Akari runs into a tall girl while shopping at the supermarket. Merely going to grab the same item shouldn’t escalate into anything dramatic, but said tall girl, Natsuki Fukami, sees Akari with volleyball gear. As she is also a volleyball player, Natsuki asks Akari to sub in for her partner who got sick. This leads to Akari asking Haruka and Kanata to take part in the match instead. What Akari didn’t learn from Natsuki was that the match is also part photoshoot for use in a volleyball magazine…
…And that Natsuki’s sister, Mika, would be bringing the champions Narumi and Ayasa there too! Maybe next time Akari should leave her volleyball bag behind before going shopping…
Harukana Receive volume 5 is still the same as past ones — cute girls, them admiring/loving each other, and legit beach volleyball tactics. But if you saw the anime, you’ll be entering new territory now. This time, an unlikely encounter brings Haruka and Kanata towards the sand again and they’ll be facing their rivals. Harukana facing off against Narumi and Ayasa doesn’t actually take up most of this volume — how Narumi and Ayasa become a pair does though. So for all of this one we’ll see Narumi and Ayasa show off their skills against the inexperienced Harukana team, then also go into how the two met.
Surprisingly, Ayasa was on scholarship for indoor volleyball, not beach. But after catching Narumi swatting the ball with force that seemed unlikely with the type of ball being used, her stature, and the court size, that got her interested in beach volleyball. And before you know it, she’s invested into it. She even foregoes her indoor volleyball scholarship in order to pair up with Narumi. And goes as far as saying she’ll drop out if she doesn’t win the high school volleyball tournament with her.
So we learn how these two got together and why they’re heads and shoulders above their competitors right now. It’s the one thing that Harukana simply doesn’t have — experience together — and Haruka hasn’t been in many matches herself. So while they were competitive, the two ended up having much to learn about themselves after taking on the champs.
Well with those two as the wall to scale, what do Haruka and Kanata need to do to improve themselves? How about breaking apart from each other? That’s what essentially happens at the end of volume 5, and is part of volume 6, where Emily suggests the two have new partners in order to see each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s still people they know — Haruka is with Emily while Kanata’s with Claire — but all four have different skill and mindsets, and this isn’t limited to on the beach. While there was a motivating outside factor, the four also pair up for studying, so they got to realize why certain methods didn’t work or why it didn’t work for this particular person.
This carries into their volleyball matches, as they take part in a local tournament. While we finally get to see Akari in a tournament, and Mai even returns to be Akari’s partner, the highlight is Haruka and Emily facing Kanata and Claire. It’s another fun match as usual, but it’s also another case where the depth of beach volleyball is shown. It really does seem simple from an outside viewpoint, but there is a strong mix of tactics that happen on sand that can swing a match. Talent and being mentally strong still matters, but understanding how you can feed off your partner is one additional challenge that can aid your game.
With Haruka and Kanata not only pairing up with the Thomas sisters but eventually facing each other in a match with stakes in it, the two not only begin understanding their own strengths and weaknesses but each other’s. Like Haruka might not have realized what she has to do on her own instead of taking cues from Kanata until this happened. The little things really do matter, and it’s entertaining to see it.
Other things in these two volumes to file away: first, Mika’s past and her expectations for Harukana that worries Natsuki. As in, Mika was a top beach volleyball player and she sees something impressive in Haruka and Kanata. But Natsuki, who aspires to be like her, wants her sister to believe in her and her skills. The second happens to be Haruka’s mom, Akane, returning to ask Haruka about her post-high school plans. Yes Haruka, we know you want to stay in Okinawa, but do you really want to decide immediately? The only thing I can get from this is she loves Kanata a lot. Also Akane did relay a story to Kanata about her mom, Aoi, and how Kanata can use it to help shape Haruka’s future with volleyball.
I’m assuming nothing else in future volumes will change with this series. But with a good amount of cards on the table, we can expect some incredible matches to take place moving forward, so there’s lots to look forward to.