Being a basic fan of the Free! series, I of course had to watch the movies which followed alongside it! Free! Starting Days is a wonderful remembrance of the original youth relay which Haru and Makoto were a part of in their first year of middle school, although the story was a tad choppy and misplaced in segments, the overall high quality of all art, sound, and character is what makes the movie superb in my eyes. There were humorous moments, such as the group camping around Haru`s home, the lunchtime conversations which were lighthearted, but the film was met with an equally heavy presence ofperformance anxiety, being burnt out due to being a certain prodigy all whilst going through adolescence in their new stage of life. Being personally connected to Haru as a "burned out gifted kid", it's nice to see how he overcomes such trivia. The opposing group members represent sibling rivalry while gaining independence, taking the notion that people are human and failure is okay and that each new milestone in life can be overwhelming even the most basic subject such as starting a new year in school - each character represents a different issue, in which they have to learn how to overcome such problems in the time frame.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed "Starting Days", and felt it was similar to the atmosphere the original series gave off and do recommend it to any fans of the show itself.