Main Round 1: Team Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka

[platina]

TITLE: Take Your Marks
SERIES: Free!
SHIP: Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka
RATING: T
CHARACTERS: Matsuoka Rin, Nanase Haruka
SIDE PAIRINGS: None
MAJOR TAGS: Spoilers for pretty much all of S1&S2 if you haven’t seen them yet.
ADDITIONAL TAGS: (Implied) Depression
SUMMARY: Despite contrary personalities, dreams, and paths, Rin and Haruka have landed at the same destination - swimming in the Olympics - together. On the eve of achieving his lifelong goal, Rin reflects on the unlikely events, and unlikely relationship, that brought him here.
WORK COUNT: Video, 3:53 Min
SCRIPT: Here.
NOTES: Duality is a theme that is pretty intrinsic to our ship, so we decided to roll with what we canonically already have - and what could be. Enjoy!

Music used is Your Wish, Other Self and Words that changed my life from the Free! and Free! ES OSTs.



Watch on YouTube. 
Watch on Google Drive.

"SASO MR01 - Team RinHaru" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

[karahashi]

WOAHHHHH this is so well made and it is a glorious tribute both to canon and all the possibilities of this ship.

I really loved the narrative and the way this bookends beautifully - it's an incredible journey and this is an amazingly aesthetic entry. The subtle movement and animation came through at the best of times - the signboard, the sakura petals, Rin's quivering expression at ~1:30, that very last scene with the national swim team jacket (which, by the way, was coloured beautifully <3)

The music was so emotional and it supported the graphics in a really great way - I love how the strings swell in a bit of a solo before the main riff comes in at 0:18, how you timed the scene with the sakura petals to fade in during the next repeat of that line (sorry for the poor description). And the silence/shift/rasping rattle at 'and hit a wall' was so powerful after that ;_; The music is so atmospheric and when it fades out and into the quicker pace at 'What did I swim for?' it was amazing. The resolution after and the reverb going into the ensemble strings akhdjalkhfsj; SO TRIUMPHANT AND GOOD AND EMOTIONAL

I adore how your team used blur and vignettes to highlight certain areas, too! It definitely added to the atmosphere and the transition from one subject to the other like when Rin is recalling the relay and the focus shifts from the happy team to him in the background, still stuck, or later on when it shifts from his phone to him...The blurred silhouettes and the shaking camera motion at ~1:20 was super effective as well!! (and that whole section, honestly - brilliant camera motion)

THERE WERE SO MANY MOMENTS I LOVED The subtle panning throughout gave the whole thing a wonderful sense of motion and the white background memories were always so beautifully laid out - at ~0:38 with the two of them in swimming motion across the screen, back to back at 1:26, looking at one another at 2:35, their hands stretching out not too long after, their happy faces at 3:23 (ESPECIALLY RIN'S DSFHJL"AJF:L HIS SMILE IS ANGELIC)

The retelling of the train scene was particularly poignant too - the colours and their expressions ;___; The darker night scenes had a really beautiful colour scheme - though the regular daytime shots did too!

I really enjoyed this entry - it's a really lovely, sensitive portrayal of the relationship with a great grasp of canon and character, and your team did an amazing job. All the best for the voting! :)