Piano Cover: Rage On (Free!)

Once upon a time, there was an innocent little YouTube video, put together by Kyoto Animation to demonstrate its awesome new water-animating skillz. Unfortunately for video-kun, who just wanted some peace and quiet, the Internet was taken by storm. Legions of fangirls and fanboys celebrated KyoAni's foray into the world of delicious manservice, and dubbed the content "Swimming Anime." When it was finally discovered that Swimming Anime wasn't, in fact, a real show but only a demo, the resulting cries of grief and frustration were deafening. Overwhelmed by the pure volume of fan reaction, KyoAni finally relented, and announced that their new show Free! would begin airing in July. Cue the Internets going wild.

Or something like that.

The butt-slap that started it all.

Along with seemingly everyone and their great-aunts, I began watching Free! when it began airing in July (which was marginally awkward since I was visiting family in China). I don't know what I expected from the show, but one thing's for certain: KyoAni certainly didn't shy away from the fanservice, and Free! has been chock-full of shirtless dudes and near-yaoi moments. I really admire shows that are unapologetic about the content they're showing, and Free! is about as unapologetic as they get. With all the ridiculous female fanservice in the anime market, Free! comes off as almost tongue-in-cheek in the way it reciprocates it on the men.

I guess I should mention the backlash-from-dumb-people that the show got, but I'll direct you to my friend's blog post for all matters concerning that bit of controversy.

Oh, what's that? I'm supposed to talk about the music at some point?

To be honest, I can't say the music in Free! is the best I've ever heard -- though the ending sequence might be the most absurd (-ly awesome) I've ever seen -- but I still wanted to give the OP a try. The rock style of the song isn't the type of music I'm used to arranging for piano, but whatevs. :P Here is my attempt at covering the opening for the Swimming Anime:

Rage On (Free! Iwatobi Swim Club OP): Piano Cover



Artist: OLDCODEX
Date Completed: 2013-07-27
Software: Audacity, Sony Vegas
Number of Takes: 18
Instrumentation: Piano

Although I doubt Free! will find its way onto my best-anime-of-all-time list, it's definitely been an enjoyable ride so far. If you're curious, give it a try; I'd be interested to hear what you think! Here, have some Matsuoka Gou for good measure. :P

See you next water time (wut),

xds