Summer 2018 First Impressions – Harukana Receive

Haruka is a girl who has a complex about how she is very tall, and Kanata is about to give up beach volleyball because she is too short. With Haruka’s height and Kanata’s experience, the two girls form a pair to play beach volleyball in Okinawa. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: Because her mother is leaving the country on business, Haruka gets to spend her Summer vacation in beautiful, sunny Okinawa with her grandmother and cousin. She’s absolutely looking forward to it, down to wearing her swimsuit underneath her clothes so she can get into the water as soon as humanly possible when she arrives. At the airport, it takes a while for Haruka to recognize her cousin, Kanata; after puberty hit, Haruka gained a lot of height and Kanata really didn’t. They both feel that the grass is greener in that regard. After taking a dip in the ocean near grandma’s house, Haruka meets a couple of girls her age playing volleyball on the beach. When Kanata arrives to join her it becomes clear that there’s some history between them. A fun pickup volleyball match becomes intense when the relationship between Kanata and Narumi (one of the other girls) starts to reflect some past strain. When Haruka and Kanata suffer an unsurprising loss, Haruka begs for a rematch. Narumi decides to grant one on one condition – Haruka should spend the next week practicing and learning the rules of the game.

Impressions: Whereas Hanebado! wore its badge of honor as a serious sports-and-character-driven anime very visibly, Harukana Receive feels a bit more like what one would expect of a typical upbeat sports series, which feels appropriate considering its setting and subject matter. Blue skies, warm sand, and clear water create the perfect backdrop for Haruka’s sunny personality, and it feels extra appropriate that this anime series is starting in July, when we’d be more likely to head outside and hit up the volleyball court (who am I kidding? I don’t go outside). While I wouldn’t go so far as to ascribe much depth to this episode, it’s fun, pleasant, and a nice break from some of the more serious and/or convoluted things I’ve been watching lately.

In my opinion, this opening episode is all about establishing atmosphere and depicting an uncommon setting for anime. Okinawa seems to be a typical destination for school trips, so it might show up in an episode or two of various anime sometimes, but rarely is it the main focal point. I’m a little bit excited to see if the show takes full advantage of the uniqueness of Okinawa as compared to the mainland. Speaking to the anime’s vision of Okinawa specifically, I’ll just say that I live in an area where Summer days can be miserably hot and humid; there are times where it feels as though the air isn’t moving at all and it sticks to your body like glue. When I was watching this episode, I could almost feel the breeze blowing from the ocean and the coolness of the clear water at my ankles. While I’m not as big a fan of direct sunlight (when you look like me, you get a sunburn even thinking about making contact with the sun’s rays), even the light glistening on the water and warming the sand demonstrated some appeal. It was nice to experience such a physical reaction when I wasn’t initially expecting to.

Less convincing is Haruka as a protagonist because she expresses some character traits that I’ve come to dislike much of the time. I don’t have a quick catchy name for it to sum up my feelings, but she comes across as someone who doesn’t know enough to question her own lack of knowledge about something. While other characters are busy sussing out their own troubled relationships or struggling with past conflicts, she’s diving headfirst into a game that she doesn’t understand and trampling all over the tension in the room (or on the open-air court, I guess). I suppose Japanese has a decent term for that type of person – 空気読めない (“Kuuki Yomenai” or “can’t read the air”), someone who can’t sense the atmosphere and adjust their behavior accordingly. I know that we as audience members who aren’t as familiar with beach volleyball in particular need a character who’s coming in fresh, because that’s how we get up to speed with how the game is played. Though I think Haruka fits that role on paper, I don’t know that she, with her height complex that’s mentioned maybe one time and her unsubtle niceness that disregards other people is exactly the right fit.

On the other hand, I think that the potential of Kanata’s and Narumi’s past as volleyball partners is much more interesting. Again, though, I feel that there’s a lack of subtlety in how the tension between them is introduced; Narumi is a bit too intense and angry, and Kanata (despite being obviously short) doesn’t necessarily seem like she quit the sport for that reason alone despite most blurbs suggesting that her short stature is a major personal issue for her. I don’t want to be overly-critical of a series for being more simplistic and straightforward, but I also feel that there would be some benefit in exploring the more emotional aspects of Kanata’s situation (which I expect that it will do). If Haruka ends up being the primary focal character, I don’t know if that leaves enough room to get into the nitty-gritty of Kanata’s situation. I expect, considering the title (a condensation of “Haruka” and “Kanata”), that I’m being wary for no reason. Beach volleyball, from my limited knowledge based almost entirely on this episode, is all about partnerships and I would like to believe that the creators are aware of that fact and that the story will prove to be more balanced between the characters than I’m worried about.

I think it bears mentioning that beach volleyball is a sport played in swim attire, so the characters in this episode spend the majority of time in bikinis. I’m aware that this is how the sport is played in real life (I’m not sure if this is a requirement or uniform or what; obviously I understand that it’s hot on the beach and bulky clothing would be detrimental to both temperature and movement), but there are a lot of young-ish characters making big sports moves on the screen in not a lot of clothing. There are also some questionable camera angles and sound effects that emphasize areas of their bodies. It’s not pervasive, but it’s still in very questionable taste. I have a personal test for material like this – would I feel uncomfortable if the person sitting next to me on the bus happened to see me watching this? Some of this is borderline per those guidelines.

Overall, though, this sports anime seems to occupy a lighter and more upbeat part of the genre spectrum, and I believe that there’s some value in that. Beach volleyball seems like the perfect subject for a Summer series, and despite some less-than-stellar character choices so far, this seems like it could become a fun little show to watch.

Pros: I’m loving the setting and atmosphere. I learned a little bit about the rules of the game.

Cons: I’m unconvinced that Haruka is that interesting of a protagonist. The balance between the characters in this episode feels off.

Grade: B-