hontou ni
10Jan/0815

H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 02 – Takumi grows eye balls

Thank Haruhi I can see now!

Remote villages in Japan aren't getting very good press from its games/anime exports. Hinamizawa and Fatal Frame II comes to mind when such villages are featured. An unforgiving place steeped in superstitions where the darkness of the human heart is blacker than anything a denizen of hell can conjure. Ep 2 of H20 strengthens that prejudice. The hideous Kohinata bullying and the demon-branding is reminiscent of the Satoko treatment in Higurashi. I'm not sure what the Kohinatas did to warrant such hideous Hayami treatment that even the gentle/kind Hinata abstains from involvement despite being childhood friends. Still, one thing is sure - Hayami's resilience has won my admiration and love.

It's so refreshing to take a break from the air-headed fluff that plague many bishoujo series. Sure, I enjoy a clueless klutzy dojiiko as much as the next bishoujo-enthusiast but it is a great deal more edifying to see true strength forged in the crucible of venomous hate as we see in Hayami. I enjoyed the realistic portrayal of Takumi too. When confronted with those bullies, I had hope he'd whip out that cane and deal his 36 strokes of dog-hitting technique (beggar clan style) to save the damsel in distress. I'm glad he didn't. That ensuing hug was a lot more GAR than any cane-strokes can muster.

As anyone can see, I'm enjoying H2O tremendously. The fanservice has receded in place of strong storytelling in the 2nd installment and the growing intensity of the confrontations can only mean more delicious indulgences for drama fans.

Can't wait to see if Takumi is the promised one to master the dog-beating technique for ep 3.

Related posts:

  1. H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 05 – 10 questions
  2. H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 03 – Hinata seduces!
  3. H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 04 – More drama, less harem pls

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  1. suguru
    January 10th, 2008 - 23:23

    Definitely looking forward to this…the screencap at the top reminds me a lot of the Tsunderella episode of Otoboku ^^ I always pictured little countryside towns as peaceful places thanks to Zettai Shonen and YKK, but between H2O and MyselfYourself I think my image of the inaka is getting tarnished fast too…

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  2. Ivy
    January 11th, 2008 - 09:05

    Seems interesting..but I’m seeing a slight decrease in quality, art-wise. Gah I’ll check the episode out itself and judge first hand.

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  3. totali
    January 11th, 2008 - 14:26

    Anime is so unrealistic. How could he just get his sight back like that!!!11

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  4. Kefit
    January 11th, 2008 - 16:58

    This episode was surprisingly intense, and I too was also getting Higurashi vibes. Hayami’s got to be some sort of religious pariah to be getting this sort of treatment from what otherwise seem like nice enough people.

    And this show needs more Otoha. Lots more.

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  5. Kaho
    January 11th, 2008 - 22:00

    WHY THE HELL does no one care that a obvious BLIND guy can see the next day like everyone else? NO other character bothered about that.. my gosh that has really driven me mad.. sorry but I think its a serious storyline crash!!

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  6. dsong
    January 13th, 2008 - 01:07

    While Hayami is the inevitable winner, Otoha is closer to being Takumi’s lover.

    The near-kiss outside the infirmary (or was it an off-screen kiss?), the tender scene at the beach, her constant encouragement, and her restoration of his eyesight should have resulted in an instant win. Her feelings are obvious and they seem to be reciprocated.

    On the other hand she may not be human, and Takumi could very well prefer flesh and blood. If Otoha is literally the “girl of his dreams”, Takumi may have to settle for less. But at least Hayami is a decent consolation prize, as opposed to the dreadful Nanaka from M;Y.

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  7. abao
    January 13th, 2008 - 04:02

    So it wasnt just me thinking of the Beggar Clan’s dog-beating technique (Jin Yong) when they were bullied. :)

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  8. Stripey
    January 13th, 2008 - 09:40

    suguru: Speaking of Otoboku, I’m waiting for my R3 which is long overdue. Comes with hilarious ep 13 and I can’t wait to see cast crazy again! :)

    Ivy: It’s surely not True Tears quality but I didn’t detect any significant drops in quality like a few reviewers did. The storytelling continues to be strong and personally I think that matters more. :)

    totali: haha! there’s the supernatural element for this tale. I believe it to be shortlived.

    Kefit: I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kohinatas turned out to be the Japanese equivalents of the Texas Chainsaw massacre dude. And a resounding yes to more Otoha!

    Kaho: Heh, I think ep 2 is not directly “the day after ep 1″. There was probably some hoo-ha about his regained sight which would be boring to watch anyway. So the series fast forward to the near future and we continue the real thrust of the story from then on. I think it’s a good storytelling tactic. :)

    dsong: Ah indeed, Hayami does has Nanaka vibes – misunderstood victim archetype. I’m rooting for Hinata actually. Air-headed girls don’t usually win my vote but Hinata is clearly more than meets the eye and sincerely kind (a trait that always gets to me in RL or anime) :)

    abao: I wouldn’t have minded Hayami coming out with the dragon-subduing 18 styles either XD

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  9. Skua
    January 13th, 2008 - 14:01

    Speaking of the Japanese countryside and ostracism, this reminds of an article Mainichi posted last year.

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/archive/news/2006/04/20060420p2g00m0dm034000c.html

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  10. suguru
    January 13th, 2008 - 23:33

    > suguru: Speaking of Otoboku, I

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  11. Stripey
    January 14th, 2008 - 07:42

    Skua: oh yes… I remember that article when I was watching Higurashi. H2O’s village certain has that touch. XD

    suguru: I’m sure it’s a matter of time :) If my memory serves me right there’s a season 2 for otoboku? :)

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  12. suguru
    January 15th, 2008 - 10:03

    I saw a rumor a while back about an Otoboku season two, but the rumor was squashed a week later when the listing was removed from Moon Phase, if I remember right…it’s a pity, since I’d love to see more Otoboku, but I guess I can always hope…

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  13. Stripey
    January 15th, 2008 - 20:07

    !!! It was a hoax? WAHHH! :(

    Yeah we can always hope although Season 1 is pretty much a nice complete package by itself :)

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  14. quibijo
    January 19th, 2008 - 00:10

    Nothing about this series seems realistic to me. Even within the fantasy realm of this anime there are so many WTF moments. The male lead gets his eyesight back all of a sudden and no one seems to notice it.

    The male lead asks why hayami gets hated on and seems satisfied when he gets no answers. That is far from growing some balls.

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  15. Stripey
    January 19th, 2008 - 02:26

    I think there’s an implicit time-skip to cut out the fillerish “how did you get your sight back?” or “That’s amazing! Isn’t it great?” scenes to focus on the main thrust of the tale.

    As for non-answers, Skua’s article abover illustrates how closely-knitted such villagers are to that extent that murders in broad daylight are unsolved. If they zip their lips, you’re unlikely to hear anything especially if it’s not glorious.

    Finally, Hirose has balls because he stood up for Hayami knowing full well he could incur bodily hurt. It took Hirose moral courage to stand up against pervasive social ostracism especially in a hierarchical society like Japan which prides itself on homogeneity.

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