(L+CR) Harukana Receive

[magnumcyclonex]

This anime is starting off really strong! Much better than Hanebado (and I love both sports; badminton is my main actual sport I play). I think for me, it's a much gentler ease into getting to know the characters. There's only 4 right now (excluding Grandma), compared to Hanebado which has already introduced it's supporting cast. While Hanebado's anime gave us an overly bitchy competitor, Harukana Receive is a chill, yet competitive sports anime (which had it's emotional moments, but also full of positive reinforcement between teamates). The fact that it's situated in a beach scene probably helps too.

I'm really stoked we have actual sports companies getting their product placement in these two animes (Mikasa balls, Yonex rackets). It seems they have a partnership with the anime companies.

One observation...maybe a minor thing, but how does one conveniently have their number handy on a piece of paper? Maybe they skipped the whole jotting on paper part because it would've taken up a bit of time to animate. Speaking of, no OP and ED to make way for maximal use of time is awesome. Hoping more animes take this approach in the future.

Best part of this episode for me was...the tummy slap!!! It's a battle of wits! ~~ and it actually played out that way at the end. Although...I'm a bit surprised Kanata didn't teach Haruka how to set (maybe she ran out of time, but then again to be fair, it's also one of the harder skills to master quickly imo). Also, loved the guitar music during the teaching sessions. CUTTO SHOTTO!!!

[Triple_R]

I enjoyed Episode 1 of this show. A good blend of light fanservice with bubbly MC with nice leisurely pacing with a decent amount of seriousness towards the sport itself.

But it's Episode 2 that truly impressed me. As much as I liked Hanebado's first two episodes, I honestly have to give Harukana the overall edge so far. And it's not even just because of the extra fanservice. I feel that Harukana has done a really good job with it's 4 core characters so far. All 4 are emotionally resonating with me very well. While I feel that Hanebado! has been really good with some of its core characters, but I feel that one of them needs a bit more work. So simply for characterization, Harukana legitimately has the sports anime edge for me so far. In any event, if you like female sports anime, this Summer 2018 season is looking way up right now.

I love the whole four-way dynamic between Haruka, Kanata, Narumi, and Ayasa. The flashbacks have been interwoven very well into the overall story presentation.

Revue Starlight may well change this, but as of this writing, Harukana Receive is my favorite Summer 2018 anime so far, edging out Island and Hanebado. I'm pretty amazed by that since all I really expected from this show was nice fanservice with a merely passable story. This has been far more than just passable so far, and even the fanservice is kinda nicer (more simple cute than impossible boob physics) than I had expected, lol.

[Infinite Zenith]

Haruka does bounce around a lot more this episode than in the first, but overall, I'm thoroughly enjoying where things are going. They've struck a balance between fanservice and meaningful story with Harukana Receive, and subtle things show that Haruka and Kanata will continue to grow as beach volleyball players and as a team. There's plenty of possibility that can be explored with this series, and I'm genuinely excited to see what directions Harukana Receive will take.

Also, it seems that the girls practice and play beach volleyball shores of Kinbu Bay: it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but the red tower of Kaichu Doro Bridge can be seen at one point.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by magnumcyclonex

One observation...maybe a minor thing, but how does one conveniently have their number handy on a piece of paper? Maybe they skipped the whole jotting on paper part because it would've taken up a bit of time to animate. Speaking of, no OP and ED to make way for maximal use of time is awesome. Hoping more animes take this approach in the future.

Well, the conversation seemed premeditated. She was waiting with a bag of drinks, so she might have prepared her number in advance.

Or maybe she has a stack of papers for when she meets cute girls.

[Benigmatica]

Wow, I have to say that after watching 2 episodes, I got hooked watching Harukana Receive.

Oh, and it's not just the bikini fanservice, but this show has plot! I'm sure that both Haruka and Kanata can work together to be the best beach volleyball player despite their height differences.

[Haak]

As much as I want to continue with this series for "personal reasons", I'm probably gonna end up dropping it unless I actually get time to watch it (which is something I lack). I'm not really in it for the PLOT and the plot is just "girl drama" which I've just generally never been interested in unless it's challenging (and this is about as safe as it gets). Not as if that wasn't clear from the beginning but then again I wouldn't have even been here in the beginning if it weren't for a certain someone.

[Kanon]

I have to say I didn't expect this series to be so well received (no pun intended) over here. I myself didn't think I would like it so much. It really is a nice show all around. Extremely nice fanservice (I can't praise the animators and the character designer enough), likable characters, sports, and light drama. A good blend.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I enjoyed Episode 1 of this show. A good blend of light fanservice with bubbly MC with nice leisurely pacing with a decent amount of seriousness towards the sport itself.

But it's Episode 2 that truly impressed me. As much as I liked Hanebado's first two episodes, I honestly have to give Harukana the overall edge so far. And it's not even just because of the extra fanservice. I feel that Harukana has done a really good job with it's 4 core characters so far. All 4 are emotionally resonating with me very well. While I feel that Hanebado! has been really good with some of its core characters, but I feel that one of them needs a bit more work. So simply for characterization, Harukana legitimately has the sports anime edge for me so far. In any event, if you like female sports anime, this Summer 2018 season is looking way up right now.

I love the whole four-way dynamic between Haruka, Kanata, Narumi, and Ayasa. The flashbacks have been interwoven very well into the overall story presentation.

Revue Starlight may well change this, but as of this writing, Harukana Receive is my favorite Summer 2018 anime so far, edging out Island and Hanebado. I'm pretty amazed by that since all I really expected from this show was nice fanservice with a merely passable story. This has been far more than just passable so far, and even the fanservice is kinda nicer (more simple cute than impossible boob physics) than I had expected, lol.

Originally Posted by Kanon

I have to say I didn't expect this series to be so well received (no pun intended) over here. I myself didn't think I would like it so much. It really is a nice show all around. Extremely nice fanservice (I can't praise the animators and the character designer enough), likable characters, sports, and light drama. A good blend.

I must say I have been enjoying Harukana thus far for both the expected reason of well... DAT HARUKA, but echoing what Triple R and Kanon have noted, I quite enjoyed the characters, particularly Haruka's cute energetic moments and the dynamic they are setting up between her and Kanata. Also, good point about the lack of an OP or ED making for more efficient use of time. Is it confirmed that isn't something they are only doing for the first couple episodes?

Now, for something more on the DAT HARUKA side of things...

Images

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I can see why Kanata and Ayasa couldn't help but notice!

[James Rye]

Even Kanata-chan can't deny the magical aura of a well-formed big butt. xD

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by Haak

As much as I want to continue with this series for "personal reasons", I'm probably gonna end up dropping it unless I actually get time to watch it (which is something I lack). I'm not really in it for the PLOT and the plot is just "girl drama" which I've just generally never been interested in unless it's challenging (and this is about as safe as it gets). Not as if that wasn't clear from the beginning but then again I wouldn't have even been here in the beginning if it weren't for a certain someone.

Is this really "girl drama" though? Like I said previously, the conflict we're seeing here is something very standard to sports series in general. It's more a matter of girls having sports drama rather than sports on a girl drama.

[Haak]

Can't imagine the same kind of interactions happening with guys. Unless it's that kind of show.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Haak

Can't imagine the same kind of interactions happening with guys. Unless it's that kind of show.

I actually can for the most part. It's not hard to imagine a guy with a body not suited for the sport he likes to grow bitter and ran away from his teammate/s. I also can easily imagine his best friend to feel guilty he couldn't do anything to help.

It would probably involve less tears and more brooding but other than that, it would be basically the same.

[Haak]

That's the backstory. You're not wrong but when I think "girl drama" I'm thinking the execution more so than the trope itself. It could be the same issue but I'm sure you'd agree that say for example two grown men approaching the same problem would lead to a radically different story than two pre-teen boys.

[EDIT]

For the record, I'm also not that interested in sports drama either so it's all the same to me either way.

[Liddo-kun]

Watched episode 1:

Even with the "you have to score 1 point advantage", it's still not fair for two champions to go play seriously against a beginner. She does not even know the rules yet.

Anyway. enjoyed the first episode. Will keep watching this.

[germanturkey]

second ep was neat. basically kanata needs to get her growth spurt.

[BWTraveller]

Funny thing is the only other manga I know of focused on beach volleyball is also centered on a tiny girl who somehow manages to be awesome. Actually, the tiny player seems to be a fairly common trope. It's an easy way to give a character an obvious or at least apparent weakness in games like volleyball or basketball after all.

[Archon_Wing]

Oh, a sekushi butt. Shit gets serious when the English starts coming in. But really, despite with all the fanservice anime, nobody ever praises that kind of thing.

[Xeiros]

In the manga's opening two pages it is not shown who team Harukana are playing against nor do they provide any context whatsoever. It's just a basic intro. In the anime version you'll notice that they're playing against the champions Narumi and Ayasa in something called the Valkyrie Cup. I'm hoping this match is the how the anime concludes and not just a totally unrelated sequence to the actual events of the story.

In the anime, some of Kanata's time as Narumi's teammate is shown in episode 2 albeit only breifly. In the manga ,this doesn't happen until chapter 17. In addition, Haruka and Kanata's grandmother actually appears and has some kind of presence in their lives in the anime whereas she basically doesn't exist in the manga.

While the basic structure is for the most part the same so far, there are numerous differences between the two versions that I feel are for the better. Touko Machida, the lead screenwriter has done an excellent job so far of reworking the mangas story to allow for the anime version to have its own identity better suited to it.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Xeiros

In the manga ,this doesn't happen until chapter 17

That probably will still happen in the anime since it elaborate a lot more into their relationship.

[Xeiros]

It's no coincidence that both this and Happy Sugar Life's anime opens with a flash forward sequence. They share a lead screenwriter.

I mention this partly because if we assume an average of about 2 chapters an episode following the manga story pretty closely, especially once the anime no longer has the three minutes the OP/ED normally uses to take advantage of going forward, the anime will cut off partway through a tournament at around chapter 24-25ish.

Thankfully due to both the flash forward and other alterations made, it doesn't appear as if we're headed down that path.