Rei Ryugazaki

"#4a5ca8"

- But, it's not beautiful!

Rei Ryugazaki (竜ヶ崎 怜 Ryūgazaki Rei) is one of the main characters of the anime series Free!. He is a first year who joins the track team, but later joins the Iwatobi High School swimming team as their butterfly stroke swimmer.

Appearance
Rei is a tall young man with short, deep blue hair and purple eyes. He wears red-framed glasses. His usual school uniform consists of light brown trousers, a white shirt with a red necktie, dark gray buttoned up jacket and black and white sneakers. During the spring and summer, he also wears his summer uniform that consists of gray trousers, a white shirt with short sleeves and a dark gray collar, the red dotted necktie and the black and white sneakers.

While swimming, he wears black long leg swim pants that have blue patterns on them.

Personality
Rei is considered handsome and intelligent because of his looks and good grades. He also has a penchant for beautiful things and the thought of exuding anything but beauty through his actions, causes him to dramatically lose his cool.

Rei may initially seem like a calm and composed character, but he is in actuality quite comical in a sense that he sometimes lets his confidence get the better of him. He is however, depicted to be a hardworking and determined individual, unwilling to relent to his inability to swim despite several failed attempts.

Rei has a theoretical approach when it comes to sports, as he usually calculates distance, angle, and other factors in his mind before actually making an attempt. Because of his rigid nature, he has a tendency to overlook the fun and enjoyment that comes with the activity. As Haruka told Rei, he needed to be "free" in order to swim properly, because he's constantly calculating and underestimating the water.

Theoretical Dolphin Kick!
Rei was initially in the school's track team, but was constantly pestered by Nagisa to become the vital fourth member of their newly-founded swim club after Nagisa found out that Rei had a feminine name and believed it to be fate (since the other swim club members have feminine names, too). After realizing not all activities were based off calculations and seeing Haruka swimming beautifully, he eventually accepted the offer.

Captive Butterfly!
While training for the upcoming tournament, the Iwatobi Swim Club saw that Rei was able to float in water and his form was perfect. Though said, he couldn't move while performing the needed actions for different strokes, and constantly sank to the bottom of the pool when trying. Gou gave him a week to learn how to swim, with every member teaching him their specific strokes, but always failing. It wasn't until Rei sat with Haruka and talked about just diving in freely did he find out that the butterfly stroke was the one he could perfect, since it was the only stroke he hadn't tried during his training.

Trial in Open Water!
On the day of the trip to the summer training camp, Sasabe takes the Swim Club to the island where they coincidentally discover the Samezuka Swim Club, along with Rin, training at a special swimming facility on the island. After the guys get settled on the beach they begin their stamina training regiment which involves making three long-distance swimming circuits between the deserted islands of Sukishima, Oshima, and Mizushima. At the end of the first day, the club only manages swimming half of their goal, leaving Rei to feel a bit disappointed for lagging behind. That night, unable to sleep due to his performance, Rei heads into the ocean to continue training when a sudden storm takes him by surprise. Makoto awakens at that moment and goes looking for Rei, frantically diving to his aid upon hearing Rei's cries for help.

Shocking No Breathing!
Rei was struggling to stay afloat against the strong current while Makoto tried to save him. After the ordeal, Nagisa and Rei was resting at a nearby island where Haruka and Makoto was at the other end of the island. They begin to search for shelter for the rain. They eventually seek shelter overnight at Sukishima Rest House, an abandoned and creepy looking building where Rei shared his embarrassing moment during a field trip in fifth grade. When day break, they race each others back to their campsite and Rei and the others slept at the beach after a long and tiring night.

One Style Final!
After the gang prayed at a local shrine, Rei expressed interest in participating in the relay in the tournament as he had rented a video of the Olympics where he found that swimming in a relay can be beautiful as four swimmers swim in different styles in succession to complete a race together. On the day of the tournament itself, Rei was too nervous at the atmosphere at the tournament venue, Nagisa tried to encourage Rei and telling him to relax and ultimately have fun.

Revenge in the Medley!
Rei, Makoto and Nagisa went to search for Haruka but Rin was not much of a help for them. Makoto suggest that they left Haruka alone and let him cool down, after all, their individual events are coming up soon. Like the rest of the team, Rei didn't manage to get into the finals. As the tournament comes to an end, they realize that Haruka has gone without them. Gou then told them that she had secretly signed them up for the relay segment and Rei agreed that they should try their best at it as it was their last and final chance if they want to get into the finals.

Hesitant Loosen Up!
The team managed to win the relay segment and is able to proceed to the regional. During the morning assembly, the school Principal announced that Iwatobi Swim Team had secured a place in the regional and wishes them all the best in hope that they could advance to the finals. The team went to the Summer Festival later at night where they went to the shrine to pray before their regionals. Rei and Nagisa happened to saw Rin at the festival too, thus Rei was tasked to follow Rin so that Nagisa could avoid them meeting at the festival.

Nagisa Hazuki
Rei and Nagisa seem to be in a great relationship. They both belong to a same class in school and take the same train line to go back home. Nagisa often goes to Rei's home and hangs with him most of his free time. They're often seen doing things together. Rei easily gets manipulated by Nagisa for some reason.

Trivia

 * Like all members of the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club, Rei has a female name.
 * During a field trip in fifth grade, Rei accidentally left his underwear in the bath.
 * Rei is the only member of the Iwatobi Swimming Club that has his body hair shaved (done by Nagisa).
 * Rin described Rei's stroke pathetic.
 * Rei owns a black and white mobile phone.
 * According to Free! TV Animation Guidebook:
 * Rei likes eating sushi.
 * Rei likes reading, running, calculating and pole-vaulting.
 * Rei's best subjects are Math and Chemistry, while he's bad at Art and Music.
 * According to Rin, Rei has horrible English pronunciation.
 * According to Rei, the Ryugazaki family has been pairing melon bread with barley tea since his grandfather's time.

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