Consider this partially a review of the first half of this movie as well- i simply don't have enough to say about it, let alone positive things. Let's just get out of the way that it's fine, has plenty of solid moments to boot- but the way it ends and paces itself is just very odd. sort of feels like they only had enough story for the second movie and had to pad out so much of the first with fairly bland filler, after the portion about the races had actually passed. Idk, the way Albert Wahlander apparently has the ability to like make Haru act like a different person was really lame and surreal in a way this series has never dabbled in before even if they addressed that in a beautiful way in this movie. I at least appreciated that it actually began to deal with the plot threads Season 3 left dangling.

Now, as for Part 2? My friends, it's an emotional thrill ride that distills the best of the series into its runtime, paying off visual and plot beats we've been seeing sine the very beginning. Highlights for me, besides the final race were probably the cathartic reconnection of Haru, Makoto and Rin on the rooftop, and the montage set to the Version: Free of Dried Up Youthful Game.. Incredible stuff.

In general, I think the Final Stroke films, especially Part 2, surprisingly do a better job at balancing all the characters than Dive to the Future did. Albert and Kaede still feel rather undercooked as characters, but at least they feel like they belong here, instead of tacked on intrusions. Kaede is even... sort of cool by the end? Still far from a fleshed out character, but I am a sucker for the "Mischievous character who does good things out of a sense of good in him that even he doesn't understand" trope.

Rin in particular has so much subtle but good character work here, I really liked his struggle to cope with loss paired with his drive to overcome his weaknesses and triumph. i think what makes him so compelling as a character is his profound sensitive nature underneath his tough guy act. This movie showcases that better than any portion of the series yet- and how much Haru always needed Rin to help break him out of his shell. (and how much Rin needed Haru to inspire him to swim his own way).

I hated the way things ended off with Haru in the last film, but here they do a great job of nicely completing the arc. I was honestly afraid the narrative was going to begin to promote the kinds of damage athletes often do to their own bodies for the sake of short term performance and recognition- but the movie wisely anchors much of the stakes in how far Haru can actually push himself to outpace Kaede and Albert without ending his swimming career for good to achieve it. Seeing everyone rally around him, wanting to help him perform on the day of even after a health scare, was genuinely touching. It makes you feel like you've been on a real journey with everyone, and seeing them all love him so purely gave me the fuzzies.

I also just love the way we ended things off. There's uncertainty, but so much hope and optimism even amidst the doubt and fear. I wondered what a perfect ending to this series would look like, and I'm not sure this is that- but it's a pretty solid one, all things considered. After all, Haru got to be free- and that's what he always wanted.