Harukana Receive

Honestly outside of Eclair's outfits the other girls's swimsuits are too ugly for me to get any fanservice out of them.

Edited by Chariot on Jul 27th 2018 at 9:01:07 AM

Hopefully more ass slaps!

Nice episode. I think we could move on from Kanata's issues for a while, because this episode was basically the same issue as the last ones with a new coat of paint, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Also, that bit explaining the name of the show was a good way to clear the issue. I thought the name was just a reference to the actual move of a receive, but it carries more meaning when explained that way.

Edited by TheLovecraftian on Jul 24th 2018 at 10:52:38 AM

Isn't it just a continuation of the previous issue...

She's didn't get taller, so she's gotta play differently.

It's not the same exact issue, but the idea is still the same. Kanata has an issue that means she's feeling down and doesn't really want to play, so they get into a match and Haruka has to find a way to bring her back around. That's both episode 2 and 3's basic structure. I don't really mind it, but I'd like for the show to explore another character instead of repeating the structure with Kanata once more.

Edited by TheLovecraftian on Jul 24th 2018 at 11:24:21 AM

Well, I think episode 4 will allay the concerns about structure, really. We're really starting to open up here, with a new team, what I think is a new OP, a few hints at future characters, and truckloads of gay all around. Everyone in this show is gay for their partner and it's the sweetest thing.

Hell, we even have some interesting character arcing already for Narumi. What she says in the two years ago flashback is already rather different from how she acts when she's first introduced, and it's visible how that arc could have gone.

There we go. Less Receive, more HaruKana. It's cute

Edited by Hylarn on Jul 27th 2018 at 5:52:03 AM

Character development is very much a part of the fourth episode, and the yuri seems to have reached a point where it is impossible to ignore even for those who don't usually think about it

To be honest, 'This show, like Vince Lombardi's football record and Flags of Our Fathers, uses camaraderie and friendship as two of its major themes' is the kind of ham-handed citation I would shake my head at in any paper I was grading. I understand that it's often easiest to write what you know, but it still feels like a reach, especially since he's apparently still taking the romantic aspects as entirely metaphorical. I get romance subtext not being everyone's cup of tea, but still.

Anyway, I'm really digging the character dynamics so far. Even with Haruka and Claire dominating most group interactions due to their extroverted personalities, Kanata and Emily still have plenty of hold over their partners and plenty to say to each other, as well. Also, the fifth member of their team showed up briefly in this episode, as well! It'll be interesting seeing what's up with her.

I've found that most reviewers tend to be loathe to discuss romantic subtext in anything that's not explicitly about romantic relationships. I suspect it's largely due to shipping getting a bad rap

I was wondering how that wasn't obvious before, but yeah, this episode does indeed go far and beyond into the "truckloads of gay" territory.

Pretty decent episode. I'm still a bit annoyed that this was another episode featuring Kanata having a problem of some kind, but it was a shared issue this once and they handled it nicely, so this was fine. Lots of fanservice running about in this episode as well, although with people buying swimsuits, I suppose there's little way to avoid that.

Haruka continues to be the most entertaining character in the cast, which, in an age of mostly uninteresting main characters, I find amazing.

Edited by TheLovecraftian on Jul 28th 2018 at 10:21:31 AM

It's not much Kanata's problem though...since it wasn't as focused on her.

Exactly why I said this was fine. I would just like to see the other characters be explored too, and that's four episodes with Kanata either center stage or sharing it with someone, so it bothers me a little bit. But I can live with it. It's far from being actually annoying.

x5 In my case, I found the sports comparisons appropriate: even if football and beach volleyball might differ, the mindsets of teamwork and victory remain. Everyone has their opinions and approaches to things, which is fine. However,

I figured that discussions here were amongst peers, so all opinions merit equal weighting. So, now I'm curious: what is your occupation and background (e.g. Bachelor's, Master's, PhD, etc), if you think you can grade Infinite Zenith's writing? I've been reading them a while, and they have at least three publications under their belt.

Edited by ClockworkUniverses on Jul 28th 2018 at 8:01:00 AM

I'm a game translator, with my Master's in Japanese. You're right, though - that was rude of me. I know I'm too judgemental and it's really something I need to work on; please let me apologize. What I should say is that the comparisons feel a little forced to me, mostly because I feel like the relationship text speaks for itself in Harukana, but I need to be more aware that not everyone reads things the same way I do.

So basically, yeah, sorry, that was a dick thing to say.

It's all good. I personally think that Zenith's comparisons' are fun to read because they are whacky. If I remember correctly, they're a Master's in computer science and probably have a different approach to things. Either way, it's always interesting for me to see people work out what makes a series tick for them.

Yeah, it's definitely interesting. I know I really enjoyed reading some of his inputs on Yuru Camp from Survivorman, mostly because it's so far outside my usual area of expertise. I shouldn't be so quick to dismiss things that are different from my point of view.

Just popping back in to say that I often share the articles because, as ClockworkUniverses said, they can be a bit of a blast because of how much happens within them. I may not always agree with Infinite Zenith, but seeing the thought process is nice, especially for a series I figured would be little more than light-hearted fanservice and CGDCT things. Not sure if the flow is so smooth with the fourth episode, but I'll keep watching.

This episode really focused on what's is the heart of this anime- the swimsuits!

Seriously tho, I could use with little less yuri and little more sport. Hopefully the tournament will start soon.

There's been quite a lot of sport, mang.

The gayness just keeps going up and it's really annoying that Infinite just treats the romance as a metaphor, someone should tell him in the comments it's not at all. Even in the Kirara Fantasia game, the clothes Haruka and Kanata have, have the Minsa pattern even bigger in even more places, showing how important the real meaning of that pattern is for them.

Give it a crack yourself, if you're up for it Just keep in mind that one-liners and "because I said so" won't fly at all with Zenith; be prepared to thoroughly explain yourself, but also be prepared for some interesting discussion if you do get through. That being said, Zenith is reasonable once you get through: you shouldn't need citations or paragraphs at all.

Edited by Person0123452 on Aug 3rd 2018 at 9:00:06 AM

I mean, I've said my piece enough that I'm sure people are sick of hearing it, but yeah, there was a bit of 'the romance is a metaphor for what good friends they are!'

And yeah, they're not dating yet (and given that this is a Kirara series, they may not progress to official), but a friendship budding into romance is still a romance.

It feels quite dumb for that short girl to try these "pokey" feints all the time, even when she can see that no one will block a smash. For one thing it isn't a feint if you do it all the time, and the main purpose of that move is to pass a block.

Edited by gropcbf on Aug 3rd 2018 at 11:19:11 AM

Well, just finished episode 5. We're focusing on other teams now, but given that Ai and Mai's whole thing is still nothing but 'short girl plays volleyball and hates being short', I'm kind of glad we're getting them out of the way now for more interesting teams later.

Unfortunately, kind of a boring match this time around, too. There's only so many times you can repeat pokey -> 'that won't work on a libero!' -> spike over Haruka's guard. I know Haruka's new, but I thought Kanata of all people would have more than one trick up her sleeve. I guess as long as we get an exciting comeback next episode?