[ Episode 13: ...your tears ]

I’d like to announce that this is our 1000th entry! I almost didn’t realize until a few days ago but it feels good to have so many posts.

Hmm, let’s see…where to start there. This episode was a rather good conclusion to a great series. From day one I was caught up into the world and characters true tears presented to me. In almost no time I had identified my favorite characters and not-so-favorite characters but there wasn’t anyone I disliked. That said, what happened in this episode wasn’t surprising by a long shot. The twists were over and the time had come for closure on all the relationships present. Some would argue that Shin ending up with Hiromi is consistent with the series overall theme. That is, overcoming obstacles and growing from the lessons learned during those hard times. Hiromi in particular drove this theme through the entire story and her persistence or “flying” brought her through the worst of it all, rewarding her with safely securing Shin’s heart as her own. Noe also adopted this theme in the very end which enabled her to be able to move forward with her life. Shin was inspired by her and he in turn re-inspired her. No one is left with bitter feelings and even Ai and Nobuse are doing well.

Overall, this episode couldn’t have been done any better. Well, I suppose that depends on whether or not you’re a Hiromi or Noe fan. Though no matter the outcome, both camps should be able to agree that the writing and character development was excellently done from beginning to end and that nothing was thrown in at the last minute that didn’t make sense.

[ Final Thoughts ]

So, am I disappointed at the final pairing? Maybe a little but that doesn’t effect my overall thoughts and feelings on the series as a whole. Though I did feel sad for Noe’s loss. However, what transpired near the end between her and Shin just goes to show that it is possible to be in love with one girl and have strong feelings for another. Those feelings don’t have to be romantic in nature either. So while Noe didn’t win over Shin, she is able to move forward and even managed to make new friends. Oh yes, and she was finally able to regain her tears thanks to Shin after seeing the confession he made to her in rocks in the past. I’m glad that it’s all over now though, as I feel everything has been resolved and nothing more needs to be said or done (well, an “after” episode would be acceptable).

true tears ended up being something totally different from what I expected in the beginning. Its characters, music, pacing, and writing all took me by surprise and screamed high quality from start to finish. If you’re looking for a great romance with characters that are believable and receive wonderful development, true tears is easily a must-see in that regard and others.

[Overall series review: 87/100]

[ Episode 12: From My Eyes Which Have Seen Nothing ]

OW. Was I the only one who winced when Noe hit the ground at the end of the episode? The sound effect was so perfectly done and really made me say “Ow.” after hearing it. Obviously, Noe was trying to see if she can fly and, well, I guess she knows now that she can’t LITERALLY fly. That and she’s likely to have a broken leg. Well, she’ll be okay since Shin is there to help her.

Interestingly enough, we had two cases of ‘true tears’ in this episode. The first was from Hiromi when she told Noe to leave her and Shin alone and the second incident from Jun when he revealed to Noe that he had loved her just a little more than a sister and realised that he can never act upon those feelings. Well, that brings closure to Jun’s issues.

As for Hiromi, we’re shown her super insecure side. Her saying that she is Shin’s girlfriend, telling Noe to leave them alone, and then whispering to Shin (who couldn’t have possibly heard her) to not leave her while taking off one of her shoes (recall that she lost one in her childhood flashbacks) all summed up to some awkward moments that bring their relationship into question. At this point in the story, we’re still not sure which way Shin will go and that proves just how awesome the writers of this show are with character development and interaction. While the ending sort of escapes me at the moment I’m hoping that it ends on an exciting note whether Noe or Hiromi end up being the chosen girl in the end (by now I’m sure you should know who my favorite girl is).

[ Episode 11: I'm Not the Person You Like ]

This episode did a wonderful job of conveying Shin’s conflicting feelings. Despite what happened in the last episode it is still not clear who truly is the one in Shin’s heart: Noe or Hiromi. He had a lot of thoughts of Noe during most of this episode, even while he was with Hiromi near the beginning. At this point I’m not sure I can even guess which one of them is his true love. In regards to how he feels toward Noe, perhaps it’s that ‘you never know how much you loved her until she’s gone’ situation? Or something like that.

It’s great to see that Aiko and Nobuse are still friends though. I’m sure that something will work out between the two in the future if they’re patient and careful.

Another thing I’d like to mention is the use of music in this episode. That piano piece that played during the kiss scene was well-placed and did wonders for my ears. I particularly liked the song that was playing during the very last moments of the episode when Shin finally found Noe. I’m hoping that they do even better with the last two episodes since I’m sure some powerful scenes will be in them.

[ Episode 10: Because I Do Everything Perfectly ]

If one didn’t know any better, you’d probably think that this was a final episode. Well, almost anyway. The execution, particularly near the end, was done very well. Still, I felt that entire scene was a bit overdone. Either that or Hiromi is just an extremely slow runner. Oh, right, Hiromi also moved out in this episode so the thing I mentioned in the previous episode entry isn’t much of a problem now. Who knows what will happen between these two now with three episodes left. I’m guessing the Hiromi/Shin fans are eating it all up at this point though. Whatever the case may be, it’s still too early to be celebrating with the finale three weeks away. After all, a lot of stuff can happen in three episodes.

I’m not sure about Ai-chan’s feelings at the moment. She seems to have recovered from the breakup with Nobuse and has “graduated” from Shin. Despite all that I can’t help but feel there’s still more to go. That said, perhaps she’ll get back together with Nobuse. Nobuse himself is supposedly taking it well but I don’t think that’s the case. Either way, it’d be nice to see both of them have happy endings. Being alone and happy isn’t really that good of an ending in my opinion.

The next episode seems to be about Jun. It seems like he still hasn’t let go of the ‘agreement’ so I’m wondering just what will happen. Naturally, I’d think he’ll see how Noe is acting and probably would question Shin about what happened. Overall, I think it’s hard to predict what will happen in the next episode since Jun doesn’t seem to be one to back down easily but he doesn’t seem to be a person who would do anything extreme either. With his feelings for Noe still not exactly clear (he’s not an outright siscon just yet IMO) and his decision not to stop seeing Hiromi, the next episode should prove to be quite an interesting one.

[ Episode 9: You're Having A Hard Time Flying... ]

*Sigh*. I don’t really know what to say about this episode. Well…I can say that I’m disappointed that it seems like Noe and Shin broke up (or will break up). I can be reading it wrong so that may or may not be the case. Though when I think about it, in some ways I don’t really find an outcome like that all that surprising since Shin likely didn’t devote his entire self to her. Of course, that’s because he still had Hiromi on the brain. That much was obvious at the beginning of the episode when he just embraced her right in front of Noe. Obviously it wasn’t just the normal kind of “I’m glad you’re alright” embrace either. Geh…anyway, I’m also glad to see that Shin’s mother seems to have settle down drastically. She’s a really nice woman when she’s not out to cut Hiromi down and I’m glad that it has come to an end (which was really one of the few things I liked about this episode). Though now that I think about it I’m probably in the minority of those that actually liked her prior to this ‘reform’.

Now that we’re enter the last stretch my thoughts are on what will happen with all the characters. Who will be the final couples and who will end up alone. One would think that now that Hiromi is getting along so well with the family now, especially Hiromi’s mother, that it’ll be hard for anything to develop between her and Shin. After all, it’s not like the parents are just going to let their son and their adopted daughter become girlfriend and boyfriend, right? Right?!

[ Episode 8: A Town Where It Doesn't Snow ]

You know, Noe and Shin are a pretty damn cute couple. One of the cutest I’ve seen actually. I just wonder how things will go between them with Jun and Hiromi now into the mix of their lives. Out of everything that’s going on, Noe is the most innocent here and probably has no idea of what’s going on. That said, what Hiromi said about her innocent face wasn’t very nice at all. Sure it might have been her “true feelings” or rather her repeating what Shin’s mother said but that’s hardly an excuse to say such things. Bleh, I guess girls will be girls anyway so it was probably unavoidable. Besides that, I wonder where Jun and Hiromi are headed?

Additionally, Ai was shot down pretty fast though I guess it’s for the best. After all, something like that probably wouldn’t have worked being dragged on for too long especially when the other two girls have much more presence in Shin’s life. Still though, her situation doesn’t seem to have been wrapped up yet so I expect to see something within the next two or so episodes.