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~

My thoughts exactly Takuma…my thoughts exactly…

Two weeks since my last post and I have returned! All my efforts in studying for tests were futile though. With my great luck, my calculator ran out of batteries 10 problems in so I had to cancel my scores. Regarding the anime however, these two episodes were the complete polar opposites. While one of them was absurdly bad, the other renewed my faith in the series. Now if only the animation quality can keep up…oh yeah, no tl;dr summaries this week fortunately for you all. If I did summaries on both episodes, I think I would break a record for paragraphs in a post. You can find summaries at Atarashii Prelude or…heck, is anyone else still blogging this series?

Episode 4

The one major qualm I have with this series is that it is so inconsistent. Not just animation-wise or Plot-wise but everything in this anime is inconsistent. Hell, even the genders are inconsistent as Hamaji reveals himself to be a guy, which totally killed the meido-outfit image imprinted in my mind from episode 2. The fanservice is aplenty, but it doesn’t fit with the previous episodes, creating a much lighter atmosphere than the series suggests. Much of this episode could be considered filleresque, as there is no real plot revelations until the very end, where Hayami confronts Takuma about his true feelings. You could have taken out 99% of the episode and still continue the storyline with no problems whatsoever. For example, Yui and Takuma’s little showdown behind the school was apparently for nothing because Yui invites Takuma along with the rest of his harem to a private beach. I thought that Yui would mistreat Takuma from then on because he protected Hayami, but there was not one mention of a “roach” at all during the episode. Bravo, writers.

One thing that annoyed me was how Takuma just goes along with Hinata, who apparently happens to have boobs twice the size of her head hiding behind her school outfit. Unfortunately for her, the animators decided to make them lopsided, much to my amusement. He shows little resistance to Hinata’s advances, and even finds himself staring at her bazoomas at times. The character designs are really beginning to bug me, for aside from Hayami and Otoha, there is little attempt to keep them as cleanly drawn as the first episode. Yukiji, who is introduced as Hamaji’s imouto, is a perfect duplicate of her sibling, right up to the flower in the hair. Hell, I don’t even know how this episode was supposed to focus on Hamaji, as the majority of the screentime just featured Yuki’s attempts to kill Takuma.

5…4…3…2…1…

When I said killing, I meant killing. The one scene where Maki tries breaking the watermelon has a godamn knife flying out of the hilt of her stick. My awesomely cool self started jumping up and down screaming “SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS”, causing my mom to come running into my room in a panic. The CPR scene was also unexpectedly amusing. I’m not sure if the animators wanted the scene to be dramatic or funny because by being in slow mo, Hamaji ballooning up air to breathe into Takuma caused me to burst out in laughter.

There is another attempt to make Takuma look GAR by having him save Yukiji, who is drowning, but instead of making him look like a badass, for me, it shows that he’s as weak as before. He has to be saved by the rest of the girls from drowning himself, and although he shows balls for his rescue attempt, there just is no progression in his character. From the start of the anime, he has always had a good heart but aside from that, his development hasn’t improved at all.

Episode 5

I really wish that I could do a summary on this episode. So much happened that I’m bound to forget something in these next couple of paragraphs. It’s a shame that the Animation was DEFINITELY done by the B-team. I admit, in the beginning, because I’m such an animation freak, I was pondering just skimming through the entire thing. I’m glad I didn’t though. There was such an immense shift forwards in the plot, and it’s easily the best of all the episodes so far. Takuma begins to emerge as a strong lead character, and Hinata turns out to be less of a bitch than I thought.

Her Grandfather on the other hand is just plain cruel. Basically, since Hinata’s sister Hotaru has died, Hinata is the only one left to carry on the Kagura name. This leads to immense pressure placed on Hinata by her grandfather, who imprints the quality of being a ‘good girl’ in Hinata’s heart. However, Hinata is probably the most fragile of all the characters in the anime, and when confronted by Takuma, begins to break down. Rather than being a bad person, Hinata’s faults lie in that she continues to try to please her grandfather, but by doing that, she denies her own feelings, which inevitably leads to Takuma to realize who is behind all of this (Grampa if you still haven’t noticed).

It’s not what you think…perverts

Hayami is beginning to rival Otoha as my favorite character. The compassion and forgiveness that she showed Hinata despite everything that Hinata did in the past really touched my heart. I know a lot of you are going WOW! H2O TOUCHED SOMEONE, haha. I thought that the pinwheels in every episode were getting old until it was revealed that the pinwheels were made by Hayami in the past for the two of them as a sign of their friendship. Takuma has also garnered more respect from me when he forced Hinata to meet Hayami. Although he has been pushed and dragged around by Hinata, when he realized that something was amiss, he set off to fix it.

A couple of new plot revelations opened up in this episode. Otoha may in fact be Hotaru’s spirit, as a shot of a picture frame in the Kagura household shows what looks like a younger looking Otoha. A lot of questions are still unanswered though. I still don’t know how, despite being a spirit, Takuma can “feel” Otoha’s face rubbing against his or feel her land on top of him though. I’m unsure whether it will ever be explained in the anime, as everything thats happened so far is accepted without as much as a wonder (Ex: Hamaji being a guy, Takuma regaining sight). It is going to be interesting to see how Hinata and Hayami will act at school, and how Hinata will respond to her grandfather once he sees that the two of them have made up. Also, I’m guessing that Hinata will begin to develop actual feelings for Takuma later on, which may shake up her friendship with Hayami.

Well, It took quite a bit, but the potential this anime showed at the beginning is finally starting to reveal itself. Because of all that happened in the latter episode, I’m wondering what you guys thought of it, as I surely have missed something. For once, I’m anticipating a forecoming episode and with it, my tl;dr summaries shall return! Toodles~

*Checks the time* HAHA YES, MADE IT BY 1 MINUTE! It’s still a Sunday so I’m not late! My Standardized Tests are next week and I’ve been cramming in every last bit of mathematical knowledge that I can find. This week’s episode focused primarily on Hinata and reveals how she actually is one of the biggest b****es of all time, despite how cute and goody goody she appears.

On a side note, her head is as as big as a watermelon when she was a little girl.

Episode Summary

The episode starts off at the end of a conversation, if you can call it that, between Hinata and her grandfather. He asks if she understands her duty and she answers yes…that she must be a good girl. The next day, at the Hirose household, Takuma sets out for school and is surprised to find Hinata waiting for him. She grabs his arm and walks with him to school, pulling him towards her bobos in an attempt to seduce him. So much for a ‘good girl’. On the way, they bump into Hayami, who surprisingly grabs Takuma’s free arm and drags all three of them to school at warp speed. At school, the teacher assigns an outdoor sketch project in which the theme is “the most beautiful thing to me”. Takuma looks around and is surprised and saddened to see that Kohinata isn’t taking part in the class.

Once everyone begins drawing, Hamaji and Maki start teasing Takuma about a possible love triangle between Hinata, Hayami, and himself. However, they are interrupted by two classmates who say that a love triangle shouldn’t even exist, because Hayami was only trying to pry Hinata and Takuma apart that morning. At lunchtime, Hinata has made Takuma sliced omelettes, which turn out to be his favorite. She feeds him one, and to her delight he says that they are delicious. Hinata breathes a sigh of relief, revealing that she burned nearly a hundred eggs before succeeding in cooking. Upon seeing Takuma’s shocked expression, she confesses that those omelettes were the first thing she’s ever cooked. Takuma asks her why she spent so much effort to cook for him, but she replies that he is her ‘Destined One’. Embarrassed, she goes off to fetch some water for him to drink, but Takuma leaves while she is away in order to find Hayami.

He finds Hayami sitting on a hill, as usual, but instead of talking to her, he talks outloud about how nice the scenery is and how boring it is to draw alone. Hayami is initially shocked at being ignored, but then laughs, commenting on how dumb he’s acting. Takuma wonders aloud at how he wishes his friend would talk to him at school, but Hayami replies by saying that while outside of school is permitted, if he talks to her at school, he’ll be treated like trash as well. Takuma then asks her about her actions earlier that morning, which she insists weren’t intentional. Takuma says that it is great to have friends because since he lost his eyesight, friends were hard to come by. This causes Hayami to think about the past, and how when she was crying, Hinata offered her candy to try and lift her spirits back up.

Hayami tells Takuma that long ago, she did have one good friend, but they were pried apart. Her friend told her that “Candy carries the taste of Happiness. If you suck on it, a flower will blossom on your mouth.” Takuma asks where Hayami’s friend is right now, but Hinata walks up and interrupts their conversation, asking for Takuma to return with her.While Hinata starts talking about what the others are doing, Hayami starts walking away despite Takuma’s protests. Hinata offers Takuma some candy, and tells him that it carries the taste of happiness, the exact same words that Hayami’s friend had said before.

Back inside the classroom, everyone is turning in their paintings. Hayami gets up to leave, prompting Takuma to try and follow, but he is blocked by Hinata, who asks if he wants to come to her house. Takuma agrees, and she asks him to wait by the school gate while she finishes up a talk with her teacher. Takuma is waiting by the gate, when Otoha appears and tries to glomp him. Absentmindedly, he dodges her and she falls flat on her face. Takuma apologizes for dodging, saying that it was by instinct because now he is finally able to sense her presence. Otoha declares him amazing for being able to sense spirits (AHA I KNEW SHE WASN’T REAL) but upon seeing Takuma’s face, realizes that he is feeling down. She tells him that she will cast a spell on him to make him feel better, but instead of a spell, all she does is tickle him until he falls to the ground out of breath. Hinata comes running up and Takuma attempts to introduce Otoha to her, but Otoha is nowhere to be seen.

While the two of them are walking to Hinata’s house, Takuma asks Hinata if she knows anything about Otoha. However, Hinata claims that she’s never heard of Otoha. Takuma glances at Hinata’s face and is surprised to see that she’s blushing. Suddenly, she takes his hand in hers, causing him to blush as well as they finally arrive at her house. Upon finding Hinata’s grandfather in the garden, Takuma begins to talk to him. The old man thanks Takuma for taking care of his granddaughter and asks Takuma how his illness is coming along. Takuma states that he is already cured, which perturbs the guy, but he does a good job of covering his emotions. He tells Takuma to take it easy, but right before walking back inside, he shoots a nasty glare at Hinata. Hinata starts showing Takuma around her house, but the tour is interrupted when Takuma stops at a room with many children’s toys inside. Hinata explains that the room belonged to her little sister Hotaru, who died many years ago.

After the tour is finished, Hinata begins telling Takuma stories about her past, with Hamaji, Maki and the others. Takuma stops her and asks if he can talk to her about something. She asks what it is he would like to know, and he tells her that it is regarding Hayami. Flustered, Hinata tries to change the subject, but Takuma presses on, demanding if she was the friend Hayami once had a long time ago. He asks her why she always ignores Hayami and why she’s been acting strange for the whole day, telling him that he is her Destined One. She insists that she’s not being strange, and that he truly is her Destined One. However, when asked how she knows for sure, she can only say that it is because of her feelings. Takuma says that he doesn’t understand her or Hayami, inquiring what exactly happened in the past that broke the two of them apart.

After the fade in, Hayami is seen gazing at the remnants of her old home. She reminisces on all the fun times she had with Hinata but also ends up remembering how her house got burned down by an angry mob. They claimed that Hinata shouldn’t be associating with such low standing people, as they will tarnish the Kagura name. When Hayami called out for Hinata to help her, all Hinata could do was turn back and run away. Back in the Kagura household, Hinata claims that she was never close to Hayami, but Takuma states that if she was never close to Hayami, then why does she looks like she’s suffering. He believes that she is denying her true feelings (Well, duh), and that she’s not the kind of person to abandon someone. She asks him how he can be so sure of how she feels when just a moment ago, he said he didn’t understand her at all. Takuma says that the reason he knows is because her omelettes tasted just like his mothers (The writers get points for originality I guess).

Takuma promises that he will get the two of them back together and starts dragging her to meet Hayami. Hinata struggles against him but Takuma’s manliness prevails as they make it all the way to the bridge. Suddenly, Hinata stops struggling and pulls a fast one by kissing Takuma on the lips. The reason? A shocked Hayami staring at them from across the bridge.

Final Thoughts:

Unfortunately, I too am starting to have second doubts about this series. The animation steadily gets worse and worse per week and a lot of the support characters are still very undeveloped and seem to be in the series just so it can declare itself as a harem. The plot is VERY predictable now, and rather than evolving into a well developed love story, it is turning into some kind of sappy soap opera that could be found playing on CBS.

Hayami has already fallen for Takuma and it isn’t even halfway through the series. So much for being a tsundere. I think that the writers should have made her more wary of Takuma, although she does ask herself if she can trust him. But obviously she already feels that she can trust him because she even waited for him to come to school together. It turns out my prediction of Hinata burning down the house was wrong, as it wasn’t even Hinata’s house that burned down but rather Hayami’s. The mention of Hinata’s sister is intriguing however, as maybe Hinata thought of Hayami as a little sister to replace the lost Hotaru.

However despite all of the worrysome stuff, the curtains haven’t closed for this show yet! One of the bright spots in my opinion is Otoha. She always manages to make me smile whenever she pops in randomly…PLUS SHE HAS MUSIC NOTES ON HER RIBBONS! THAT IS JUST SO COOL! *Fanboyish scream* Erhem…anyways, I was right about her being imaginary, although her spiritual entity may mean that she doesn’t only exist in Takuma’s mind. I’m predicting that later on, there may be some sort of festival and her spiritual presence could be revealed to everyone.

I’m really really short on time and plus, I think everyone is getting tired of my tl;dr posts. Next week’s episode should focus on Hamaji, who is actually a reverse trap! Toodles~

I must have been waiting here all this while. Stopping in this one place. A wind sweeping away that something settled on the ground. I’ve always been waiting here.

Once again, the anime starts with some philosophical lines, maybe from the poem itself? I didn’t want to risk spoiling some of the anime by reading the poem so I’m still interpreting the lines based on the anime itself. From the episode titles on ANN, it seems that each episode will focus in on a specific character. Last week’s featured person was Takuma and this week the story revolves around Hayami.

Episode Summary

The episode begins with Takuma’s uncle trying to molest Takuma in bed (Not really). Unfortunately for him, Takuma is already up bright and early and went off to meet Hayami, who is sitting in the pasture. He still has his eyesight, which is kind of a bummer because that sort of ruins the whole blind harem thing he had going on. When he sees Hayami, he asks if she wants to join Hinata and the girls in showing him around town. He stretches out his hand to help her up, and we’re shown a flashback to a little girl, perhaps a younger Hinata, offering some candy (getinthevanihavecandy). Hayami picks herself off the ground by herself and tells Takuma to quit getting involved with her once again. My tsundere senses are tingling.

Takuma then walks to town by himself, but is ambushed by Otoha on the way. They talk about how he’s slowly getting used to being able to see again, and she tells him not to waste it and that he can do anything as long as he never gives up. Their chat is interrupted however, by the arrival of Hinata, Maki, and Hamaji. Takuma turns to ask if Otoha wants to join them in town, but she has disappeared once more.

Takuma begins his tour of the village but is interrupted by Yui, who is seriously beginning to get on my nerves. She starts bragging about how her ricefields bring all the boys to the yard, claiming that she is the savior of the village. However, Hamaji states that the number of Hinata’s family’s rice fields rivals Yui’s, causing her to spaz and fall into a mud puddle. Nice one, Hamaji. They continue to walk around town until they come to a suspension bridge. Takuma asks what resides on the other side, but the girls tell him to never cross the bridge, for an evil monster that terrorized the village a long time ago resides there. Takuma believes the story to be a joke until he glances at Hinata and notices a saddened expression on her face.

Their tour ends at a drugstore, where Hamaji brings out some bottles of Ramune, dressed in a meido outfit. VERY NICE!! She goes back inside to get some expired food and Maki comes with her, leaving Hinata and Takuma alone. Takuma asks Hinata personally what lies beyond the bridge, and she repeats that a monster is there. Takuma claims that there are no such things as monsters, but Hinata remains silent. Later, in the evening, our hero, of course, defies the girls and crosses the bridge. He notices a spring and is amazed at how clean the water is. He then hears a splash, and looks up to find a n3kk1d Hayami staring at him.

Night falls, and we find Takuma hanging upside down from a tree. Hayami is sharpening a knife, which Takuma thinks is to kill him. He tries to persuade her not to slice ‘n dice his ass as she turns around, but she cuts the rope holding him instead. She asks him why he came, and he replies that he wanted to see the monster, pointing to a bag filled with cup ramen that he says is payment for the bite she gave him before. The anime switches to a shot of Hinata and her grandpa, who asks Hinata if she showed Takuma around. She says that he was excited about the town, but he responds by saying that Takuma has crossed the bridge.

Takuma and Hayami are munching on some ramen as Hayami tells Takuma to eat up and hurry back home. She tells him not to get involved with her for like the 30th time, and he counters by saying that she gave him the ramen to begin with. He states that by such a simple action, shouldn’t they be able to become friends? BOOM, FLASHBACK! Inside a church, a younger Hayami is sobbing until loli Hinata offers her some candy. Back in the present time, Hayami insists that she needs no friends, provoking Takuma to ask her, why? She states that she has to be hated and walks inside an abandoned trailer, leaving Takuma alone. As Takuma walks back from the bridge, he runs into Hinata, who asks him why he went to the other side. He states that he wanted to talk to Hayami and asks Hinata why everyone hates her. He keeps talking, believing that Hinata also feels saddened by Hayami’s situation but suddenly, Hinata breaks her unnatural silence and demands that he never talks to Hayami ever again.

The next day Hinata walks to Takuma’s house to accompany him to school, but apparently, he has already left. The scene switches to inside Hayami’s trailer, where she wakes up by falling off of a makeshift bed, as someone asks her what flavor ramen she would like to eat. Still drowsy, she asks why ramen so early in the morning, but catches herself and looks up to find a smiling Takuma looking at her. Hinata is walking to school alone when Hayami and Takuma’s shouts break the silence. Hayami calls Takuma a pervert and runs to school but has Takuma hot on her heels, with a fresh handprint on his face. As they enter the schoolgrounds, two students hanging by the gate complain that seeing the “roach” so early in the morning is bad for their health. When they see Takuma running after her, they joke around, saying that the roaches have multiplied. Hinata overhears them and clenches her fists before walking away.

In class, the teacher tells them that they are making pinwheels for art. Hinata begins to ask if Takuma wants to work together but Takuma is already all over Hayami. Hinata insists that Takuma works with her and Takuma agrees…that all three of them can work together. Yui gets up and demands why Takuma wants Hinata to work with the roach, but Takuma declares that there is no roach. Hayami stands up and proceeds to leave the classroom but before she departs, she smirks and tells Yui that she can have her fun with [Hayami]. Yui and her two cronies get up and leave, causing Takuma to ask the teacher to stop them. The teacher merely scratches her head and shrugs, prompting Takuma to get up and leave. Hinata attempts to stop him, but Takuma doesn’t listen and pushes her aside, running out the door.

Behind the school, Yui and the boys are beating up Hayami, commanding her to realize and to understand her place in this town. Takuma runs towards them, shouting at Yui to stop. As he approaches them, Yui demands whether he wants to be known as a roach too, causing Hayami to remember the candy scene once again. However, this time, she also recalls a burning house up in flames and a crying Hinata running past her with tears in her eyes.

Yui states once again, that by helping Hayami, Takuma will be a roach as well, but Takuma ignores her and picks Hayami up. He answers back to Yui that Hayami isn’t filth and attempts to leave with her but is blocked by the other boys. As they start to clobber him, Hinata comes running up, shouting that Takuma isn’t a roach and that he’s different from Hayami. She vows that she will save Takuma from Hayami and begs Yui not to hurt him. Later at night, Takuma is helping Hayami across the bridge and Hayami asks him not to get involved with her for the 70th time so far. Takuma merely asks if she’s still going to bother with that, and holds out his hand. She stares at it, hesitating at first, but finally places her hand in his, as they walk back to her trailer together.

Takuma and Hayami work together to make pinwheels, and they begin to realize their feelings for one another. After completing their work of art, they sit together on a hill, pinwheel in hand. Takuma remarks how peaceful it is, while wishing for a wind to blow. Hayami gets up, and declares that the wind has already blown and how “A new wind will sweep away that something settled on the ground.” Takuma looks up at her face and she is smiling, causing him to smile as well. Abruptly, a breeze blows, and Hayami raises the pinwheel to the sky, as it breathes in the new wind.

Final Thoughts:

I really like the pinwheel motif for some reason. At this point, I’m still trying to figure out what it means, but I really just like it, haha. Perhaps pinwheels symbolize how life keeps going even if a catastrophic event occurs in one’s life. The wind that causes the pinwheel to move represents the breath of life that forever blows hope into our hearts. I mean, that probably sounds really cheesy but that’s all I can come up with as a feasible symbolization right now. I think that this will end somewhat happily, although I’m picked up some School Day vibes when that knife was out.

So Otoha is probably imaginary. I’ve concluded that after two episodes of her disappearing, that she could possibly be a reincarnation of Takuma’s dead mother that comes from the pain in his heart. She is trying to urge him past the devastation of her death and give him the gift of sight. I think that the reason that she doesn’t appear as herself is that the shock of “seeing” his mom could damage Takuma even further. Of course, there could be no reason at all, as this isn’t ‘Death of a Salesman’ or ‘Catcher in the Rye’ that I’m examining.

I’m hoping that Hamaji and Maki don’t develop feelings for Takuma later on in the series. I think that the rivalry between Hinata and Hayami could shape out to be a good one, as in the past they seemed to have been friends. I pray to god that Yui doesn’t do the whole “Beats up Takuma, gets in trouble later, Takuma helps her out, she falls for him” thing as I really think she’s the weakest character in the anime. I can’t see any character development coming out of her, as her ego and two faced nature are getting to me. Maybe she sees herself as a “defender of justice”, kind of like Light from Death Note. The way that she abuses Hayami makes me think that perhaps Yui is the one who burns the house down. I guess that’s why Hayami seems to smirk whenever she sees Yui’s face.

Although I still think that Takuma is a bit too feminine and young looking for the main character role, I liked how he stood up for Hayami. Although that action was probably so the plot could move along and his harem could grow bigger, it was a nice gesture of his. I don’t think that Takuma will be able to defend Hayami later on if force comes into play, as Takuma isn’t exactly the manliest of men. This could create an interesting plot scenario if Hayami and Takuma are forcefully separated by Hinata’s grandfather or something.

Overall the episode held my interest through the nice art and beautiful scripting at times. I think that each episode will focus on solving the questions asked in the beginning of the respective episodes, as the wind theme was displayed near the end of this one. Toodles~

He walked with God. Left behind are their footprints in the sand. The glimmering light from the sky shone upon the footprints of their lives. Joy and happiness shone from the two pairs of footprints.

However, during desperate and troubled times, during times of overwhelming sadness, during times of unbearable pain, there would only be one set of footprints. Dear God, during my moments of joy and happiness, during those times, you were there for me.

However, when I needed you most, why were you not there for me?

The series begins with the set of lines written above. I felt that instead of a short introduction, those lines would make a better impression on the reader than anything I could come up with. More about the possible meaning of these words will be included later in my final thoughts.

Opening Theme: “Katayoko no Icarus” by Yui Sakakibara

Episode Summary

We begin with a tranquil shot of a beach, emanating feelings of optimism and happiness. However, the peaceful scene abruptly changes to one of violence and pain, as we see a young, dark-haired girl being knocked around and beaten up by two boys in the rain. In the end, the prologue closes with our first glimpse of the main character, Takuma Hirose, the young boy who has been blind since seeing his mother’s death.

After the opening, the same girl who was being beaten up is seen walking across a luscious pasture. However, her serene peace is broken when a yellow-haired girl, Otoha (Not our blogger haha) and Takuma come flying out of the forest chased by a wild boar. Takuma asks the yellow-haired girl why they are being chased by the boar and she responds by saying that they’re on his turf. Takuna demands if she knows how to speak boar to which she replies of course, as she is the ’spirit of the sounds of time, Otoha-chan’. Oh…kay…but anyways, once Takuma makes it out of the forest, Otoha suddenly disappears, leaving Takuma stunned and in disarray. The boar is right about to collide with him when the dark-haired girl tackles Takuma to the ground, keeping him safe as the boar rushes past. The girl asks if Takuma is alright but when he answers, he asks her name. When she doesn’t reply, he attempts to touch her face but ends up feeling her breasts instead, provoking a nasty slap. KAPOW!

The girl begins to lead Takuma back down the forest, as we are told a bit about Takuma’s past. He is blind for an unknown reason, as he is perfectly healthy. He attempts to apologize to the dark-haired girl, and tells her about how Otoha was the one that led him up the hill. She tells him to be quiet, but he still keeps talking, requesting her name once again. Instead of answering, she tells him the path to the school and heads back up to the pasture. He then asks why she isn’t coming to school with him, as he can tell from her voice that she’s a middle schooler as well. She tells him not to get involved with her, and leaves him without another word.

The scene switches to a shot of the school and two girls, Maki Kumon and Hamaji Yakumo, who are talking about a new transfer student. However, as they go up a flight of stairs, they encounter another girl, Hinata Kagura, who is carrying a large stack of books that seesaws dangerously from side to side. Maki quickly helps support Hinata but demands why Hinata just didn’t split the books in half and do two trips. Hinata ponders for a moment and “realizes” that wow, that would be a lot easier to do. Hamaji begins to laugh and comment how “Hinata never changes” but she is interrupted by a short, pigtailed girl, Tabata Yui, who begins to chase her around demanding why she skipped cleaning duties the day before. Maki tells Hinata to hurry up so they can meet the transfer student, which causes Hinata to fall and spill books all over the ground. Maki sighs and tells Hinata that she’ll put her stack of books in the room first before coming back to help. As Hinata is recollecting the books, she is suddenly poked from behind by a walking stick, none other than Takuma’s. Unaware of where he is poking, Takuma begins to lift up the back of Hinata’s dress until she sits back down, leading him to realize that he’s been poking a girl. He quickly apologizes and asks where the staff room is.

Takuma is introduced by his teacher to the rest of the class and is told to sit next to the desk of Kohinata’s. The council president, Hinata, is asked to show Takuma to his seat and Takuma instantly recognizes her voice as the girl he poked from before. As he gets to his desk, a the door of the class opens abruptly and the dark-haired girl enters the room.The teacher tells her that she is late and when she replies, Takuma instantly recognizes her voice as the girl from before and realizes that she is Kohinata. When she begins to take a seat, the teacher tells her that for being late, she must stand in the hallway. Takuma interrupts, much to the dark-haired girl’s displeasure, claiming that it was by guiding him to school he caused her to be late. The teacher allows Kohinata to sit, but instead of being happy, Kohinata tells Takuma that he didn’t need to help her.

Between classes, Takuma begins to wow Maki, Hamaji, and Hinata by using his enhanced senses to figure out where each of the rooms are. Rather than calling him Takuma-kun or Takuma-san, the girls call him Takuma-sama because he seems to carry an air of respect around him. GOSHUJIN-SAMA ANYONE!!! Erhem. However, before Takuma and company can return to class, they are stopped by Tabata and her male followers. Tabata proclaims herself the queen and beauty of the school although in my opinion, she has one of the ugliest character designs, period. While she’s rambling on about herself, Hamaji tells Takuma to just ignore her, provoking Tabata to jump on Hamaji. Hamaji ends up bumping into Takuma, who loses his balance and ends up getting a grade A view of Hinata’s pantsu. That’s just too cruel, having that kind of opportunity but not being able to capitalize because of a disability.

Takuma ends up being taken to the nurses office by Hinata to treat a bump on his head (weaksauce), and despite his protests, is told to stay there until she fetches him later. As soon as Hinata leaves, Otoha, comes flying out of the window and onto Takuma. Unable to tell who’s on top of him, Takuma asks who she is and Otoha responds that she’s the ’spirit of the sounds of time’ once again. However, afterwards she also remarks that he is the Promised One, to which he doesn’t understand. Meanwhile, back at the classroom, Hinata returns and is shocked to see that someone has placed a journal with “Roach Woman” written on it on Kohinata’s desk. However, once Kohinata, who is also standing over the desk, glances at her, Hinata turns away.

After the commercial break, it is lunch time at the school and Tabata begins to serve out the meals. However Takuma is lost in his thoughts as we flashback to after when Otoha jumps in on him from outside the window. Otoha claims that she can make him see, to which Takuma demands how. Otoha asks why he won’t simply believe her, insisting that he is the Promised One. That is the only reason why Otoha will lend him her powers. Takuma begins to ask what exactly is this Promised One concept but before he can finish, Otoha grabs his face and puts hers close, saying “Don’t give up hope.” Takuma recoils backwards but realizes that he can now see, albeit for a short time as he is already blind again inside the classroom.

Hinata’s voice disconnects Takuma from his thoughts, as she says she can help him to eat. Before they can start though, Tabata begins to shout that the portions of squid are wrong and that someone took too many. After initially blaming Hamaji, who denies it fiercely, Tabata places the guilt on Kohinata. Tabata’s two boy underlings proceed to slam Kohinata’s head to the desk, but Kohinata still says nothing. Before the situation can get any worse, Takuma offers his squid only to be questioned by Tabata, who asks if he’s the guilty person. Takuma pleads not guilty and offers the solution that because he’s a new student, the portions are maybe different but Kohinata finally shouts out for him not to interfere. She breaks free of the two underlings and throws the squid tray to the ground before leaving the room. Takuma immediatly attempts to get Hinata to lead him to Kohinata, to which Hinata tells him to leave her. Despite his blindness, Takuma manages to catch Kohinata but trips on some stairs and begins to fall. But before he hits the ground, he is caught by none other than Kohinata. He expresses his thanks, and she tells him to call her Hayami because she hates her surname.

They go to an empty classroom where Hayami (might as well begin to call her this too, I can never seem to remember Kohinata) begins to cook some ramen. Takuma reflects on what happened in the classroom and acknowledges that the school isn’t as peaceful as he thought it was. As Hayami begins to eat, Takuma asks her if she’s eating miso ramen. Hayami asks if he’s got a problem with her eating that and he says that he doesn’t. His stomach starts growling in spite of himself and Hayami gives him a bite (SHE FEEDS HIM, LUCKY BASTARD). Takuma says it’s the best ramen he’s tasted but Hayami thinks he’s just trying to get more and tells him off. Instead of getting offended, Takuma just smiles and repeats that it really is good. Hayami stares at him but begins to smile, calling him an idiot for getting so excited over noodles.

Before Hayami can finish her lunch, the two underlings come crashing into the room accusing her of ruining their lunch. Takuma attempts to protect her but Takuma interrupts him, telling the other two to come to the back of the school with her, and for Takuma to quit butting in again because he can’t do anything.

The scene switches to a shot of Hinata and her grandpa discussing Hinata’s day at school. Hinata’s grandpa asks if Takuma was present, to which Hinata replies yes but while looking away towards the floor. Hayami is then seen walking from the school, covered in bruises and cuts from being beaten by the underlings once again. Back at Takuma’s place, Takuma is reminiscing about how Hayami told him he couldn’t do anything as a railroad scene flashes through his mind. Startled, he wakes up realizing it was just a dream and is approached from behind by Otoha. She takes his hand and they’re transported to a beach. Otoha runs out to the ocean and shouts for Takuma to come to her. Takuma hesitates but Otoha shouts that this is beginning. Upon hearing that, Takuma begins to walk slowly into the water and finally into Otoha’s arms. She tells him that “it’s not that you can’t do it. It’s just that you think you can’t.” She gives him the gift of sight but warns him that it will be short-lived and it is up to him to decide how to use it.

The anime shifts to the next morning, where we see a bandaged Hayami walking over the pasture seen in the beginning of the episode. She is thinking about Takuma and how he expressed genuine happiness over eating some of her ramen. As she glances to her left, we see that Takuma is with her and that he is looking over the fields for the first time. As he turns, Hayami is shocked to see that he has regained his eyesight. Takuma stretches out his hand and asks Hayami if she can go to school with him together.

Ending Theme: “Kazahane” by Haruka Shimotsuki

Final Thoughts:

I actually kind of liked this episode in spite of myself. I absolutely hate most of the character designs, including the one for Takuma, as I feel that with his eyes closed, he looks way too feminine. His seiyuu also sounds way too feminine, for when I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell him apart from any of the other girls. The animation wasn’t exactly the greatest as well, as many times the characters’ mouths kept moving after they stopped talking. Also, that scene where Hayami throws the squid pan looked so bad that it was hilariously funny to watch. I think I’ve rewatched that scene about 10 times now. Putting that aside, the background art is gorgeous, as the trees and fields are highly detailed and beautifully drawn. Despite the bad character designs, everything is drawn solidly, with no major inconsistencies in the artwork. The contrast between the vibrant colors used when the mood is optimistic to the drab and bleak coloring used during times of sadness also works well in this first episode.

Hayami fit the generalized tsundere stereotype decently, although she’s not exactly snapping at Takuma and feeling embarassed in her own little corner either. Hinata is the nice girl of course, but I think that she’s may end up a bit like Hoshino from Myself;Yourself: Nice outward personality but ridiculously twisted on the inside. What I’m confused about is Otoha. Is she real or not? I’m getting some “A Beautiful Mind” vibes from her, as I think that she only exists in Takuma’s mind because she instantly disappears once another character comes into contact with him. However, in one scene it looked like she was waiting for Hayami to walk to school, as seen in one of my screenshots above so I’m not sure. Otoha will most likely be instrumental in Takuma’s character development but I really hope that he doesn’t shrug her off like what John Nash did in “Beautiful Mind” to his imaginary friends as she’s kinda cute.

The attempts of humor were really bad. I don’t think this series should do anymore panty shots or any form of fanservice. It just reminds me of School Days too much. If I see Hayami taking chopsticks and ramming ‘em through Tabata’s eyes or something, my otaku days will be officially over. The problem with humor in this genre of romance is that it doesn’t work well once the more serious matters arise. Rather than trying to add a comedic element in order to attract more viewers, I think the series would be more successful if it retained a more serious nature.

So, more about the prologue. The narration begins with Takuma Hirose, who says the first couple of lines. The anime begins with a shot of the beach, bright and well representing his words of hope. However, the anime abruptly switches to a scene of a girl being knocked around by most likely Tabata’s underlings. The narration then switches to a girls voice, Hayami’s, who in spite of being mishandled and battered, is talking about how God has been there for her in her times of need. The narration finishes with words from Takuma, who ends the prologue with “However, when I needed you most, why were you not there for me?”

Here’s where it gets complicated. I think that Hayami and Takuma have similar pasts, with someone dear to them dying in their arms. The pairs of footprints belong to each of their respective loved ones, as they disappeared along with death. Though God was there for the both of them, I think who they’re asking for is each other. Rather than needing God the most, I believe the prologue is talking about how they weren’t there for each other in the times of pain and sadness. Readers will most likely have other opinions on how to interpret the prologue, but this is just what I feel works the best. I’m willing to bet that in the end, there will be an epilogue with these lines, but the lines will be slightly changed, as they have found each other.

One last sort of random thing. With all of the fighting going along, I’m kinda wondering, what the hell happened to the teachers. Aside from the one that introduced Takuma, and even she disappeared, there were no signs of professors or any staff at all in the school throughout the entire episode. I mean, Hayami’s head was slammed into the desk and everyone just sat there, not even trying to get a teacher to help. They must have evaporated or something.

I wish to see how other people interpret the prologue so get crackin’ on watching this episode people ^_^. Sorry for the long summary again, first episodes are killers. Toodles~