***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for True Tears. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
There are some things that can darken once happy hearts.
Shinichiro Nakagami (voiced by Makoto Ishii) has known Hiromi Yuasa (voiced by Kaori Nazuka) for years. Since the death of her father, Hiromi has been living with the Nakagami's. Though happy to have her so close, Shinichiro knows something is weighing on his friend’s heart.
It is no secret how much Shinichiro likes Hiromi. Anyone who knows either of them can see it. This includes Shinichiro’s other childhood friend, Aiko Ando (voiced by Yuka Iguchi). Despite keeping quiet about it, Aiko hopes Shinichiro will start to notice her too.
One day, Shinichiro meets a girl named Noe Isurugi (voiced by Ayahi Takagaki). Noe claims she is no longer able to cry. Thus, she is looking for the right person to give her back her tears. Though unsure of what this means, according to Noe, Shinichiro is a prime candidate to do this.
Strong emotions are reaching their breaking point. It is only a matter of time before something gives way. When this happens, it’s hard to say if anyone will get through unhurt.
Series Positives
There is a difference between whimsical and substance. While the former can enhance the latter, it isn’t a replacement. True Tears did manage to have both. When used together, this series was alright. Too bad there wasn’t enough substance to justify thirteen episodes.
I liked things about this show. I wouldn't call it bad. Although, it was dull and not that engaging. There is no chance I will remember this series for long.
There were plot points in this story I haven’t seen that often. Others were nothing new. Regardless of which, though, I have seen everything in True Tears done better. There was little that allowed this story to stand out.
This wasn’t a train wreck. Nor was it special either. For instance, the animation.
The backgrounds and settings were nice. When in Winter, the snow and Sun played off each other well. This series was pleasant to look at. Most the time at least. There were a few eyebrow-raising moments. More on that later. Credit where it's due, this show was more visual than it was expositional. That’s a plus.
True Tears nailed expressions. You could feel for each character as they struggled to make sense of their emotions. We got a clear window into everyone’s mind. This also allowed for an instant indication of mood and tone. When the plot failed to acknowledge a change, the animation kept us informed.
This series’ artwork was strong. Although it was only strong in general. There were no standout scenes. No single instance was worth awing at. It’s not a requirement to need such a thing. Except it’s a failure when a story is trying hard to create one and fails to deliver. There was nothing impressive to hold on to.
To illustrate my point, let's use Tari Tari. I need to start by saying, I don’t remember much about that show. So much so I can’t even say if I liked it better or worse than True Tears with any confidence. That notwithstanding, there is still one scene from that series I haven’t forgotten. It has stuck with me when everything else has faded away. There was no such scene like that in True Tears.
At best, this series had good ideas that never saw their full potential. At worst, there was too much focus on the wrong things. Whatever I’m about to say comes with conditions.
Good Story Moments
I won’t tiptoe around it. True Tears only started to get interesting in episode six, Is That…Some Kind of Joke. I can’t recall much before that.
What took this series half its run to do, other shows did the same in two episodes. The first half of this story had almost bearing. True Tears was boring for a while. Please note, I'm saying boring, not bad. Is there a difference? Not really, but I make the distinction because when this show does decide to grab hold, you'll notice it.
In one swoop, a bunch of development took place. With so little happening prior, this got my attention. Not only that, the reveals of this series’ two biggest turning points were well done. One was heavy and tragic. The second was a mix of confusion, frustration, and denial.
After this, True Tears began to be worth more. Had the entire series been like this, I wouldn’t feel as dejected as I am. From episode six to the end, there were several powerful moments.
Speaking of the end, it was fine. It didn’t go the way I would have liked, but it was the right one. Given the circumstances, it would have been weirder for anything else to happen. True Tears had maturity. Not everyone got what they wanted. Or at least some didn’t get what they thought they wanted.
In addition, this series had no problem calling out annoying clichés. One instance was when Noa could see Shinichiro was worrying about something. She wanted to help, but couldn’t get anywhere. Shinichiro kept saying there was no way she could understand what he was going through. Knowing what the issue was, I can’t say he was wrong. But that’s irrelevant.
Weather Noa would understand or not was speculation. If Shinichiro continued to stay silent then yes, there was no way for anyone to get it. If she couldn’t help with solving the problem, Noa could have at least listened to it. She was willing to do a lot more. This would not have been a burden. She could have been there for support.
This was a small thing, but it was nice to see someone fire back at this type of non-answer. I’d be lying if I said True Tears didn’t impress me on occasion.
The Characters
There were no bad characters. There were people I didn’t like. Except that has nothing to do with the kind of character they were.
It is okay for a story to have people who are jerks. Someone can be unlikable and that is their role. If it’s in service to what is going on, a person can be the scum of the Earth and still be a good character. Issues arise when storytellers think an audience will sympathize for no reason. True Tears gave us reasons to care.
A perfect example is Shinichiro’s mother, Shiori (voiced by Reiko Takanashi). It wasn't hard to hate her. She was vicious towards Hiromi. As a result, she didn’t have the support of either her son or her husband. This led to her taking her frustration out on Hiromi. It was a perpetual cycle. Yet by the end, the show no longer portrayed her as the bad guy. And it worked. Why?
Along the way, Shiori realized the error of her ways. She recognized she was taking her anger out on the wrong person. Did this excuse her actions? Not in the slightest and she knew that too. Instead, she owned up to them and reconciled with Hiromi. 
While we are mentioning her, Hiromi was a character I usually can’t stand. She did put up a good girl act. She had a selfish side and would lash out at others, even if she was at fault. She didn’t have the greatest of attitudes.
However, not for a second do I not see why she was like that. She wasn’t a brat, she wasn’t acting this way out of a conscious choice. She simply did not know what to do. With the information she had plaguing her mind, she was pretty restrained when you get down to it. What she was dealing with would leave anyone confused, if not scared. It even turned Shinichiro, a strong character, into a jerk when he learned about it.
The story True Tears was going for needed a someone at their lowest. In turn, this made any possible redemption that more meaningful.
Was every character like this? No, there were a few that I flat out liked. Three in fact.
Let’s start with my favorite, Noa. I’m not listing her first because she was my favorite. I’m doing it because I don’t have much to say about her. Well, that and what I do have to say would lead us into spoiler territory. Though I kind of already did that with Shiori and Hiromi, I enjoyed this show enough to stay vague here.
What I will say about Noa, I loved her straightforwardness. I already discussed how great it was when she went off on Shinichiro. She didn’t dance around an issue. She preferred looking for an answer rather than mulling over a problem. And though she had confidence, that doesn’t mean she didn’t hesitate.
Noa didn’t always know what to do. She did struggle with her feelings. When she realized how she felt about Shinichiro, it hit her like a ton of bricks. If there is something I may remember about this show, it will be her.
The second character was Shinichiro himself. He could have been unlikable. It would have been easy for him to fall down that path. Did he do a few jerky things? Yes. What saved him was his insistence on making things right.
There were a couple of times when he chose the correct route. It wasn’t always the smoothest. Whenever this happened, the awkwardness wasn’t because of him. Yet when he did make mistakes, he wouldn’t ignore them. Granted, he wouldn’t act right away. But he knew he couldn’t let such things go.
Shinichiro was at his best at the end of the series. He needed to make a choice. Despite it being painful, he made it and he was clear in his meaning. I can respect that.
The third character will be an odd choice for multiple reasons. For one, he was only a small secondary cast member. Also, why I liked him has little to do with who he was. It has more to do with the story surrounding him. Especially since it was one of True Tears’ more interesting plot lines. This person was Shinichiro’s best friend, Miyokichi Nobuse (voiced by Hiroyuki Yoshino).
In this series, Miyokichi was Aiko’s boyfriend. This was troublesome since Aiko had feelings for Shinichiro. This gave True Tears a juicy bit of drama I wanted to see play out. It was, in almost every way, an unfair situation.
Aiko should not have accepted Miyokichi’s confession if she wasn’t sincere. That was on her. Except, when you see how this confession unfolded, Aiko didn’t have much of an option. It was no one’s intention to do so, but she was strong-armed into a response. Saying no must have been next to impossible when Shinichiro was standing right there.
Yet it was Miyokichi who I felt for the most. He could be a headache and was a loud mouth. He wasn’t a bad guy, though. That and he did care about Aiko. His handling of his unrequited relationship was as good as anyone could have done.
This one storyline could have added a lot to True Tears. Emphasis on the “could have”.
Series Negatives
Despite the things I enjoyed, I could never get into this series. Even with what this show got right, there were a ton of flaws. Some of these issues were quick but noticeable. Others ruined any sense of engagement True Tears was trying to create. As I said earlier, there were conditions to each positive.
Let’s go back to the animation. Most of the time everything looked fine. Nothing was stunning, but this show did look nice. That was until the 3D CGI showed up. This didn’t happen often. When it did, though, it wasn’t seamless. It stuck out. This made the scenes that used it come off as cheap and lazy.
I’ll give some benefit of the doubt and think this was not so apparent back in 2008. Too bad that excuse doesn’t hold up. Neither has this animation. It also doesn’t help that I watched Otaku no Video not long before this review. That series is twenty-six years old and it’s still stunning. True Tears is reaching its tenth anniversary soon and it’s already out of date.
While this may not have been the biggest problem, it was a shame to see. Much like the rest of this show.
Messy Story
Messy Story
I said True Tears had some outstanding story moments. The same is not true for the entire package.
I already mentioned the most damning issue. This series didn’t start until episode six. I’m happy it happened later rather than never. Except, why would I recommend anyone to sit through half a show to get to anything good? Especially when what was good wasn’t great. The more standout scenes were few and far between.
Most storylines did not have satisfying resolutions. The ones that did were for plots I couldn’t have cared less about. This had to do with one thing.
There did not need to be three possible routes. Two would have been enough. I know that because that was the ultimate focus. This show took the time to introduce Hiromi, Noa, Aiko, and their relationship with Shinichiro. And then abandoned parts of that setup.
Of the three, Hiromi’s story was the one I was the least interested in. Even though it was kind of a big deal. Except it was only a big deal for about three episodes. You know how I talked about the first half were jack all happened, Hiromi could have been a bigger part of that. Or instead, this series could've gone further and made this a devastating complication.
Lackluster aside, Hiromi wasn't the issue. She had to be here. True Tears could not have worked without her. She gets a pass on this.
With that, it hurt when I thought I realized Noa was the one who didn’t need to be here. This sucked because she was the one character I liked. But there were so many ways this show could have written her out. She wasn’t crucial to anything. For the first six episodes, that is.
Once this series, you know, became something, Noa was key. She was of huge importance.
But that doesn’t make any sense. If there only needed to be two girls and this story needed Hiromi and Noa, that only leaves Aiko. Yet Aiko was critical to the storyline involving Miyokichi. The one I said was True Tears’ most interesting side plot. This can’t be possible because it would mean the show wasted effort creating it. It would be too much of a kick to the gut if this didn’t get some kind of ending.
And you much know where I’m going with.
Of the many story arcs that didn’t get a good resolution, the Aiko-Miyokichi one was among them. Aiko had no reason to be here. This series ignored her so much, I would forget she was even a character. This could have been True Tears. This could have been the single thing to carry this show.
What we got was a jumbled narrative filled with conveniences. As well as problems solved rather than resolved.
One last thing. I said the ending was fine. This is true, I stand by that. What I haven’t mentioned, this was the second ending. The first happened in episode ten, I’ll Do Everything Properly, and it was garbage. But a trash ending is still an ending. The story had done enough to be over. The last three episodes, though a better conclusion, were tacked on.
Sprinkled throughout this mess were stellar moments of storytelling. You’re going to know when you get to them too. You’ll realize, “Oh, I’m actually paying attention.” Except one shouldn't have to sit around and wait for these to come.
Final Thoughts
I had a lot of trouble writing this review. I couldn't find the energy to talk about this show. This was an issue because I could feel myself forgetting everything the moment it was over. Plus, this wasn’t bad enough to get riddled up over. And what was good wasn’t compelling enough to go into detail.
The animation was pleasant, but a little stained. The characters worked, although some weren’t necessary. The story had impressive things, too bad nonsense surrounded them. This series took too long to get started. Once it did, it was more or less stable. Like an old house, it can get you through most weather. But one big storm would be all it takes to send the whole thing crumbling down.
This was underwhelming. I cannot find it in me to recommend True Tears. This is one you can skip.
This was underwhelming. I cannot find it in me to recommend True Tears. This is one you can skip.
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