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.

The more I watch, the more I fall in love with True Tears.

Perhaps the most engaging thing about the show at this point is the tacit suggestion that there’s “more than meets the eye,” as far as Isurugi Noe’s obsession with collecting tears is concerned. Is there a supernatural element to this story? Or is it simply a red herring? I’m inclined to think it’s all metaphorical and that the story will remain grounded in reality until the very end, but there’s enough mystery in Noe’s words to leave me uncertain. The show continues to do a wonderful job maintaining that air of mystery.

And Noe is a fantastic character. I appreciate that she’s the central character among the female leads. As much as Shin’s attention is directed toward Hiromi, the story really does seem to revolve around Noe’s circumstances. That’s not something I expected going in, and I think it’s especially interesting given how Noe isn’t so much a romantic interest for Shin as she is his nutjob partner in crime. It saves the show from the sort of “one guy, one girl” tunnel vision so typical of high school romance anime.

There’s also something to be said for Nishimura Junji’s deft direction. His work in Simoun was far more deliberate; the operatic nature of the show demanded it. The direction in True Tears, however, is more abstract. Seemingly minor scenes and exchanges provide some of the greatest insight into the story and characters, and there’s surprise to be found in the smallest nooks and crannies of each episode. If you ask me, this is atypical for this sort of show. Most high school romance anime series have all the nuance of a sledgehammer upside the head.

I’ve previously touched on the impressive animation, of course, but I feel compelled to add that, watching True Tears alongside Clannad, I almost feel as if PA Works is on the verge of besting Kyoto Animation in certain ways. Both studios have mastered the art of expressive character animation, but the approach taken by PA Works in True Tears feels so much more “natural” to me. Whereas many of the small gestures and movements made by characters in Clannad appear carefully calculated and precise, those same gestures and movements in True Tears appear smoothly integrated into the show’s animation as a whole.

For example, in the fourth episode, there’s a brief sequence in which Miyokichi attempts to grab hold of Ai’s hand while she’s not looking, and her reaction as she pulls away in shock strikes me as surprisingly organic. They might as well have been two real live people on film. The show is full of moments like this, and it makes the more emotional scenes all the more gripping to watch. Every conversation between Shin and Hiromi, for example, is loaded with hidden body language you don’t see all that often outside of theatrical anime and a few particular television series.

Do you see the underlying message here? True Tears is really something special, and I think it would benefit anyone who passed on the show due to its supposedly generic premise to give it a closer look. It’s not your average anime series.

Oh, and on the topic of the show’s recently revealed release plans for North America, I’ll just say one thing: True Tears is a show I would happily buy on DVD, but not at Bandai Visual’s absurd prices.