He meets Isurugi Noe in an unfateful encounter. Shin’ichiro begins to get closer to Noe, and develops affection for her.
Story: (6/10)
“The you inside me is always crying. I wanted to wipe away your tears. But I never got to know the feeling of wiping the tears away from your soft cheeks.” – Shin’ichiro Nakagami
Those first lines. Those sweet lines will reel you in instantly.
It was emotional. Most of it. The story was wonderful. It had a good beginning. And with each passing episode, you’ll be wanting some more. But, unfortunately, when it got to the falling action, it made it less interesting. Truths are revealed, friendships got crushed. It was unexpectedly expected. When the Mugiha Festival came in, it will draw you in again. Then, after that, it will drive you back down. It had that intermittent up-and-down feel that will make you love and hate the storyline.
Oh, and two words: Bad Ending. Its ending was depressing. I hated it! Hate, hate, hate. I simply hated it.
Also, watch out for Raigomaru and Jibeta’s story. It is heartwarming. It was impressive. Thumbs up on Shin-chan for that.
Art: (10/10)
P.A. Works. That’s what encouraged me to watch True Tears. P.A. Works did an outstanding job animating Angel Beats!, so I thought that I should watch more animes produced by them. And it didn’t fail me. The one thing that you will certainly love about True Tears is that its animation is perfectly done. Splashes of water, a chicken eating a sausage, a chicken flapping its wings, flowing of sweat, walking people with shadows following them, a motorcycle, basketballs, dancing with props, the sea: all of it was impressively done. Even the ending animation, where everybody was in chibi form, was very admirable. I expected nothing less from P.A. Works. Two thumbs up.
Sound: (10/10)
The music will carry you away. It fits the moment, and will really capture you. It really compensated the not-so-good plot of the series. Hajime Kikuchi is definitely the one to praise.
Aira Yuuki has a beautiful voice that sounds right for the ending theme. I like eufonius’ opening theme, too. It was very melodious. But when I heard its instrumental, plus Hajime Kikuchi’s numerous instrumentals of Reflectia (with a different title, but sounds about the same), it sounded much better.
My favourites would be (in order): Mujaki sa wo Senaka ni, Orange ga Ochite Iku Toki, Madobe ni mo Tareru Shoujo (Violin Ver.), Kagami, Kimi wo Utsushite, and Kokoro Kasanete. They were all very sweet and easy on the ears. Ichijin no Kaze sounds cool, too. And Aburamushi no Uta, Noe’s song, is so adorable.
Character: (3/10)
Most of them were awful. Really. The only character you’d love is Noe.
I found a photo in this link: http://i50.tinypic.com/2mfdg09.jpg. That actually sums up your description to the 5 main characters.
Shin’ichiro was not very likeable. Yes, he’s good-looking; Yes, he’s nice. We already know male characters who are like that. And these male characters are oblivious to the feelings of the female characters around him. Sounds familiar? Yes. It does. That’s why you’re going to expect something different from him, something that will separate him from others. What you’ll like about him though is that he is a writer in need of an inspiration. He wants to produce a story book. And as he meets Noe, he becomes motivated to continue on pursuing his dream.
There are other characters that didn’t play big parts, but will make you hate them on purpose. Kanae, Aiko, Jun. They are just a few of the characters that you will dislike, no doubt about it. Noe was amazing and remarkable. She will touch your heart. She was really moving.
On the other hand, Shin’ichiro’s bestfriend, Nobuse Miyokichi, besides the fact that he was terrible at the beginning, will get you attached to him for the reason that he is going through an unrequited love. (Oh, you can relate? Lol.)
I also wanted to see the other supporting characters a chance to get more exposure. I know they’re just supporting characters, but they still deserve to be seen.
Enjoyment: (8/10)
Aside from the negative parts of True Tears, you will enjoy watching it some ways you could not explain. There are funny scenes, there are heartbreaking scenes. It will surprise you that it managed to make you watch it up until the end.
Overall: (7/10)
Overall, it’s not as bad as it seems. All you need to give is the right appreciation. It may be that True Tears is not different from any other harems that you have watched from the past, but it still manages to separate itself from others.
