H2O: Footprints in the Sand



""Candy carries the taste of happiness. If you suck on it, a flower will bloom in your mouth.""

H2O: Footprints in the Sand is an anime and Visual Novel centered around Hirose Takuma, a middle-school student who moves out to the country in order to recover from an illness. Said illness as caused him to go blind, even though the doctors cannot seem to find anything wrong with him from a physical standpoint.

Upon arriving at the country village, Takuma encounters the mysterious, yet energetic Otoha, the self-proclaimed "Spirit of the Sounds of Time." Otoha offers Takuma, whom she refers to as "The Promised One," his sight back, if only for a short while. Takuma also encounters the enigmatic loner Kohinata Hayami, whom the rest of the village treats with an obvious grudge, for reasons Takuma can't seem to figure out. Not even Kagura Hinata, the granddaughter of the village elder, seems willing to fill him in. As Takuma refuses to stop acting friendly towards Hayami, he sets into action a chain of events that may change the entire village.

A Visual Novel adaptation in the vein of Clannad and other Kyo Ani/Key works, though the best comparison thematically and plot-wise would probably be Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two. The show itself starts off slow, and rather cliched. However, towards the middle, it improves quite a bit, as the backstory of the characters and the revelations about the village's past supplant the Harem Anime and Visual Novel cliches that littered the beginning. The ending is quite the Tear Jerker, in any case.

The Visual Novel was produced by Makura, with the animated adaptation put together by studio Zexcs in 2008. The anime has has been licensed by Kadokawa USA for an English release. The title comes from the names of the main heroines (Hayami, Hinata, Otoha) and the well known Footprints poem, which is used as the main theme.


 * Accidental Pervert: Takuma's blindness seems to facilitate this early on in the series.
 * Alpha Bitch: Played with. Yui acts like this, but the rest of the students just sort of laugh at her when she does so.
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: Hinata to Takuma in episode 10.
 * Balloon Belly: Hayami in Episode 6
 * Beach Episode: Episode 4, doubles as a Hot Springs Episode
 * Big Fancy House: Hinata, being the daughter of the village elder and all.
 * Bokukko: Otoha
 * Brain Bleach: You might need it for the opener to episode 8.
 * Butt Monkey: Yui tends to be on the receiving end of more than her fair share of things.
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Hinata in the final episode, the closest thing to a Crowning Moment of Awesome in the entire series.
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Hinata in the final episode, the closest thing to a Crowning Moment of Awesome in the entire series.

"Otoha/: I don't need training because ever since i was born i was set to be able to do everything."
 * The Cameo: Misakura Rin from Makura's another game Sakura no Uta makes a small but rather an important appearance in Otoha's route in the game.
 * Complete Monster:
 * Contrived Coincidence: So,  Yeah...i guess i can buy that.
 * Extreme Doormat: Hinata acts this way initially towards her grandfather.
 * Dead All Along:
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Hayami, in a very classic example.
 * Diabolus Ex Machina: This what
 * Dojikko: Hinata, though like the other Moe tropes, it is toned down as the series continues.
 * Dragged By The Hair: Hinata's grandfather goes caveman on her in episode 7.
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him / Wholesome Crossdresser:, bonus points for doing The Reveal as part of the Hot Springs Episode.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Hayami
 * Fantastic Racism: The anime version took this off.
 * Fridge Logic: If you play the game, you'll realize that most part of the story really doesn't make any sense because Takumi never regained his sight, but some part of the game continue as if he really can see, like how he know where Hayami is and how he can know the exact position of his house.
 * Well, that he could do from memory and hearing. But for the Dropped a Bridget On Him, how did he know?
 * Genius Ditz: Otoha.
 * Hime Cut: Hayami, when not sporting Twin Tails.
 * Hypocrite:
 * Japanese Honorifics: Takuma is addressed as "Hirose-sama" by Hinata, much to his initial confusion. Yui also refers to herself as "Yui-sama."
 * Kawaiiko: Otoha, but, don't ever tell her that
 * Lampshade Hanging: Game version only.


 * Literary Allusion Title: The Footprints poem, as mentioned before.
 * Loners Are Freaks: Hayami, at least in the beginning.
 * The Messiah: Takuma, specifically "The Promised One"
 * Mood Dissonance: Some people have a hard time taking the humorous elements of the show in stride with the abuse of Hayami, especially when it involves Yui, since one of the first things her character is seen doing is stomping on Hayami's head, and dumping toilet water on her.
 * New Transfer Student: Takuma
 * Official Couple:
 * Replacement Goldfish:
 * Romantic Runner-Up:
 * Something Completely Different: Episode 8 opens with Hayami and Hinata referring to Takuma as an older brother, Takuma's uncle has had a gender change, and Otoha, aside from being visible to everyone now, is apparently a Magical Girl. Turns out that
 * This maybe a reference to her route in the Visual Novel which titled.
 * Tear Jerker: When Hayami
 * The Thing That Goes Doink: Part of Hinata's Big Fancy House.
 * Tsundere: Yui.
 * Twelve-Episode Anime
 * Unwilling Suspension: Hayami ties Takuma up in a tree, after catching him peeping. Her walking towards him with a knife (to cut him down afterwards) was interpreted rather differently by Takuma. Her mentioning that that knife was used for cutting up naughty boys probably didn't help.
 * The Unfavorite:
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Hayami's birthday is 25 December.
 * Woman in White: Otoha, after Time Skip in her route.
 * The Woobie: Hayami, her first scene shows her being beaten up on a dirt road.
 * Your Mind Makes It Real:
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Hinata, the clumsy family oriented daughter of the elder. At first she was an Extreme Doormat but develops the inner iron important for this trope.
 * Your Size May Vary: Hayami's breast size seem to constantly change depending on the situation, although she officially is flat-chested.