Does True Tears actually provoke "true tears"?
Genre - Drama, Romance, School
Length – 13 Episodes
Run - Jan 4, 2008 to Mar 29, 2008
Animation Production – Bandai Visual, Lantis, P.A. Works
Whenever I heard the name "True Tears" right next to it I would always
see "This series made me cry so much". I'm a manly man but I don't mind a
good cry now and then, so I went and jumped into the world of True
Tears with high expectations. Unfortunately, there were little to no
tears shed from my eyes, but this series is definitely a good source of
drama...
You are brought into what seems a normal setting. A young boy with a passion for art and writing named
Shinichiro Nakagami is shown day dreaming romantic thoughts while drawing in his room. The inspiration for his art comes from his feeling towards
Hiromi Yuasa.
Hiromi is the principal love interest. Both Hiromi and Shinichiro love
each other in secret. Since they both live in the same house that
complicates matters even more.
Encounter in the hallway.
Hiromi is a reserved girl who keeps to herself and avoids attention at
home, the main reason being the death of her father some years back, and
the cold indifference she receives from Shinichiro's
mother.
Though the official description does not mention True Tears having
harem, it does. Shinichiro isn’t your typical brash yakuza type, nor is
he the wimpy, loser type; he can be kind of dull at times though. He
does however try to avoid romantic contact with women at first, even
though he has three after his tail (the bastard). The second girl in the
harem is
Noe Isurugi.
Noe is an oddball with a love for chickens (yes....chickens). She
doesn't fit in your typical extremely polite, angsty, moe, or tsundere
archetypes, which gives sort of a mature, novel feeling to the show. Noe
is just weird, simple as that. She also provides some nice moments of
pure lulz so watch out for that. The last girl in the harem is
Aiko "Ai-chan" Andou. Aiko is an old friend of Shinichiro who happens to be dating his best friend
Miyokichi Nobuse.
At first glance both Aiko and Nobuse seem to be meant for each other.
Both are kind of ditzy and sometimes short tampered and equally love to
give Shinichiro a hard time. The thing is Aiko has romantic feelings for
Shinichiro. When Nobuse finds out, he begins a game of denial that adds
more drama to this series...
The world of True tears is one filled with angst. Just about every
character has their share of pain and secrets they want hidden. From old
to young, every one of the main characters is connected to a certain
level. Decisions are based on the relationships each person has with one
another and tensions builds up. The series itself is drama based. It
feels like each of the main characters hide a huge secret waiting to be
exposed. The secrets themselves are the source for most of the drama.
Hiromi revealing a devastating secret.
There is some comedy here and there nothing crazy though. The people who
produce the lulz are usually Noe, Nobuse, and Ai. I remember laughing
at some of the conversations these characters had, they are full of pure
lulz. Along with comedy we have some romance. The romance itself isn't
heavy or lovey dovey. You certainly feel the romantic emotions when they
are presented, but at times I felt like it was unnecessary. For me it
is the tension that really grabs you. Certain situations provoke the
oddest reactions in you. The relationship portrayed between Hiromi and
Shinichiro's mother is rather disturbing at times. No doubt you will be
asking and telling yourself a million things when you see them interact.
Another example is the relationship between Noe and her brother Jun.
All I will say is expect a sister complex thrown at you as soon as you
see Jun interact with Noe, then again its rather obvious at first
glance.
Moving onto the animation, True Tears is on top of its game. Normally in
anime with less than 24 episodes the animation starts to lag after the
first half of the show, this is not the case here. The animation is
consistent. Beautiful backgrounds along with beautifully drawn
characters give this series another stamp of approval. At times I felt
like I was a watching a movie or an OVA simply because the art is that
good. The fluidity of the character movements, the detailed shadows on
the face of the characters as they speak, the camera angles used to
illustrate certain key aspects such as the 3D walking scene; everything
adds up little by little and before you know it you will find yourself
having a hard time reverting back to watching lower quality anime. The
soundtrack was great. The OP & ED are both personal favorites of
mine.
For each setting there was a great piece of musical score ready to go
along. Mood is important for this anime, and the music creates the best
dramatic and romantic moods I have felt in a while.
"So far you have been praising this series. It can't be perfect?" You
sir/madam are correct. True Tears has its share problems. Some of the
conversations, thoughts, and feelings, though dramatic, seem
unrealistic. I find it hard to believe some of the things I read can
ever be applied to real life in any form for a show like True Tears
which has a setting that is supposed to be very realistic. Concepts such
as someone’s "true tears" or "choosing to fly or not" just seem a bit
overly symbolic and unnecessary. Also, you would expect a series named
"True Tears" would make you cry or something of the sort, but I felt no
such emotion. The most I felt were some moments of welling up. The
ending of the series also left some loose ends...
If you can get past the negative, you will be taken for a very dramatic
ride. "Okay guy you rambled on long enough! Someone get me my gun, nao!"
