True Tears

The first line of the show is your very typical drama-like statement, "The you inside me is always crying". Little did you know is that the Shinichiro was talking about the viewer and how much you wanted to cry after watching this show. You're not crying because your sad, and definitely not because you're happy, but because your body is so full with rage that tears have to be removed to make room for more rage. Spoilers galore in here. Let's go over the plot, oh goody, I wonder what kind of plot they have in store. Nakagami Shinichiro lives with his mother, his father, and hisadopted sister. Of course, Shinichiro and his adopted sister, Yuasa Hiromi, are very distant under the same roof. Then he meets another girl, Isurugi Noe, and then you meet his childhood friend, Ai-chan which are thrown in for an unnecessary love-triangle. By the first two episodes, it's very obvious that Shinichiro and Hiromi like each other, but of course, they're forbidden to love each other due to complications in their family situation. Shinichiro doesn't want to admit it. Hiromi thinks that Shinichiro is her brother. Don't worry, I'll get to that in a moment. Just let me take my time. So, Shin-dope meets newcomer Noe-chan who thinks that male lead is the one that can get her tears back. The first broken plot device. Then Hiromi likes to complicate things even farther by saying to Shin-dope that she doesn't like him, it's conveniently Noe's brother. Shin-dope and Noe become such good friends that Noe's brother somehow tracks Shin-man down to his address and asks him to go out with Noe. Shin-man, being the brilliant idealist that he is, thinks it would be best to make a contract with her shady brother. "You go out with Hiromi, I'll go out with Noe!". Second broken plot device. I mean, what was the purpose of this deal? What would this deal accomplish? Noe's brother gets what he wanted for a price. Hiromi gets burdened for making things complicated and conveniently made room for broken plot devices. So then Nii-chan and Hiromi go out. Then it takes Shin-man forever to make his move on his side of the contract. A contract that was never written and never specified. So Hiromi and other guy awkwardly make fake romance so Shin-man will make his move. For some reason, the awkward-fake couple can't break up because that'll break the contract. Supposedly. The viewer is somehow supposed to know that. The idea of the contract is somewhat baffling to me as I cannot figure out the terms of the contract or why the contract was made in the first place. These two guys go out of their way to make a contract on other's personal lives and then make it so that they're connected like a mirror. "If I do this, you do it too!". This doesn't work in anyway and only further prevents Shin-man and Hiromi to be more awkward with each other. Great, I missed the best part of this anime... because the first four episodes with them two had so much magic that I just couldn't handle it. Because Hiromi has no depth as a character, the writers thought that the only way people would like Hiromi would be to create sympathy from the viewer. Which is the third broken plot device. Shinichiro's mother hates Hiromi because she's not her daughter. When she first moves in, years before the show starts, she claims that [Hiromi's mother] cheated on [Hiromi's father] with [Shinichiro's father] to create her. That would make Shinichiro and Hiromi siblings. The fourth broken plot device. Now they feel even more awkward around each other. There is so much magic between the two, I feel like this is a Disney movie! The role of Shinichiro's mother is baffling too. She goes so much out her way to make Hiromi feel unwanted. By episode-whatever, we learn that the might be sibling's thing is a lie. The mother even went so out of her way to back-up that lie that she cut out [Hiromi's mother's] face out of pictures. But then she turns around and begins to treat Hiromi like one of her own after she gets into a bike accident and tarnishes her new family's name. So when Hiromi didn't do anything wrong, she was hated, but when she runs away and gets into an accident and suspended from school she's then rewarded with love. Huh? I mean, what was the mother's motive in the first place? What did Hiromi's mother do to her that she had to make up such an absurd story? This is when the show becomes damaged beyond repair. Another character that baffles me is Ai-chan, the childhood friend that is dating Shin-dope's best friend. Her character doesn't baffle me, it's the reason why she's in this show that baffles me. She's basically there to add extra drama to the fake drama. She likes Shin-dope (and who doesn't at this point?) and kisses him while she's dating his best friend, who is a much better guy than Shin-guy. But thankfully she dumps the other guy and decides to move on from Shin-dude anyway. Crisis averted. Now that we know that Shin-dude and Hiromi aren't siblings. You can finally sleep at night and call the right name of the girl you're sleeping with. Oh. Wait. There's two broken plot devices in the way. The contract and a sweet girl named Noe. Noe and Shin-moron are now going out and Shin-idiot actually draws a picture book about it. A picture book about the chicken that could fly. But then the chicken couldn't fly because his adopted sister is now just his adopted sister. So now he thinks he has a shot with Hiromi. Which now Shin-shin and Hiromi are never awkward because of this. In fact, I was never sure why these two liked each other anyway besides the fact that they're both attractive. They never talked under the same roof, and they don't even know each other. Hell, Hiromi even says it in some episode, "I never got to know you after all this time". So that implies they never got to know each other. Meanwhile, Shinichiro and Noe have a pretty good thing going. But Shinichiro now thinks that "Now is the time to take flight" and let's his hormones run wild and chases after Hiromi as she is moving away to an apartment to live on her own. When they meet up, the dumbest line in the show is said. "I'll do everything proper from now on". As if anything Shin-moron had done before was proper (if you need a hint, nothing so far has been proper and will continue not to be proper). What Shin-chan means by that, I don't even know. And while these two are hugging in the middle of the street. That contract is still in effect because neither of them have broken-up with Noe's brother or Noe. Hell, Noe and her brother seem more in love with each other than any other relationship in the series. Maybe that should be the plot. The forbidden love between those two. Then the less interesting Hiromi and Shin-idiot could get in the way. It could be called "True Incest". Instead of this fast one they pulled on me. Anyway, Hiromi now lives alone and we get to see her do splits. The most enticing part of the show. Now that the two lovebirds are separated, their love becomes deeper and more intense. Even though their in the same class and they don't know each other. So now it's time for the festival dance and time to tell Noe that he and Hiromi are now in love. Oh goody, let's see how our brilliant idealist goes about doing this. He dances and then Hiromi tells Noe, and I quote, to "leave them alone". As far as I'm concerned, Noe was placed into the situation because of Hiromi being a bitch all the time. She never liked Noe in the first place because she was friends with Shin-moron. Then she's the cause of Shin-moron making the contract that automatically pulls her into the situation. So now, Noe is intentionally placed in the middle of these two idiots, and their insecurities, as an obstacle and they treat her like she's done something wrong. This causes her to test flying, in result, breaking her leg from jumping off a tree. Shin-moron then gets angry at Noe and tosses the picture book in the ocean, a page at a time to make it look artsy. I skipped over the last episodes, so I don't even know if Noe got her tears back. Probably not. Why did Hiromi think it was okay to just take Shin-moron's responsibility and just do it all herself? Who wrote this ****? The art was okay. The 3D was clunky looking while students were walking out. The 3D Shinichiro didn't even look like the animated one. Animation was okay. I don't remember listening to any music, because the voices in my head were fighting due to this show. The ED and OP were okay though. To add, the most interesting characters we ain't seen enough of. Miyokichi, Shin-moron's best friend, and Noe. This show goes downhill fast after episode seven, and I would never recommend this trash to anyone. This show lied to me like my ex-girlfriends did. Leaving me doubtful and upset. At the end, I found myself lost and confused and I lost faith in love, friendship, everything. I had to make sure I didn't lose my soul due to this show. Then I looked at the reviews of this show and I also found myself baffled about how people give this show anything more than a five. Things just don't add up. This show has a plot that is more convenient then the laptop in my bathroom.

True tears is a story that focuses on the life of a high school student and his interactions with the three heroines of the story. The story focuses on the romance and drama in the lives of the characters. I think that the storyline was one of the best i have seen for a 13 episode anime. It was just the right length for such a story. The anime incorporates a lot of realism and really brings out the drama of a love triangle. The story looks at love from a path less ventured on and is different from your typical love story. Some may callthis a harem because all the main girls fall in love with the main character but it is very different from your usual harem because it looks at it from a more realistic and serious angle. Expect a lot of drama and meaning in this show. Though a word of caution that this show is a bit enigmatic due to its metaphorical usage of "chickens flying" and a strange and unique theme of tears. But you'll catch on eventually so do not fret even if you do not understand at first. The art was simply amazing. The backgrounds and sceneries were drawn with such vibrance and the colours were vivid and easy on the eyes. The use of watercolour in the show by the main character also brings out a very nice animation feel to the show. One of the best artworks in anime. The sound was so-so. What really stood out were the voice actors. Especially the four main characters. They played the characters so well and i think it really contributed to the feel of the anime. Inserts were made towards the end which helped to create the atmosphere and i think the OP song was very suited for this anime. It's good but not the best. The characters were also very well done. Each having a good deal of depth for such a short anime series. Espcially since there were quite a few main characters, to cover such a wide range of characters in such a short span is quite good. Perhaps a bit more focus on the side characters like the two best friends of the lead girl and guy would have been good, but considering the time span i guess it's still ok. The characters were also not your usual cliche characters in a romance anime, especially Noe, to have such a character in the show makes it more unique and unpredictable. I enjoyed the anime for its romance and drama. But it was lacking in the comedy area. But i guess it's ok since the drama was brought out pretty well as a result. Thus the story may appear a bit gloomy. It was also a bit slow at the start but the pace picks up as the story goes, so for those who are impatient you might have trouble with this anime at the start. However, i think the anime was very meaningful because you can sympathize with the characters and is thus very attention grabbing at times. Overall, This anime is not to be missed. Especially if you are a romance-drama fan. The anime managed to portray many key elements in the show within the short time span and i think that the anime will leave a lasting impression on all who watch it. However, patience may be needed in the course of undertsanding the story and the characters. If you are looking for something more light-hearted then perhaps you may not find this to you liking.

True Tears is a fairly typical Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Drama based on an unusual theme of tears (amongst other things). From the beginning the story is pretty ordinary, for this type of anime, as it has a male protagonist (Shinichirou) and it introduces him, his surroundings and the heroines involved in the story (Noe, Hiromi & Aiko). However it is really difficult to tell what the story is entirely about or where it is headed, until things reach a certain point. That is when some major developments arise but it’s a shame that the series is almost half over by that point. Here wehave the usual stock of high school boys and girls for characters and there’s nothing really particularly special about them. However a few of them have something unique about them that allows them stand out (Noe). But the character relations are what make the characters interesting because other than the simple-minded guys; the girls add a bit of perplexity to the mix as you cannot be entirely sure of what their true and honest feelings are. After watching the series I can definitely say that the animation is the most outstanding aspect of this anime series, as it utilizes superb environments, well-drawn characters and well placed but somewhat overused CG effects/models. The most noticeable feature is the backgrounds, which looks like it was painted using soft water colours and it seamlessly blends well with the fluid foreground animations. The music is composed of a variety of piano and violin symphonies that works well with the laid-back nature of the show. It also does a good job in setting the mood for some drama but the weak dialogue doesn’t help whatsoever. Overall True Tears proved to be a great romance anime, for all the romance anime lovers who need their seasonal fix. There are some surprisingly good aspects to the show, which allow it to easily overshadow the major downfalls like the male cast. The humour in the beginning does help set this up to be an enjoyable series but like always expect to see some major drama. So if you’re into this type of romance anime then make sure you check it out.

True Tears was an anime adaptation of visual novel of the same name. Although, I’m hesitant in calling it an adaptation as True Tears the anime has nothing in common with the game. The story, characters, setting, and even the themes employed are different from the game version, with the exception of the name. I was initially excited a few years ago when I heard about it, but when I heard how poorly the game was received I had extremely low expectations. Thankfully, the anime was also extremely different in terms of quality. The story itself is extremelytypical of the romance genre. However, it is told in an extremely realistic and down-to-earth manner. Just reading the summary of True Tears gives one this impression. In addition, so are the characters, you won’t find any goddess, aliens, espers, or time travelers (and no, I’m not making a Haruhi reference) here, instead our cast is filled with normal people. I sometimes forget that I’m watching an anime as they rarely use animation conventions, such as speed lines, exaggerated expressions, etc. So one may wonder, “why should I watch this, the summary and even you are saying that it isn’t a very unique story?” Well, it is true, I won’t deny that, but what makes True Tears are the incredibly deep and complex character as well as the extremely subtlety in which the story is told. First, True Tears is told in an extremely consistent manner with near perfect pacing. After a few episodes, once the introductions are done, the story builds upon itself and has a satisfying conclusion. However, True Tears has an interesting story structure. For True Tears the climax and the falling action, or the ride down, didn’t happen all in the last 2 episodes. Instead the climax of the various story threads happened around episodes 6-8 thus, giving them plenty of time to resolve everything. However, not all of the story threads exhibited a very smooth falling action in particular, the main one and thus True Tears suffered a bit near the end. Nevertheless during episodes 9-13, all of those threads were resolved, with the major ones being resolved during the last episode. Although this can be seen as a negative as it doesn’t keep the excitement up till the end. For many single kour anime series the climax happens in the 2nd to last episode (2-3 before the end for 2 kour series). Once again this makes thing exciting up to the end but it puts too much stress on the last episode to resolve everything. Because of the way the story was told, True Tears didn’t end with a bang, instead it ends with on a whimper. It is possible for True Tears to end on an extremely dramatic note, but it wouldn’t be true to itself. That is a very down to earth, subtle anime. As for the characters, True Tears is more of an ensemble than a harem, as there are 6 major characters (3 male, 3 female) with a focus on Shinichiro, Hiromi, and Noe. Also, despite there being 6 major character and 13 episodes they all had sufficient character development and depth. In addition, all the characters are flawed and very much human. These are characters I can identify with and understand. However, because of this it makes some characters not as likeable. In a way, the characters are painfully too human. In addition, the character that really surprised me was Miyokichi, the seemingly token male friend. Characters like this are primarily used as comedic side characters, for example Sunohara in Clannad. Miyokichi is nothing like this, he received quite a bit of depth and complexity reserved only for main characters in most other series. Another big surprise was the quality of the animation. PA works was a completely unknown studio and produced something on the level of KyoAni. In some ways surpass them on certain aspects. For example, in the basketball scene in Clannad (by KyoAni) uses many speed lines, a perfectly normal anime convention to convey high speed/movement, not just KyoAni, most studios do this. In True Tears the players actually move and the use of the camera is something akin to what I like to call, Itano circus for basketball. Not only that the world in True tears is very much alive, as there are people, animals, etc that are constantly moving in the background. Sure they use CG for the people walking in the background but it is done in a way where its hardly noticeable. Also, the attention to detail that PA works put into True Tears is beyond ridiculous. For example, the snow, the way it is spread is extremely realistic as well as being realistically dirty. However, the most definitive scene for me was the dance near the end of the series. Not only are all the dancers different they are just slightly and realistic out of sync. As for the art, it was actually pretty unique, most of the time there is a slight softness in the backgrounds. Not on the same level as Honey and Clover but enough to give it a slight picture book feel. Another distinct point in the art was the use of dramatized shots that look exactly like Shinichiro’s art book. This is something that kind of bothers me, as it stood out too much. It is possible that it is relates to the picture book Shinichiro is writing, either way I wasn’t too fond of it. Is PA Works another KyoAni? Maybe, we’ll have to see if they can keep up the quality. Sound and Voice work was quite exceptional and kept with the overall subtlety of the series. Music is held back and is rarely in-your-face. The OP Reflictia by Eufonius has officially made me a fan of her work. As for the ending, nothing special, the chibi characters walking across the screen was…interesting. It feels a bit out of place considering the overall tone of the series. The voice actors did an amazing job and in particular I was quite impressed with Hiromi’s VA. Her VA did an amazing job conveying the sadness and restrain of Hiromi. I only have one real complaint for True Tears. As I mentioned above the falling action for the main story thread wasn’t very smooth. This is because I believe the writers got trapped into a classic romance convention. That is holding off who the main character picks until the very end and this is perfectly understandable as they want to keep the viewer excited till the end. This is not necessary be a bad thing but it damages Shinichiro’s character by making him indecisive and thus hurting the ones around him. That’s why I wasn’t as happy with the one or two episodes before the final episode. However, its not like we didn’t know what he was thinking and there were clues point in one direction, its just that they kept it a bit too ambiguous. This resulted in mixed interpretation and frustration when one’s predictions failed. If I had to describe True Tears, I would say “subtle.” Just about everything about this anime is subtle, from the way the characters talk to their actions. This anime will have you constantly thinking between the lines to really understand what is going on. Once again this is both a strength and weakness as some viewers may simply miss important clues. In addition, they employ several interesting themes and metaphors, for example, Shinichiro’s picture book, flying, and ‘true tears.’ I could easily write pages analyzing these themes but, since this is a review on the anime I won’t. So if you are the type to watch anime for relaxation purposes or with your brain turned off, then cross True Tears off your “to watch or interested list”, this anime is not for you. Ok, let me rephrase that, the beauty of True Tears comes from it’s subtly and depth, something that cannot be appreciated by watching on a superficial level. Finally, let me say that this review is at least twice as long as I planned. I guess it only shows how much I enjoyed this series as I couldn’t stop typing.

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