True Tears review

I finally finished True Tears today…and I’m sure many will agree that it’s definitely one of the most special series’ to come out recently. Despite it technically being a harem/dating anime, it has qualities that put it above average in this genre. Even though there’s virtually no action nor major accomplishments in it, I found True Tears a joy to watch because of its calming atmosphere, gentle pacing, and dramatic but not too angst-ridden scenes.

I noticed many of True Tears’ good attributes right from episode 1, the first being the animation. Personally I think it’s on par with KyotoAni and it’s definitely one of the most well-animated TV series’ to come out in a while. I can’t remember the character designs ever looking distorted and the CG animation of background characters, cars, etc., blends almost perfectly with the hand-drawn animation. And boosting the good animation quality further is the excellent cinematography in the series. Scenes are focused beautifully on images such as the ocean, with seagulls flying, and the snow falling against the bamboo forest. Character expressions and dialogue are also timed well and fitting to the mood of the scene. Of course, the slow pacing of the show is not for everyone but if you enjoy anime that’s focused on relationships and character inner-conflicts rather than action and fantasy, True Tears definitely comes through.

True Tears’ notable slow pacing has its good and bad points. Of course the good being that it never seems rushed and you can take your time to focus on what the characters are saying and feeling. In fact, thinking back on all 13 episodes, they were pretty much all the same; every episode involved the characters interacting with each other, changing the way they relate to and feel about each other, and that’s basically the whole show. But it’s amazing how the Japanese are able to make a seemingly boring plot like that into something so engrossing and entertaining =) Another good point, at least for me anyway, is the relief of not having fast-paced action and hyperbolic comedy interrupt the seriousness of the show. Unfortunately this is becoming more and more common in anime (and most entertainment forms for that matter) so I’m glad True Tears doesn’t have that at all. The slow pacing also creates a sense of gentleness and calm in the show. There’s almost no instance of harshness or suspense in True Tears…in fact, the characters very rarely even raise their voices. Some will find these qualities refreshing and gratifying to their intelligence while others will simply find them boring and dragged out. But in my opinion, the quiet and calm atmosphere of True Tears together with the gorgeous animation and sole focus on character relationships make it a very beautiful and artistic show. The music is also fitting of the show as well, with gentle background music as well as appropriately whimsical sounding opening and ending songs that aren’t too loud or fast.

And naturally, you can’t have a good show without good characters. It’s nice to have a harem/dating anime that doesn’t have any overly moe, hyperactive, and sometimes downright annoying female characters. Hiromi, Noe, and Ai do not coincide with any of the typical extremely polite, angsty, moe, or tsundere archetypes, giving a sort of mature, novel feeling to the show. The male lead Shinichiro also isn’t your typical brash yakuza type, nor is he the wimpy, loser type. Although he can be kind of dull at times…I found myself wanting to yell at him sometimes to just get the guts to talk about his thoughts and feeling to the girls instead of brooding about them to himself, he at least realizes his own flaws and true feelings by the end of the series. As for the girls themselves, Hiromi’s quiet and rather abrupt way of talking together with her somewhat unfriendly nature kind of put me off at first, but once she realized her feelings about Shinichiro and went off on her own she became a lot more likable. But I actually found Noe to be a more interesting character, probably because she has more energy and brightness in her than the other characters, and she also has a number of unique (and sometimes weird) qualities, such as her affection for the chickens and her treatment of Shinichiro as a replacement for Raigomaru. Ai doesn’t get as much attention as Hiromi and Noe but she’s likable enough and she’s also able to settle her feelings earlier in the series than the other two. As for the rest of the characters, there’s nobody extremely noteworthy about them but they’re all fitting for their roles. Noe’s brother and Shinichiro’s parents create some good antagonism for the show but not enough to throw off the calm atmosphere.

Nothing’s perfect so of course True Tears does have a few flaws. As I’ve mentioned, the slow, quiet pacing and lack of significant events in the series definitely gives it a very limited audience. Also, even though the directing and dialogue of True Tears is well done, I can’t help feeling that it has a somewhat unrealistic feel to it. For me at least, it’s hard to imagine the kind of conversations, thoughts, and feelings that the characters have to be likened to real people. Of course, most anime or any form of entertainment is like this, but for a show like True Tears which has a setting that is very realistic, concepts such as someone’s “true tears,” or “choosing to fly or not,” etc., just seem a bit overly symbolic. Other things such as Noe jumping out of the tree or thinking a chicken can fly “if it chooses to” were a bit far-fetched and just downright crazy too. The ending of the series also left some loose ends; did Shinichiro continue dancing or is he focusing now on the publishing company? Has the relationship between Noe and her brother changed at all? What about between Noe and Shinichiro? But I guess, compared to most other anime which leaves a lot to be interpreted in its ending, I felt pretty satisfied with True Tears’ ending, but still, considering it had such a simple plot, I felt it could’ve ended a bit better.

Anyway, in conclusion, if you enjoy series’ that are focused on character relationships and inner conflicts, and you don’t mind the slow pacing, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t find True Tears enjoyable. High-quality animation, unique characters, and a more mature spin on the harem/dating genre of anime are qualities that make True Tears one of the better shows to come out so far this year.