Harukana Receive (Episode 3) – I Want to Regain My Former Self

The summer vacation is almost over which means it’s time for Haruka to enrol in school. After submitting the paperwork, she comes out to find a girl dragging Kanata away! But it’s all right, she plays volleyball too…

What happened?

The girl introduced herself as Claire Thomas and said that she knows Kanata. Haruka is still a little flustered by what’s going on but soon calms down when Claire fires a volleyball at her, which she receives. Later she is introduced to Claire’s younger twin sister, Emily. Together they are a beach volleyball team and the only members of the school club. They are hoping that Haruka and Kanata will join and make the club official.

Before all that, however, it’s time to get in some training. Emily is thinking up some drills to run, but Haruka and Claire just want to play and it’s impossible for anyone to say no to those two. The game gets under way and Haruka quickly realised just how much she has to learn, especially when Emily does a pokey. It’s a move that Haruka has never seen before.

As the game goes on, Kanata gets more and more opportunities to use the pokey, but seems resistant, instead preferring to spike it even though her shots are getting blocked. Then, in typical fashion, Haruka uses the pokey and that seems to free up Kanata’s mind. She had resisted using the pokey because she didn’t want to change her game now that she wasn’t as tall as everyone else, but seeing Haruka made her realise that “a point is a point”.

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What did you think?

This episode of Harukana Receive was a lot less intense than the previous episode, although I think that was mostly down to the introduction of Emily and Claire, or Eclare if you want. They definitely lightened the tone and made things a lot more fun, Claire in particular. Ironically, Claire and Haruka are a lot a like and seem to provide a lot of the energy for their respective teams, leaving Emily and Kanata to be the more thoughtful and reserved players.

Again, the game was a lot of fun and the warm palette just makes this series so nice to watch, especially when it’s snowing outside where I am. They definitely stepped up the goofy expressions and fun reactions, but still managed to deliver some serious moments. I do wonder if they aren’t making a little too much of Kanata’s issues, but it’s good that she’s not just got over them after five minutes.

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What have you learnt?

Unlike the last episode, there wasn’t a real stand out moment for me. The thing I’m going to talk about this time is the way that they’re balancing the characters. There are some obvious similarities between some of them, but they are still different enough that they don’t all feel like the same person.

Another thing that’s interesting to me is how Haruka is the main character in my mind, but rather than changing, she’s the catalyst to make Kanata change. There will be some growth later and ultimately, she’s learning a new sport so that’s a given, but it’s the way she brought happiness to Kanata’s life and made her realise what matters. As the series goes on, we’ll see more of how Haruka influences those around her by simply being a good person.

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Other reviews in the series

• Season One
  • Episode 1 – We Don’t Need Aces
  • Episode 2 – Believe in Me
  • Episode 3 – I Want to Regain My Former Self
  • Episode 4 – Isn’t This Perfect For Us?
  • Episode 5 – Until You Break
  • Episode 6 – I Won’t Break
  • Episode 7 – We’re Already Friends
  • Episode 8 – I’ll Keep Our Promise
  • Episode 9 – This Is How I Feel
  • Episode 10 – The One I Wanted to Fight
  • Episode 11 – At This Point, We’re Basically Playing Head-to-Head
  • Episode 12 – And That’s Why We Choose Our Irreplaceable Partners

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