a thread on nanase haruka from free! and why he's the most autistic coded character i've ever seen

i'm going to be listing autistic traits that haru exhibits, but i won't elaborate much further or this thread would be 100 parts long . so this will assume you know at least a bit about autism

also i'm autistic lol :p

oh and this may contain spoilers for s1-2 and starting days

btw this may take awhile + i haven't finished the series yet and i'll probably have more to say once i do so if you have any thoughts to add i'll drop my cc here ! https://curiouscat.me/twinkcore 

free! is a gay ass anime about gay ass swimmers of which haru is the main character . throughout the series he's shown to be very quiet, reserved, socially awkward, and eccentric . that's all u need to know let's get into it

communication

like i said, haru is quiet, and always prefers to listen while others carry the conversation . when he does speak he tends to use a monotone . he hardly ever shows his emotions clearly, and usually wears the same facial expression, coming off as disinterested

bluntness

he can also be unintentionally rude . for example in starting days, makoto has to keep reminding him to use "polite" speech . this results in him randomly adding "-desu" to the end of sentences, which apparently comes off unnatural . ( translated here as "sir" )

stranger danger

haru avoids certain situations giving no explanation other than they're "too much trouble" . in s1, they need to teach a new member (rei) to swim, and even though haru *could* do this, he doesn't until the last possible minute, when they have no other options

( he's also against the idea of a new member in general, but that's more related to routine )

and when haru DOES try to communicate with strangers, it goes about as you'd expect

eye contact

sometimes he *does* maintain eye contact, and these are at rare and dramatic points in the series, like when he's directly confronting someone . the other is always shocked at his forwardness . bcs most of the time, he doesn't

physical contact

haru dislikes being touched by most people . a good example is kisumi, who haru isn't comfortable with but who is touchy . he nudges kisumi away multiple times, asks makoto ( who he IS comfortable with ) for help, then sighs in relief when kisumi leaves

in contrast, this is how he acts with people he is comfortable with . he's usually surprised and then awkwardly accepts it, but still doesn't reciprocate

gay

makoto is his comfort person btw . i won't get too much into this but this is really prominent in starting days, when they suddenly aren't in the same class anymore and haru becomes even more reserved without makoto around to make him comfortable . WHICH LEADS ME TOOOOO

routine

oh boy does haru love sameness .. he sticks to a daily routine ( taking a cold bath, cooking breakfast, walking with makoto ) even if it makes him late for school . and when it's interrupted ( like when makoto doesn't show up ), he's visibly distressed and lost

most of s2 is actually based around haru accepting that his life is changing ( since he's graduating ) and being unable to move on .

and when he gets overwhelmed he shuts down ( sensory overload anyone ) even in the Middle Of A Race

sameness / food

this is a HUGE trait of haru's . he only likes to eat one food: salt-grilled mackerel . he also eats canned mackerel but has trouble with any other preparation . he's so picky that he takes a cooler of mackerel with him to training camp to avoid uncertainty .

tw disordered eating /

he always tries to order it at restaurants and looks uncomfortable at the idea of getting any other food . he gets upset when gou points out his unbalanced diet . it even gets to the point in starting days where he faints from low blood sugar bcs of this

sameness / clothing

haru's swimsuits are a running gag atp because:

1) he wears them constantly, even in the bath and under his clothes

2) he continues to buy suits that look exactly the same, refusing to change, but insists that they are all different

this is both a sign of needing sameness ( wearing the same thing every day, not straying from one design ) AND sensory issues ( noticing minuscule differences in the way they fit, and again wearing the same thing every day, like a comfort item )

sensory

one more example of haru being overly sensitive to sensory input, although i could go on all day, is him constantly breaking their middle school dress code because the feeling of his collar around his neck is making him uncomfortable

haru also loves the feeling of being in the water, and the sensation calms him and helps him clear his head . kind of like a weighted blanket ! this is a form of stimming . him feeling comfortable while swimming could also be seen as this

special interest

haru's relationship with water & swimming is way too much to explain here, but here's an explanation from a fansite dedicated to haru being autistic ( you read that right ) a lot of his other traits are highlighted here too so it's a good read uwu

misc

this is a more minor one, but a lot of ppl note this, so haru is very artistic and right-brained ! he's talented in everything creative, including cooking ( even though he usually eats one thing, he's noted to be a good chef ), drawing, and of course swimming

that's it WOW ....... for now i mean but i got it out of my system so there u go nanase haruka ceo of autism and also ceo of being short . thank u for reading

oh and here's the fansite !! it's sadly unfinished but gives a way more in depth look at haru's autistic traits ( especially if ur not already familiar with autism ) which is super sexy http://haru.oubliette.nu 

oh lookie i already forgot something ... this wouldve been obvious if u have seen free! but assuming you haven't - haru only swims freestyle ! he absolutely refuses to swim any other way . this ties into sameness, and his relationship w swimming and how its freeing to him :)