I enjoyed this series v. much. Must have been because of Noe.
As for no second season/OVA I wouldn't say that ;). If there is a demand for such thing, they will make it. Even if it takes 5 or 6 years.
True Tears tv Review
Story & Characters
Wow, I actually had to watch this series twice, because for some reason, I just could not remember anything about this series. I originally watched True Tears two years ago and typically thats still within the frame of rememberance (especially for a series I enjoyed); i.e I remember series like Wolf's Rain that I haven't watched for more than five years. I will say this, the first time watching this series, I was confused as hell and had a lot of questions by the end.
The story to this particular anime is pretty much what the title states. Isurugi Noe happens to have a "run in" with our main protagonist, Sakagami Shinichiro, from which she deduced that he can "fly". Whats more interesting is from then on she relates him to a chicken... wait that's weird more than it is interesting, right? Okay, it's not as bad as it sounds. Pretty much this story takes you around the block with a unique look on love triangles. Shinichiro has a undeniably huge crush on Yuasa Hiromi, yet is your typical hero that has no self-confidence to tell her his feelings due to the fear of being rejected. Now on the other hand Hiromi feels the same way about Shinichiro, but is forced to hide the feelings because of Shinichiro's mother (something about the fact Hiromi lives under the same roof as Shinichiro, people would "talk"). Oh, but wait, no anime can't be without your "childhood" friend, which allows the introduction of Ando Aiko. Now Aiko also has feelings for Shinichiro, but at the start of the series, we're automatically told that she is dating Shinichiro's best friend, Nobuse Miyokichi. Confused yet? Don't worry its not as confusing in the anime as it is in this review.
Lets step beyond all of this. The story itself passes off as an extremely unique experience (aside from the constant chicken references) and forces you to have to read between the lines, not just skim the surface. Now I've read plenty of comments from people who've seen the series and the major complaint I've been seeing is bland, boring characters. Typically I try to keep a review about only my opinions, but since this series has been out for so long and people's comments have gotten around the block a few times, I should bring them up.
Shinichiro isn't as bland as one thinks. The problem isn't Shinichiro, but more how the writer and director chose to display Shinichiro's personality change and such. Our main protagonist is an aspring storybook artist and writer (some were confused on which he was, but it explains that he is both an artist and writer) and that Shinichiro himself depicts his own conflicts of emotions and changes in personality in the Raigomaru/Jibeta storybook. This helps to maintain the depth to the story, causing the audience to assert more of their brains into the anime, unlike your average. However, if not properly done, this method can easily backfire on the director. Being as we all are individuals with different tastes, there's a large sum of people that don't want to have to "think" much when watching something of entertainment value, so by making a deep anime with complex plot devices, to assert one's self to thinking about what was said, isn't exactly an ideal situation for some. On the flip side to this, people like myself, thoroughly enjoy having to think.This anime only chance of survival is on the hopes that the number of viewers who enjoy thinking while watching out numbers those who prefer not to think as hard engaging in the same activity.
The other character I felt that was getting low opinions of is Yuasa Hiromi. There have been comments stating that she's boring and when paired with Shinichiro, makes for a unnatural couple. Again, I felt people weren't looking at the right places when making their judgement. I won't disagree here that Hiromi has that kind of monotone, robotic feel for the first several episodes, but that's to be expected. As mentioned before, she can't let her feelings for Shinichiro known because of Shinichiro's mother (I won't divulge anymore than that because it plays as a plot device later). As the series goes on and certain events pass and clear, you start to see another side of Hiromi that wasn't really known about. After seeing this part of Hiromi you can see what Shinichiro saw many years ago when they were kids (the information we're not privy to because of the lack of any large backstory).
The one character that I can agree on with the general consesus is Aiko. After episode 4 or 5, she really has no reason to be around anymore. Actions she takes later only affect Nobuse Miyokichi, who isn't the main protagonist, which means it doesn't move the main plot any where. The only purpose that makes sense is more of the change of pace, take-a-rest type character. You get so tired from the intense melodramatics that you have to go to a character with a more high spirited tone. Though that high spirited tone isn't much until after episode 8 (by then you only have 5 episodes left to watch).
The one character that I did have trouble feeling any type of emotion for the first time around was Noe and it surely wasn't no different the second time around either. The fact that this series was a dramatic one and with her upbeat attitude that she had threw things off for several episodes. Thats not to say she's a bad character, it's just with her actions, she pretty much caused all the problems that could've been avoided from the start and then she acts chipper about it. She's the naive, uninformed girl that would bug you constantly until you finally agreed to do something she wants (the fact she jumps from a tree that's several stories high at a point in the series makes me believe she's insane too which prompted my comment in quotes below, removing my cursing and adding appropriate words).
The story is one worth watching, but for those like me (who must've been sleeping during the initial watch through), will have to watch it again. Honestly, there were scenes in this series that made me think, "What the... how the hell can I forget that part?! She was a complete idiot there!".
Rating:
Art
The art was beautiful. I have to say thats not a word I throw around just for the hell of it. Even after two years since watching it for the first time, I still think it has that sharpness to it that makes you want to just stare at the art. Both the character design and the background flawless mesh together to give you something that just makes out with your eyes, drawing you in even more to its beauty. I'm sure I'm easily exaggerating here, but for me it was extreme eye candy. There was one point in which I don't know what was up with the art crew, but they gave Aiko a face that was not your typical True Tears art. You'll notice it clearly as it only happens once throughout the entire series to any of the characters and that was to Aiko. I literally went "What the hell?" when I say it and I can still say it was a bad idea for the artists to draw that face. I guess they were going for humor but with the depressive nature of the series, it just didn't fit and I guess they realized that cause again, you only see it once throughout the entire True Tears series.
However all good things have a bad side, and True Tears surely wasn't immune to that. The CGI was clearly definable. It's as simple as that. Whether its a bird's eye shot of Shinichiro walking to the front gate of his house or if it was a basketball shot, it was noticeable. I will say CGI wasn't used too often but when it was, you could tell. I don't think technology has changed too awful much since 2008, so I can't say it was the best use of CGI work I've ever seen but it definitely wasn't the worse. The animation was fluid enough that by sacrificing a little bit in the blending process between CGI and the regular scenes was tolerable.
Rating:
Sound
Ah, once again, another anime series that doesn't let me down. Unlike some recent series that I've reviewed that have been getting pretty low marks in this area, True Tears actually does well in it. Now I will say some of the bgms are not meant to be listened to on their own without the scenes and dialogue. For example, the bgm titled "Speed/Power" sounds more like an old Super Nintendo BGM (at least the first 20 seconds or so of the song any way). Other BGMs like "Gekki" are perfect on and off the screen. I like "Gekki" because it displays some of the old style of Japanese music before the influence of western culture changed it. The opening song "Reflectia" is performed by the popular group called Eufonius and the ending song "Sekai no Namida" is performed by Aira Yuki. Both of these songs matched well and "Reflectia" incorporated into several BGMs helped greatly influence the emotions of certain scenes. I can say with great enjoyment that the Soundtrack and Theme songs for True Tears are still commonly played on my Music Player.
The voices had a balanced mixture of veterans and fairly new Voice Actors/Actresses. Of the new VAs to start off with True Tears, only a couple have gone on to play major roles in other popular animes. As far as True Tears is concerned, is was well voiced, but at the beginning of the second watch through I thought a couple voice pitches should've been higher or lower depending on the character. After a while it's an easy series to get used to.
Rating:
Presentation
A 13-episode series that was just the right length. It has been argued that the series actually ends at the 11th episode with episode 12 and 13 kinda of dragging the series on but I have to disagree. While certain parts of the plot may have gotten solved, other major parts still needed to be brought to a logical conclusion which is why episode 12 and 13 were necessary. They made sure to tightly wrap this story up with no room for a second season or OVA. In my opinion, that's a good move. Too much lately have we been getting series that go on for 2 seasons or more, or series that just don't know when to call it quits. I'd rather have a series that ends prematurely than a series that drags out for several seasons that just make no sense. Now since True Tears didn't end prematurely or drag out too long, we get a nice length and story.
The concept of this series takes a bit to understand. For me, even after watching it through the first time, I was confused as hell. After watching it through a second time, then reading comments and reviews on it, helped me to answer my own questions. It's not the type of series to take with just a grain of salt. You need to take this seriously for the most part.
True Tears, don't expect to find much humor here but when you do, take it for what it is cause its the only small amount you'll find in this extremely depressive series. Definitely worth the effort to watch it once. Thirteen episodes isn't going to kill you after all.
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.1667 (above average)
Reviewed by SaitoHajime101, Mar 13, 2010
Comments
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info-0 Mar 15, 2010
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Warpten29 Mar 19, 2010
This great!
merged: 03-25-2010 ~ 05:06am
Well you did your best.
So i guess its fine -
lordryo Apr 19, 2010
Good review!
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SchRita May 01, 2010
Thanks for the review!
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rukasu04 Mute Member May 15, 2010
Nice review :D
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emina07 Mute Member May 28, 2010
...
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SchRita Aug 27, 2010
Finally, an average anime review...:P
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Warpten29 Feb 07, 2011
This anime sounds interresting. Thanks to you, it is now added to my anime list.
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back07 Sep 26, 2012
thanks for the nice review
:)
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