はるかなレシーブ

HARUKANA RECEIVE

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
September 21, 2018
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

The story takes place in Okinawa, where Haruka forms a beach volleyball pair with Kanata. Kanata, who couldn't handle the pressure put on her by her short height, had given up on beach volleyball already, but is convinced by Haruka to step back on the sand once again and aim for the junior tournament.

CAST

Haruka Oozora
Kana Yuuki
Claire Thomas
Atsumi Tanezaki
Kanata Higa
Saki Miyashita
Emily Thomas
Rie Suegara
Akari Ooshiro
Chisa Kimura
Ayasa Tachibana
Kanae Itou
Narumi Tooi
Miyuri Shimabukuro
Marissa Thomas
Umeka Shouji
Mai Sunagawa
Riko Koike
Ai Tanahara
Akari Kitou
Kanna Aragaki
Minami Takahashi
Youna Aragaki
Satomi Akesaka
Sora Higa
Eiko Yamada

EPISODES

Dubbed

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REVIEWS

Klaz1k
97/100
Why don't people talk more about this? It's freaking great!
Hahafunnymeme,womeninswimsuitsplayingbeachvolleyballxd

Ok, we got the stupid out of the way, now I'm going to proceed to try to convince you that this show is more than just boobs, butts, and pointless fanservice.
- My point being
Harukana Receive is an anime about relationships, and how to build and grow them while overcoming hardships together with your partner. To do this, the show uses it's whole beach volleyball theme perfectly as it takes advantage of the fact that the sport is played in pairs to create a pretty obvious metaphor for human conections, even going as far as treating them as importantly as romantic or familial bonds. While this might seem a little comedic at first, the fact that they abstract that meaning helps the show to convey the hardships that one might go through while trying to connect with somebody else while still maintaining a pretty calm vibe that would otherwise have to be put on hold while the whole drama is being worked through.
- Relationship conveyed through beach volleyball
As I said, this show likes to use sport pairs as a metaphor for human bonds, that is mostly seen in Kana's whole arc with Narumi, where the two were pretty great together, but eventually separated because they were simply incompatible, as Kanna needed someone that encouraged her to see past her flaws and be more confident, thing that Narumi couldn't be as she just was a reminder for how little talent Kanna had. That person she needed ended up being her cousin Haruka, who with a combination of being upbeat as heck and overall just caring deeply about Kanna's well being managed to bring out the better of her and show her true potential.

Notice how I explained all of that without using any term involving volleyball at all, this show uses it as a mean to tell a story with certain themes, it's not the center of attention, but it doesn't detract from the main point.
And now that I have made that clear, let's talk about the elephant in the room.
- This is not Haikyuu goddammit
Of course, if we're talking about volleyball themed anime, you eventually get to the comparison with the absolute powerhouse that is Production IG's little golden goose, and not to try to deminish Haikyuu I myself really like the series and it's even one of my favorites of all time, but while all that is said, I would be really inclined to say that Harukana Receive is close, if not in the same level of quality than Haikyuu... Hey, bring down those pitchforks and let me explain myself...

I know, I know... it isn't as hype as Haikyuu, it doesn't have the massive cast of polished characters that Haikyuu has, and the animation is abysmal if we compare it to what IG is capable of doing. But, as I said earlier, in this show volleyball is just a means to tell a story and all the fanfare and hype that comes with a sports anime is tossed aside for a more chill and relaxed vibe that is reinforced by the show's art style and sound direction (More on that later) which deviate themselves from the usual sharp characters and bombastic soundtrack for a cuter character design and more calm soundtrack, all that to ultimately separate itself from being the usual hypetrain that sports anime tend to be, and set it's tone more closely to a character drama like Hibike Euphonium, or Anohana.

That's basically why I think that it can get away with not having as good animation as anime like Haikyuu or Hanebado, since it's scope is more centered in it's slice of life elements, I think it's allowed to lack that. Not that this show never gets hype or anything, it's just that it gets you invested through it's characters and what they're trying to accomplish and prays that you're invested enough to care about what's happening on screen, and for me, it managed to achieve that.
- It's really freaking pretty and the soundtrack is one of my favorites
Yeah... basically that... not much else to say, the art direction is really good in my opinion, if we take into account everything that I have said so far, it delivers on what one would want with this type of shows, and it's OST has this tropical vibe that goes perfectly with it's setting. Gotta be honest, between Rasmus Faber (This show's composer) and Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss's composer) western composers are prooving they can put up some pretty memorable pieces.

Before ending up the review I'm going to quickly adress the fact that, even after all the good things I said, this is still an Ecchi show, so if you don't like Fanservice in any way, shape or form, I get why you wouldn't like this. I personally think it's done in a way that doesn't detract from the experience, but hey that (And really everything that I have said up until now) is just my opinion.

To finally end this, I want to say I really think that this anime should get more attention, and I hope that my review pushed you to think more about it's good points than it's flaws. And if you read this without watching the show, I hope it pushed you to watch it.
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APortInAnyStorm
75/100
Easy on the eyes, and even easier on the heart.
A viewer's final impression of a series can depend heavily on their initial expectations of it. As the saying goes, "expect nothing and you'll never be disappointed". I went into Harukana Receive expecting nothing but what was promised on the cover, and I came away with everything I wanted, and a little bit more, too.

Does this series stand out amongst the many other fanservice/sports anime out there? Not really. But there's something beautiful about an anime that does what it sets out to do in the best way possible, without trying too hard to be more than what it really is and potentially sending the plot in a cringe-worthy direction. If you want a quaint, heart-warming, sight-for-sore-eyes sports story with no pointless frills or bells and whistles attached, then I would say this is the one for you.

Premise (3/5): As with most sports anime, there's legitimately nothing in the setting that viewers might consider anything approaching complicated. There are no branching subplots to keep track of. The story follows a very linear, bottom-to-top, coming-of-age progression that doesn't try to throw you for a loop and introduce twists and turns for the sake of artificial complexity. Some people might find that off-putting, but considering that 99% of the show's total budget probably went into the audiovisuals, you might expect the anime to simply follow the yellow brick road, never trying to get off the beaten track. And, to its credit, that works perfectly well.

The anime is set in the idyllic environs of Okinawa, with a few flashes to mainland Japan and the USA here and there. It's the perfect location for beach volleyball, and nothing about the school, the home setting, or the venues of the various beach volleyball tournaments suggests otherwise. Simple, yet effective.
_The perfect place for a match._
Characters (4/5): It's difficult to find a sports anime that doesn't have at least one obnoxious character, usually a rival, spoiling the show by being as horrible to the protagonists as humanely possible. Thankfully, Harukana Receive, perhaps due to its more easygoing nature, doesn't seem to have such a problem (with the possible exception of Sunagawa Mai, the arrogant midget who Haruka and Kanata face in their first ever official match, though she also becomes a lot more bearable later on).

None of the characters are all that multi-faceted in terms of personality, though they compensate for this lack of depth with a focus on figurative growth. Each of them has a set of interconnected personal issues that they seek to overcome - Kanata, for example, starts off with uncertainty about her height, which leads into her broken promise with her childhood friend, which leads into concerns about her style of play, and so on and so forth. What was of particular interest was the way in which the beach volleyball club interacted during the climax, when they were pitted against each other in the finals of the preliminaries. There was a lot of bittersweetness both in victory and in defeat, something which spoke to the unseen bonds formed between the five girls in a subtle yet deeply touching manner.

Ultimately, the moral of the story is, as always, the triumph of friendship and willpower over the obstacles one faces. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
_A likeable and sympathetic cast._
Audiovisuals (5/5): A show that is promoted chiefly on the basis of its fanservice can hardly expect not to have at least a decent amount of effort expended towards that regard. Yet Harukana Receive goes above and beyond the call of duty - its background art is of such high quality that it almost steals the show from the "main" attraction. The animation is decent, with a little clunkiness here and there, but nothing that takes away from the general feeling and smoothness of the action. The eye-candy is good - though, in all honesty, it's a little bit restrained for an anime that's purely about babes in swimsuits doing sporty things. But I can't complain as long as what's already there is done well, which it is.

The soundtrack, a thoroughly thematic beach- and summer-styled repertoire of music, is something of a hidden gem, and one that I'd actually like to have a more in-depth listen to if the chance arrives. It's never so overpowering that the drama feels overblown, but it always manages to hum along underneath the surface, setting the tone for the tension that accompanies it, and fading away during the quieter and more relaxed moments. The OP and ED are catchy and fun to watch, and set the scene well for the rest of the episode.
_No explanation needed._
Execution (4/5): The bread and butter of any sports anime is, as aforementioned, the development of its characters. This often takes the form of flashbacks, which, if overdone, can feel corny and annoying, taking away from what's expected to be a tense or touching moment. There are many flashbacks in Harukana Receive, a necessity given that the relationships between the characters are unexpectedly storied; nevertheless, very rarely do any of them feel overly out-of-place or in-your-face. They are serenaded in at relatively optimal times, some of them repeating segments of previous flashbacks so as to provide further clarification regarding a previously unexplained plot point.

Harukana Receive puts a lot of disparate and volatile pieces together in a satisfyingly straightforward and stable way. Each individual facet of the anime has the potential to ruin it completely - as an example, fanservice can be tiresome if it's too ubiquitous, even if fanservice is the whole point of the anime to begin with - but that fortunately doesn't occur. It's nowhere near close to being eye-opening or inspiring in any sense, but Harukana Receive is the ideal anime to watch on a calm Friday night with a beer and a pizza by your side, a setting which might be especially familiar to many given recent circumstances. It's feel-good, it's exciting, and it's touching. Above all, it's a lot of fun.
_Love overcomes all obstacles._
Overall rating: 4/5
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Axolotl
78/100
An unforgettable soundtrack coupled with focus on heart-warming story over fanservice
The first assumption you may make about this series is:

'The characters are playing beach volleyball in swimsuits, this must be a shallow series overflowing with cheap fanservice!'

Your expectations will be shattered by this heart-warming story about two very different individuals helping each other to overcome their difficulties, coupled with a great soundtrack - which just happens to be set in an environment surrounding beach volleyball.

Thus, I can only imagine a not insignificant amount of negative or mundanely average ratings are are left by people who had misled expectations of what they were getting into, and entered the series without the correct mindset - that is, to have fun!

While the story may not be as engaging as a mystery series, nor as action-packed as a shounen, the unique twists of reality brought into the plotline help the viewer to genuinely connect with the feeling and characters of the story. Many other series I have seen have been too predictable and ultimately boring due to overdoing 'feel-good' clichés in the story to meet fan expectations. However, this series manages to balance the fun element with a little drama to enhance the viewer's enjoyment, rather than doubling down on these overused clichés. Nevertheless, the plotlines of these types of story are never the greatest; yet this may be a required element to obtain the atmosphere of the relaxed, 'feel-good' genre.

The colourful, clean art style of this series is a strong point, fitting the atmosphere this series creates with its storytelling and environment perfectly. Although the character art is not the most detailed or complex, I think this simpler art style was the correct route to fit with the direction of the story, and the detail in the backgrounds more than makes up for this. The colours are what differentiates this art style; with hard and soft lighting effects, and even shadows being used to add colour and atmosphere to the scenes. The art avoids becoming too childlike by using pastel colours, with a subdued use of the bright, primary colours.

Finally, the greatest asset to creating atmosphere in any great video-media is sound, and this series is no different. It only takes a few seconds to realise how great the soundtrack is, and a few more to be drawn into the fun feeling of this series. The immersive soundtrack flows with the storytelling, oscillating between exciting and heartfelt moments like waves on the ocean; so just turn up the volume, relax, and have a great time watching this series!
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