Harukana Receive is a sports anime set in the world of beach volleyball (hard to miss given the screenshots!) As such, it's likely to do two things; attract a predominantly male audience, and be "problematic" for some. Honestly, this is about as harmless a cheesecake anime as I can think of - the girls may be a bit squeaky and like to bounce up and down (a lot!) but generally the atmosphere of the show is just fun in the sun, with a little teen angst thrown in for good measure. It's many things, but offensive isn't one of them.
So having set that aside, the show is all about newcomer to the area Haruka, who is moving to Okinawa to stay with her cousin Kanata. Enticed by the beautiful Okinawan beaches, she bumps into two girls who are practicing volleyball. Intrigued, the tall and sporty Haruka decides to have a match, but it seems that there's some tension between Kanata and one of the challengers, Narumi.
The first thing that caught my eye with the show was just how beautiful everything is. Okinawa is presented as an idyllic island paradise, with crystal clear water, appealing beaches and traditional architecture, I was practically booking my plane tickets before the show wrapped up!
Tourist advertising done, the actual show is pretty standard fare. A newcomer to a sports scene at first proves clueless, but hints of a natural athletic ability mean that potential for greatness is there, if only it could be nurtured and the problems of adolescence put to one side. As an opening episode, it shows promise, if not much in the way of originality. It suffers a little from the same issues as Hanebado! did last week, in so much as the genre has been done to death in various other sports, and you have to do more than just switch games to get anything new from a series. For fans of volleyball, it'll certainly be nice to see representation of "their" passion in animated form, and the added bonus of hot girls in very skimpy bikinis isn't going to hurt its chances - so Harukana scores a cheap point against Hanebado! here.
What will be interesting as both shows develop is to see which of the two can provide the best drama. My early money would be on Hanebado!, as it has a more relatable structure and some very strong direction during the games. But I do like some of the direction on Harukana too. Out of the gate, it's a close call.
So will you enjoy this show? I'd say yes, if you're a fan of cute girls, volleyball, enticing locations and a bit of drama. The show is based on a manga we have yet to see over here (the first volume is promised by Amazon for August 13th) so I've no way of knowing how it will develop over the course of the series. I foresee some grinding of teeth in some quarters for the usual accusations of misogyny and poor female representation that won't touch Hanebado!, but I get the feeling the silent majority might well see this show receiving the most views when the scores are tallied. Human nature is a predictable beast.
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