H2O: Footprints in the Sand is a Japanese adult visual novel by Makura that was released on June 23, 2006, for Windows as a DVD; a version playable on the PlayStation 2 under the title H2O + followed on April 24, 2008, with adult content removed and added scenarios and graphics not seen in the original release. H2O is Makura's first game; a sequel named Root After and Another was later produced in October 2007. The gameplay in H2O follows a plot line that offers predetermined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the three female main characters. There are two modes of gameplay, the Blindness Effect and Normal Effect, where the former plays on the fact that the protagonist is blind, and the latter mode removes the added element of gameplay the Blindness Effect has. The story is broken into three parts: the original introduction and meeting, following by a separation and reunion, and finally ending with the protagonist choosing one of the girls and spending the rest of the game with her.
A manga adaptation, drawn by Kira Inugami, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace between 2007 and 2008. A 12-episode anime by the animation studio Zexcs aired in Japan between January and March 2008 on the Fukui TV television network. Several music albums have also been released. The name H2O comes from the first letter of the three main heroines: Hayami, Hinata, and Otoha. Footprints in the Sand comes from a poem; the first part of this poem appeared in episode one of the anime and the second half in the final episode.
Gameplay
The gameplay requires almost no interaction from the protagonist as the entire duration of the game is spent on simply reading the text that will appear on the screen. There are three main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. When the person plays the game for the first time, only Hayami's plot line is available. After finishing it once, the option to choose Hinata's plot line becomes available at the decision point in the early part of the game. The protagonist must replay the game several times to view all three plot lines in their entirety.
The game can be played in two modes, a Blindness Effect Mode or a Normal Effect Mode. The former takes into account that the protagonist is blind. Although the protagonist can imagine what the people he talks with look like, he cannot discern the color of the world around him, which renders the artwork in an almost black and white tone, giving it a stylish and dream-like appearance as well. As gameplay progresses and the protagonist's condition gradually heals, this convention eventually fades away as the protagonist can now see with his own eyes the world around him. The Normal Effect Mode does not use the effect from the Blindness Effect Mode and therefore the visuals are otherwise unchanged from their originally-colored state. The two modes can be changed at any time throughout the gameplay.
There are three parts in the gameplay. The first part, entitled the serves to set up the story and for the protagonist to meet and get to know the characters, especially the three heroines. Following the first part, there is a time where the protagonist must leave for several years only to come back in the so-called and meet the girls he knew before who have changed somewhat. After the player chooses one of the girls, the third part in the story called the ends the game, which is also where most erotic contents are viewable. The story consists primarily of the first two parts, which are a flashback from the protagonist's point of view.
Plot H2O revolves around Takuma Hirose, a blind young male junior-high school student, though the cause for his blindness is undetermined. After his mother died unexpectedly, it left a deep emotional scar on him, which caused him to become very lonely and reserved. Due to this, Takuma and his uncle move from the city out into a rural area and Takuma is enrolled into a new junior school. At his new school, he meets several new girls, though three of whom he gets to know the most out of anyone else; the firm and obstinate Hayami Kohinata, kind Hinata Kagura, as well as cheerful and mysterious Otoha. As Takuma interacts with these girls, his medical condition gradually begins to heal and he is completely recovered.
Characters
Takuma is the quiet main protagonist of the series. Due to being blind, he carries around a white cane named , a pun on the word . His mother committed suicide, leaving deep emotional scar on Takuma. Wanting to rectify this, he moves to the countryside to live with his uncle . Takuma is naturally friendly and likes to befriend everyone he meets in his new town. His mind reverts to that of a child after Hayami's family killed his mom. He recovers slowly under Hayami's care, due to his delusion causing him to view her as his mother. He later fully recovers and even regains his eyesight after coming to terms with his mother’s death.
Hayami is Takuma's female classmate from a rich family of doctors who sits next to him. She is anti-social and possesses a sharp attitude towards others, refusing to befriend them due to her accepting her own status as an outcast. Since her family charged high prices in medical examinations and refused to take any patients in without the fees, the villagers revolted against them, burned their house, kicked them out of the village except Hayami. Due to this, she is often referred to by her classmates as the , but does not fight back when being bullied. Without a home, Hayami is poor and lives alone in an abandoned trolley on the outskirts of town, which was eventually burned down by the other adults out of hatred and later on moves in with Takuma and his uncle.
Hinata is the granddaughter of the village headman and one of the rich members of town. She is Takuma's classmate who serves as student council president in their class. Hinata is kind yet clumsy and tends to fall down, as she even fell down a flight of stairs at school, but Takuma was there to save her. Her real name is , the younger sister of Hinata.
Otoha is a spirit who can only be heard and seen by Takuma. She is always cheerful and will appear out of nowhere, clinging suddenly to him. Later stories reveal that Otoha is the real Hinata Kagura, who fell into a river and drowned. She took the name Otoha from Hotaru's picture book that she drew herself. Before disappearing, Otoha shows Takuma a strange world, where she is his fiancée. Just before she disappears, Otoha confesses her love for him, but says that she is not the one he belongs with. Otoha eventually gets reincarnated as a five-year-old girl.
One of Takuma's female friends, Yui comes from a rich background and uses formal speech to distinguish herself from the "commoners". She has a self-aggrandizing personality and always has two male henchmen tagging along. Yui is very proud and condescending, but that does not actually mean she is unfriendly to others. Yui gets along quite well with everyone except Hayami.
Hamaji is Takuma's optimistic classmate. Despite his feminine appearance and voice, he is actually a boy who crossdresses as a girl. His family owns a convenience store. Hamaji seems to be bisexual as he flirts with Takuma occasionally, but eventually marries his best friend .
The main protagonist in Sakura no Uta, Rin is an exchange student from the city who is gentle and hard-working, but can be rather clumsy.
Development and release H2O: Footprints in the Sand was released as an adult game for the PC on June 23, 2006; an artbook came bundled with the game. A version for the PlayStation 2 entitled H2O + with adult content removed was released on April 24, 2008, by Kadokawa Shoten. The PS2 version contains new computer graphics and scenarios not seen in the original release.
Related media Manga A manga adaptation illustrated by Kira Inugami was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's magazine Comp Ace between January 26, 2007, and February 26, 2008. Two tankōbon volumes were released: the first on December 26, 2007, and the second on March 26, 2008.
Anime A 12-episode anime adaptation produced by Zexcs, directed by Hideki Tachibana, and written by Jukki Hanada aired in Japan between January 4 and March 21, 2008, on the Fukui TV television network. A preview video was streamed on Kadokawa Shoten's official website for their magazine Newtype on December 19, 2007. The video most notably contains an English narration, which is rare for Japanese trailers. The first episode of the series was previewed on December 23, 2007, in Akihabara, Japan, and the final episode was previewed on March 20, 2008, in Machida, Japan. The first episode opens with a partial recitation of the poem "Footprints", and the end of the poem is recited in the second half of the final episode. The anime was licensed for release in English by Kadokawa USA, but its Kadokawa Pictures USA subsidiary later closed down, thus canceling the release.
Music The game's opening theme is "H2O" and the ending theme is "Tomorrow", both sung by Monet. The maxi singles for the opening and ending themes were released at Comiket 70 on August 12, 2006. Two more theme songs used in the game were "Dream" and "Footprints in the Sand", also both sung by Monet. A character song album for Otoha entitled , sung by Mia Naruse, was released on October 22, 2006, at the DreamParty Tokyo convention. An arrange maxi single titled H2O: Prelude containing arranged versions of "H2O" and "Tomorrow", was released on December 21, 2007. The game's original soundtrack came bundled with the original game as a pre-order bonus. The opening theme for the anime version is by Yui Sakakibara and the maxi single was released on January 25, 2008. The ending theme for the anime is by Haruka Shimotsuki and the single was released on February 22, 2008. "Footprints in the Sand" by Monet is the ending theme in the anime's final episode.
Reception Across the national ranking of bishōjo games in amount sold in Japan, H2O debuted second and ranked in again the following ranking at number thirteen. H2O was the second highest selling game for the month of June 2006 on Getchu.com, just behind Summer Days, and for the first half of 2006 was the fourteenth highest selling game on the same website. H2O dropped to the twenty-fifth highest selling game on Getchu.com for the entire year of 2006.
References
External links Official visual novel website H2O √after and another Complete Story Edition Regista's H2O + website Anime official website