Harukana Receive

Fanservice in anime doesn't really bother me with some few exceptions. This wasn't too bad I guess. It's a beach volleyball anime after all. What really bothered me and made me drop this anime was the tone shifting. I don't know why but this anime always has the worst timing when changing the atmosphere in a given situation. One moment everything is normal then a melodramatic moment (mostly backstory) is brought up then all the suddenly something unneccesary comedic thing will happen.... I mean come on at least keep the tone of the scene last longer than just 2-3 minutes besides the actual game which ... also has some weird back story mixed into them why character a can/can't do a certain thing during the match.

I watch these sorts of fan service sports anime when I am bored, tired, eating, or simply need something to fill the time and don't want to watch something that is driven by a meaningful story with interesting characters and plot. Fan service does not bother me when done correctly, and let's be honest if you're interested in watching this anime you're primarily interested in the girls in bikinis playing sports.

**Review may contain spoilers**
The problem with Harukana Receive is that the main characters are very unlikeable. Haruka is annoyingly good at everything. She improves at such an unreasonable rate that it feels sad watching ... her begin to outshine and dominate girls who have given their lives to this sport. Kanata on the other hand is a girl who ran away from the sport, abandoning the 'friend' Narumi who she made a promise with to become national champions. Then, she easily returns to the sport with Haruka, and what's her way of apologizing to Narumi? "I'll keep my promise, but this time with Haruka." This apology genuinely made me want to vomit and this is when this show went from an okay sports anime with decently attractive girls and fanservice to a show I struggled to finish. I then had to watch them somehow overcome Emily and Claire, who were kind enough to train them, in order to finish season 1. Watching Emily and Claire get defeated felt awful. It would have been better to have the main characters lose and for once be humbled.

The best part of this anime is the side characters. Narumi, Ayasa, Emily, and Claire. They're likable characters who work hard to earn their talent over years of practice and dedication. Narumi is especially the best girl and is the only one who actually looks the part. Unfortunately, The main characters ruin this anime.

Story 2/10
Art 5/10
Sound 5/10
Character 2/10
Enjoyment 3/10
Overall 3/10

Before I start the review, let me make it clear that I didn't finish this show. I only made it through the first six episodes before dropping it. Because it's only twelve episodes long, I was planning on finishing it even if I wasn't enjoying it but the amount of genuine anger this show made me feel for some reason caused me to stop half way through.

To start with, let's talk about the characters. As I just said, I dropped the show at episode six and at this point in the show there is not a single character who I don't find obnoxious or annoying. ... I did start off liking some of the characters when they were first introduced, like Kanata, but as I continued watching the show I just grew to dislike them.

I'd also like to talk about the random introductions of new characters that supposedly know the pre-established cast but, honestly, they seem kind of shoehorned in because the plot needs them to be there. None of the relationships between the characters seem genuine and it's hard to get invested in them because of this.

Also, there were moments between characters who are supposed to be related, such as Haruka and Kanata (first cousins) and Emily and Claire (sisters), with had romantic or even slightly sexual undertones that just made me extremely uncomfortable but I could've been reading these moments wrong.

Personally, I found it to be confusing to follow the plot at times due to the random skips in time that aren't really acknowledged at all, you're just expected to know that there was a time skip when you watch it. Like, one moment they're on the beach, then they're at school, then they're at some indoor gym all in the space of five minutes. It's confusing and makes the flow really choppy which is one of the many reasons that I couldn't bring myself to enjoy this show.

I just wish I could've brought myself to finish the show but I really don't think I can continue it without getting angry again.

I thought the show started off strong, but by the end I really thought it was subpar. I like the voice acting, graphics, and the music was fine. There was a coloration of some of the anime characters' eyes that I had not seen before. Can’t say if it was good or bad, just personal preference on how you like the eyes of anime characters drawn, but do give them points for at least trying to be original. I thought it was an interesting concept to not have any males aside from small children in the show, but dude to block out the face of ... Kanata’s deceased father while showing the mother is just messed up. I actually thought the show up to the end of the first tournament was quite good. Then the show just starts going downhill. Overall, I have three major complaints with the anime.

The first is that it is very long-winded and can be very slow - it was downright boring at times. There is very little character development in the show and it relies too heavily on flashbacks. They should have just spent the first three or four episodes using flashbacks but then left them alone for the rest of the show. They also pull that stunt where they will replay the last few minutes of the previous episode, like we didn’t just watch it. You can tell the writers and director were having a difficult time filling twelve episodes worth of story.

The second is the lack of character behavior diversity in the show. I noticed that pretty much every volleyball team had players that acted nearly the same. Each team has an outspoken hothead and a subdued coolheaded individual. Every team ends up feeling pretty much the same; characters feel just way too similar at times. Haruka, Claire, and Ayasa almost feel like the exact same character.

My third complaint is actually the development of Haruka, and Kanata to a lesser extent, in regards to volleyball ability. Basically, they are too good. You are telling me a rookie with one year under her belt and someone who had not been active in years, who only won one match in last year's tournament ends up defeating the defending champions and the second best team in Japan?! A team that has never stopped training and has a pro volleyball coach as a mother?! GET OUT OF HERE! I would be fine if it was a close match due to them training together, but Haruka and Kanata winning the tournament? That is too hard to swallow and breaks the immersion.

I really enjoy volleyball myself and had high hopes for this show as I really enjoy Japanese sports anime. However, with slow plot development, characters with little diversity in the way they behave, and Mary-Sue like characters that are somehow able to beat top athletes with a fraction of the time and training everyone else had put in, this is unfortunately one anime I cannot recommend.

+*+* WARNING THIS IS WORDY+*+*


this "sports" / Slice of Life anime is honestly disappointing. it was like training a whole season in volleyball just to loose the first match.

the anime tries to do a sudo tournament arc but it falls FLAT on its face this anime has 6 other character that are not the main character in a sports anime that's a VERY BAD THING even if they were not thoroughly fleshed out it would have been nice to see at least double that number....

moving on the characters don't change that much over the story they stay un interesting till the very end ... learn new moves and / or evolve there style and EARN the win

i mean the last match has two i repeat TWO flashbacks. remember your fav FINAL fight where there's two flash backs in a short and UN-eventful fight. me too


i would rank this lower but the person i watched this with seemed to like it so it goes from a 3 to a 4
{for context i watched this weekly with a cool homie and expected something more that tits on screen}