[COSPLAY] Our Favorite Free! Cosplays

I’m sure you’ve all heard of “Free!”, the popular shonen-sport anime by Kyoto Animation, which basically tells about swimming and friendship. The story revolves around a water-obsessed boy named Haruka Nanase, his gentle-giant-best friend Makoto Tachibana, the rival-slash-bestie Rin Matsuoka, and their two underclass men Hazuki Nagisa and Rei Ryugazaki.

This anime has gained a lot of popularity after the first season, “Free! Iwatobi Swim Club” had aired, and the hype got even more apparent after the second season named “Free! Eternal Summer”, which ended not too long ago with 13 new episodes.

As expected, the bigger the hype surrounding an anime series, the more cosplayers would be interested to cosplay them. After seeing so many of those fabulously wonderful Free! cosplays, we’ve decided to present a selection of our favorite cosplays hand-picked from WorldCosplay.

And don’t worry ladies, because the characters from FREE! are male, we have tried prioritising our selection based on male cosplayers. We promise you would not get heartbroken… much.

Now on to the pictures!

 

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Haruka Nanase

[Cosplayed by General Yuks] Two words: THAT TAIL. Enough said.

[Cosplayed by Yao] Although Yao is female, her body shape is quite familiar to Haru’s in the anime. Not to mention that awesomely smooth, detailed work of photoshopping those abs onto herself; amazing.

[Cosplayed by Hana] That passive but inquiring stare, those swimmer-like shoulders and most importantly : 100% male. And that’s what got the fangirls going. Hana’s cosplay of Haru is just superb, and the fact that he’s a real guy makes the Haru-feel all the more authentic.

[Cosplayed by Kuryu] Although our priority was male cosplayers, Kuryu’s cosplay of Haru is just too flawless to pass up despite her gender. Already having a jaw-line similar to Haru to begin with, Kuryu’s cosplay is perfected with Haru’s trademark pouty scowl, it’s nearly there but it’s not there all the same. It’s super hard to pull off, but she did it anyway.

[Cosplayed by Yosuke] Here I present to you, Haruka Nanase in real life. There are simply no words for this one particular cosplay. Yosuke’s expression is strikingly similar to Haru. He managed to get that faraway-but-seemingly-pre-occupied-stare while looking quite deadpan at the same time as well. Two thumbs up for this guy.

 

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Makoto Tachibana

[Cosplayed by Aimi] It’s super hard to find a proper cosplay of Makoto, mainly because of that gentle, sweet, cheerful and heart-warming smile that has become his trademark. Aimi, though, managed to give off that gentle aura Makoto possessed and showed into her smile.

[Cosplayed by Lenneth XVII] Lenneth’s love for Makoto is abundant and it definitely shows in this picture. Her characterization is nearly flawless; “Makoto” looks obviously tired but it seems nothing can knock a smile off that face. Good job, Lenneth!

[Cosplayed by Gusneko] He’s tall. He’s male. He’s buff. And he’s doing Makoto’s fireman cosplay from the ending song that we all love. Need I say more? Not to mention he’s got Makoto’s olive hair colour covered; where does he buy those absurd-colored wigs?!

[Cosplayed by Baozi] Three main things about Baozi that earned a spot in our selection. First, he’s a legit male, so no photoshop needed. Second, his physique is quite similar to Makoto; look at that back muscles! And lastly, that smile. That gentle, sweet, calming, soothing, Mako-trademark smile. Perfect.

[Cosplayed by Nakoto] Yes, we know we promised to prioritise our selection to male cosplayers. But you can’t blame us when we say that, expression-wise, Nakoto portrays Makoto flawlessly? Despite her gender, Nakoto can still give off a cheerful, wide smile that screams gentleness and security and familiarity without losing her “manliness”. And that is one hard feat which she managed to pull off flawlessly. Kudos for you, Nakoto!

 

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Rin Matsuoka

Just for this character, we think that our previous ” male cosplayers priority” rule has just been kicked out the window seeing all of the cosplayers listed are female. Rin’s feminine-like features has been proven to be difficult to mimic by men even with the help of make-up. Apologies for the heartbreak, ladies.

 

[Cosplay by LALAax] Sharp features, piercing gaze, toothy grin, and a “shark-like” aura altogether. What better way to describe Rin? Lala’s got it all covered and this picture shows it. You go, girl!

[Cosplay by Anzakura] Anra’s portrayal of Rin obviously aims for his gentle-big-brother side, and it shows in her cosplay. You cant help but be drawn to those eyes.

[Cosplay by Saffron Yeung] The first thing that crossed our minds when we saw this was “Oh Wow! That stare!”. It really feels as if she’s staring right at us through the screen; greeting us and asking us for a hug. All that while still managing to stay in character as Rin.

[Cosplay by Yuegene] Finally, a Rin cosplay that is not in cop uniform. Okay, make that a tsundere non-cop!Rin cosplay. Because really, what else does that expression say except “I don’t want to care about you! … Not much.” And let’s just admit it, the term “tsundere” has already kind of stuck to Rin’s character since the first season? Don’t you agree with me?

[Cosplay by Kuryu] Please don’t blame us for nominating Kuryu twice, because we really couldn’t pass up such a flawlessly perfect cosplay. Come on, look at her! That cocky grin, challenging eyes, that teeth! She’s totally got Rin characterized right down to the shark teeth. There’s no other way Rin can get any real.

 

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Apologies to all of you Nagisa, Rei and Sosuke fans; good cosplays of them were severely hard to find on Worldcosplay. Here’s a few consolation pictures;

Nagisa Hazuki [Cosplay by nat]

Rei Ryugazaki [Cosplay by Kaze Onshoa]

Sosuke Yamazaki [Cosplay by Ataito]

And that is our selection of the finest Free! cosplays. What do you think about our shortlisted favorites? Have we done it right? Or do you know any other awesome Free cosplays that we’ve missed? Post your opinions in the comments!

In addition, do let us know if there’s other anime series which you think have alot of awesome cosplays we should feature on AFA Channel.

Image Credits: WorldCosplay

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