Harukana Receive (Episode 6) – I Won’t Break

Harukana Receive Title

After winning the first set, Haruka and Kanata are struggling since Ai and Mai have found their groove and are returning everything Kanata throws at them. Can they win their first-ever volleyball match or will they have to wait?

What happened?

Ai appears to have the measure of Kanata’s pokeys and is returning every single one. Then it falls to Mai and Haruka to see if it makes it back over the net or not. The match swings back and forth as the two teams try their hardest to make a decisive breakaway. Emily and Claire are watching and are both concerned about the effectiveness of Kanata’s pokey.

However, as the match goes on, Ai is starting to wear down. Running on sand is very different to on a hard surface and all she seems to be doing is running around returning Kanata’s pokeys. Emily is shocked when she finally realises what Kanata is doing. Kanata’s pokeys are easy to read, so you always know where they are going. That makes the opponent want to return them, using up all of their energy when they would probably be better off letting a couple of them go.

Ai is unaware of this and continues to push herself. Haruka and Kanata use her exhaustion against her and are the first to get a shot at match point. As the games have gone on, Haruka has been getting closer and closer with her blocks and in the final point, it all clicks together. She leaps up and slams Mai’s spike back over the net and straight at the ground. Ai tried to recover it but couldn’t get close. They did it! They won their first-ever game of volleyball.

Harukana Receive Episode 6 Ai Tanahara and Haruka Oozora jumping at the net

What did you think?

This game, and the series, is absolutely captivating. It’s just such a joy to watch. The match is exciting and unpredictable. I literally could watch another six episodes of just games, but then I would be doing the rest of the story a disservice. One of the things that really stands out in this series is the level of sportsmanship that all of the characters come into it with.

Surprisingly, my favourite moment in the episode was the post-game discussion between Mai and Ai. Mai felt like she had let Ai down after promising she would be able to defeat tall people by playing volleyball. They entered the beach volleyball tournament to make up for the loss in the indoor contest. However, Ai believed it was her that let Mai down. It was a sweet moment as they agreed to keep trying.


What have you learnt?

So, Haruka and Kanata won their match. It was to be their only win, but it was enough to make them both happy. Claire and Emily went on to win the tournament, but that was to be expected. And then, there was Ai and Mai. All of these girls came out of the tournament with something. As with most things in life, there’s more to it than winning. Or rather, there is more than one way to win. I loved that through the previous episodes it’s been preparing us so that we could enjoy their wins with them, whatever that was. As always, it’s about setting expectations and delivering on a promise.

Harukana Receive Episode 6 Kanata Higa dives on Haruka Oozora after winning

Other reviews in the series

You might also like…

Iwakakeru Sport Climbing Girls Episode 11 Konomi has found her groove
Kandagawa Jet Girls Episode 12 Rin Namiki and Misa Aoi chasing the lead
Tamayomi The Baseball Girls Episode 11 Yomi Pitching

Lynn Sheridan The Otaku Author Header

2 Comments

  1. “Surprisingly, my favourite moment in the episode was the post-game discussion between Mai and Ai.”

    That’s the specific moment I was talking about (“without spoilers”) the other week… So well done for what, in most anime, would be a pair of twice thrown away characters. (Once after the store, and then a fresh set tossed after the game.) While Harukana certainly isn’t an anime for the ages, it does some things surprisingly well. (I think I said that too, and I’ll probably repeat it a couple more times before we’re done.) One of the key things that makes or breaks a sports anime is how well it makes you care for the opponents, the secondary characters.

    My favorite moment from this episode comes at the end… The pair is just so adorkable beaming over their _consolation prizes_. Sure, they’d been knocked out in the next round – but they’d won a game! Together!

    • Absolutely, and it’s worth repeating because so many shows get it wrong. The chemistry of the main characters is a massive selling point, but like you say, the secondary characters get given just as much care and attention.

      Yeah, their goofy smiles at their losers ribbons was hilarious. You know those are going to be on display in the rooms for ever and ever. Would be nice if more people found that much joy in just taking part.

What did you think?