Holy mackerel, this episode was practically overloading with plot and character development. The prediction I made about Hiromi being Shinichirou’s half-sister did get unveiled this episode although I am of the opinion that it was either a lie, especially if you consider Hiromi’s final line in this episode, or that it isn’t actually true. Also, something of this calibre just isn’t supposed to pop up in the middle of the show. :P We still have seven more episodes here!

I know Noe didn’t really have much of a role in this episode but I wanted to compliment her voice actress, Ayahi Takagaki, for what a great job she did this episode. In particular, I wanted to bring up the second time she articulated Shinichirou’s name when they were by the steps at school and the final line at the end of the previews, those lines were simply beautiful.

Will true tears be able to keep up with itself? I’m a little concerned about the future episodes given the recent developments. Can they keep pulling off these awesome cliffhangers every episode from now until the end? We can only hope.

We had some very interesting developments in this episode in my opinion. As I predicted, they didn’t go into the details regarding Hiromi’s parents at all. But look at that, there are hints about it in this episode’s preview. Will we finally get some answers in episode 6?

We certainly got quite a few misunderstandings that scars different people’s relationship that is typical of these shows in this episode. They usually end up getting resolved properly at the end of the series so I still am hoping for a Shinichiro x Hiromi pairing at the end of the series.

These writers really know how to pull off these cliffhangers with the way this episode ended. I really don’t know what to expect in the next episode. I mean, what’s going to happen to Miyokichi? How is Aiko going to explain herself out of that awkward outburst? It just seems way too out of place, surely she has to be honest with herself this time around.

This episode seemed a little slow compared to the past two episodes. Nothing of grave importance really happened though we did get a glimpse of how deep Shinichirou’s mother’s hatred for Hiromi went. Well, it’s hard to say whether ‘hate’ is really the right word, but we can all see that it’s pretty obvious that she doesn’t like Hiromi. The preview for the next episode did hint at potentially explaining it all, but I don’t know, you know how tricky these writers are, right?

This episode seemed to somewhat imply to the viewer that Noe doesn’t exactly like Shinichirou but is interested in him as a person. Of course, this feeling of concern could easily sprout into love, which is probably why her brother made that move at the end of the episode.

I noticed a few minor problems with the art in this episode and although they did bother me, they weren’t really all over the place so it wasn’t like they were making an entire scene look ridiculous. But, it does prove that it’s quite possibly impossible to have a perfect “art run”.

I’m sure you can all tell that this episode pretty much drove me nuts since I actually went out of my way to create a separate blog post just for nothing that fact. I don’t see how this series will have any time for any kind of a “filler” episode in the midst of what happened in this episode. I know that there’s nothing groundbreaking about the current plot with these “misunderstandings”, but I don’t know, it’s still managed to get me extremely agitated over wanting to know what’s going to happen next.

Whatever happens, I just hope that Shinichirou doesn’t end up with Ai at the end of the season (for whatever reasons). It seems highly unlikely at the moment, but hey, you never know. I’d just really prefer not having another Shuffle! experience, you know? That’s fair, right? I don’t personally think that Hiromi has a chance here, but let’s just not do anything too far out, eh?

In any case, the previews have only hinted at more anti-Hiromi progression with the comment by Noe’s brother. What exactly is Noe’s true motive? How will Hiromi dig herself out of the hole she just dug? What role will Tomoyo play in all of this (I think she’s a cool character)? And why does Shinichirou’s mother despise Hiromi so much? One possible theory I came up with recently on the last question I posed just now could be because Hiromi is actually Shinichirou’s dad’s illegitimate daughter (oh, please don’t be true), or he might have been having an affair with Hiromi’s mother or something. I really don’t know. I know it’s odd that I’d come up with such a repulsive theory when I actually want Shinichirou and Hiromi together, but well, it’s just what came into my head.

I don’t like where this plot is heading. It’s clearly steering away from my preferred pairing. Admittedly, it’s only on its third episode, so I guess it could all change…but still, it bothers me. I’ll have a full review of episode 3 by Tuesday night at the latest. In any case, this show totally has me hooked. The ending of this episode was very clichéd but it did serve as an awesome cliffhanger and the previews only hinted at more interesting things to come.

I present to you an edited conversation I had with Jacky from a couple of days ago.

Hiromi Yuasa: No wonder this show looks good.
Jacky: http://truetears.jp/ ok la
Hiromi Yuasa: ^lol, the official site’s first pic is pos
Hiromi Yuasa: I will NOT argue with you for that. In fact, I will AGREE.
Jacky: lol kk

The picture on the official website at the time looked like this…

…I suppose calling it a “piece of shit” is a little harsh, but when you compare it with stuff from the actual show, it really pales in comparison. Thankfully, they had the sense to change it about recently…

…ah, that’s looking much better. Now all I need is for them to release wallpapers for download or something. They probably won’t fit though, unfortunately, since my resolution of 1920×1200 is pretty high. ;)

This episode was another visually impressive episode. I don’t know how they do it, but holy cow. Episodes three and four is usually when they break, so let’s all just sit tight and see what happens when those episodes goes on the air. Now please note that while everything looked nice and all, there were some disturbing shots in this episode. I mean, how can anyone forget this one from the last scene of this episode?

Doesn’t that just creep you out? It sure creeps me out anyway, I mean, I’m a Hiromi fan and all, but woah! I just hope that this isn’t supposed to foreshadow the docking of any “nice boats”. It’s still early but I’m already kind of torn here. You all know I love sad endings but on the other hand, I think I might soften up to an ending with the pairing of my liking (Shinichirou and Hiromi of course, oh I had such a fuzzy feeling inside when their hands collided). Sad endings are great and all but I’m not sure if I want a “brutal ending” per se.

Anyway, unlike the slow and mellow start we had in the first episode, it seems that this second episode has already sent the plot moving along. I’m not sure what to make of the whole “tears” business since it’s all kind of mystical and surreal but the show itself doesn’t really give me the feeling of there being any “magical properties” like the stuff Key does. Oh well, we’ll all find out in due time.

With a new season comes another (romance?) drama series that ultimately ends up being under my radar. This season is no different with the arrival of true tears. Let’s be honest with each other here now, you all knew I was going to end up blogging about this one. I mean, what genre could please me more than this one?

The first episode of true tears has been a pretty slow start. Besides giving us some simple introductions to the main characters, it really didn’t do much else. Nothing smelling of a premise is even hinted at so it’s all pretty vague at the moment. No matter, I am extremely patient with these shows anyway.

I will say that this first episode was certainly quite an eye-opener as the art was absolutely beautiful. I don’t know where they got this money from but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried over whether they can keep this up or not in the coming episodes. On the music front, both opening and ending themes were very nice and the opening’s animation was particularly impressive. The first bit of it with all the leaves was executed very nicely and the CG part around the end was pretty cool in my opinion. I haven’t really taken notice of the show’s score too much but the track they played near the beginning and end of the episode was quite good. I’m not familiar with the voice actors of this series at all but I’m pretty content with the casting decision thus far. Let’s just hope that all these great “asides” don’t go to waste with a mediocre story and/or a deteriorating production due to the budget being completely spent on this episode. ;)