Reviews for H2O: Footprints in the Sand (7.27)
yukinogatari
Kurube Hiroko
Shibamata Tooya
Tachibana Hideki
Rarely before has an anime ever evoked so many passionate emotions in me throughout its run. School Days is one (not so great) example. The difference between SD and H2O: Fo...
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12.08.2008 00:21 - direct link
(rs6278)
Rarely before has an anime ever evoked so many passionate emotions in me throughout its run. School Days is one (not so great) example. The difference between SD and H2O: Footprints in the Sand is that I actually had something to feel good about while I watched the latter. H2O is a vicious emotional rollercoaster (pardon the cliché) of an anime if there ever was one.
And, I'll confess, I like rollercoasters.
Animation
My first impression of H2O was that it looked like a cross between Higurashi (the village in which H2O is set bears some striking resemblances to Hinamizawa, both in design and style) and School Days (mostly character design--Mika, I think it was, seems to share many of Sekai's mannerisms).
On its own, the animation is nothing special. It does its job perfectly well (but I still want to cut Henchman A's disfigured lips off his ugly face), and it doesn't try to undermine the story progression. In general, I don't like the stylistic clash CG brings to most anime, but fortunately, H2O is only a minimal offender, with the pinwheel and waterwheel bring the only memorable culprits.
Characters look great, and are easily distinguishable from one another. The girls all look good, and the guys mostly don't (save Hirose), but since we don't see many of the guys very often, it's forgivable.
Sound
Overall, I didn't mind the soundtrack, but it wasn't phenomenal either. There were a couple three-minute (or so) lyrical pieces, but only the final one was really any good. I tend to find intermission-style songs more of a distraction than anything, and that was quite the same with H2O. The instrumental soundtrack had a couple noteworthy pieces, but they were only used in the beginning, and beyond episode four, I stopped noticing anything--either good or bad. The music was, essentially, average.
The OP and ED aren't anything to write home about either. I watched them both once, and skipped both on the remainder of the episodes. I don't usually care about theme songs, though. They don't have much bearing on the series itself, and so it's more of a side note than anything.
Story
After coming off an extremely disappointing hack-job of a story with the last anime I watched, H2O was extremely refreshing. No, it wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for me.
H2O: Footprints in the Sand starts off with a couple disjointed scenes: two sets of footprints in the sand (imagine that), and a girl getting beaten up in the rain. After the OP, we meet Hirose, the blind protagonist, as well as several of the girls we'll be seeing for the rest of the series. The show decides to get everything out of the way from the get-go with a series of semi-funny blind gags involving red-faced girls, stairs, and Hirose's walking stick.
Once we're done with that, the show picks up speed and has us asking questions (and, if you're like me, fuming) by the end of the very first episode. As the episodes whiz by, we're dragged along in many directions, and our emotions are twisted and thrown about with us. One of H2O's greatest strengths is its control over our emotions.
However, one of its weaknessses is its single-mindedness. H2O's not bad for focusing primarily on one thread... it's just that it tries to spread its wings and tell us about other, related stories and falls flat on its face. While we're introduced to several potentially interesting subplots, instead of development, we're treated to a magical shoujo parody... thing (I wonder, is "monstrosity" a good enough word?) just beyond the halfway point... thankfully just for one episode.
To me, the ending of a story is a significant factor in its overall strength. Stephen King would hate me for it, but I have discarded series (and books) with great stories that trip over themselves and miss the finish line entirely (Mai-HiME?). H2O: Footprints in the Sand is not a series that misses the mark, however. I mentioned above that the show was an emotional rollercoaster. And, like any good rollercoaster, H2O is full of twists and surprises up to the very end. I would've almost certainly burst into tears if I had been watching at night, with everyone asleep, or in an empty house. In fact, I almost did, despite that. H2O had a very, very satisfying ending.
Character
Like so many anime in the romance (I reserve "harem" for extreme cases of reality distortion) genre, females outnumber males in staggering proportion, and most of the males that do exist are one-dimensional (or, sometimes, one-and-a-half-dimensional). Whatever the reason (I have my suspicions, but they're not really relevant), despite the lack of a set of compelling males, the series doesn't lack in interesting characters.
To reuse another comparison, the cast as a whole brought back memories of Higurashi--in more ways than one. However, I won't mention anything specific, to avoid spoilers.
Much to my surprise, the characters were not as passive and self-defeating as you tend to find in romances like this. I actually cheered more than once as I reached a situation that would've been hopeless in a dozen other shows and someone actually did something.
As I mentioned above, H2O tries to expand on some of the characters' back-stories, and falls short of the mark. Even so, the characters' actions are all distinct and strong baselines for understanding their unique personalities. And, yes, everyone seems to have a unique and interesting personality.
Value/Enjoyment
I'm going to combine these two categories, because I think they're interrelated enough to warrant it.
I enjoyed H2O. I enjoyed it a lot. However, probably the only reason I'll watch it again in the next year is if my roommate decides to pick it up, in which case I'll follow along on the adventure. Rewatching the intro in order to write this review revealed a few interesting details to me, but everything was mostly straightforward, and it's just not likely to be as interesting when you're privvy to all the surprises.
Conclusion
Would I recommend H2O: Footprints in the Sand to fans of the genre? Absolutely. Though I might be wary to mention it otherwise.
There seems to be some dissent on the comment board as to the quality of the show, but they focus mainly on the first few episodes. It may seem that way in the first few episodes, but watch it through and you're in for several treats, as well as satisfactory solutions to all of its problems.
And, I'll confess, I like rollercoasters.
Animation
My first impression of H2O was that it looked like a cross between Higurashi (the village in which H2O is set bears some striking resemblances to Hinamizawa, both in design and style) and School Days (mostly character design--Mika, I think it was, seems to share many of Sekai's mannerisms).
On its own, the animation is nothing special. It does its job perfectly well (but I still want to cut Henchman A's disfigured lips off his ugly face), and it doesn't try to undermine the story progression. In general, I don't like the stylistic clash CG brings to most anime, but fortunately, H2O is only a minimal offender, with the pinwheel and waterwheel bring the only memorable culprits.
Characters look great, and are easily distinguishable from one another. The girls all look good, and the guys mostly don't (save Hirose), but since we don't see many of the guys very often, it's forgivable.
Sound
Overall, I didn't mind the soundtrack, but it wasn't phenomenal either. There were a couple three-minute (or so) lyrical pieces, but only the final one was really any good. I tend to find intermission-style songs more of a distraction than anything, and that was quite the same with H2O. The instrumental soundtrack had a couple noteworthy pieces, but they were only used in the beginning, and beyond episode four, I stopped noticing anything--either good or bad. The music was, essentially, average.
The OP and ED aren't anything to write home about either. I watched them both once, and skipped both on the remainder of the episodes. I don't usually care about theme songs, though. They don't have much bearing on the series itself, and so it's more of a side note than anything.
Story
After coming off an extremely disappointing hack-job of a story with the last anime I watched, H2O was extremely refreshing. No, it wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for me.
H2O: Footprints in the Sand starts off with a couple disjointed scenes: two sets of footprints in the sand (imagine that), and a girl getting beaten up in the rain. After the OP, we meet Hirose, the blind protagonist, as well as several of the girls we'll be seeing for the rest of the series. The show decides to get everything out of the way from the get-go with a series of semi-funny blind gags involving red-faced girls, stairs, and Hirose's walking stick.
Once we're done with that, the show picks up speed and has us asking questions (and, if you're like me, fuming) by the end of the very first episode. As the episodes whiz by, we're dragged along in many directions, and our emotions are twisted and thrown about with us. One of H2O's greatest strengths is its control over our emotions.
However, one of its weaknessses is its single-mindedness. H2O's not bad for focusing primarily on one thread... it's just that it tries to spread its wings and tell us about other, related stories and falls flat on its face. While we're introduced to several potentially interesting subplots, instead of development, we're treated to a magical shoujo parody... thing (I wonder, is "monstrosity" a good enough word?) just beyond the halfway point... thankfully just for one episode.
To me, the ending of a story is a significant factor in its overall strength. Stephen King would hate me for it, but I have discarded series (and books) with great stories that trip over themselves and miss the finish line entirely (Mai-HiME?). H2O: Footprints in the Sand is not a series that misses the mark, however. I mentioned above that the show was an emotional rollercoaster. And, like any good rollercoaster, H2O is full of twists and surprises up to the very end. I would've almost certainly burst into tears if I had been watching at night, with everyone asleep, or in an empty house. In fact, I almost did, despite that. H2O had a very, very satisfying ending.
Character
Like so many anime in the romance (I reserve "harem" for extreme cases of reality distortion) genre, females outnumber males in staggering proportion, and most of the males that do exist are one-dimensional (or, sometimes, one-and-a-half-dimensional). Whatever the reason (I have my suspicions, but they're not really relevant), despite the lack of a set of compelling males, the series doesn't lack in interesting characters.
To reuse another comparison, the cast as a whole brought back memories of Higurashi--in more ways than one. However, I won't mention anything specific, to avoid spoilers.
Much to my surprise, the characters were not as passive and self-defeating as you tend to find in romances like this. I actually cheered more than once as I reached a situation that would've been hopeless in a dozen other shows and someone actually did something.
As I mentioned above, H2O tries to expand on some of the characters' back-stories, and falls short of the mark. Even so, the characters' actions are all distinct and strong baselines for understanding their unique personalities. And, yes, everyone seems to have a unique and interesting personality.
Value/Enjoyment
I'm going to combine these two categories, because I think they're interrelated enough to warrant it.
I enjoyed H2O. I enjoyed it a lot. However, probably the only reason I'll watch it again in the next year is if my roommate decides to pick it up, in which case I'll follow along on the adventure. Rewatching the intro in order to write this review revealed a few interesting details to me, but everything was mostly straightforward, and it's just not likely to be as interesting when you're privvy to all the surprises.
Conclusion
Would I recommend H2O: Footprints in the Sand to fans of the genre? Absolutely. Though I might be wary to mention it otherwise.
There seems to be some dissent on the comment board as to the quality of the show, but they focus mainly on the first few episodes. It may seem that way in the first few episodes, but watch it through and you're in for several treats, as well as satisfactory solutions to all of its problems.
