Harukana Receive

This season's Manga Time Kirara anime, Harukana Receive is set on the beaches of Okinawa. However, it's not all sun and surf when second year high school student, Haruka Oozora, meets with her cousin, Kanata Higa, and is drawn towards beach volleyball.

From the trailers, Harukana Receive looks spectacular: Okinawa is beautifully drawn, and the anime pays attention to the details in everything, from the sounds of a volleyball spike to the play of light in the surroundings. This seems the anime to relax to this upcoming summer, and with notions of teamwork, Haruka's concerns with being tall and Kanata's determination too play despite her small size, I expect that we could have more than what, at first glance, looks like a run-of-the-mill fanservice series.

Edited by Person0123452 on Jul 5th 2018 at 5:41:07 AM

I'm definitely looking forward to this one. Yeah, maybe for simple reasons, but MTK shows are usually pretty good for character interaction and stuff too.

While the synopsis doesn't sound like the kind of series I usually read/watch, I'll give it a 3-episode+1-volume rule here.

Certainly does have more skin that the series you're used to, but other than that, messages of friendship and teamwork are likely consistent with your usual shows.

It's a fine start to the season, and I'm excited to see where this goes. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't drawn in certain elements of Harukana Receive, myself

Hm... the first episode wasn't anything amazing, but it does have some interesting ideas in play. I'll give it a second chance, but I'm not incredibly enthused or anything.

At least the worst has been averted. The series has no added fanservice (with the exception of fanservice incidental to beach volleyball).

Looking at the manga the structure of the series will be somewhat similar to Laid-Back Camp, provided Harukana will on parallel handling with the Kyoto duo while practicing with the Thomas siblings (Eclair) at school.

Trivia: Haruka has Names The Same doubled up: I think this is the first time in the numerous Kirara serieses where the protagonist's name was reused (already have Takayama), and her family name is more known for another sports manga protagonist.

Edited by SamCurt on Jul 8th 2018 at 1:38:25 PM

The fanservice is not a problem here, since there's no obvious intent to show anatomy over narrative. The camera will linger in some places, of course, but it's not going to be a serious detractor from what's going on between the characters.

The only shot I would consider "pure" fanservice is Haruka stripping down to get in the ocean, and even that has some justification as Kanata-vision. The rest of it just felt like the natural consequence of having a main cast made up of athletic girls in bathing suits.

This was my favorite first episode of the season. It was so energetic , and made beach volleyball look so fun, which is at it's core what sport anime are all about. I always love series about enthusiastic newcomers discovering the joys of a sport.

And the show looks good, and I don't just mean girls in bikinis bouncing up and down. Okinawa looks amazing here, and the volleyball was really dynamic. I'm going to enjoy this series.

A lot has been discussed about the first episode, and there's just one thing I'd like to add. While part of the reason Narumi agreed to a rematch is Kanata, I started to wonder if she sees Haruka as something of a natural. Haruka doesn't play like it was the first hour playing the sport ever.

Oh yes, the Les Yay. Not quite in this episode, but judging from the manga we can see this from Episode 3. Ayasa's talking teammate relationships in romantic terms.

Haruka definitely has a talent for the sport. She started to figure things out remarkably quickly.

Also, I wonder if there's more to Narumi's dislike of the term "ace" than just the general philosophy of the sport. She seems to take a rather personal offense to the term, so I wonder if it has something to do with what happened between her and Kanata in the past.

Good episode. Got the fun of a sports drama while staying true to beach volleyball, and the yuri elements made themselves known

For me, more than anything, seeing how attuned Haruka is to those around her and the series showing her learning the fundamentals of beach volleyball were the strong points in this episode. A less serious questions for the folk with a SO: how're they responding to your watching Harukana Receive?

Edited by Person0123452 on Jul 13th 2018 at 11:06:47 AM

Man, this was a good strong episode. We got some payoff from last week, Kanata's issue is out in the open, some solid character writing and involved drama, some exciting sportsball, and of course, some nice fanservice to round it all off.

I've gotta say, this reminds me of how my WLW friends insist that for a population of lesbians of any given size, at least 75% will be either dating or exes with each other.

More seriously - it really is interesting how they're setting things up. Ayasa clearly is very worried about Narumi going back to Kanata, and given that she's obviously the more attached of the two, she might be right to worry. Still, I give her credit for being honest about it to Haruka.

Edit: Also, I swear I'm not gonna snap on this topic like I did for Amanchu! Advance, but don't think I missed the confirmation in that Zenith is the sort who questions whether a flashing neon sign pointing out that girls are in love is just an overreaction by yurigoggled fans.

Edited by RedSavant on Jul 14th 2018 at 12:15:28 PM

I took that to mean "I'll leave everyone else who knows more to talk about it, since I've never been good at writing about that stuff" in the post, and personally, I don't think that they've ever completely missed the mark when talking about themes or messages in a series even while ignoring yuri elements. Everyone has their own way of enjoying a series, and I'll be damned if there is a "wrong" way of watching slice of life shows.

Yeah, I've got to echo everyone here : this was a solid episode, a good follow up to the first one. The fun of the sport, the spirit of beach volleyball, the tricks and plays. I liked how they started from fundamentals of the sport, and how the match was concluded.

The character work was strong for everyone involved, and I like how there was already some development. Haruka is such a fun lead, and her enthusiasm for the sport is just contagious.

The humor was good too and helped balance the character drama nicely and not let it overwhelm the episode. Demon Coach!

And of course there was plenty of the great appeal of Beach volleyball: bouncing boobs and nice butts in swimsuits.

Edited by Shlugo_the_great on Jul 14th 2018 at 7:49:46 PM

I'll add to the pile and say this was a really good episode. Convinced me to pick the anime for the season. Appropriate, too, that the show about the power of teamwork in beach volleyball used two episodes to show it's power, one for setup, one for delivery.

Also, Haruka is a really good protagonist. Goofy fun, determined, and good at bringing out the best in people around her. Love her already. I'm only disappointed she couldn't do the Cut Shot Pose in the actual match

So that's two sports anime in my list for the season thus far. What is even going on...

If she had managed to pull off the cut shot pose during the match, I feel like Narumi would have walked off the court. That girl is high-strung.

Someone couldn't take rejection from her partner well.

From her volleyball partner, I mean.

Who tell Crunchyroll to put a ecchi tag on this series...?

I mean, they're not exactly wrong, per se. The scene with Kanata ogling Haruka's rear was pretty blunt, and the show's not shy about how attractive its cast is.

Speaking of which, any objections from the wife that you're watching this one?

New Episode, we meet the Eclair twins, one of which is even more energetic than Haruka. Haruka and Kanata also become an official team.

Hm, feel like the last two fights should have been spaced out more. Both being "HaruKana are getting their asses kicked and then Kanata does something she has reservations about". That aside, fun episode, and I like Eclair

Speaking of asses, asses are slapped three times as much in episode three than they were for the last episode, but that's not what the direction this series is going in. There's so much additional character development and other subtle details that strange as it may seem, the fanservice has fallen to the back of my mind, and I'm likewise curious to know what happens next.

Edited by Person0123452 on Jul 20th 2018 at 10:42:14 AM