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
Related posts:
Recent Comments
- Sora no woto 8 (3)
- Sora no woto 7 (8)
- Sora no woto 6 (9)
- Zyl: That’s why...
Series & Themes
Maki Maki Blogroll
- yasashii sekai...
- we remember love
- minaide hitorigoto
- itsumo
- scrumptious
- atarashi prelude
- omonomono
- RIUVA
- okazu
- baka-raptor
January 8th, 2008 - 11:36
I don’t know, from what I’ve heard, a lot of people are dissatisfied with H2O and they say that it’ll be an ok, but mediocre series at best. I watched the first ep, and it wasn’t too bad, so I’ll continue to watch, I just wish I hadn’t read all those blog entries before watching so I wouldn’t have been biased when I actually saw the thing.
As it is though, I’m hoping for a lot more out of True Tears, which has been getting some mixed reviews but generally a lot more positive than H2O.
Shigofumi has been getting rave reviews, so I guess that’ll be one to check out.
KimiAru has been continuously compared to Hayate, Hanaukyo Maids, and He is my Master, I’ll watch it for laughs mainly, though I won’t expect too much (key factor in enjoying a lot of mediocre series I guess)
As for all the other series (wolf & spice, Persona, all the sequels), we’ll see.
January 8th, 2008 - 11:45
I agree. H2O can easily be THE romance anime of the season. Not to hurt CLANNAD (which I definitely love; long live KyoAni), but this is ZEXCS we’re talking about, the masters of drama (SUNRISE being the only studio that can put up a good fight in terms of angst and surprise).
And I, too, despise the Kohinata bullying. But it only adds to the attractiveness of this.
January 8th, 2008 - 11:55
I guess I’ll be giving this and KimiAru a shot. While we have a blind protagonist who always gets to cop a feel in H2O, we have a hotblooded manly siscon hero in KimiAru, accompanied by his quite lovely bracon sister.
January 8th, 2008 - 15:38
This should turn out to be one of the better shows of this rather drab season. I’m liking the character interactions and dynamics a lot (I’m not talking about the fanservice….fanservice should be abolished) The bullying scene and the protagonists blindness are what pulled me into this anime and for good reason, I believe these were the most interesting points in the whole show. Heres hoping for something that delivers on all fronts consistently, and no terrible character-introduction episodes ala Da Capo please.
January 8th, 2008 - 17:33
The first episode of this show impressed me far more than I thought it would, and now I am more enamored with this series than I have been with comparable renai/harem shows in quite some time. I’m expecting something really good to come of it, especially given that ZEXCS is behind it.
I especially like the school uniforms. It’s a real shame that more shows don’t use knee length skirts. Otoha is also delicious, and I expect great things from her. I kind of like Yui too when she isn’t bullying Hayami, so I am hoping that there is more to that situation than what currently meets the eye.
January 8th, 2008 - 23:52
This does look like it could be really good, although Yui’s goons deserve to have their testicles repeatedly slammed with one of those big-ass mallets they use to pound mochi. Hitting a girl is bad enough in itself, but hitting a girl who isn’t even fighting back? Here’s hoping the male lead gets kung-fu powers from Otoha and puts them in traction for a few months.
After rigorous scientific analysis, I’m calling that Hayami’s going to be the “winner”…since if there are two characters looking at each other in the cast shot at the end of the OP credits, while everyone else is looking at the camera, I figure that’s a pretty good sign the two looking at each other will end up together…although I’ll probably root for Hinata anyway. Xecxs always seems to be good at getting me to root for the bishoujo who loses ^^;
January 9th, 2008 - 00:09
Icteridae: It’s interesting that I tend to give series the benefit of the doubt in its opening eps but may become harsher when the series completes.
I think H2O has potential and those who believe it’s just like any other mediocre harem is completing missing all the dark/mysterious elements seeded in this ep. I’ve seen KimiAru. I LOVE the characters but am not sure how the premise (being recycled and all) could stay fresh. Still I look forward to my genius blonde twintailed loli weekly (She’s not tsundere! Yahoo!):) I’ll be catching True Tears soon although I also read that the debut’s pretty slow. Will be checking out Shigofumi. Thanks for the heads-up.
Sherman, the Ramni: Yay! Another Zexcs fan! Right on the Kohinata bullying. This shows that they are not pulling punches and I expect plenty of drama.
Hemisphere: I was surprised to find out that it’s the onee-sect of siscon in KimiAru. Fortunately we have the lolicious twintailed Miyu to fill my imouto needs XD
Ivy: LOL! I know that canonical “wake nii-san in morning” character intro is a little old. But it.. it gets to me every time XD You’re right to point out the dynamics of the character interaction. So far it’s intriguing and draws one in for more.
Plus everyone loves the “chosen one” plot element.
Kefit: Ohh I am loving the seifuku too! I can’t ssy I like Yui as much since she seemed like the stock ojousama character, almost certainly to be tsundere
Hinata’s my current favourite (not because of the service rendered this ep 
) but for that deceiving airheadedness that masks a streak of sinister. 
suguru: LOL! I definitely don’t want to make an enemy of suguru-sama. But yeah those were fitting punishments. I see we both has already designated the losing girl which explains my leanings towards to Hinata…. sasuga suguru who knows the tanuki well!
January 9th, 2008 - 02:09
Boy, I haven
January 9th, 2008 - 18:55
hmm… It all depends on the game first I guess, normally if the game was mediocre then people don’t really hope for much in the anime… there are bound to be exceptions ofcoz where the anime version does shine but very few. Eg. Shuffle, Ef just to name a few…etc.
I don’t know if anybody has noticed(or I was the slowest again sighs) but i was reading through stuff today and I found this: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/dc2ss/
Barely even 6months and a second season airs… Now i didn’t watch the first season but I’ve played the game so is the angst coming yet??
H2O on the other hand I have yet to play it or have any desire in playing it… at the moment. I have yet to watch the first episode lol. But I’ll stick around to find out more before about the series.
January 9th, 2008 - 19:21
First episode was a bit of a shock. It has been awhile since I’ve watched such brutal bullying scene in anime. Bunch of guys beating up a girl? THAT, I think I’ve never seen it in anime. Also, it is really rare to see a blind character in anime. At the same time, excessive fanservice and poor animation quality were bit of a letdown. The series was interesting, but I think it could have been better… They better have a real good explanation behind that bullying by the way.
January 10th, 2008 - 03:34
cyw1988: Personally, I’d suggest you skip DCII and go straight to DCIISS. Okay unless you are a Nanaka fan, you may want to catch DCII 07
As for H2O, it has the benefit of a ZEXCS treatment who usually doesn’t get distracted by numerous bishoujo tracks but just focus on the most potent one. This should bode well for any conversion they make. 
muhootsaver: Great to see ya around again
I’ve to admit the animation quality was not quite consistent with 08 standards. But the premise has great potential and the characters interesting. I like how Kohinata continues to face the bullies despite but being their match and releases her anger by upsetting food. Not quite our typical bishoujo lead. 