Memes / Free!

• SOON. ^Explanation Ever since the very first concept art was posted Animation Do's home page, that picture was posted pretty much every single day (sometimes even multiple times a day) on /a/ for over a whole year until the first animated commercial happened. The picture was always posted together with only one word - "SOON".
• Makoto's shovel.
• Rin's shark teeth.
• The show called "the fastest growing tumblr fandom".
• In addition to the nickname "Swimming Anime", there's also "Swimming Yaoi" due to the presumed homoeroticism the show will have.
  • Other nicknames include "Swimbros" and "Boku no Swimbros", the latter being a reference to the infamous (not to mention Memetic) Shotacon hentai series Boku no Pico.
• Don't call her Gou/Her name is Kou. ^Explanation Rin's sister dislikes her masculine-sounding name "Gou" and prefer the more feminine way her name can be read, "Kou". So naturally, if someone refers to her as Gou, it has to be corrected.
  • Gou is my spirit animal.
• It's becoming popular for the Attack on Titan fandom to make references to the series, especially cosplayers commenting on how to get the fangirls' attention after the Free! cast took it away from them.
  • Another overlap with the Attack on Titan memes includes Shingeki no Shitstorm, a video meant to serve as a Take That! to the anti-fujoshi Hatedom that appeared in response to Free! and its growing fandom of yaoi fangirls.
  • Then the parodies of the ending with Attack on Titan characters.
  • Also the similarities between Eren and Haruka- what with the former being obsessed with killing Titans and the latter with swimming.
• Some people predicting it to have a sudden shift into psychological horror by episode three have taken to calling it "Drowning Anime".
  • ...which became hilarious after episode 3 when this happened
  • ...and then horrifying after episode five.
  • Related to the 'drowning anime' predictions, many also started guessing that the anime would turn into Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
• Nagisa dies. ^{Explanation with HUGE spoilers for CLANNAD ~After Story~} A crossover meme with CLANNAD ~After Story~, since both shows 1) are made by KyoAni and 2) feature a character named Nagisa, and everybody who watched CLANNAD ~After Story~ knows that, well...
• Nagisa does drugs. ^note To some, this is the initial reaction to his "purifying salt" from episode 1; since then, the scene has spawned several jokes revolving Nagisa and drugs.
  • Thugisa. ^Explanation 50% Off took the above and ran with it.
• Haruka's obsession with water and stripping whenever he sees a pool/Haruka is H2Osexual ^Explanation After episode 1, Haruka X Water jokes exploded across the Free!dom, mostly involving Haruka stripping at the mere sight of water, being attracted to water, etc, etc. It only got worse after episode 2 showed him seriously considering climbing into a fish tank at a hardware store. He admitted that he fell in love with a waterfall when he was younger.
• "When you're ten, they call you a prodigy. When you're fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit twenty, you're just an ordinary person." (Repeated on Tumblr ad infinitum)
• Megane Makoto!!! ^note  Makoto with glasses got instantly popular after the ED art for episode 4
• Depicting Rin as being secretly protective of Kou and being angry about her being around a bunch of topless bachelors all the time is quite common amongst fan artists.
• Why the FUCK do you relate this show to ours?◊ ^note It's a well-known fact that Free! and Attack on Titan have Friendly Fandoms, and it's also well known that their tones couldn't be more different. The gif was one that made its way around the internet via a tumblr post with the caption, "Nagisa and Makoto watch Attack on Titan and wonder why the FUCK you relate this show to theirs."
• Rin's Australian Accent ^note Considering that Rin lived in Australia for approximately three years, it has become very common to depict him with an Australian accent when speaking English in fanworks.
• It's a popular joke amongst the fandom to wonder how Haruka would respond to The Little Mermaid (1989). Specifically, how everyone knows he'd be outraged at how Ariel is willing to give up a life of swimming forever in exchange for human legs.◊
• Depicting Rei as being dead after the end of episode 5 happened became quite popular on tumblr.
• Rin's "boyfriend senses" in regards to him sensing Haru's actions has become quite a thing on Tumblr.
• Nagisa isn't just a shota. He's a seme, too.◊
  • He's also a little shit. ^note The phrase "Nagisa you little shit" is so commonly used on Tumblr, it became its own official [1] tag.
• Some fans noticed a resemblance◊ between minor character Coach Sasabe and rap artist Macklemore. As a result it's common to refer to the character as "swimming Macklemore".
• Growth Spurt! Nagisa.
• Third Year!◊ Nitori◊
• Seijuro Mikoshiba? You mean Captain Abs. Also, his and Gou's "future beautiful red-head babies".
• Cop!Rin in the second season ending gyrating his hips. It's everywhere!
  • A common conviction on Tumblr is that Rin's specifically a cop-themed stripper. "Rin's a real cop like I'm a jelly donut" and similar phrases have become a thing.
• The end of episode 7 introduces Kisumi AKA "the Strawberry Cotton Candy Kid".
  • Kiss Me
• "DON'T YOU 'FUTURE FISH' ME!!" and the like became popular after the heartbreaking ending of episode eleven being quickly offset by the inappropriately happy ending song.
• "Saba Down!" Started popping up around Christmas time when fans flooded the Kyoto Animation's shop site, trying to get preorders of the Haruka and Makoto mook, causing the server to crash. ^Explanation  Saba is mackerel in Japanese but it is used as a pun on Saabaa which is server.
• Ever since the OVA Lost Sousuke◊ has become a popular joke. Especially on Tumblr.
• As of the Eternal Summer English dub, there are now jokes making fun of how the characters refer to each other with "dude", "man" and "bro", as well as this line:
  Makoto: I've got backstroke for days!
  • Rin's name being pronounced as "Reen"
• "I want to be a sandwich" ^Explanation  A suspiciously framed scene◊ of Rin eating a sandwich and sucking the egg drippings off his thumb was very well-received by his fans, with many of them proclaiming envy for the food.
• Hyori, Ikuya there are other versions of your favorite book ‘The Little Mermaid’ to enjoy. Now go into this room and watch the Disney movie(s)!