Hirose Takuma is a blind young male high school student, though the cause for his blindness is undetermined. After his mother died an unexpected death, it left a deep emotional scar on him, which caused him to become very lonely and reserved. Due to this, Takuma moves from the city out into a rural area to live with his uncle, and enrolled into a the village high school. At his new school, he meets several new girls, though three of whom he gets to know the most out of anyone else. They are Kohinata Hayami, a girl dislike by all her class, who pushes Takuma’s attempts at friendship away, the excessively obliging Kagura Hinata, who seems to have a hidden agenda, and the cheerful and mysterious Otoha, who wears a school uniform, but never seems to attend. As Takuma interacts with these girls, his medical condition gradually begins to heal.

WOW… If only that one word could be used to describe H20… It can, but I doubt it would be satisfactory for a review.

Anyway, this is one hell of a ride. H20 is an anime that will have you laughing and crying, feeling sad and estatic, sometimes even in the same episode. Where have I said that before…? Oh yes, that is right, Asatte no Houkou, while each anime is different and offers different things, the feelings from them are quite similar.

Animation The animation that you see in H20 isn’t 100% the greatest that you will ever see, but it certainly isn’t anywhere near the worst. Each background is nicely detailed and there is a serenity about this anime. Even with all the emotion and commotion that the characters seem to bring, looking at the backgrounds, the village and the trees… it has a calming effect. H20 recieves a 4 because not everything jumps out at you. While the girls are beautiful in their own right and are distinctly different, the boys on the other hand are pretty mediocre. There is the crazy uncle, the insane grandfather, the bland school boys… each bring down the animation because some of the school boys all look the same, just different hair color.

Sound The opening is nice. It is… it is… what is it? It isn’t really slow, yet it isn’t fast, it is rock, yet it isn’t. Anyway… the whole music of H20 compliments the series well. Neither one really overpowers the other. But, at the same time, the music isn’t really that noticable… take that in a good way or bad. But I can tell you that you won’t be turning the volume off

Story Wow, what can I say about the story? It is a great story, I don’t want to give any spoilers and the summary does justice summarize the plot. But it is pretty moving. The whole series opens with two sets of footprints in the sand, makes you wonder where they got the title H2O ~FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND~ from… Anyway, it opens with those footprints and a prayer, or poem being read, and a girl getting beaten up in the rain. Which to me, was really moving. Firstly I thought the girl was really nice looking, secondly, I wanted to watch the series to find out why she was being beaten up. What you find out isn’t a nice thing… Although, you hate the villagers for holding onto their petty grudges, you can understand how they feel. However, you have to applaude Hirose for not conforming to the crowd and standing up for the girl.

H20 is an interesting title. It is single minded in telling its story, yet it introduces some potentially interesting sub-plots, but it doesn’t really go anywhere with it. That can be a little frustrating, but if you don’t mind starting to be led somewhere and then suddenly told to turn back, this shouldn’t be that big of a deal then. However, there is that ONE episode with the mahou shoujo that is easily forgettable, I can’t remember the name, but it isn’t necessary to the plot in anyway and can be skipped.

Through the telling of H20 and the goings on, I really connected with the characters, so if you are like me, and really start to like Hirose and Kohinata, then you will… well. Watch and find out, I won’t ruin anything. One thing you can be assured of… is that the ending is a surprise. At first I hated the ending, but then… looking back, it is actually quite satisfying.

Character I absolutely fell in love with Kohinata, her story is sad and touching and how she still lives and tolerates everything is interesting all on its own. Then you enter Hirose who doesn’t tolerate the way she is treated and stands up for her, and slowly you get some great character development. There are some unsavory characters in there that will add some bitterness to the overall enjoyment of the series. Otoha and her Grandfather are one of them, and the other is that red-headed queen with the two henchmen. However my disliking for them, they are pretty essential to the overall telling of the plot. However disatisfied it makes me.

One thing I applaud the writers of this story is how the characters act. They are unlike any romance characters before, you know the ones… they get into a situation and they become all whiney and helpless… Not here, which is really enjoyable. To see them fight and stand up for themselves… it is amazing how much that little bit can add to the enjoyment of a series.

Value and Enjoyment While the series is phenominal, there are faults. Enough that bring the series down, but not much. It is still a pleasant experience that I have revisited several times. I highly recommend this series for the fans of tragedy and romance. It is a fantastic series that is really deserving of a following.