The first season of Free was a fun and emotional romp full of great characters amazing visuals great music and something to say about youthful ambition and friendship which is what will stick with you moving into Eternal Summer. Of course Ill be getting into that but this season delivers all of that and so much more of it all while improving on the dynamics that worked from the 1st. And friends Eternal Summer might be a case study on how to make a perfect sequel. it builds on every theme from the first season expanding one each characters desires and goals and adding whole new characters with complex stories of their own but the season doesnt feel like its struggling to balance any of that its all handled with such grace and ease. It even takes the time to explore the little things with the charactyers that were lingering from Season One and explore our supporting cast a bit more. I still feel that Makoto Rei and Nagisa are a ltitle udnerexplored but I was happy to see them make a real effort to dig deeper into them as characters. The supporting case for Samesuka actually had a lot of fleshing out here and that may have been at Iwatobis expense but I quite enjoyed seeing that side of things more this time around. And this season really hones in on the emotion Harus breakdown and his subsequent trip with Rin to Australia to recover from that being particular highlights. It was so heartwarming to see Haru and RIns relationship evolve as well as Harus to Maktoto though this was much more lowkey. I also believed I might hate the characters of Sousuke and Momotaro at first but by the end I really enjoyed them too. Sousuke starts out as a somewhat malicious and enigmatic figure but his complexity soon shines through and its clear that he was simply misguided though he was motivated by his love for RIn much like Haru is. Momo is a total goofball but a lovable one by the end. Nitori also deserves a shoutout for how happy I was to see him go from a meek imitator of RIn to someone desiring and eventually achieving greatness outside of his shadow. And of course like the first season its still really funny even with how emotional and intense the interpersonal drama and sports action gets.Not to mention its as beautifully animated as ever even more so this time around the last few episodes have a lot of particularly beautiful sunset water and nighttime imagery to showcase and it absolutely captures the luster and also the nervousness that these boys feel as they realize that the peak of their high school experience is here and now and contemplating how theyre going to capitalize on that. I adore this series and Im so happy that Eternal Summer has struck such a chord with me. I think this show is going to be one of my all time favorites... well eternally. And reminder Rin Matsuoka is the best character in all of fiction With an honorary shoutout to all the other boys. Nagisa is my secret favorite.