H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 05 – 10 questions

01) Why does Hayami still bother with school? Was she secretly pining for a reconciliation with Hinata?

02) Will Hinata now move to Hayami's abandoned trams and set ablaze the imagination of doujin artists?

03) Shouldn't the townsfolk be burning down Hamaji's place for the numerous boys that fapped, realised and suicided?

04) Did imouto-Hotaru kill herself after her crush, Hama-nii, turned trap?

05) Was onsen-Hamaji the REAL cause of Hirose's past blindness?

06) Is Otoha Hotaru's spirit incarnate?

07) What's Kagura-jiji's problem? Piles? Is that why he's so anal?

08) Does yuri carry the taste of happiness? Will sucking on it cause the blossoming of a lily in the bosom?

09) Will the series go Kannazuki? Will Hirose be sidelined culminating to a Hayami X Hinata X Otoha end hence the H2O title?

10) When will they release the ED?

Can't wait for some answers in ep 6.

H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 04 – More drama, less harem pls

I didn't care for the uninspired harem hijinks in this ep. Jealous sibling hate for harem leads has been done to death and H20 04 didn't bring anything new to the table. Although if one takes into account the not-so-common trap factor, it'd be siscon (brocon) we're taking about. Somehow, this tanuki is not thrilled.

Despite the supposed Hamaji-centric ep, we learn little about him and receive even less character charm. (I suspect being spoiled about his trappiness has a lot to do with it.) Even a light-haired loli-imouto did little to bring love. The only saving grace of this ep was the faint main storythread that rears its head occasionally and of course, the Otoha cameo. While I wouldn't go as far to say this ep was a filler, it sure wasn't efficient use of precious airtime given that it failed on the harem front and achieved little plot progression or character love.

At least this ep reminded me how important Hayami is to the series. Hope the story gets back on track and never derails for the rest of its run.

H2O ~ Footprints in the sand 03 – Hinata seduces!

Every time I see a haremette picks up the harem lead for school, I wonder what I'd do if a bishoujo escort turns up daily to pick up my aspiring harem-lead of a son? Jealous? Proud? Tie my son at home and send bishoujo friend to school? Although chances are if I picked option 3, Mrs Stripey would strap my ass to a rocket and send me to the sun. Maybe that's why she wants to have daughters... gasp! No daughter of mine is going to pick up harem scum in the morning!!! Nooooooo!!!

Sorry I digressed.

If you haven't noticed, I'm enjoying H2O ep 3 very much. Though much is revealed this ep, it was masterfully weaved to induce more thirst in the viewers. First, we understand that it was the village lynch mob that off-ed Hayami's parents. Not unexpected only that the mystery deepens as to what they did to warrant that village outing. Did they send cease and desist letters to 9 yr old anime downloaders? And we also have a confirmation on Hayami's childhood friend - Hinata who forsook Hayami during the time of her greatest need. But who can blame Hinata? What can a little girl do in the face of an angry mob who wants their animu? The final interesting bit is Takuma being the promised one. Is he The One to come up with a working version of the annoymizing download client or just a glorified title for village sacrfice? Just what is so precious about "The One" that a grandfather would sell his lolicious grandchild out to him? I have no doubt Hinata was going to drug Takumi and had the deal sealed in her room. Only that her ploy was broken by Takuma's fierce interrogation.

Frankly, I'm full of sympathy for both girls, yes even Hinata. Both are victims of social fetters, cruelly imposed by the unfeeling upper generation. And for a young girl like Hinata, it's understandable that she didn't have moral courage to defy family or mobs. Of course it wouldn't make for a bad story either if Hinata had sided Hayami and gone with her to live in abandoned trams. The doujin circles would have a field day.

Am loving every min of H2O, especially the legendary Zexcs bishoujo confrontations. Can't wait for Hayami to loose the suspension bridge for all to plunge to their watery deaths next ep.

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

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.

H20 ~ Footprints in the sand 01 – ZEXCS' next great?

When Zexcs does harem - expect greatness. Zyl said something memorable in our recent Hontouni conference :

And indeed that is the problem with the slew of mediocre harems out there. They get distracted with fanservice and believe the pantsu flash (and the like) to be the most potent character development tool there is. But not with Zexcs. Here's a studio that knows fanservice's place in anime and more importantly is always focused on the thrust of the series. Typically, Zexcs would pick the main rivalry/romance and build the entire series around it. We've seen this in Da Capo, Canvas2, Megadere and Kagihime. Looking at H2O's ED, it'd seem that Zexcs would be focusing on the Kohinata-Hinata entanglement.

Of course my faith in Zexcs may not have much credibility given how much fanservice there was in ep 1. But it did establish my love for Hinata. Boy, I haven't wanted so much to be blind since Yoakena Cabbage Love. Of course Zexcs is not merely satisfied with granting us delicious fanservice. H20 ep 1 not only lays the premise but introduces the 2 all important heroines whose lives would undoubtedly be intertwined with our blind protagonist. Add the mysterious Otoha, ominous Hinata grandfather and unforgivable Kohinata-bullying, we have a intriguing story that has me hungering for more.

Btw I don't think it was Kohinata's voice that gave her age away. XD