This is mine and Irina’s (from I Drink And Watch Anime!) continuing collaboration on Harukana Receive! If you missed the previous reviews there are links at the bottom of the page, I am represented by the bold text.
And here we are at Episode 7, we made some predictions about whether we’d have sports or slice of life this week. Seems like Slice of Life was the winner, doesn’t it! And it’s definitely for the best.
From the outset with that ridiculous idol show opening this show had me in a good mood from start to finish! (It also gave me slight Uma Musume flashbacks too!) I LOVE the idol show complete with that uncanny 3D. I am really hoping that’s the new OP but sadly it’s unlikely. This is the level of ridiculous I enjoy.
It seemed like the comedy was a bit more at the forefront, albeit mild–it still got a few hearty chuckles out of me! I wouldn’t call this show a comedy but it I got a few chuckles too. Especially at the beginning. The twins make a good two man team.
What’s do you think of Akari, the new addition to the Beach Volleyball Club–I wasn’t sure at first but I warmed up to her as the episode went on… I like her. She’s the tsundere archetype they were missing for the traditional cute girl team. I think it’s a bit ridiculous how they have all these completely inexperienced players magically become great but if they actually do keep her in a manager role, it could be really fun. It would also be a different dynamic to explore.
Also she has hat garter thing as part of her swimsuit and I really want to know what it’s for. Swim stakings? Please tell me there’s such a thing. If it was Claire who was wearing it it may have explained where she kept pulling that Club Application form from… I enjoyed that silly running joke.
There was a short scene showing us beach volley idols. I bet you’re disappointed that’s not the whole show! Hey, with Akari joining the club it might very well end up becoming an actual plot point and not a throw-away reference, who knows at this point this show seems to be willing to explore a lot of things that aren’t sport but rather ~sport adjacent~. I’m thinking swimsuit may be the common thread…
When the “crowd” was shouting her name all I could think of was Yuruyuri. “Akarin!” Whoa whoa there. This episode was better but this ain’t no Yuru Yuri.
Speaking of ‘yuri’, did you like when Haruka said for Kanata to stop talking about her “ex-girlfriend” in relation to her previous playing partner? Maybe they are going to go a romantic route with this show, I certainly would like that! I dunno. If it’s baiting then it’s a little lame. If they are actually developing an honest relationship then it’s a bit out of the blue. Haruka has never shown any sort of jealousy before. For now I’m just sort of taking those moments as meaningless fanservice and if it turns out to be plot relevant, great!
I didn’t take her jealousy to be serious, but I didn’t take it to mean nothing either–more just playfulness which I guess could be fanservice or could turn into something, again it’s too hard to know for sure at this point. I’ve actually bought Volume 1 of the manga so maybe in like 2 years time when they catch up to where this anime will end I’ll know if it progresses any further. I may have read that just the first volume though so I don’t know where it’s heading either.
And the episode ends with a non-cliffhanger pretending to be a cliffhanger where Claire and Emily’s mother shows up–that family has some mighty strong genes… I didn’t notice her cleavage which is what I’m assuming your hinting at here. I thought she looked really young! This is the type of show where I can only tell the girls apart by their hair so having 3 blondes is tricky…
I was more referring to her being young but I could understand why you’d make that assumption–it is me we’re talking about after all. What do you think her purpose in the plot is going to be for next week’s episode (don’t answer if you already know)? I don’t already know. The show is already way further than I got. We needed a coach character – so far all the girls have been taking turns playing the role.I actually hope we get a chance at exploring some mother daughter dynamics. We rarely see those and that would seriously rock. I hope this episode is a sign of things to come. I really think Harukana is a much better cute girl show than sports anime. Hard to disagree with that because these are some seriously cute girls… #justsayin
And that’s our review of Episode 7, find out what happens next episode next week on Irina’s site!
Previous Harukana Receive Reviews:
The Nicest Receive – Episode 1 Review
Sundrenched Tears – Episode 2 Review
Slow Balling – Episode 3 Review
Wardrobe Malfunction – Episode 4 Review
Little Resistance – Episode 5 Review
I Was Wrong – Episode 6 Review
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Anime QandA 
I think the idol will make a nice addition to the cast. Wasn’t a fan of the 3D intro to be honest, as it looked a bit rough. Anime characters are hard to pinpoint in terms of age. There are are shows were students look like they are thirty and in other cases older characters who look like teenagers.
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I wonder if it was meant to look intentionally rough? Like a parody of other anime that use 3D for idol sections? Could be wrong though.
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