H2O Episode 6: Hayami’s Right Arm of the Roach

That’s what she said! (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist)

Well, it took me awhile to watch this thing because of how it focused on my least favorite character, Yui. However, some of the good writing from last week carried onto this week’s episode, which altered my views on her just a little bit. Unfortunately, nothing really happens until the last four minutes, but oh well, they more than make up for it. Personally, I think episode 5 will probably be the highlight of how good this series could have been, but who knows. If the show keeps this up, I’m willing to bet that there will be heck of a lot of H2O fans when it finishes.

TL;DR Summary

We kick this one off with a shot of Yui giving her respects to one of her fallen relatives. After she finishes, she sets off for school. As she leaves, she sees Hinata and Hirose and begins to call out to them, but stops when she sees Hayami join the two of them. At school, everyone is shocked to find Hayami and Hinata talking to each other, which Hayami insists Hinata doesn’t need to do in public. However, in response, Hinata asks if Hayami will allow her the pleasure of being her friend like the times prior to the house fire incident. Unbenknowest to them, Yui is watching from afar. Oh…stalking now, I see.

Lunchtime comes, and Hinata pulls out a bentou filled with omelettes for Hayami and Takuma to eat. Hayami initially refuses, but after her stomach growls, begins to devour the food. Their meal is interrupted by Yui and the rest of the class, who claim that Hinata is violating the school policy by bringing food from home. Yui also demands why Hinata is now talking to Hayami after what the her family did in the past, but Hinata stands up for Hayami, saying that she had no part in that incident. Yui gets pissed off, calling the three of them roaches, and tries to get her cronies to beat them up. However, apparently the Kagura name holds much higher authority than anything Yui says, and they remain rooted in place. Frustrated, Yui kicks the omelettes out of Hayami’s hands and shouts at her, vowing that she will never forgive Hayami.

After school, Hinata, Takuma, and Hayami visit Hayami’s mobile home, where Hinata wonders aloud at how someone could live in such a worn down place. She immediately apologizes, insisting that she didn’t mean it in a bad way, but Hayami doesn’t take offense, stating that despite being worn down, there are a lot of handy things in her home, such as a foldable bed/couch. Takuma remarks that Hayami even has an outdoor bath, stirring up Hinata’s perverted mind and provoking her to ask whether the two of them have ever bathed together. Hayami immediately denies such a disgraceful action, stating she’d never bathe with such a pervert. Poor Takuma. The church bells ring, signaling the end of the day, and Hinata and Takuma begin to go home. Before they leave, they promise to walk to school with Hayami again. Hayami asks them if they’re serious, saying that if they hang out with her even more, Yui will eventually explode. Takuma tries to reassure Hayami by saying that he believes Yui is a kind person at heart, but Hayami claims that it doesn’t matter: It was because of the her family that Yui’s grandfather died.

In a flashback, we see Yui and her family sitting around her grandfather, who is sick in bed. Yui asks her mom where the medicine is, but her mom says that because they have no money, the Kohinata family will not give them any. The grandmother scoffs at her words, saying that since the Kohinata’s have already taken away everything from them, what else could they give. Suddenly, the grandfather gasps a final breath and dies, as a heartbroken Yui cries out his name. Back in the present, Takuma learns from Hinata that the Kohinata family possessed a large amount of power in the village, and used it to control the other families. It wasn’t until the families banded together, led by the Kaguras, that the Kohinata family was expelled from the village. Arriving at her house, Hinata finishes the story and says good night to Takuma. She starts walking to her room, but is stopped by her grandfather. He asks her where she’s been, but she ignores his question and walks past him as he asks, “Are you not Hinata?”

The next morning, Takuma’s uncle enters Takuma’s room to wake him up, but Takuma has already left. Dejected, the uncle decides to sleep in Takuma’s bed to satisfy his presence in Takuma’s life. Thats…uh…really creepy. The anime then switches to a shot of Maki, Hamaji, and Yui riding a bus to town. As soon as they arrive, they hear the voices of Takuma and Hayami nearby. Hayami steps out of a department store in casual wear followed by Takuma and Hinata, but the three of them stop when they see Hamaji and Maki next to them. Yui, on the other hand, stands away from afar and wonders if the day could get any worse. After the commercial break, the six of them are sitting in a cafe, with both Hayami and Yui ignoring one another. Hayami stands up to leave but Takuma stops her, asking that since they’re all here, they could hang out together. Yui quickly refuses as a waitress brings two giant sundaes to their table. Asked who ordered the sundaes, no one responds until Hayami and Yui both unwillingly raise their hands.

Hayami starts eating instantly while glaring at Yui, provoking Yui to wolf down her sundae as well. The two of them finish at the same time amidst much cheering from the others and quickly succumb to the inevitable brain freeze. The competition heats up at a clothing store, as Yui comes out of a dressing room dressed in extravagant apparel, only to be shunned by the store clerk who comments on how beautiful Hayami look in the same outfit. Flabbergasted, Yui demands to be shown the most expensive outfit in the store, much to the dismay of everyone else. Takuma thinks aloud at how Yui and Hayami look to be making progress but actually aren’t really, to which a voice replies that it is probably good. Surprised, Takuma looks around and finds a dressed up Otoha grinning at him. She asks him how her outfit looks before becoming serious, or as serious as Otoha can ever get, stating for him to be careful, as his time is almost up. Takuma glances away, pondering her words, but when he looks back again, she has disappeared once more.

After finishing their shopping, they begin to walk around town. In Yui’s case, walking is a challenge as the expensive outfit she purchased looks like a something out of a Circus. Hamaji finds a “Punch-o-meter” type game, and asks Yui to try it, for it is her specialty. Yui accepts, but challenges Hayami to a duel. Yui lands a punch of 218 kilograms, prompting some whistles and words of admiration from the others, but once she declares that it’s because she’s a human and Hayami is a roach, Hayami pulls an Ippo and slams a killer right hand into the machine. The resulting score is 350 kilos and also, a new record. Amazed, the others ask how Hayami pulled up such a score, but Hayami replies that she just punched normally. Embittered at being beaten by Hayami, Yui storms off but accidentally drops her purse behind.

Yui walks by herself, muttering about how none of her stress has been relieved at all, but upon checking her purse, is shocked to find her wallet gone. She thinks about returning to her friends, but decides against it. The hour becomes late, and our five heroes are still looking for Yui. Hinata says that the last bus is just about to come, but Takuma doesn’t want to leave Yui behind. Hayami believes that Yui went through a mountain path that leads to town, but it is very dangerous route. Hayami tells the others to take the bus against Takuma’s protests, and she will find Yui.

Night falls, and Yui is still walking the mountain path. She is clearly exhausted but presses on because she refuses to admit “defeat” to Hayami. Absorbed in her thoughts, she trips and rolls down a hill before stopping in front of the charred remains of a house. Yui begins to inspect the remains until Hayami walks up and tells Yui that this was her home. Hayami declares that she does not expect to be forgiven for her family’s abuse of power, but before she can continue, Yui stands up and agrees, saying that Hayami will never be forgiven for how the Kohinata family just let everyone die. With tears in her eyes, Yui grasps Hayami’s shoulders and demands for her to give back her grandfather and the other people who have died. Yui claims that the Kohinata family got what they deserved, and that she will never feel pity for Hayami. Hayami replies, to Yui’s surprise, that she understands and accepts Yui’s hatred. Not knowing how to respond, and in bitter frustration, Yui begins to kick and shatter the remnants of Hayami’s house before collapsing in a crying heap.

Hayami stands away from Yui and apologizes, saying that there is nothing left to give her: Her family, her home, her life, everything is gone. Hayami walks next to Yui and picks up a broken plate, reminding her of her life in the past. She clutches the plate to her heart as Yui watches silently. The next morning at school, Yui is distributing the food. Unexpectedly, she leaves a plate with one omelette on it for Hayami, claiming that since it’s a leftover, it fits Hayami perfectly. Hayami says that she doesn’t want it, but Yui tells her to just take it so that they will become “even”. Personally, if I ever saved someone’s life, I’d expect a bit more than a leftover omelette in return. Hayami stares at the omelette until Takuma tells her to eat it. She takes a bite and Takuma asks her if it is sweet. Her mouth stuffed with omelette, Hayami can only nod in reply, but at the same time a smile breaks across her face.

Final Thoughts:

Why must this show continue to show Hamaji in such a smexy cheerleading outfit AFTER its revealed that he’s a guy. I mean, I still have trouble typing “he” because the meido outfit is still ingrained in my mind. Also, WHY THE TWIN TAILS! LEAVE YOUR HAIR DOWN HAYAMI, IT LOOKS MUCHO BETTER! *Breathes* Erhem, onto more serious business. Although I liked the confrontation between Yui and Hayami, I’m left wondering what else the anime can continue with. The conflict between Hinata and Hayami has been cleared up, and now even the stubborn Yui is giving out omelettes. We still have the always mysterious Otoha I suppose, and Takuma’s eyes will probably extinguish in the next episode or so. However, with 5 episode remaining, how long can they drag this thing out?

One thing that this series is good at is making you hate a character so much that you wouldn’t care if she died in the next episode, and then come up with something that makes you say “oh…so thats why” and feel really, REALLY bad. Despite still being my least favorite character, Yui gained a little bit of sympathy for me in this episode because of how her family was treated by the Kohinata’s. However, I don’t think that provokes the mistreatment she gave Hayami every day. And as I said before, A single omelette don’t cut it girl!

Takuma has sort of been taking a side role recently, only acting as the mediator between the girls. However, with his blindness returning, the show will probably focus more on him in the second half. I’m guessing that there will be a new rivalry between Hayami and Hinata for Takuma’s love, although I’m praying to God that Yui doesn’t get in on the action as well. I feel sort of sorry for Maki. Despite being one of the only characters that isn’t drawn like something out of a kindergarten artbook, she neither looks to have feelings for Takuma or have some interesting characteristic, like being a reverse trap e.g Hamaji.

Also, what’s up with these hidden appearances of Otoha. We still don’t know whether she is the reincarnation of Hinata’s sister or not and whether or not whenever we see her in the shadows, she’s visible to all or just the viewer. I wish she would appear more though. She brings life to the sometimes dull and stale atmosphere of H2O.

I don’t have much to say on this episode. Although it’s probably one of the better ones, it wasn’t exactly majorly thought inspiring or flame provoking either. Next week focuses on Hotaru, aka Hinata’s sister. I’m expecting some major plot development here ZEXCS! Toodles~