After the somewhat lackluster first episode, True Tears turned into a complete whirlwind that greatly exceeded my expectations. At a trim 13 episodes with very little filler, I think True Tears is a great example of how to present a (somewhat) realistic romance.
Story
Of course with that said, the plot of True Tears is not that tight. The source of Shinichiro’s mother’s hatred towards Hiromi is never adequately explained, and this puts a damper on the power of her snow bomb as revealed in episode 6. Was it an April Fool’s joke? And then the Jun siscon moment towards the end seemed so out of place, as perfect Number 4 reveals that he is a perv and a deadbeat right when his sister needs him most.
Fortunately, True Tears made me care about the characters and kept me on the edge of my seat trying to guess what would happen next. Even when it seemed like a Hiromi victory was in the bag, Noe kept it close right down to the wire. And I loved the way the story wove in themes of inspiration and maturation into the story, so that it was not simply a matter of a guy choosing a girlfriend. In fact, I think that in time the fans of all the girls will be able to appreciate the final episode. All the girls ended up happy for different reasons, and they were all able to find/obtain their own source of happiness.
Characters
Again, True Tears really shined in the character department. A surprisingly large number of characters experienced real and natural growth in a short amount of time.
- Shinichiro managed to stop running away from his problems, and was able to set the record straight on his relationship status.
- Noe learned to accept sadness and venture out on her own (although the ending shows that she didn’t get the tears in that bottle she had).
- Hiromi accepted that she is prone to jealous fits, and also discovered herself to be very flexible and dexterous.
- Ai got over Shinichiro and didn’t punish Miyokichi just for being Shinichiro’s friend. From the timeskip, it looks like she made the right choice.
- Mr. Nakagami let go of nepotism and Mrs. Nakagami formed a close bond with Hiromi.
- Jun stopped peeping on his sister changing and got out of town before he was arrested. He is now homeless and jobless. I am not sure this is growth, but it was certainly a change.
Tilt and Verdict
The production values were superb, and the artwork captured the mood of the story perfectly. Even Hiromi’s basketball scenes were fluidly animated and incredibly accurate. I also loved the music throughout the series, and the OP and ED were exceptional. I must have Audiosurfed Reflectia about a million times… All in all, I thought True Tears was an exceptional romance story with extremely low downtime.
Kabitzin’s Rating: 5/5
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14 Comments
Actually Shinichiro’s dad was always about letting his son do whatever he wanted.
Also, did you notice when Jun gets off the bus at the very end, and then there’s a freeze frame, and there’s a little boy poking out of the bus? Hmmm.
Yeah I noticed the spotlight on that little brat. Hope that wasn’t his new main squeeze.
WOW. Full mark?! The only thing I didn’t like was Aiko’s weird expression that ruined the whole theme of true tears, lols.
I think any show that has me eagerly anticipating every single episode, and enjoying myself with each episode deserves a full score. I don’t see how True Tears could have been much better in 13 episodes, and I would recommend this series to just about anyone.
/r/ rapidshare of Reflectia, I must crush your Audiosurf score!
Actually, I lie, I’m not that good D=
You are too late, Servbot already destroyed all of us.
I agree, this was a very well done series and I was also chomping at the bit waiting for each new episode. It certainly had the audience divided into the Hiromi and Noe camps. My disappointment is in the ending; it just felt as if there wasn’t an entirely concrete resolution there. We didn’t even get to see the tears actually in Noe’s eyes, just some drops floating up towards Grandma. Shin’s reaction to Noe at the bus stop and when she left there. His love for Hiromi felt more obligatory toward a lifelong friend than real romantic affection. It just wasn’t as clean and decisive as I had hoped and expected it would be. There were also a few too many watercolor stills in the last two episodes for my taste. All-in-all though, a very good show with superb animation and a fairly riveting, albeit in some ways odd, storyline. It’s a keeper.
Something didn’t work with Reflectia for me, as I find myself skipping the OP segments while watching the ED (which I find much better) for every episode.
If I connected with the characters, that I’d rank true tears really really highly, but I didn’t so I’ll say that it’s a great show, but not a really great show. :P
I can agree about the strangely subtle final tears scene and the overuse of watercolors. However, I thought the Shinichiro-Hiromi relationship made sense since he was after her from the first episode. I guess Shinichiro didn’t exactly jump on Hiromi and shove his tongue down her throat, but he had been attracted to her all along.
The characters are definitely the major driver of this series, so if you don’t like any of them, it greatly lowers the entertainment value.
One problem I had with the relationships in this anime is that they seem a bit shallow. Yes I realize that they are just in high school, but really that’s not the point. In order to really care about the characters, it would be nice to actually have a greater understanding of their relationship as ‘wow if I were him I’d have a hard time choosing too he gets along with both of them so well’ or ‘wow I’m glad he ended up with Hiromi she is a perfect fit for him’. Unfortunately we never actually see the characters doing things together, so the whole basis of shinXhiromi is ‘well they sorta live together and have have ONE memory from when they were kids’.
Shinichiro spends most of the series being annoyed with Noe, uninterested in Ai, and speaking in one-word sentences with Hiromi. If I would have to explain it, it would seem that he wanted the idea of having a beautiful girlfriend more than any other. We still have absolutely no idea whether Shinichiro and Hiromi even have anything in common or if they actually enjoy each other’s company. A few awkward together scenes, and one hug and awkward kiss scene do not a relationship make. It’s because of this that I personally don’t rate this series as high.
No, not all great shows need to be realistic, but this show’s ‘hook’ was being more realistic and doing away with comedy, moe, fan service and magical scenes and I think in that way it was not successful. And as some have already pointed out including myself, another ‘hook’ was the animation that that really trailed off at the end.
Well, we don’t need the boy to jump the girl’s bones and shove his tongue down her throat to get the impression he loves her. Just the same, I felt that even a Japanese high school boy would show a little more than we saw from Shinichiro. You say Shin-Hiromi makes sense because of their attraction but he was consumed with Noe as well. He always had thoughts of the other girl distracting him from the one he was with and in the end, not a strong enough showing. Too much wishy washy-ness in the plot can have a detrimental effect.
As Epi said, only one memory, the festival when they were kids, do we see their relationship based upon. Sure, there was an emotional tie all along, but was it really romantic love? Apparently so, or at least that’s what they would have us believe. Hiromi finally expressed her feelings, and she cried too much in the series to boot. As I said, he just wasn’t the clear and committed Shin we expected to see at the end even though it was a tough decision to give up one of these two girls he really seemed to care about.
Character development was also a bit lacking. A certain amount is necessary for enough substance to get into their head a little. For a half season show, they needed to watch their time. Too much was spent on slow paced every day stuff that could have been better devoted to character background. “ef ~a tale of memories~” was a half season and they did a fine job of giving enough background to draw you in without taking away from plot development.
Still, all-in-all, I think “True Tears” was a very good show.
just a little depress when at last Noe was the one that was left alone (Jun left her too…that made me wanna cry…)
and it is also because the characters i love the most are Noe & Jun!
(Jun is so cool when he’s playing basketball :D)
after all, it is a really good anime! hope they will do True Tears II!
PS.Jun is not homeless and jobless, he actually got a job in that city >_<
Wow, epic spoiler.
Was it an April Fool’s joke? And then the Jun siscon moment towards the end seemed so out of place, as perfect Number 4 reveals that he is a perv and a deadbeat right when his sister needs him most.
Never reading this blog again.
This anime win Hisashi Maeda Award at The 8th Annual Japanese Otaku Awards’ 2008