Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.132.252.186-20160809092132/@comment-5785681-20171127221200

Free! is neither yaoi nor shounen-ai. It's a sports anime. When I first watched it, I did so with an objective POV and all I saw were friendships and competitive spirit. Later, upon re-watching, I began to notice all the "hints" the anime industry loves to seed in their sports anime just to lure in the fujoshi/fudanshi crowd. And it works...beautifully. I myself, am a MakoHaru/Sourin/Reigisa shipper but I know that these are pairings that exist only in my fertile imagination (plus fanart, fanfic and fan forums). If a trait isn't explicitly stated, written or drawn by the Creator or creative team, it's speculation. It's fun, but it's opinion.