget to support her original work; Todd Allison and the Petunia Violet will be available on Inkblazers, and you should definitely get it.

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