Seijuro Mikoshiba

Seijuro Mikoshiba (御子柴 清十郎 Mikoshiba Seijuurou) is a supporting character in the anime series Free! beginning with Free! He is a butterfly swimmer and Captain of the Samezuka Swimming Club until he graduates, at which time he bestows the position onto Rin Matsuoka. He currently attends Hidaka University, where he is on the swim team alongside Haruka Nanase and Asahi Shiina.

Appearance
Seijuro is a tall, muscular young man with golden eyes and short, slicked back dark scarlet hair. He also has a darker complexion compared to others. He is often seen wearing Samezuka Academy's black jacket. While swimming, he wears black swim briefs. His casual wear includes blue jeans and an unbuttoned short sleeve green shirt.

Personality
He is an enthusiastic person and incredibly weak against cute girls - as seen when he is instantly smitten with Gou Matsuoka upon meeting her, calling her "cute." His room is filled with photos of her, as discovered by Haruka, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, Rei Ryugazaki and Gou, herself, when they visit Rin's room, but accidentally enter Seijuro's instead. Nagisa once stated that he thought that Seijuro was only an enthusiastic person, but not a good swimmer. This was proven incorrect when Seijuro won 1st place in a swimming tournament.

Contrary to his happy-go-lucky personality when around things he likes, like girls and Gou, Seijuro is a strict captain of the Samezuka team, yet often provides comic relief in the anime, such as when he tells the team that a "fearsome new face" will enter the club and starts laughing making Rei wonder "what kind of villain is he supposed to be?" His teammates also say that he defies logic as he is able to swim 100 meters one hundred times without losing even once.

Though he scolds Rin after the relay at the regional tournament, he is able to understand Rin's motives and forgives him because he swam well. However, he has no mercy for those who slack off. Though his eyes wander when he is flirting, he is always watching his teammates' states, both mental and physical. When he assesses someone to be unfit, he doesn't shy away from pulling them out of a competition or off of the team.

Mikoshiba set a new record at the prefecture's tournament. Even as the champion school's captain, that ability is unfathomable when accounting for his usual state of impetuous babbling.

History
Little is known about Seijuro's history, but it is known that he won swimming competitions while in elementary school. However, he always placed second, after Haruka, who placed first.

Creation Conception
Hiroko Utsumi, the director of seasons 1 and 2 of the anime, once said that since he had to deliver meaningful words to Rin during the endgame, they made him cool; but since he had been captain, they also gave him grandiosity and big-heartedness that comes with a "gahaha" laugh. However, she added, in the second episode, Kenjiro Tsuda's improvisation of the line "You're really cute" seemed to fit the character, so they kept it. Character designer, Futoshi Nishiya, said Seijuro's design is the same as when he first imagined him. While carrying a captain-like majesty, he became the most manly of all the characters in the series. To match his appearance of the warm senpai, the staff made his hair red. There was a bit of orange mixed into that red as well, and so the staff immediately agreed on his hair color.

Trivia

 * He has no official motif animal, but fans often link him with the swordfish.
 * It is shown that Seijuro has a strong similarity with Mikoto Suoh from K, as they both have red hair, golden eyes and the same voice actor, Kenjiro Tsuda.
 * Seijuro reads Monthly Muscle Magazine, like Gou.
 * Seijuro's room number is 201 and is across the hall from Rin and Aiichiro Nitori.
 * In the Free! drama CD "There's No Way My Little Sister Is Dating Some Guy", it is revealed that Seijuro has a little sister.
 * This sister, Isuzu Mikoshiba, is later introduced in Free!-Dive to the Future-.
 * His hobbies are karaoke, tennis and beach volleyball.

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