English Dub Review: Harukana Receive “I Want to Regain My Former Self”

With blondes it is more fun!!!

Overview (Spoilers below)

 

This week’s episode started with Haruka trying to rescue her Kanata from a blonde foreigner who ended up being the oldest of a set of twins. Enter the Kinky Twins, Emily and Claire. Kanata is an old acquaintance of them and in fact, their more used to couch Kanata as a volleyball athlete.

The HaruKana Ship (yes, if it wasn’t clear before, it is explicitly tall in this episode the reasoning behind the show’s title) was invited to the volleyball club by the blond duo and a joint practice that ended up in a heat up match among girls. HaruKana VS Éclair (something that Haruka, as well as me I admit, found delicious…and not exactly because it sounds like food.) was something to see.

We discover that, despite her efforts in changing, Kanata has a lot more to go before surpassing her fears and self-imposed psychological limitations, something that all present noticed. Emily, in particular, was ticked off by it and decided to push her a bit more than she should have in order to break her out of it. It worked. Haruka also shined by adapting to the situation and learning a new move on the fly.

They were trashed despite their efforts though. Finally, we see more of Kanata’s pass, how she met Narumi and how both of them got involved with beach volleyball and the start of their friendship.

Our Take

A very emotional episode, all thing considered.

Kanata’s character grows on the episode is quite enjoyable to see. It is not common when anime shows take their time to showcase the sequels of psychological traumas and pitfalls that people tend to fall into. I loved the twins from the get-go and, while both of them have their own charm, Emily ended up as my favorite (the decisive factor: her side-tailed hairstyle. I regret nothing).

The fan services were in full on this episode, and I have noticed that it keeps escalating with each episode, but far from being annoying and distracting, it could be considered as something as an extra cherry on this pie. I did enjoy it, to my own surprise. Finally, I know can understand Narumi’s frustration with Kanata’s attitude, and know I expect a lot of effort to fix their relationship if it is even possible. I also found myself more annoyed with Kanata, despite getting to where she is coming from.

A good episode overall. And believe when I tell you that is something I have not expected to say to this type of show anytime soon.

Score
8/10