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Visually and character design-wise, I think that True Tears hit the sweet spot between "too detailed" and "too streamlined".
If True Tear's' character designs were any more detailed, it probably would have been much harder to animate well, and the characters might have felt less "moe" to some viewers.
But if those character designs were any more streamlined, they'd risk losing their visual distinctiveness.
The problem is that P.A. Works went from this sweet spot to increasingly streamlined. First, it became a bit more streamlined in Hanasaku Iroha. Then they went ever farther with Tari Tari. With Tari Tari, it really did take me a long time to tell Sawa and Wakana apart (well, unless Sawa was wearing that one particular outfit of her's that was just out of this world fantastic, lol).
It would be nice if P.A. Works tried to get back to the balance they achieved with True Tears. Not that I expect them to, mind you. HSI and Tari Tari both sold better than True Tears after all.
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