Okay Finally Getting My Ass To Watch Bkg. I’m. Charmed. 80′s An*me Is Something

bpdnanaseharuka

8 months ago

in the end all customer service workers are like the rose bride

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bpdnanaseharuka

9 months ago

studies from the finale

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bpdnanaseharuka

9 years ago

Flowing Energies, part 1

Dedicated to my partner in SouHaru Sin, @izumikouhei, who also was an immense help with these analyses and their proofreading.

English translations from sunnyskies and janeypeixies from Nanowave Translations

I think it prudent to analyze the interactions between Nanase Haruka and Yamazaki Sousuke chronologically, mainly to dissect their dynamic and development, parts which were underwritten in the show. There are some discrepancies between High Speed! (HS), its sequel High Speed! 2 (HS2), and Free: Eternal Summer (FES), which will be noted. Fair warning the following is quote- and picture-heavy, broken into two parts – novel and anime. As with any analysis, these are my interpretations of the text and not meant to be treated as canon, though I strive to support my readings with canonical evidence. (Though I am aware of the show’s staff providing their own interpretations, intentions and opinions of Ohji Kouji’s characters and groundwork, I do not treat them as strictly authoritative, nor do I find them absolutely significant to what I am discussing.)

Although Sousuke has a brief appearance in High Speed!, introduced as Rin’s classmate from Sano Elementary and a member of Sano’s Swimming Club, it is interesting that he and Haruka share an indirect parallel by asking the same question about Rin’s deceased father to Rin:

“Same as usual, I guess. That aside, did you get to meet your father?” (HS, 7)

“Did you get to meet your father?” Haruka uttered the same words that Sousuke did at that time. (HS, 8)

Not too significant to be constituted as an interaction, but nonetheless, Ohji draws the comparison between the two.

Fast forward to a couple of months later, with Haruka attending Iwatobi Middle School (IMS). With Rin overseas, Makoto in a different class with different extracurricular activities and Nagisa in an entirely different grade level altogether, Haruka keenly feels loneliness but chooses not to dwell on it; ruminating on his vulnerabilities disconcerts him. He chooses to distract himself with Makkou, a stray dog he reluctantly takes as a pet. For a few days this makes him too busy to regularly attend Iwatobi’s Swimming Club (ISC), where Nagisa has been left behind. Haruka decides to visit ISC and promises to cheer for Nagisa in an upcoming tournament, which he and Makoto are not entering. Eventually, Haruka gets roped into joining his school’s swim club, steadily acclimating to duties and practices.

The last day of Golden Week finds Haruka and Makoto at the Hiyori Swimming Stadium to support Nagisa’s efforts. During one of the events, they see a familiar tall, lanky figure – Sousuke. Next Sunday, IMS’ swim club will face Sano Middle School’s (SMS) swim club, as is their annual tradition to promote camaraderie. The tournament ends; Nagisa laments over his lousy performance until his teammates encourage Nagisa to improve and swim in the relay with them for the next tournament. Nagisa leaves with his fellow sixth graders, energized. Before Makoto and Haruka leave as well, a voice calls out Nanase – it is Sousuke, demanding why Haruka had not entered the tournament; despite it being the first time they have exchanged words with each other, Sousuke speaks to Haruka “as if they’ve known each other from before. No greetings or self-introduction, either.” Haruka becomes puzzled and miffed by Sousuke’s inconvenient “rival spirit towards” him, since there exists “a bunch of guys faster than Sousuke” as consequence of transitioning from the elementary school age group to the middle school age group. Sousuke throws his contempt at Haruka for starting club activities and at the club seniors, with Makoto acting as the flustered spectator-mediator. Notice that it is only after Sousuke insults one of Haruka’s upperclassmen does Haruka offer a retort:

Sousuke snorted derisively. “Doesn’t that mean that he’s not very good at swimming so he was turned into a trainer?” Something snapped and surged up within Haruka. “Don’t say something so underestimating.” “Who’s underestimating who!” Sousuke responded to Haruka’s words. Without even trying to hide it, he bared his emotions. “Have you guys even thought about Rin’s feelings? Have you thought about what kind of feelings he’s swimming with right now? Can you be faster with that? Did you think Rin would be satisfied with that!” When left exposed by Sousuke’s strong gaze, without Haruka aiming to do so, energy released from his body out of its own will. “It’s not like I’m swimming for the sake of pleasing Rin in particular. I swim for myself. It has nothing to do with you.” Sousuke pushed back against that energy.“– Don’t screw with me!”

Before parting, Sousuke punctuates his resentment: “Don’t forget it. Rin’s feelings of wanting to swim with you guys. I won’t forgive you if you do something halfhearted, just to be clear.” His words incite the same irritating ripples in Haruka’s chest that Rin did; as if summoning calmness, Haruka's eyes gaze at the same sky Sousuke sees as he reflects over his outburst:

Taking a deep breath, Haruka looked up at the sky just once.

It was a blue sky, Sousuke thought. After he parted from Haruka and Makoto, Sousuke looked up at the sky while walking down the path lined with plane trees. When he let his breath out together with what had accumulated in his chest, his feelings calmed down just a little.

Haruka tends to look up at the sky, as if seeking an escape from the roiling emotions found within (“While thinking about things like that, he looked up the blue sky that seems to be sucking him in.“ HS2, 1). Sousuke’s introspection includes awareness of his unfair treatment towards Haruka – such as projecting onto Haruka Sousuke’s stunted rivalry with Rin; the contents of his last conversations with Rin before his transfer to Iwatobi Elementary; and a yearning for reconnection:

He wondered why he ended up getting so worked up over it. Perhaps it had irritated him that they didn’t enter? Perhaps he had felt a sense of lacking from them starting something like club activities? No, it wasn’t just that. He had felt resentment towards himself that with a loss against Rin, he even ended up losing the chance to repay the debt. Then he ended up overlapping Rin with Haruka. Without knowing it, Sousuke smiled bitterly. At best, he took it out on Haruka for no reason. From Haruka’s point of view, what a terrible backlash it was. However, when he thought of Rin’s feelings, he couldn’t stand to not say it after all.

Sousuke looked up again at the blue sky that the plane trees narrowed. He wondered how far this sky could be stretching. He was sure that it could stretch endlessly. He thought – that it could stretch. (HS2, 4)

This confrontation exposes several things about Sousuke’s character: his loyalties to Rin warp his better judgment, causing him to misdirect his anger (the main source of conflict between Sousuke and Haruka); his tendency to be overcritical, quickly flinging disapproval based on incomplete knowledge; he values rivalries and harbors regret with regards to his friendship/rivalry with Rin and channels it; and he is capable of self-reflection over his unsavory behavior. Sousuke immediately recognizes post-altercation that he misfired his frustrations and pessimism over Rin’s transfer/departure (“[Rin] should at least be a little more apologetic about it.” HS2, 4) and his inability to pay back his loss against Rin from last year’s tournament (“Whoever lost today would be carrying around those feelings of frustration for years.” HS, 7) onto Haruka. From Sousuke’s limited perspective, Haruka has “insulted” Rin’s dedication to their rivalry by declining competitions and diverting his attention elsewhere (club activities).

Furthermore, Sousuke may be envious that he cannot share the same rivalry with Rin ever since Haruka entered the picture – Rin chased after Haruka to Iwatobi Elementary School and then dashed off overseas, leaving Sousuke behind, dreamless and rival-less. Instead of addressing all of this to Rin, Sousuke bottles it up until something that threatens his friend in any way – in this case, Haruka’s ostensible indifference and half-hearted investment in Rin’s rivalry – unleashes those repressed emotions. It seems easier to vent his emotional vulnerability on Haruka, a stranger, than on Rin. Because Sousuke understands Rin the most, he ends up clamping his mouth shut of the things he wants to say, playing the role of an alter-ego than that of a friend:

“…… I see, got it.” He felt like there were a lot of things he wanted to say, things he wanted to ask. But he knew the words Rin would reply with to what he says, and reality wouldn’t change by what he asks. It was just that Sousuke should come to terms with it inside himself. [...] Sousuke didn’t talk to him at all. He didn’t know what he should say anyways and it felt like they had already talked about everything that they ought to. After they left the Swimming Club, too, he walked with Rin in silence. Maybe Rin was thinking the same thing? He was probably thinking it. That was why he didn’t say anything. There was no need to talk about anything. (HS2, 4)

“Because we understand each other too well. [Sousuke]’s even more theoretical than I am, we often quarreled. So, we settled on it that the faster way is always correct, but our competitive spirit wasn’t half-baked anymore. It’s a hard thing, being birds of a feather.” [...] “I still think of him as the person who understands me the most. But sometimes, it becomes difficult to be together… When I end up understanding his feelings, I end up not being able to say the things that I want to. I can no longer seriously go up against him. That’s not a friend, it’s like an alter-ego, isn’t it? You don’t like or hate your alter-ego. Ending up like that, no longer thinking of them as a friend, it’s really painful…” (HS, 7)

“Because we know each other too well. Sousuke is way more theory-based than me, so we got into a lot of arguments. In the end, he’d calm down when I’d say the fastest would win the race, but it always took something out of my competitive spirit. [...] In fact, even now, I think he understands me better than anyone else.” (FES, 4)

There is ample, concrete evidence that supports that this presumption is not a one-way street. The comfort and history of their friendship replaces and hinders productive communication from both their ends. Sousuke’s observations of the sky may represent his thoughts on his own endurance. Could his suppressed feelings reach Rin through this endless sky that stretches to his friend’s side of the world?

Haruka’s days continue on with mishaps and curious encounters, library duties and club activities interspersed between. A ride to the third station away from Iwatobi leads to SMC on the day of their joint practice match. Prior to their arrival, grave news looms over them: Shouta, a second-year member and Yazaki Aki’s older brother, has been banned from club activities after swimming in the river, even involving the police. He panicked after losing to Haruka in a one-on-one swimming competition, due to his fear of being replaced by a first-year. Though Aki insists that her brother’s foolhardy actions are not Haruka’s responsibility, Haruka blames his own involvement in the club, on his preference for swimming freestyle – via his promise to swim only in freestyle events – for cornering Shouta; had Haruka either quit the team or refused to participate in the one-on-one match, Shouta would not have been driven by impatience. This is significant because it exhibits Haruka’s guilty conscience and his understanding of and even criticisms towards one’s pride, foreshadowing many events which later transpire. Though it is the other swimmer’s denial of their self-perpetuated limitations which trap them, nevertheless Haruka internalizes the pain his skill unintentionally brings. Such a burden clouds his mind, leading to self-destruction. It would not be presumptuous to claim that Haruka feels responsible for ruining other swimmers; it is a defining characteristic which may tie into the necessity of maintaining distance from people, as he is perturbed by the effect he has on others.

The joint practice match commences, allowing the first years to gain experience at the start of the season and mingle between the two middle schools. Three familiar people – including Sousuke and Kisumi – walk up and greet Haruka:

Sousuke’s gaze remained fixed on Haruka for a while now. “I’m only in the 100 free today. Can’t say’s a surprise, since I just joined.” It seemed that Sousuke had joined after that tournament. His motive was clear. Quite the trouble he went through, Haruka thought. “I’m in the 100, too.” When Haruka said that, Sousuke showed a happy smile. “I see, looking forward to it.” He held out his right hand. It’s a huge hand, Haruka thought. There was no reason to refuse. He grabbed his hand. He felt their energies flowing into each other’s body.

Sousuke's clear motive is to challenge Haruka directly through their respective swim clubs. Disregarding his initial contempt, Sousuke joined SMS’s swim club some time after their confrontation and anticipates his budding rivalry with Haruka, which Haruka hesitantly receives.

An awkward event occurs between another IMS swim club member, named Asahi, and as a diversion, Makoto asks Kisumi if he knew of Rin during his time at Sano, since they both attended the same sixth grade class:

“What do you mean know him, we were in the same class. Until partway through sixth grade, though. Right, Sousuke?” “Uh huh, until he went to your place.” [...] Makoto cheerfully spoke. “Really? What an incredible coincidence, huh. What was Rin like?” Kisumi and Sousuke looked at each other. “In a word, easily gets carried away, I guess?” When Kisumi said it, Sousuke nodded and took over. “Yeah. And he was kind of an irritating guy.” “Right. Kinda irritating, huh? Rin.” Kisumi agreed. On that matter, Haruka had the same sentiment, too. [...] Kisumi got a thoughtful look on his face, and with that expression, he spoke in a murmur. “Self-centered, and hates to lose.” “That’s for sure. For someone who cries right away, he always spoke his mind.” Haruka agreed with Sousuke’s supplement, too. “Ah, and also……?” Makoto, who was bad at giving up, asked again. Could he be hoping for a beautiful memory or something? Makoto should just try recalling his own memories. On top of twisting them around his little finger as he liked, Rin did as he pleased and went off somewhere. Supposing that there was some kind of good memory, it was obvious that something like that washed away long ago. “That’s right. He was always trying to show off in front of girls, wasn’t he? Sousuke.” “Aah, that’s right. Also, he got mad when we called him ‘Rin-chan’.” No objection to that. That was about it for memories with Rin. These two have truly perceived Rin correctly.

After a hilarious roasting of Rin's immature and competitive personality courtesy of Kisumi and Sousuke (with Haruka's silent assent), the boys' 50m freestyle event is held; Haruka wins easily, starting the practice match with IMS leading. He has six more events to compete. Despite finishing first in his next event, the 200m, Haruka gauges a sharp decrease in his speed and an increase in exertion, perhaps due to his leisurable practices and inexperience with the new technique – the biaxial crawl. As Haruka watches his teammates' races, he recalls Asahi's accusations of Haruka hindering Asahi’s ability to swim freestyle; Haruka contemplates over his interactions with Asahi that could possibly support the accusation but comes up blank, which segues to a miserable performance in the 400m freestyle event.

Overcompensating inexperience with brute force, Haruka depletes his waning stamina quickly, resulting in a loss and no applause. Given a slight break before his next event, Haruka's eyes meet the dark gaze of Ikuya, a club latecomer who does not welcome Haruka's presence on the team. Haruka assumes Ikuya's disdain stems from envy that he cannot participate in this competition and Haruka receiving special treatment, as he is swimming in multiple events. Ikuya is ignorant of Haruka's promise with Natsuya, captain of the swim club and Ikuya's older brother, and Haruka believes it is all a terrible misunderstanding. Under the condition of only swimming free during his time in the club, Natsuya made Haruka promise to participate in every freestyle event for competitions (“But I only swim free.” “That’s just like you, huh. When you swim, you at least hear rumors. – Fine. In exchange, I’ll have you enter in all the free events.” HS2, 3). Haruka, confused by and underestimating the gravity of such a request, nonetheless is merely fulfilling it diligently.

However, Haruka's efforts are made in vain. Swimming through the 1500m proves disastrous, Haruka moving forward to merely remain "afloat with difficulty," muscles in excruciating pain, lungs demanding oxygen, heart on the verge of breaking. Bitterly Haruka relives the memory of one of his early performances in last year's relay (HS, 7), how he rejected the water, utterly humiliated by his inadequate swimming. To rub salt on the wound, Natsuya pulls Haruka out of one of the relay events with a second year; Haruka becomes chagrined:

Could he have been concerned about him being tired? Or perhaps, could he be scorning him for making an unfulfillable promise? That guys who couldn’t even keep their promises shouldn’t have cocky obsessions……. “I will swim. I can still swim.” [...] “I will go for the medley relay.” “What’s a guy who can’t swim saying? That’s rude towards your opponent.” Haruka sank in the humiliation. Endlessly, endlessly to the bottom of the chaotic swamp……He thought of his lack of physical strength as cowardly. He wondered if becoming fixated on it was ridiculous pride. Haruka unconsciously chewed his lip. “Swim just the 100 free.” “Eh?” “It’s their wish. They want to swim with Nanase no matter what.” Sousuke was where Natsuya was looking. He looked at Haruka with glaring eyes. He wondered if he could swim it. He wondered if he could swim in a way that would satisfy Sousuke. Would he have enough strength left for just that? Staring at his right hand, he tried to clench it. “……Yes.” There was no strength in it.

In spite of Haruka's hesitance in viewing Sousuke as a rival, Haruka shows concern in the possibility of disappointing Sousuke in the same manner he has disappointed Natsuya, which seems related to Haruka’s perfectionism and heightened emotional empathy. Haruka reproaches himself for being the arrogant underclassman making unfathomable promises, subsequently suffering the backlash and self-devaluation. Haruka may lack strength in his grip, but he still wants to race Sousuke, is not deterred by his glare, by his own heavy limbs. The one who myopically claims he swims for himself, that his swimming has nothing to do with Sousuke, questions his ability to satisfactorily respond to Sousuke’s wish.

The 100m free event caps the end of the competition, as the highlight of the practice match. Haruka's lackluster "swimming" leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Ashamed, Haruka climbs out of the pool without Makoto's assistance and rushes for an escape from prying, worrying eyes:

Suddenly, someone stood in Haruka’s way. When he lifted his face that he had cast down, Sousuke’s lanky body was there. Without even a smirk, he held out his right hand to Haruka. It’s a huge hand. When Haruka tried to lift his heavy arms, seizing his hand by force, Sousuke jerked him close. “Come with me for a bit.” Saying it in a voice low enough so only Haruka could hear, Sousuke started walking towards the changing room.

Haruka makes a failed attempt to grasp Sousuke's proffered hand because he has no strength left. Sousuke grabs Haruka’s hand and leads him to somewhere more private. Makoto showing his habitual concern for Haruka’s state flares irritation towards “his cowardly self”, for needing to be pitied and coddled, for being weak.

There was no one in the changing room. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. The announcement of the results were held now. Haruka stepped into the changing room and Makoto followed after him. “What’s the meaning of this? Nanase.” Sousuke said it while taking something out of his locker. Haruka couldn’t answer. It was impossible to answer. As he stayed silent, Sousuke walked up to him and stood face to face with Haruka. Then he stretched out the fingertips of his right hand and placed them on Haruka’s left shoulder. They were long and thin fingers. Wondering what he was trying to do, when Haruka tried to brush off that hand, Sousuke’s fingertips tapped Haruka. His balance slightly breaking, he tried to withstand it, but standing firmly on his feet weren’t working, and his center of gravity drifted backward. Taking two, three steps backward, the back of his knees hit the bench. Dropping his waist and sitting down like that, he almost fell backwards with too much force remaining. “Haru!” Supported by Makoto, he somehow managed to avoid falling down, but he ended up making a terribly sorry display of himself. “You sure had the gall to swim against me like that.” He grit his teeth in humiliation. It would only be an excuse, no matter how he tried to patch it up. It was all caused by Haruka’s trivial fixation. There’s nothing for him to do other than grit his teeth. “’I swim for myself.’ Nanase said it that time, didn’t he? To think of what kind of swimming it is… If you’re just playing, do it elsewhere. When you’re up against me, come at me with all you’ve got!” He didn’t care what Sousuke said. He just swims for himself. He couldn’t stand it when people arbitrarily created illusions and pushed them on him. Or could he be intending to scorn him? If it’s humiliation, he’s had enough of a taste to the point of hating it. (HS2, 7)

Before Haruka leaves the changing room, Sousuke gives him Rin’s letter to read, perhaps to solve Haruka’s reliance on mere talent and lack of drive in hard work (“‘There’s no talent that can surpass hard work.’ It’s what Rin said before going to Australia.” HS2, 7). Sousuke assumes these are Haruka’s problems hindering his athleticism, when in actuality Haruka has too much drive, causing him to overestimate his own ability and over-think its effect on those around him, which are merely reinforced by everyone and himself. Sousuke throws back Haruka’s previous words – that Haruka would swim on his own terms – which frankly leave Sousuke dissatisfied after witnessing Haruka swim beyond his limitations. Sousuke’s disapproval reflects Haruka’s inner critical commentary running through his head. Instead of condemning Haruka as a waste, Sousuke forces Haruka to confront his complacency, his rigidity, his frustrations, because Sousuke – perhaps not fully, but a small part of him, believes in Rin’s faith in Haruka as an ideal swimmer. Sousuke himself is curious in Haruka’s ability. Though Haruka remains impassive towards winning and times, he becomes despondent when he fails to meet others’ expectations, something that unsettles his very core. Contrary to his fiercely independent spirit, Haruka is sensitive to his surroundings, strongly influenced by the emotions of his friends/teammates and opponents – almost to a fault.

Returning to the lull of his daily life, Haruka attends school and practice with minor complications. On his way home he stops by the supermarket alone, purchasing a pack of croquettes. He halts when he stumbles upon Sousuke sitting at the bottom of the steps leading to his house, waiting for Haruka:

“Hey.” A keychain dangled from [Sousuke’s] raised right hand. A familiar, flat dolphin plate swayed. It was the one [Haruka] bought on the school trip to the aquarium. It was supposed to be attached to his house key…… When he looked at it suspiciously, Sousuke slowly stood up and threw the keychain back to Haruka. “Dropped it in the changing room yesterday.” Receiving it, he turned over the dolphin. Haruka’s name and address were written on it. “Did you go out of your way to bring it to me?” “On the same occasion as paying a sympathy visit. I thought Nanase might still be conked out.”

For someone who has a rather unfavorable opinion of Haruka, Sousuke went out of his way to not only restore Haruka’s possession, but to also check up on his recuperation. Haruka easily invites Sousuke over to share the croquettes as thanks for returning Haruka’s keychain, and Sousuke obliges. Sousuke learns that Haruka’s parents work, thus leaving Haruka alone to his own devices. Haruka treats him hospitably, offering him leftovers he cooked:

“I made it yesterday.” Sousuke’s chopsticks stopped, he looked up fixedly at Haruka’s face. “……Nanase made it?” “That’s right.” “This?” “Uh huh.” [...] Sousuke stared intently at the inside of the tupperware. Then, he took his eyes off of it in a huff and sank his teeth into the croquette again. “I hate bamboo shoots and butterburs,” he said, bluntly. Haruka pulled back the tupperware, and after turning his back to Sousuke, he picked up a bamboo shoot between his fingers and put it in his mouth. [...] After Haruka put the tupperware into the refrigerator, not feeling like looking at Sousuke’s face, he gazed at the recipe. Looked like it would be sweet-and-sour pork tonight.

Sousuke takes a long pause to refuse food he seemingly hates, making certain that Haruka indeed cooked them; whereas Haruka in his dismay, refuses to meet Sousuke’s eyes, reassuring himself that his cooking tastes fine. As Sousuke finishes his meal, he admits that the letter from Rin was actually meant for Haruka, as attested by the writing’s one-sidedness and the faint “you” imprinted underneath the “him” in the line, “I wanna swim as fast as him — as fast as Haru!” With Sousuke being the dutiful type, evident in his returning Haruka’s keyholder and the year he spent under the tutelage of Rin despite finding him to be infuriating, Sousuke predicts Rin expected him to show the letter to Haruka; according to Haruka, it is a self-serving form of encouragement, confounding as ever, that Rin. (“Could [Rin] be telling him to swim? For as much as [Rin] was suffering, could he be requesting for Haruka to swim, too? Could [Rin] be telling [Haruka] to keep swimming in front of [him]? As always, he’s a self-indulgent guy, [Haruka] thought.” HS2, 8)

Putting the last piece in his mouth, Sousuke washed it down with barley tea. “Aah, that was delicious. Thanks for the meal. Oh right, Nanase was doing biaxial, huh?” “Only for about a week so far, though.” “Wow, getting that far in a week, that’s very good.” “Don’t really get it, though.” “So, that start, what is it?”

Sousuke means the start Nao – student coach of Haruka’s swim club – drills into the first years. Haruka demonstrates the secret to the technique – the karuta grab, where two people sit on their knees facing each other, with their hands pushing down on the ground and waist slightly lifted; the first to swipe away a bottle cap sitting between them wins. Sousuke does not contain his wonder and excitement at the display as Haruka teaches it to him. In each implementation, Haruka beats Sousuke, whose hands remain unmoved.

“The rest is learning by repetition.” Picking up the cap, [Haruka] brought the ‘karuta grabbing’ to an end. “Oh, oh. Awesome. The coach at Nanase’s place is awesome!” “He’s manager and trainer.” “Sorry!” Keeping the ‘karuta grabbing’ posture, Sousuke lowered his head. Before, he had looked down on Nao. He was probably apologizing for that, but he didn’t need to go as far as kneeling down. “I’ll tell you in exchange–” Sousuke raised his head. “I’m practicing the biaxial now, too, give the ‘2LR stroke’ a try. It’s a practice where you do the stroke twice left and twice right at a time. You can’t do it unless you put your weight on the axis, so it’s perfect to capture the feel of it.” Haruka raised the corner of his mouth a little. “Sure you should be telling me that? Don’t blame me if you lose.” Standing up while he kept his eyes glued to Haruka, Sousuke raised the corner of his mouth, too. “Who’s gonna lose? Come at me with all you’ve got next time.” The right hand he held out is huge, he thought. He didn’t want to have a heated handshake with such a hand, but he had no reason to decline, either. When he grabbed his hand, Haruka’s energy and Sousuke’s energy flew into each other’s body and he heated up, all the way to his chest. They recognized each other as opponents they couldn’t lose to. That was why he didn’t want to shake hands. Seeing off Sousuke until the front entrance, they parted with a ‘see you later’. The setting sun started to sink into the horizon. He remembered that he had to feed Makkou and go outside. From between the dogwood and longstalk hollies, he could see Sousuke running through the port. His long and lanky shadow grew even longer and swayed. (HS2, 8)

As mentioned before, Sousuke holds himself accountable whenever his misjudgments get the best of him. He performs dogeza, an elegant albeit submissive bow of a person who is irrevocably in the wrong and sincerely apologizes for it. Because the action is perceived by Haruka, it is not made explicit whether Sousuke begs for forgiveness for his belittlement of Nao or for his brusque treatment towards Haruka or for both. By initiating a challenge against Sousuke – a feat unprecedented on Haruka’s end – despite their rocky start and then shaking his hand, Haruka readily acknowledges Sousuke and the energy transmitting from him, which ignites Haruka. They cannot deny the effect they have on each other; Sousuke and Haruka mutually view the other as a potentially worthy rival. They even trade swimming tips, something Haruka normally does not do; Haruka usually does not contribute to discussion regarding the mechanics of swimming, as most of his thoughts are left internalized. Gradually, Sousuke’s negative impressions of Haruka shift, as Haruka’s acceptance of Sousuke as his peer burgeons, cultivating genuine and proactive reciprocation.

Time passes. Haruka practices Sousuke’s 2LR stroke, which corrects his swimming form during the biaxial crawl. Club activities temporarily cease as exam period goes underway. Hospital visits, companionships fumbling as they form and reform, Haruka steadily moves forward...to arrive at Hiyori Swimming Stadium for another tournament, this time with Haruka participating.

Sousuke stood in front of the locker room, leaning his back against the wall. Folding his long arms like he’s finding them to be slightly unmanageable, he was slightly smiling. “Yo.” His gaze fastened onto Haruka. [...] “Uh huh.” Reluctantly just giving a reply, he passed by in front of him. “To Rin –” It seemed that [Sousuke] wouldn’t let them get away with passing by. Stopping, he looked up at Sousuke’s face. “I wrote a letter. About the competition.” “So what?” “That Nanase’s not a big deal.” “And then?” “A reply came from Rin.” “What was it?” “He said not to make light of you so much.” “Then, you shouldn’t. We –” Haruka’s gaze became a strong energy and pierced through Sousuke. Sweating only a single drop, Sousuke withstood it. “Today, it’s the 100 free and medley relay for me. For Nanase?” “The 50 and 100 free. Also, the relay and medley relay.” “Don’t completely exhaust yourself again.” “The start?” “I’ve made it my own.” “Alright then.” Haruka cautiously removed his gaze from Sousuke and went inside the locker room. [...] His heartbeat was awfully agitated. He couldn’t restrain the thing squirming deep in his body. When he thought that perhaps Sousuke had stirred him up, there was vexation as well, but he thought that it also resembled the exhilarating feeling after he swims with full force. It seemed like it wouldn’t calm down for a while.

Their concern for each other – Sousuke preemptively warning Haruka not to tucker himself out and Haruka asking Sousuke on the status of the start Haruka passed down to him – further exemplifies the healthy mutuality of their rivalry. Although Sousuke has not seen a worthwhile performance from Haruka aside from last year’s relay, he approaches Haruka on multiple occasions. If neither mattered to the other, their words and actions would not leave such deep impressions. Though annoyed by how heavily affected he is by Sousuke’s competitive edge, Haruka finds it thrilling, heart-racing. Using his teammates’ feelings, Haruka creates resolve for himself, resolve that turns into energy filling his entire body. Spurred by the encouragements from his friends cheering on the sidelines, Haruka soars, landing in the water’s welcoming arms; he wins and shatters the first-years’ tournament record. Afterwards, is the 100m freestyle event:

In the neighboring lane, – was Sousuke. “Yo, that was perfect.” “I wonder how it would’ve been, if you were there.” Haruka diplomatically told him that it would’ve been a close match if Sousuke had swam. “Pff, I’ll prove it to you.” He was saying that in the race they were going to swim now, he would prove to [Haruka] that his real ability was greater than his. “I won’t lose, though.” H[aruka] has no intention to be fixated on winning or losing. It just meant that if Sousuke wished it, he would swim for real. “That’s good.” [Sousuke] meant to come at him in that spirit. It meant that it wouldn’t be interesting if he didn’t. [...] His reaction time was approximately simultaneous with Sousuke’s. They float in midair like they had synchronized. Raising small splashes, he landed in the water. Dolphin kick from the streamline. Haruka narrowly pulled ahead. However, Sousuke’s true value was from here on out; just when he thought that he forcefully came gaining on him, he easily jumped in front of Haruka. – He felt him. He felt Sousuke to the extent that his skin tingled with electricity. And he understood from the undulations being transmitted that Sousuke was feeling Haruka, too. Sousuke made the turn ahead of him. For a moment, their eyes met. – Come. Sousuke provoked Haruka. He didn’t even need to be told. He released all of his energy at once. He was being heated up. His hands, his feet, his body were burning red. All the water that touched him instantly evaporates.

Because Sousuke and Rin are so alike they are almost treated as alter egos and Haruka’s analytical mind observes through comparisons based on past experiences, Haruka briefly superimposes Rin’s image onto Sousuke. To overtake one, Haruka overtakes the other; overtaking one means he overtakes the counterpart. Since Haruka swims ahead of Rin, he cannot lose to Sousuke.

Furthermore, Sousuke gleefully congratulates on Haruka’s achievement, while Haruka explicitly expresses a yearning to swim against Sousuke, to truly engage in the challenge. Haruka wants to prove himself to Sousuke, and the sentiment is shared:

Touching the goal with his hand, Haruka lifted his face. In the neighboring lane, Sousuke lifted his face as well and breathed in deeply. Sousuke held out his hand over the rope. When he grasped it, while thinking that as always, it’s a huge hand, he felt Sousuke’s lingering energy flowing into him. Again, Sousuke was supposed to be feeling the same thing, too.

When the time came to enter the course soon, Sousuke called out to Haruka. “Rin’s feelings, I finally understood them.” “What?” “The pressure of being gained on by Nanase.” “That is?” “While swimming, my skin tingled. That was the first time.” “So?” “– But, I’ve already experienced it. Next time, I won’t let you overtake me!” “Only if you can swim ahead of me.” After lightly saying it, Haruka raised the corner of his mouth. Responding to that, Sousuke also smiled fearlessly. After staring into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, prompted by the whistle, they split up and went towards each of their courses.

While waiting for Asahi on the starting block, Haruka had his eyes turned towards Sousuke, who was in the same heat. The Sousuke he saw through his goggles was lankier than usual. – Sorry. I’ll be making the start first. (HS2, 12)

Unlike his anime counterpart for most of its run, Sousuke in HS2 readily acknowledges Haruka as a swimmer and seeks him out as an opponent, but he neither obsesses over Haruka’s talent nor renders Haruka unattainable. Because their rivalry is not rooted in idealization, it stimulates improvement and frankness beneficial for both individuals. Sousuke makes a declaration of war, and Haruka wholeheartedly meets him halfway. Technically speaking, it is Haruka who reopens the rivalry after the air is clear of misunderstandings, an auspicious moment for him seeing as Haruka has frequently viewed rivalries as wasteful, vexing and thus undesirable.

It wasn't a name that he'd known before, but now that he knew it, it didn't make much difference. Haruka just wanted to remember him: the opponent who had annoyed him so. (HS, 1)

At the idea that there was someone in front of him who could feel the water more than he did, his body had grown hot. The heat had flowed all through him. He hadn't even felt like trying to hold back.

Even after he had climbed up onto the poolside, he continued to smolder, unable to burn off all of his energy. […] And when he thought that someone like Rin had thrown his emotions into disarray like that, he was disgusted with himself. Deeply regretting that he'd let himself be provoked and gotten so thoroughly carried away, Haruka left the pool. (HS, 2)

It was just that there might be someone who could swim faster than Haruka, and that might mean that he could feel the water more than Haruka could, and it was a fact that this left a small knot of worry in Haruka's heart. (HS, 2)

Haruka wasn't going to deny that there was someone who could swim faster than him. But he wasn't going to acknowledge it so easily, either. It wasn't that he wanted to win, or that he hated losing; it was just that he couldn't simply accept that there was someone who could feel the water more than he could. (HS, 3)

“Yup, I go to Bandou SC and Haru goes to Iwatobi SC, though. Well, it’s like that. What they call rivals.” When [Haruka] thought of Asahi considering them as such, his mood fell another level. (HS2, 2)

Sousuke didn’t avert his gaze from Haruka. The same as Sakuyuki earlier. Every last one of them looked at him with challenging eyes. He can’t stand to take on every single one of them. (HS2, 4)

“I think he’s being impatient. The first years are all experienced, he might be worried that his spot as varsity swimmer will be taken. Like when he was playing soccer……” Ridiculous, [Haruka] thought. He’s not swimming because he wanted to be a varsity swimmer. If [Shouta] wanted that, [Haruka] would let him have it. (HS2, 6)

Making the turn, he passed by Shouta. That made him remember, he was swimming with Shouta. It’s not that he forgot. It’s just that he didn’t feel him. It was only the two of them in the pool, but he couldn’t feel Shouta. What could Shouta be feeling, thinking in the water? Or could it be that he wasn’t feeling anything? If Shouta were to harbor some kind of emotions towards the water, even if they were feeble, they should be conveyed to Haruka. But he didn’t feel anything. Nothing was being conveyed to him. It was a sensation as if he were swimming with a mechanical doll. (HS2, 6)

Backtrack to Haruka’s first experiences with having Rin challenge him – a novelty for Haruka which rankled him deeply – and others subsequently challenging Haruka, and compare those reactions to the ones he has when facing Sousuke. One will see that – according to Ohji’s writing – Haruka’s rivalry with Sousuke is special in its own way, as Sousuke instills a keen thrill within Haruka that he is not only receptive towards, but also attempts to match in response.

I find the anime’s adaptation of Sousuke’s and Haruka’s rivalry paltry, undermining the significance of their development and competition as merely background noise; the show even failed to write a satisfactory conclusion for their conflict. The next part of the series – an analysis on the anime scenes – will go more in-depth on the differences between Ohji’s interpretations versus Kyoani’s interpretations of these characters.

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