True Tears - Episode 10 Discussion / Poll

[TinyRedLeaf]

Why this did episode feel like the last?

Only a few more things to add, since most of the major points I could think of have already been discussed, including some that I had not thought about. Great episode, tremendous resolution between Shin and Hiromi. Can't say I didn't see this coming — the signs had been obvious right from the start, and the show didn't deviate much from its original premise. I'm very happy for Hiromi and also quite glad for Shin.

Oooookaay. So what's the point of three more episodes?

Originally Posted by vio5555

As Alfred Lord Tennyson would have said about this series, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

The way they've been slowly drawing things back to those two sketches he drew in the first episode is no surprise, and Noe now realizes what she needs to do to help Shinichirou fly.

We've already seen Hiromi's "true tears." I reckon we're going to see Noe's and Aiko's true tears over the next three episodes as well.

In Noe's case, she stopped crying after her grandmother died. Personally, I think she's been in denial — after losing someone important to her, she responded by distancing herself emotionally from everyone around her (except Jun). She didn't want to suffer the pain of losing someone again.

"If you love somebody, let him go." That's my guess for Noe's resolution. She'll let Shinichiro fly, and realise that it's better "to have loved than never to have loved at all." In so doing, she'd finally resolve her grief over her grandmother's passing as well. Noe "grows up."

As for Aiko, I don't know. So far, her perspective has only been a sidestory at best, so I have no idea what her "true tears" would resolve. It would be interesting though, if she is eventually moved by Miyokichi's sincerity and falls in love with him, this time for real. Perhaps then she'd cry too? Tears of happiness.

[pac2is]

aww nice ending of this ep ^____^
But i still dont know who will end up together...Lol they even might put in a scene where they'll decide to do monogamy (or somethin like that xD) and Shin end up with Hiromi AND Noe xDD
Wanna see next ep

[golthin]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

As for Aiko, I don't know. So far, her perspective has only been a sidestory at best, so I have no idea what her "true tears" would resolve. It would be interesting though, if she is eventually moved by Miyokichi's sincerity and falls in love with him, this time for real. Perhaps then she'd cry too? Tears of happiness.

We already saw Aiko's true tears! She was the first one to cry of all the girls!(not counting the tear hiromi shed when she told shin that they might have been related).Noe's the only one left to shed tears.

[Whitemoon648]

Originally Posted by vio5555

I assume she meant "Is it really [okay]?" about what he had just said before about how she should "Never forget that she's their child as well"...; from that interpretation it would mean that his smile was just affirmation.

But it could be something entirely different...

I thought she meant something like " Do you really mean it" and then affirmation part. So i thought the same , but was confused , because as you even said, it could be something entirely diffrent . I thought they should have chose a better wording for that scene or at least another tone of asking from Hiromi part.


And after i read your post, i think its more clear. I Think, she meant, "Is it really ok .... = For me to think of myself as your child( or can i?) "sort of thing. and thus we get the suprise then happy expression of shin's dad.


Thanks alot for the reply .

[grey_moon]

Right lets start off with highlighting the following post isn't because my girl isn't winning and all of that....

TT really fizzled for me this epi. It isn't even the calm before the storm... It started off great, but in my head and more importantly in my heart the whole thing is unravelling. I don't really know how to describe it.... Someone has already mentioned about the side story of Shin's mum and that is one part of it, but the whole character interaction between Shin and the girls is like Jun's bike, all burnt up.

Nobuse saved it a little. I liked how he severed his heart, but even that didn't really light any fires for me.

Feeling rather sad about the show right now. I hope the next epi picks up a bit.

[DanielSong39]

I've already cut my losses short and moved on. I no longer enjoy watching the show, so what's the point?

It's sad to see the writers butcher such a promising show - as the characters have degenerated and random plot devices and "shock factors" have replaced genuine drama and character development.

Plenty of fish in the sea; plenty of other shows to watch.

[KholdStare]

I didn't feel like commenting for the last couple of episodes because I didn't want to get flamed. For me, True Tears have becoming average, because I seriously think that there's a problem with character development. Aside from the main characters, the series have introduced way too many characters, subplots, and side stories that I'm in a confused state, not confused as in not understanding, but confused as in I want to know more about this particular story, but it's finished.

Even though I didn't really enjoyed this episode as I've enjoyed the first half of True Tears, I did rate it higher than the last episodes. At least something happened, even though it's still quite "boring" to me. However, unlike DanielSong39, I have this weird drive to finish anime I watch, so I'll be finishing this series, no matter how good or bad it is. That said I'm expecting for an amazing ending because this series deserves it.

[golthin]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

I didn't feel like commenting for the last couple of episodes because I didn't want to get flamed. For me, True Tears have becoming average, because I seriously think that there's a problem with character development. Aside from the main characters, the series have introduced way too many characters, subplots, and side stories that I'm in a confused state, not confused as in not understanding, but confused as in I want to know more about this particular story, but it's finished.

Even though I didn't really enjoyed this episode as I've enjoyed the first half of True Tears, I did rate it higher than the last episodes. At least something happened, even though it's still quite "boring" to me. Howeever, unlike DanielSong39, I have this weird drive to finish anime I watch, so I'll be finishing this series, no matter how good or bad it is. That said I'm expecting for an amazing ending because this series deserves it.

I am going to be honest! To me episode 10 would have been the perfect ending for the show! I am not really looking forward to the next episode anymore. Only if something really unexpected happens in episode 11, my enthusiasm for the show has dwindled a lot.

[Muyasuki]

Originally Posted by golthin

I am going to be honest! To me episode 10 would have been the perfect ending for the show! I am not really looking forward to the next episode anymore. Only if something really unexpected happens in episode 11, my enthusiasm for the show has dwindled a lot.

After watching this episode, I thought the exact same thing. After this episode, it will only feel like the series is dragging itself out UNLESS something drastic were to happen in episode 11 which I doubt because there are only two episodes left after it. Unless they plan on switching the pairing of Hiromi/Shin, then this should have been the last episode.

For some reason, I am earnestly hoping for Tomoyo and Nobuse to end up together. . .

[JCMS]

That would rock. But I don't think that's possible. (Tomoyo= blue haired girl right?)

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by JCMS

(Tomoyo= blue haired girl right?)

Yep.
I think it's pretty impossible too.

[vio5555]

Originally Posted by DanielSong39

I've already cut my losses short and moved on. I no longer enjoy watching the show, so what's the point?

It's sad to see the writers butcher such a promising show - as the characters have degenerated and random plot devices and "shock factors" have replaced genuine drama and character development.

Plenty of fish in the sea; plenty of other shows to watch.

The writers didn't butcher anything..., you're unhappy precisely because they did not; you would probably have prefered earlier for the story to have been butchered for the sake of a ShinxNoe ending. Regardless of whether it comes, you're not being at all fair to the show or the writers.

How have any of the characters degenerated?

They're all acting true to their character traits and we're about to see in ep 11 what Jun's really made of and who he really is. Nobuse has become a stronger person for what has happened. Ai as well has, but both of them are still going to have a ways to go before they've truly moved on; either way thats just how disappointment works. After accepting disappointment, you can still feel disheartened by it.

Shin has finally started to be more proactive in the more recent episodes as has Hiromi.

Noe's trying to sort out her feelings as she looks at the distance between her and Shin getting larger, but she's still acting like herself as you could clearly see in the middle and later parts of ep 10; she's just thinking about her emotions a lot.

Jun is possibly the only question mark (even though he is being consistent) as of right now since we need to wait and see how persistent he will be towards Hiromi and what he really feels towards Noe.

Either way, launching an unsubstantiated broadside like 'random plot devices and "shock factors"' is unfair when in reality the story firmly moved into resolution mode a few episodes ago. Everything that's occuring at this point in the series is a direct result of earlier actions and the characters are moving within those constraints for the most part as they search for answers to the big questions.

Finally, I'm just going to say you should be honest. You're disappointed that the story has turned isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows for Noe, but that's a part of the theme of the show, so again, you should have expected it.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by vio5555

Either way, launching an unsubstantiated broadside like 'random plot devices and "shock factors"' is unfair when in reality the story firmly moved into resolution mode a few episodes ago. Everything that's occuring at this point in the series is a direct result of earlier actions and the characters are moving within those constraints for the most part as they search for answers to the big questions.

Agreed absolutely. Is it any surprise that the show made an explicit, blatant reference to the drawing of Hiromi Shin made in the first episode along with the accompanying dialog? Not only did they quote it verbatim and have Hiromi comment directly on that very drawing (mammoth-sized hinting), they completed the thought and he found the answer to his problem as he realized that she was simply waiting for him to take her tears away as well. "Why am I hesitating?" he asked -- like Raigomaru in his picture book, he was afraid of flying, but all he had to do was just take off. The show has remained incredibly consistent in theme and message from the first episode until now, barely deviating from the central issue at all.

So saying that the writers "butchered the show" and "degenerated the characters" is, frankly, complete nonsense from an objective point of view. Watch the beginning of the first episode again, and then watch the end of episode 10 and you'll notice that they connect perfectly. Everything that happened in between fills in the gap that got us from Point A to Point B, as they untangled the web of lies, mistruths, and misunderstandings that were both caused and standing in their way. That was what this show has always been about.

So, frankly, in cases like these, all you can say is "don't let the door hit you on the way out". If you don't like a show, or the way the plot's heading, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with having an opinion! But don't lash out at the writers for doing something perfectly logical and completely consistent. If you can't tame the inner fanboy, then are you really much of a fan?

[DragoonKain3]

From my perspective, the story is far from over. For one, even amongst all the HiromixShin scenes, Shin is still as of this moment going out with Noe. The story is not done until HiromiXShin relationship is broken, or ShinXNoe do break-up.

And God knows what lengths the siscon brother would do in order to keep Noe and Shin together. If he sees Noe crying or depressed because of an imminent break up *cough*NoeInPreview*cough*, there will be hell to pay. You know he's the very type to do something drastic to prevent Shin and Hiromi together just to keep his little sister happy, and I think we're going into that direction next episode.

So no worries guys... I'm pretty sure something will happen next episode.

And besides, Noe still hasn't found her true tears yet while Hiromi already has hers brushed away, if that gives any hope for Noe fans. (Although with the episodes left remaining, I wonder if the scriptwriters can avoid looking contrived when going for a Noe route when everything up to this point has been Hiromi)

[ApostleOfGod]

Honestly though, from this episode, I think Jun actually likes Hiromi to a certain extent. He's possibly developed a liking to her. At first I reasoned that Jun disagrees the break up solely because of Noe, but just like how Shin liked Noe enough to convince himself that he likes her to become her boyfriend, Jun probably likes Hiromi more. It's funny, but sometimes, if you like a person more than how much they want to be liked, they start disliking you.

[grey_moon]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

So, frankly, in cases like these, all you can say is "don't let the door hit you on the way out". If you don't like a show, or the way the plot's heading, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with having an opinion! But don't lash out at the writers for doing something perfectly logical and completely consistent. If you can't tame the inner fanboy, then are you really much of a fan?

Hmmm the steps they have taken is pretty much logical, but something just disconnected in my heart this episode. I've been pretty much active with this show for every episode, but I don't know what it is about this one.... The whole thing just feels premature... Maybe I was expecting some closure? Not too sure really as I got my Ai and Nobu closure I wanted, and I know there is another episode but its kinda flopped for me atm.

If I really dig for something to post, I guess it would be....

Shin has a weird sense of what a girlfriend is.... I thought most lads his age would want some hanky panky, but he wants to wipe away her tears. I guess it is the good boy factor

[Liddo-kun]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Why this did episode feel like the last?

Originally Posted by golthin

I am going to be honest! To me episode 10 would have been the perfect ending for the show!

I somehow agree with the part that this looks and feels like an ending.

But I do remember that there are still some issues that are unresolved, like Noe hasn't cried yet. And if Shin and Hiromi would have a romantic relationship, they still need to resolve the problem with Jun - which I assume would be settled in the final 3 episodes.

[Guardian Enzo]

I'm just baffled by the "boring" complaints - I mean, really, what show did you think you were watching? This was a note-perfect ep, with each of the relationships being developed logically to a more advanced point than at any time in the series, and a truly significant Shin/Hiromi conclusion. I mean - that's what this show is. At least the more general "I hate the show, the writers are butchering it" complaints are explicable - that's just code for "my girl isn't winning, so it sucks now." But the ironic reality is, I don't see Shin X Hiromi as a closed deal yet anyway - they face the danger of peaking too early, and a lot can still happen. But Hiromi moving out of the house is a good sign.

I love Shin as a protagonist in this show - he's the unsung hero of the series. I love how he thinks he's in control of himself at all times, but his face constantly reveals exactly what's going on in his troubled soul. I love how he constantly worries about hurting everyone around him and feels sorry for himself over the guilt it causes him - selfish and compassionate at the same time. And I love how Hiromi's pain moves him more than anything else, and easing that pain is his fondest desire. And how he's the only one that can do that - but his self-doubt and her self-loathing keep them from giving in to each other. And I love how his confession, at the very moment of truth, is "I'll do everything properly" - devotion to duty to the end, even when finally letting his heart guide his actions.

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by vio5555

Either way, launching an unsubstantiated broadside like 'random plot devices and "shock factors"' is unfair when in reality the story firmly moved into resolution mode a few episodes ago. Everything that's occuring at this point in the series is a direct result of earlier actions and the characters are moving within those constraints for the most part as they search for answers to the big questions.

Finally, I'm just going to say you should be honest. You're disappointed that the story has turned isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows for Noe, but that's a part of the theme of the show, so again, you should have expected it.

Well said, it's obvious to me that Daniel is just pissed his girl isn't winning, while he drastically reaches to put down the Hiromi x Shin relationship his looks at Shin and Noes through fanboy eyes. When you see someone try and argue why Noe is better for Shin and not even mention the "deal" between Shin and Jun you just have to face palm. His posts in the Hiromi discussion thread are borderline delusional, how can you say stuff like "draws on her for inspiration for his artwork" about Noe as a positive thing and fail to mention Hiromi has inspired him as well? FFS the very first picture we see Shin draw in episode 1 is inspired by Hiromi... Oh wait I know how! You be a one sided fan boy who doesn't know how to be objective and has selective memory.

Originally Posted by golthin

I am going to be honest! To me episode 10 would have been the perfect ending for the show! I am not really looking forward to the next episode anymore. Only if something really unexpected happens in episode 11, my enthusiasm for the show has dwindled a lot.

I agree it would've been the perfect ending if they had both confessed but there is still a lot to do in this show, I just hope the episode 13 scene can be close to the quality of the scene in regards to the animation, music, emotion, voice acting etc.

[Sorrow-K]

I think the problem with this show (and I can't believe I'm about to say this about an anime) is that it can be a little too subtle at times. There's almost this demand for a tacit acceptance that all the characters are heavily flawed and function on varying levels of irrationality, simply because that's what humans are: irrational creatures. The characters are constantly making mistakes, misjudging those around them, misreading situations or allowing their emotions to get the better of them. It all makes for great drama and genuine complexity, but it doesn't make for terribly sympathetic characters.

I have a theory that the mixed responses in this thread relates to that somehow. There's no two ways about the characters... you have to accept them, flaws and all, to truly sympathize with them. It's not right to expect these characters to "grow" from their respective flaws, because they're so ingrained. It's not really what the story is about. There's character development, but it's not in the obvious "he or she will be a better person for their experiences" direction. Hence the subtlety I was talking about. Most of the characters have changed in some way from the beginning of the series, but trying to pigeon-hole these changes into "good" and "bad" oversimplifies the situation. I think the expectation that one should take a rational approach to the mistakes one makes in relationships, so as to learn from those mistakes, is probably what keeps people like myself from truly connecting with these characters. It's not so much that characters are repeating the same mistakes over and over, it's more the fact that they don't choose to necessarily acknowledge those mistakes. For me, that's what defines a character, but it's simply not the point here, so it's not right to expect this to happen.

Take the relationship between Hiromi and Shinichiro's mother for example. Never mind the fact that Shinichiro's mother's disdain for Hiromi hasn't been explained. It's clearly not important to the story (...people who like rational explanations for everything like myself are already going take offense to this, but we'll ignore it for now). Now that they've made amends, the question remains, what happens to their relationship now? What keeps Shinichiro's mother from falling back into a pattern of unprovoked antagonism towards Hiromi? Is this really resolved, or is it just a temporary armistice formed out of a mutual convenience? These are the sorts of questions that I, myself, just can't help but ask, but a strong argument could be made that the point of the show simply isn't to answer them. The point of the show, I suspect, isn't so much about character development and resolving flaws and troubled relationships. It's almost above that, and more about the twisted knots and tangles formed by the relationships of a group of flawed or confused or troubled characters that aren't so much driven by reason as they are by emotions. Or so as I see it. I'd be interested in seeing what others think the point of the show is.

But that's why I haven't been totally won over by this show. I admire what it's doing, but I'm not in its target audience. I can't help but look at these characters and think "why on earth would you do that" or "I can't understand that decision". I can't separate out enough my own expectations of what a good anime entails (ie, "good anime has likable characters, end of story"), even though this series clearly isn't aimed at that particular idea. These characters are just too flawed for me... but that doesn't mean I can't sympathize with flawed characters. These ones just follow a thought process that is too far removed from my own.

Doesn't mean I don't like this anime. It just wouldn't got in my top ten list. Technically, it continues to be impeccable. Have a look at the cinematography. There's almost this rhythmic regularity to how the camera angles change, particularly towards the end of this episode leading up to the insert song, and each shot is clearly carefully chosen. The animation and visual directing in this are just so professional.

I had a problem with the "she's moving out of home" plotline because I saw virtually the same thing happen in Kimikiss. It's not a frequent plotline (I remembered it happening in Koi Kaze a number of years ago), but the fact that I saw it twice in the same week kinda lessened its impact.

Interesting ep, but it simply hasn't captured me (because of the characters), so my emotional reaction to it was limited.