English Dub Review: Harukana Receive “We’re Already Friends”

Akari wants to become a beach volleyball idol no matter what.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A new girl named Akari is eager to join the beach volleyball club. The other girls are excited to have another member in order to make their club official, but they think there’s something familiar about their new recruit.

After a disappointing first meeting, Kanata and the other club members lure Akari back to the team with the promise of friendly competition. Though she may not be any good at volleyball yet, Akari makes a fun addition to the group.

Our Take:

This episode began by confusing the heck out of me. Starting with an idol performance that drags on for over a minute had me questioning if I’d clicked the right link or not. But lo and behold, it was only an attention-grabbing opener. The only idols we’re dealing with in Harukana Receive are beach volleyball idols.

We’re Already Friends sets the scene with Kanata and her acquaintance Akari heading to the beach for some volleyball. Akari is all set to become a brand new club member, had wanted to join ever since she saw some famous pro volleyball players. She’s about as enthusiastic as they come – at least until she meets the rest of the team and requests to partner up with the more well-known club members. Her enthusiasm takes a complete nosedive once she learns they aren’t in any mood to form a team with her.

Akari is dejected. It turns out, she was a childhood idol who starred in at least one major brand commercial song. Even idols need friends, and Kanata and Emily join forces to track her down and force their friendship upon her. (In a good way!) They eventually find her eating lunch alone. Her outrage over being accused of loneliness in this scene is super funny, mainly due to her English VA.

The girls challenge her to a volleyball match. If she wins, she owes them no further obligation. But if she loses, then she has to join the team! Let’s just say her performance on the beach is even funnier than her swimsuit fashion choices. Despite her utter failure when it comes to scoring points or defending her turf, Akari has fun playing with a group of her peers and demands to keep going, even when they’ve played game after game. Once they finally head back out, she confesses that she’s never really known how to make friends, and that’s why she became an idol – to make people want to get to know her!

The dub leveled up this episode. I don’t love any of the club members voices, and I thought Akari’s was annoying at first. But as the episode progressed, Akari’s voice grew on me, to the point where she’s definitely my favorite character. There was a couple of laugh out loud lines this episode, mainly thanks to Akari. The first was somewhat unintentionally humorous, but I still laughed. When asking if anyone knows where Akari has run off to, her classmate answers, “I doubt it. She doesn’t really have friends.” Another super hilarious one came from the child idol herself: “I stand a very slim but possible chance to end up on TV.”

After the dreadful time, I had watching last week’s episode, I was extremely nervous coming in to review Harukana Receive again. Thankfully, We’re Already Friends is a much more enjoyable viewing experience. Akari is a delight and seeing her make new friends while helping out the volleyball club was both funny and touching. One of the club members commented that it actually seemed like they were in a club once Akari joined. I’ve got to agree. It actually seems like a good show now, too.

Score
7.5/10