Regardless of one’s opinion of True Tears, it’s hard to deny that it was a unique take on an otherwise tried and true formula. I suspect it’s for that reason that reaction to the show has generally been positive, bitterness on the part of Isurugi Noe fans notwithstanding. Typically, you would expect a show of this nature to have no shortage of ankle-biting detractors, but I’ve heard genuine praise for True Tears from even some of the most jaded and hardened anime fans I know. That’s pretty impressive.
But why all the good vibes? Nishimura Junji’s excellent direction is notable, to start. His work on Simoun has garnered him a lot of attention as of late, and I think that helped to drive interest in True Tears for a lot of people, myself included. Of course, Nishimura-san has been working in the anime industry for a quite some time now, having been staff on Urusei Yatsura and Director for Ranma 1/2, to name just a couple of older, high profile series. However, his work on True Tears was in many ways most reminiscent of his work on Simoun, be it in his careful use of background music to bridge one scene to the next or in his cuts to highly stylized freeze frames at crucial and climatic moments.
The anime directors I respect most typically leave these sort of calling cards in the shows they work on, to the extent their involvement is instantly recognizable from watching only a single episode. That’s not to say they’re one trick ponies. Rather, I think it’s evidence that they so consistently stray from the ordinary and generic as to be more than “just another anime director.” And, let’s face it: there are a lot of “just another anime director” types in the business.
An anime director is not an island unto himself, however. True Tears also benefited from some surprisingly smart writing, especially given its standard premise. For all of the show’s dramatic cliffhangers, there was no shortage of subtlety and misdirection in both story development and character dialogue. So much in the show was not as it seemed, and it wasn’t until the very end that the story’s theme and purpose came into focus. Even then, it kept me guessing. When Shin’ichiro fell to his knees in anguish in the final episode as Noe slowly limped away, his heart wavering, so did mine. Did the show have one final plot twist up its sleeve? Would it stay the course? I didn’t know. I thought I knew. But, the truth is, I didn’t know anything.
Very few shows can maintain such a high level of apparent unpredictability to the very end without resorting to jarring and implausible plot twists, like a race car driver griding the gears to get ahead one moment, only to fall behind the next. “Exactly as planned,” unpredictability is uncommon in anime. True Tears, on the other hand, had it in spades. I think that’s a pretty clear indicator of how carefully conceived and planned the show was from the very beginning.
Of course, the show’s good points aren’t limited to just the contribution of its Director and the strength of its writing. It’s no secret that the quality of the animation was beyond what you would typically expect from a television series being produced by a previously unknown studio. But, then again, I seem to remember a little studio by the name of Kyoto Animation being relatively unknown when they first burst on the scene a few years back, too. Moral of the story? Pay attention to new animation studios.
And, you know, for all the talk about how this past anime season was a little on the weak side, I have to admit that the combination of True Tears and Aria was more than enough to sate my appetite for good anime through those long and dark winter months. A chicken in the sky is worth two in the coop, I guess.
Aaagreed.
I came ultra late to the true tears party. It was a marathon of the first 12 episode as 13 was looming only hours away, but it was entirely impressive and worth the “breathless” experience.
The sense of non-determinism throughout the series does set it apart, but my god that BGM was intense in the final episode, which through my direction off more than anything (Hiromi and the mother’s scene, interwoven with Noe and Shin’s scene).
Chicken in the sky :)
A chicken in the sky is worth two in the coop, I guess.
This is either the worst saying of all time, or legendary in its greatness. Either way, it’s just driven me to take a look at True Tears.
If I can just get my brain to stop exploding. “Chicken in the sky” indeed…
too bad Ai-chan didn’t have much screen time…
finished Aria the Origination - didn’t like older Akari’s hair - and she still sounds very young…
Careful with the spoilers, asdf… some of us don’t understand Japanese and haven’t had a chance to watch anything past episode 9 of Aria.
Definitely agreed. As much as I am cannot empathize with Shin’s choice, the show itself was excellent in execution.
Agreed. Two of the reasons why the show was pretty well-received was because of its ability to maintain interest throughout the entire series, constantly keeping the audience on their toes as to what exactly could happen next (though that siscon stuff was kinda obvious enough), and the incredibly high quality of animation from a relatively unknown studio. In fact, looking back, I’d have to say that true tears pretty much equaled CLANNAD in terms of quality, providing incredibly sharp, clear pictures even at 720px, while CLANNAD had the visual flair, but a little lacking in clarity.
Of course, another reason would be Hiromi, because Hiromi > Noe.
Blah, Noe >>>>>>>>>>> Hiromi xD
Now, let’s not go down that path. Forest for the trees… forest for the trees…
“Now, let’s not go down that path. Forest for the trees… forest for the trees…”
You could say the same thing about Hiromi for most of the series. Heyoooo!
But seriously, True Tears was a solid work, and I liked that it kept me guessing as to what Shin would do. And despite a couple of hiccups, it’s apparently a very realistic work as well, so kudos to that. I wasn’t emotionally invested in the characters though, so this isn’t something that I’m really going to remember years down the line it seems. :/
You know, my emotional investment in the characters was somewhat minimized as well. That’s kind of odd, given how engaging the show was otherwise. However, I don’t know if I would consider that a shortcoming or not; there was something strangely voyeuristic about the show’s presentation, with the story providing a clear view of what each character was doing, yet not providing much insight into what they were thinking (Shin excluded, of course). With that, I suppose a certain amount of detachment on the part of the viewer is to be expected.
That’s also probably why I never got too involved in the Noe vs. Hiromi fight that was raging amongst the show’s fans. I’ll admit to having a certain fondness for Noe’s character, but a Hiromi is fine, too. And I felt the ending was acceptable in the grand scheme of things (hence, my “forest for the trees” comment). In particular, I think Noe came out ahead in a way a lot of her fans haven’t yet realized because they’re more focused on her relationship with Shin’ichiro and her apparent conflict with Hiromi than they are on her herself. Early on in the show’s run, I remember making the argument that Noe was the show’s “true” main character (not sure if it was here or somewhere else), and I feel the ending confirmed that, at least partially. It’s funny, too, because Noe didn’t get a lot of screen time in the end, with the story gradually turning to Shin and Hiromi working out their (many) issues. But her presence was always felt in those moments, I think.
The show left a lot unsaid, and a lot of what it did say, it said covertly. That’s another similarity with Simoun, I think, and I remember that it wasn’t until I started picking up on all that “unsaid” stuff that I got hooked on Simoun. The general concept behind True Tears was simple enough compared to Simoun, however, that I was hooked from the beginning, but the “slow reveal” of all the unsaid things over the course of the show is what kept me coming back for one episode after another.
I’m not quite prepared to write an embarrassing love letter to the show, though. I think I need a little more time to chew on it, at least as far as the content is concerned (you’ll notice that I only really addressed the show’s mechanics in my post). A rewatch may be in order a few months from now.
It’s not often I say this but I have to disagree with TheBigN, if only on the point that this show wasn’t one that I’ll remember for years to come. It’s very much a product of its respective genres but does all that teen angst, romance and slice of life better than most of the competition. Being attached to the character does help, mind, so I think that will be a major factor for many viewers. In that respect I did feel sorry for Noe but I think they all learned something from their experiences and came out of them as better people. I place more priority on that than neatly finishing things off so I was really happy with the way things panned out.
Agreed on the production values too - this really is a studio to look out for in future (iirc SHAFT were virtually unknown a year or two ago but have made quite an impression too). It’s not a flawless show by any means, but things like animation/artwork quality and pacing were spot-on and it was always above average overall; a surprise favourite of the season for me.
Yea, Jeff, I wrote in another blog that I felt that in the end, the show was more about Noe than it was about Shin or Hiromi, despite the latter two ending up together. And I too feel that the ending confirmed that she is the real main character here.
Off-Topic, kinda silly question; are you done with Bamboo Blade Jeff? Will you post about it?
Just wondering.
I have two episodes of Bamboo Blade left to watch, Nemo_N. I don’t know if I’ll write a post about it or not. Great show, though, and I did write about it (sort of) a couple of months back.
Irony about wonderduck talking about chicken in the sky needs to be noted. [/latetotheparty]
Nice distillation of some of the things that really made the show great. People wishing for subtlety in anime don’t often seem to get what they want, but True Tears delivered there. The twists were not jarring, nor was the pacing or mood. It always seemed a bit gauzy and dreamy.
To me it was refreshing to see a drama that felt so engaging and unexpected, even though the end result was much as anyone could have predicted in the beginning.