True Tears 07, I hate cliffhangers
February 17th, 2008 by Shirukii
The frustration that I feel right now for having to wait another week to see how this turns out is immeasurable. I mentioned before that a reason why I love/hate True Tears and Kimikiss is their annoying aptitude at cliffhangers, and they really outdid themselves this past week, first Kimikiss with Mao’s confession and now True Tears leaving us hanging just as Ai-chan makes her feelings quite clear.
That said, great episode for Noe and Ai-chan, I’m really torn between the two now, if Shin ends up with one of them, I’ll be quite happy…not so much for Hiromi though, as she’s gone back to being harder to read than my thermodynamics textbook. While I don’t particularly like or dislike her, she’s currently the most undeserving of Shin’s attention in True Tears.
Episode Rating: 9.5/10
After having the whole sibling bomb dropped on him by Hiromi, she goes back to being completely stoic within the Nakagami household, leaving Shin a confused mess as he tries to figure out if the whole ordeal is was just his mom scheming against Hiromi or if it’s the truth.
At school that day, lunchtime rolls around and Shin is offered his daily rations by Noe, who tells him that she thinks he’s not being thrown into disarray be her presence, but rather by trying to figure everything out all by himself, in these situations it helps to have someone alongside you. However, Shin just shrugs her off with a simple “you don’t understand”.
So instead, Noe goes to the root of the problem, and forces Hiromi to have lunch with her where she accuses her of being the source of Shin’s problems. Noe tells Hiromi to apologize to Shin, that he no longer looks at the sky, even though he can fly, and that it’s probably Hiromi’s fault. Hiromi gets pissed that Noe would accuse her like that, like she understands her, because she doesn’t. Now Noe is mad too, having been told twice in a row that she doesn’t understand the situation, she knows she doesn’t, so why can’t they just tell her instead of ignoring her.
The exchange of words eventually builds up into a physical fight, which is soon after broken up by Shin. He asks Noe what’s gotten into her, she simply replies that she wants to understand him, she wants to help him, she knows he’s suffering yet he won’t let her help. Suddenly, something in Shin’s head clicks and he asks Noe if she likes him…romantically. With a semi-embarrassed, semi-angry look on her face, Noe runs off without answering him.
Even more confused than he was at the beginning of the day, Shin pours his frustration into his dance practice with Ai-chan looking on as the rest of the group praises him. Afterwards, as they’re walking home together, Ai-chan reminds Shin that she measured his shoulders for the sweater, and asks if he would want her to knit one for him too. But before he can answer, Jun shows up to talk business, so Shin sends Ai-chan home ahead of him.
Jun wastes no time, reminding Shin that he asked Hiromi out, so now it’s his turn to do the same to Noe. Shin says he never made such a deal, but he can’t deny that he suggested it, jokingly or not, so Jun still expects him to hold up his end.
Meanwhile, Ai-chan gets a call from Nobuse asking to come over for a while. Nobuse tries to be his usual self, doing his best to act the boyfriend part. But when he asks how his sweater is coming along, the conversation takes a turn for the worse, Ai-chan tells him that she can’t do it, she can’t finish knitting a sweater for him. She goes on, asking Nobuse if he remembers that the shrine where they stand is where Shin made her listen to Nobuse’s confession. Just as she’s about to finish off her point, that she’s actually always loved Shin, Nobuse stops her, saying he doesn’t want to hear anymore, grabs her hand and tells her that she’s the only girl for him…
Shin gets home to find his family situation as complicated as ever, his mom continuing to harass Hiromi and Hiromi continuing to ignore his offers of help. He goes up to his room and begins to think, does he actually like Noe? He’s been thinking of Hiromi for so long that he never even considered Noe romantically, but now that he’s pretty much given up on Hiromi, he figures he must like Noe, else things wouldn’t have gotten as complicated as they have.
Over at Noe’s house, she’s just as confused. She tells Jun that she thinks she’s in love, that she’s so embarrassed she can’t even look Shin directly in the eyes anymore, and it’s scary, changing, that is. Jun comforts her, telling her that there’s nothing wrong with changing, that actually, change is a necessary.
The next day during lunch, Nobuse says he isn’t feeling well and declines Shin’s invitation to go eat together, on surprise there, seeing as his “girlfriend” all but said she’s in love with his best friend. So instead, Shin chases down Noe, and I mean that quite literally. Realizing her feelings for Shin, Noe tries to run away from him, but is caught rather easily, after which Shin confesses and asks Noe if she’ll go out with him. Noe blushes a light shade of red and asks him to make it absolutely clear, telling him to write it down. Taking some nearby rocks and using Noe’s gloves to finish it off, he writes it out “I like you Noe”. Seeing it written out, Noe says she feels like crying, yet she’s not sad, she’s so happy that she could almost cry.
After school, Shin heads over to Ai-chan’s place as usual, standing outside in the freezing cold with snow piling up on top of him. As soon as he gets inside, Shin tells Ai the news, that after a strange sequence of events, he’s now going out with Isurugi Noe. Ai stands, frozen, for a second, then throws a towel in Shin’s face and starts to wrestle around with him, eventually kissing him. As their lips part, Ai-chan asks him with a pleading look in her eyes, a look of shock and confusion on his, “Please, please look at me too.”
Thoughts
Well, don’t I look like an idiot for previously saying that Ai-chan didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning Shin over, she’s very much in the game now. I’d love to see Ai end up with Shin at the end, if she pulls it off, it will have been very well deserved. Despite her early weakness in remaining complacent with her relationship with Nobuse, she came to terms with her feelings and started to work towards setting things straight. Last week I noted that giving a guy false hope when it comes to love is far FAR worse than outright rejecting him from the start, it’s certainly not the reason why Ai broke it off with Nobuse (or at least is trying) but the end result is the same, she’s fixing her mistakes. Whether or not it’s too late remains to be seen, let alone the fact that Shin just started dating Noe, you could tell by Shin’s expression after she kissed him that he just got completely blindsided, evidence of the childhood friend effect. Shin hadn’t thought much about Noe in a romantic sense, there’s no way that he could have fathomed the idea that Ai-chan might be in love with him too. That will be the hardest hurdle to overcome for their love to grow.
Gotta feel sorry for Nobuse in all this though, it’s been downhill for him ever since he confessed. A relationship based on feelings of obligation is doomed before it starts. I love how they portray Nobuse’s character, every time he talks with Ai-chan he constantly brings up their relationship and their girlfriend-boyfriend status, constantly looking for some response from Ai-chan, for some vindication of his feelings, but all he gets are averted gazes and conversation deflectors, that’s gotta hurt. He scared me for a second in the shrine scene where he told Ai-chan that she’s the only one for him, almost in an “if I can’t have you, no one can” tone. But the next day at school he sort of submits himself to defeat, thinking that if it’s Shin he loses to, it might be okay.
It’s a tough call, but I think i still prefer Noe ever so slightly over Ai-chan, perhaps it’s that element of mystery and unpredictability that makes her so appealing. At the beginning of the series I noted that her ability to manipulate Shin was perfect, but wasn’t sure if her feelings for him were romantic. From her behavior in this episode, it would seem that they weren’t at that point. Because when she actually realized that she was in love with the guy, she fell apart, barely able to face him, let alone manipulate him. I lol’d so hard when Shin confessed to her and her face slowly became a shade of red.
I suppose another reason why I like Noe is because she’s the most straightforward, non-cryptic of the three. She tried to help Shin by talking to both him and Hiromi, only to be told that she can’t help because she “doesn’t understand”, so in response, she asks them to explain things so she CAN understand. Now that may seem intuitively obvious, but how often do you actually see someone react like that, at least in the realm of anime…
…contrast to Hiromi, who’s all over the place with her feelings and actions. There’s been a lot of bashing/defending of Hiromi, and even though I try to remain impartial in it all, I’m still finding myself annoyed with her. It’s not like I don’t understand her situation, the complexity of it surely puts her in a tight spot and I don’t really blame her for her actions, but that doesn’t make them any less frustrating to me, a viewer. Regardless of how hard we try to put ourselves in Hiromi’s shoes or in Shin’s as the recipient of her actions, we’re watching this anime from an omniscient perspective, and as such, I for one think Hiromi’s actions are stupid.
But with that in mind, I still think she has the best chance at ending up with Shin, if not for the sole fact that she’s gotten the least development so far. If you take the Key model of harem arcs, this means that she’ll have the last section of the show devoted to her, and will thus “win”. I’m alright with that, as long as it’s not a stupid last minute reversal where Hiromi suddenly realizes the err of her ways and Shin just jumps willingly away from Ai and Noe into her arms. Hiromi better work for her love, because Noe and Ai-chan sure as hell are, and nothing would anger me more than to see all that be for naught just because Hiromi wills it to.
tl;dr: Basically, while Noe > Ai > Hiromi, in my books, I don’t have a preference as to who Shin ends up with, so long as it’s well justified.
Preview for the next episode doesn’t give much in terms of speculation. Just Noe going all rabu rabu, Shin’s mom being her usual bitchy self and Jun continuing to treat everything like a game. Yeah, leave out Ai-chan huh? Bastards…
. . .
~ Shirukii ~
33 Responses to “True Tears 07, I hate cliffhangers”
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CURSE YOU SHIRUKII AND YOUR SUPPORT OF NOE D:
I think this is the first time we have had a different opinion on who deserves who.
Once again, I find Noe being out of place. She is in no position what so ever to blame Hiromi for Shin’s depression. Don’t you forget that she said the first verbal attack and tried to land the first physical attack. Already been told, “you don’t understand” twice, she should realize her place.
I find it strange how you would so often put Noe’s character in reality, but stay persistent in seeing Hiromi only as a character.
Ai > Hiromi > the chicken > Noe
On another note, I love Ai-chan’s clothing :D They are so pretty, especially the knee socks boots combo.
Cliffhanger? “An Avalanche of Thrills” http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1152/cliffhangerspreadao1.jpg
I like how you placed that seductive poultry screencap last.
RIP Raigomaru.
Good episode. I prefer ai-chan of the three, but unlike clannad (damn that Nagisa) i wouldn’t mind either if went to the person who most deserved it. Noe and Ai are great characters who so far shows a lot more depth than hiromi.
I had not planned on watching True Tears, but then I marathoned it. Not many people like Hiromi, yet I do. Characters who are not easy to read interest me. Noe…I’m ambivalent to her. Ai, I really don’t like just because of the situation with Nobuse - there’s nothing worse loving someone and not having love reciprocated…
DAMNED CLIFFHANGERS!
Now the question is, how will Hiromi make herself stand out as a contender. If Noe = flirtations bordering on harassment and Ai = stealing a kiss, will Hiromi = RAEP?
As much as I look forward to Clannad and (due to the recent developments and speed ups of plot) SnS II, I’ve gotta say with True Tears episodes ending the way it does, I find it more and more unbearable to wait another week.
I originally hoped Hiromi to win out, but now I’m going to be very interested that, IF she somehow makes a comeback and wins (I had high bets on her for a while, but they’ve lessened with time, especially now considering Jun’s “It’s okay to change” line.), how Noe will be affected. As a new possibility, I’m wondering if the show might even go Ichigo 100% manga-end with Hiromi confessing and Shin still choosing Noe over her. Wowzerz, that’d be something. o.o
By the way, does anyone here besides me think Jun is an ass? I mean, he might be siscon for Noe and all, but the guy’s effectively proven again this episode that he doesn’t give a damn about Hiromi, and this’ll probably prove to be troublesome later, perhaps a catalyst for Hiromi finally acting on her feelings for Shin?
Ah, it’s nice to speculate, isn’t it?
P.S. If Nobuse somehow goes Taisuke when Ai officially dumps him, I’m gonna be very pissed off.
My my my.. I am totally into this one now.
I was really cheering for Aiko but now that Noe has confessed her love to herself and Shin.. I really hope he doesn’t let her down..
I am wondering if Shin’s mom lied to Hiromi to keep her away from her son?
This is great
^ I wouldn’t think so. If that were the case, why would she hate Hiromi’s mother so much?
Then again, there could be the chance that, despite Shin’s father having relations with Hiromi’s mother, she might’ve been pregnant beforehand?
I would think that would be the most logical route to go through should Hiromi win in the end. Or, maybe they just won’t care like Shuuri and Shusuke from M; Y. OR maybe Shin’s real father is Hiromi’s father and ZOMG plot twist!
Again, speculation is great.
I was on the Hiromi bandwagon for a long while…….but she’s definitely been relegated to 3rd place……
Noe——–>Ai-chan——–>Hiromi
This was a DAMN good episode……there was quite literally no wasted screen-time……Love when that happens! :D
Poor Ai-chan :(……She’s been trying to break it off with Nobuse for the last two eps. and yet he still hangs on by a thread……
Oh well……he seems to have accepted fate…….
DAMN CLIFFHANGERS!
Jun can be a nice guy sometimes, like when he’s with Noe or Hiromi. When he’s with Shin, he’s a bit of a stuck-up ass.
Noe just pisses me off. She’s rather snobby and arrogant (to me) at times, and an immature brat the rest of the time. Aiko is…hmm…She annoys me as well, for not being honest with Nobuse. Let’s compare True Tears to Kanon for a second. Noe is like Ayu (God, even her blushy face is just like Ayu’s taiyaki face), while Aiko is somewhat similar to Nayuki.
I find Hiromi fascinating though. I like her character design, and her (relatively) tragic history. She is kind of like Mai.
Obviously, I’m rooting for Hiromi, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen. What interests me most is the fact that they could pull a nice boat on us. It is rather out of character for pretty much everybody, but it would be hilarious.
I don’t know what to say much about Hiromi x Shin thing. It doesn’t seem to go like what I want it in term of Hiromi and Shin’s relationship. However, I like this episode a lot. It builds up nice tension for up coming episode (based on the preview). I really like what Miyokichi said and did in this episode. The guys got a big heart for letting Ai-chan go. I don’t know about you but when I see Noe’s blush. I found it to be funny. Usually, when I see a girl character’s blush I will be like ” Awww, that’s cute,” but in term of Noe I was like “Haha, that’s funny.” LOL. Oh well, no matter what I will stick with Hiromi x Shin ending. To me, it is this: Hiromi > Noe > Ai-chan. Sorry, Shirukii.
BTW, Shirukii, Thermodynamic is the shit. It’s one of the coolest subject ever. But I agree, Hiromi’s emotion is harder to read than Thermodynamic at the moment =)
I fully understand why this episode did not get a 10 out of 10. It is because nobody punched Shinichiro in the face. Ai’s towel could have counted if it weren’t for the follow-up kiss.
Seriously, though…
So Shinichiro asks one girl out and gets passionately kissed by another girl. Am I the only one here seeing the parallel to “School Days?” I’ll be generous and give Shinichiro 2 episodes to make it clear to all parties exactly where he stands relationship-wise. If he blows it, I’ll officially support Knife & Saw FTW.
And did anybody see the “Fake Tears” omake? That made me giggle helplessly. I hope there is more “Fake Tears” to come.
Ai gets cool anime hair right after she kiss Shinichiro. :)
Can we watch one romance show without a School Days reference?
To answer your question, no I don’t see any parallel to School Days, since the situation and above all, the characters, are totally different. So what was he supposed to do, he got kissed completely out of the blue. If it were me, I would be too shocked to say a word or do anything for that matter, so I totally understand his reaction.
Geez…give the guy a break for once! Sometimes I feel like guys in romance shows are hated just for being guys…
@darwin: Now hey now… I certainly don’t hate all guys in romance shows. Tomoya (Clannad), Yuuichi (Kanon), Yukito (Air), Yukinari (Girls Bravo), Hirose (H20), Rin (Shuffle!) and Kenta (Karin) are just a few of the “guys in romance shows” for whom I can openly cheer. They’re reliable, and they contribute significantly and positively to the lives of those around them. And whereas they may not know with 100% certainty where their feelings lie, they’re (mostly) aware of how their interactions with potential romantic interest can cause harm or resentment.
Where I start tearing my hair is when I see a show that makes me say out loud, “Why are these women chasing you?!?” Whether he’s oblivious (Karasuma from “School Rumble”), irritating (Ranma from “Ranma 1/2″) or just plain ineffectual (Haruo from “Magikano”), a romantic anime with a guy that doesn’t deserve the girl is like a Kung-Fu film starring Woody Allen. (Yes, I know that Karasuma is played mostly for laughs, but a KarasumaxTenma ending seems as wrong to me as KyouxButton.)
In short, I don’t see what Noe, Ai and Hiromi see in Shinichiro. Of course I don’t want to want to date him, but right now, I lack empathy for him.
Forgive me, I just shiver every time I see a School Days reference in a romance anime post nowadays. You’ve obviously watched a lot of shows from that genre, so you should know that this show is a lot more similar to them than to School Days.
I understand the “What do all the girls see in him?” mentality, since that is a typical guy response (I myself have felt like that many times in real life). However, I have never wished death on anybody just because of his unwarranted popularity with the girls.
So, while I also don’t see Shin as special in any way, I don’t think he’s done anything so far to deserve the “Knife & Saw” treatment.
Well…
Ai is definitely out of the picture now, the kiss happened way too early for her to have any real chance and judging from his reaction, he doesn’t feel a thing for her, she acted out of desesperation and she knows it.
Hiromi and Noe, still too close to call but judging form the current plot dynamic, next few episodes some development in Noe/shin Shin/ai angst .
Then last two episodes I expect a Hiromi come back victory Noe’s tears (her sentence : I am so happy I feel like crying should not be overlooked… some foretelling there)
It’s a thirteen episodes series right ? If not then my predictions are worthless ^^
As for shin, although he is not as likeable as Tomoya, Yuuchi, Yukito or Kyon (maonly because they all had a sense of humor), he is not as bad as most romance anime leads (love hina anyone) and is definitely way way better than that a****** from Shool days.
I don’t think Hiromi’s emotions are hard to read at all :) Noe’s a tougher nut to crack I find and Ai’s the most obvious one.
@Aurelia
Wow another person who isn’t falling all over Noe~ I think she’s pretty annoying myself.
I also still think Ai has NO chance in hell of winning. Her move is one of desperation. Shin never thought of her at all in that way and I can’t see him changing him mind now. I think she’ll end up alone or with the guy she dumped.
What’s the Shinichiro hate? He’s a pretty good lead. Caring and goes out of his way to help people, has friends, is talented, tries to protect Hiromi from his mother, nice to strange girls who try to feed him chicken food…. I don’t get it. Because he doesn’t fall all over the girls who like him or because he doesn’t notice the girl likes him? He was clear in his feelings. He said he was going out with Noe. He might not know exactly what he feels right now, but how in the world does he deserve to be punched in the face? Grow up.
Shin’s better than some harem leads, but I don’t like him too much because he sure took a long while to stand up to his mother about how she was treating Hiromi.
I think I put my finger on what I don’t like about Ai. Her proxy love thing bugs me. I hate that.
@ Kaelyn: I see where you’re coming from, and I agree that I do tend to be unfair with viewing Noe impartially as a true to life personality and Hiromi as a character. But I have a reason, Noe has gotten more screen time and consequently, more depth, whereas Hiromi stands out less and is more “two dimensional” if you will.
Though I don’t think Noe was out of line trying to figure things out with Shin, she likes him, and as such is entitled to want to know about why he’s angsting, and was correct on pinning the blame on Hiromi.
Ai’s fashion is indeed great, but I still love Noe’s boot warmers the best.
@ Servbot: I can’t believe you just made that comparison, it made me lol. No comment on the chickens, I just put it there to preempt any mention of it.
@ proxyman: My sentiments exactly, though I’m sure Hiromi will get plenty of time to herself as we near the end.
@ Kari: But I find Hiromi fairly simple to read, she’s clearly in love with Shin but due to family issues and the possibility of her relationship with him being wincest, she’s conflicted, simple as that. Or so it seems so far.
As for Ai, I do fault her for going out with Nobuse despite liking Shin, but at least she’s trying to change that now.
@ ItAintEazy: CAN’T RAPE THE WILLING!
@ RJ: True Tears is definitely top of the list on my most anticipated of the week, followed closely by Kimikiss, then probably Clannad/Kaiji tie.
I still think Hiromi has the best chance at ending up with Shin, for reasons I stated in the post. Never made it to the end of the Ichigo 100% manga, so I can’t relate to that.
As for Jun, I think he’s actually a good guy, but depending on who he’s with. Anyone who he truly cares for, like Noe, he’s very nice. But he’s pretty stuck up when it comes to dealing with Shin.
@ Tunkmonkey (Trunk Monkey?): I can’t say I’m very optimistic about the Noe-Shin relationship. The fact that Shin just suddenly realized that “Hey, maybe I do kinda…sorta…possibly like her” doesn’t bode well.
And Shin’s mom lying about the whole brother sister thing is a distinct possibility, she’s evil like that.
@ RJ: I think it’s a viable theory, the resentment that Shin’s mom feels towards Hiromi may be because of a fling between her husband and Hiromi’s mom, that alone would be enough to piss her off. Taking it a step further to make sure she doesn’t get any further into her family by getting together with Shin isn’t too much of a stretch. As you said, speculation is great =D
@ Kanon_fan82: There was that whole scene with Tomoyo and her friends going “Yay, snow!” that was kinda pointless, but the rest was put to full use.
And I don’t blame Nobuse for trying to hang on to Ai-chan, I’d be pretty reluctant to let go of her if I were I were him too.
@ Aurelia: Why do all the girls hate Noe ;_;
I wouldn’t necessarily call her arrogant, just very straightforward. She’s not flaunting anything in particular, she just cuts around all the bs and gets straight to the point. You can even see it in her eyes, which are always earnest and unwavering, well…except when she’s in rabu rabu mode with Shin.
I think Hiromi will win though, in a sort of “we saved the best for last” development where she’ll blow Noe and Ai out of the picture. And I certainly hope they don’t nice boat the end, it would ruin the feel of the series.
@ kenshin514: Noe’s blush is awesome haha, it’s cute and funny at the same time. They did a good job in capturing the combined look of her frustration and embarrassment, it’s win.
And don’t feel the need to apologize for your rankings differing from mine haha. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions =D
And uh, thermodynamics may be interesting as a whole, but mine is mostly introductory for now. So tons of PV=nRT, ideal gas and 1st law stuff.
@ W4: Fake Tears is some joke sub haha, I watched their first one, funny stuff, didn’t grab it this time around though.
As for Shin, you can’t blame him for that kiss with Ai, that was all her. And did you see his “WTF?!” look afterwards, if there’s any justice in the world, we’ll never have a second Makoto.
As for the whole undeserving harem lead thing, it’s just something you have to accept and suspend reality for. No girl would really love such a guy, but anything goes for the sake of drama.
@ Michael: And amazingly captivating eyes.
@ darwin: >> Geez…give the guy a break for once! Sometimes I feel like guys in romance shows are hated just for being guys…
Pretty much, yeah. They’re always made really wimpy and indecisive, some think to parallel the main target audience, ie. ronery Japanese guys.
@ Boulayman: Really? I don’t think the kiss puts her out of it, I think it’ll accomplish exactly what she wants, to get Shin thinking about her as more than a friend. It may seem like a trivial thing, but a kiss is sure to weigh heavily on Shin’s mind, it may have even been his first.
Thirteen episodes, yes. I think your predictions are pretty reasonable, about the same lines I’m thinking as well.
As for my comment on Hiromi’s emotions, I meant from the perspective of Shin, not us, the viewers.
@ boohoo: Wow, another Noe hater, and thinks Ai is done. We have a pretty diverse reader pool here, which is cool, better than everyone just agreeing with each other.
I’m thinking that Ai will probably end up alone, but that’s far better than ending up with Nobuse, whom she has no feelings for.
Shin is a pretty good lead, though I do see why people might hate him. He wavers a lot with his decisions. I’m actually still not sure how much his choice to date Noe was influenced by Jun, it would be sad if it were the main reason he did it.
Shirukii… You just went rambo on that last comment! Look at all those replies blasting left and right. Were you standing on the back of a jeep gripping a .50 Caliber mounted keyboard?
I made this specially for you: http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6180/shirukiiramboel1.jpg
Maybe you should post it somewhere since it looks badass for a blog.
Stallone influences everything! Let’s just hope that Shin doesn’t lose his grip and drop one of the girls down a deep chasm…
RIP Sarah (Cliffhanger).
Shirukii:
The guys think she’s cute (just take a look at her thread on AnimeSuki), while we ladies can see beyond that. :P
When I see Noe, I feel like the animators are trying to throw “super cute, childlike, clumsy weird girl with a heart of gold” thing at us. Maybe it’s her boots too. They remind me too much of those Uggs everyone wears.
Straightforward/blunt is one way to look at Noe. Undiplomatic is another. You could take the selfish and inconsiderate, blunt to the point of not caring or thinking about the other person angle too. She didn’t even consider Hiromi’s feelings when she told her to apologize to Shin. Or you could even say that she’s unskilled. She has no people skills at all, which I blame mostly on her (I’m a harsh judge sometimes).
I know that Hiromi’s not without faults either. I wish she would speak up for herself more often, but we’ll see what happens next.
@ darwin:
The reason we try and work in a School Days endings now is because it was soo epic :)…..We now know that writers/animators have the balls to kill off main harem leads that act like complete douchebags……
I agree that Shin shouldn’t be compared to Makoto, but I understand the impulse to do so……
And so far, Shin has been pretty un-harem like……..the way True Tears has unfolded thus far is pretty believable……minus the whole Rigamarou thing……that’s just weird!
Well, if Noe’s loved/hated, at least it’s not because she’s some moetard (retarded moe? ayutard?), and that’s refreshing.
>>”He scared me for a second in the shrine scene where he told Ai-chan that she’s the only one for him, almost in an “if I can’t have you, no one can” tone.”
Nah, I think what he means here is “No one can’t replace you in my heart” which is he mean that he can only love her.
>>”I’m thinking that Ai will probably end up alone, but that’s far better than ending up with Nobuse, whom she has no feelings for.”
I doubt if Nobuse will let that happened.
>>”True Tears is definitely top of the list on my most anticipated of the week, followed closely by Kimikiss, then probably Clannad/Kaiji tie.”
LOL, Kaiji? “Omoshiroi” ?
And my list: True Tear/Gundam 00, Kimikiss, Clannad, Kaiji, ….
@W4: That is why people said “why wasn’t my school life as exciting as this?” because or maybe we can’t have this in our reality.
@darwin: All you have to do is believe in your heart, there are a lot of School Days reference in ef - a tale of memories from many viewers but i never care about that because i believe what i understand.
@Aurelia: “The guys think she’s cute (just take a look at her thread on AnimeSuki), while we ladies can see beyond that. :P”
I agreed with what Shirukii had said so far but i dont really know what you, ladies, can see beyond that. Noe is maybe not a good character in a point of your view but that is what i like about her. Do you know how do they describe a girl? “A girl is full of secrets and it is even harder to read than what you ever think it would be.”
What i really like about Noe is not about how cute she is but it is more about what type of character she is.
Siva:
I was just kidding about that part. Noe’s personality rubs me the wrong way, but I don’t know why other girls hate Noe.
And I don’t hate her either. The highest level of hate in my rankings (OMG this bastard, it would be nice if he would die level), is currently only inhabited by Yagami Kazuma and Ayanokoji Kyoshiro. Noe is a couple steps below that, where it’s more like “ARGGH, either grow up or just go away….”.
You know, I really do hope for one thing - Shin explodes at Ai-chan for misleading Nobuse. Well, I don’t know if Shin would actually do that but he totally should. :3
@Shirukii:
It’s just really hard to deal with all this man-hate going on in most anime blogs and forums nowadays. I fell like I’m in some feminist convention, where the main premise is how men are evil and they do not deserve a woman’s affection and they have to work really hard and be perfect in every way in order to even be considered worthy. Women on the other hand are always regarded either as immaculate goddesses far beyond our reach or as innocent victims. What’s really incomprehensible to be, though, is that most of that man-hate comes from guys.
I mean, I am a guy and I can pretty much relate to those guys in one way or another, so I feel really bad when they are getting bashed so unreasonably. I’ve never been in such a situation to be showered with affection and attention from several beautiful women, but if I were, I don’t know how would I act. I would probably behave similarly to Shin, i.e. be nice to all of them until I sort out my true feelings after all. Besides, being indecisive is not a sin. Every one of us struggles to find their own path in life, some do it faster, so take more time. Basically, Shin is just a normal guy who’s done nothing so far to deserve any sort of hate.
>> As for the whole undeserving harem lead thing, it’s just something you have to accept and suspend reality for. No girl would really love such a guy, but anything goes for the sake of drama.
Isn’t that overgeneralizing a bit. I mean, sure, those guys are probably undeserving of a harem, but saying they will never be loved by any girl is a little bit too harsh. So what do you have to be - a “cool jock” type of guy in order to find a girl who will love you?
@Kanon_fan82:
That’s basically the reason I hate School Days so much - that it has distorted people’s perception of romance shows in general. If anything, School Days and Makoto were pretty unique and they were the exceptions. I don’t think a guy deserves to die, simply because he is a “douchebag” and I don’t think most of those guys are douchebags as I pointed out. So that’s why I find it pretty annoying when people wish death upon any guy simply because he is a lead in a romance show.
@Siva:
It goes beyond ef - I’ve seen School Days references in almost any new romance show like Myself~Yourself, CLANNAD, and believe it or not - Shana 2(!?!?!), which isn’t even a romance show. Next thing I know, people will start comparing Gundam 00 to School Days.
@Aurelia:
>> The highest level of hate in my rankings (OMG this bastard, it would be nice if he would die level), is currently only inhabited by Yagami Kazuma.
WOW, I thought you were going to say Yagami Light. I’m curious to know why Kazuma would be on the bottom of your hate list, since from what I remember, he was one of the coolest and strongest protagonists I’ve seen in a while
@ Servbot: You’re making me want to watch that movie again, I haven’t seen it since I was like…10. And more like a single shot .300 M24, that comment took me in excess of half an hour to type out.
@ Aurelia: >> “super cute, childlike, clumsy weird girl with a heart of gold”
Yea, pretty much. And it’s working, haha.
I do agree that she is socially inept though, but her naive nature is what makes her seem so honest, in my eyes. She may not be good at dealing with people, but she tries and doesn’t put up a fake persona.
@ Kanon_fan82: True, the ending to School Days was epic, but only because the show eluded to it the whole way through. Makoto had it coming to him, what I and many other people are getting a little sick of is people anticipating a nice boat end without any build up. The hate for Makoto was widespread and intense, and that’s what is necessary for such an ending. Normal romances like these will stick to conventional, non violent ends.
@ ItAintEazy: Hey =( i like Ayu
@ Siva: Oh, well if that were the case, he’s pretty screwed, since Ai-chan won’t ever truly love him.
And yea! Kaiji is awesome.
@ Kari: I don’t think he has the balls to do it, especially if he realizes that he’s partially at fault for basically forcing the two to go out.
@ darwin: Hmm…good point. I suppose that was too much of a generalization. But at the same time, I stand by it, to a degree. There are some girls who like the whole extremely kind and considerate guy, and there’s nothing wrong with being nice. BUT, indecisiveness makes you look so bad, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about making yourself appealing in the eyes of a female, it’s confidence, even if you fake it, you have to be sure of yourself.
She does have a false persona. She rarely shows Shin the “dark moody” side of her. She’s all, like you said, rabu rabu, cutesy cutesy around him.
It’s either that or she’s bullshitting about cliche stuff.
I WANT TO UNDERSTAND YOU.
WE CAN FLY TOGETHER~
I can not stand those huge ass speeches of hers.
@Aurelia: Oh well, now i dont even understand why you hate Yagami Kazuma that much.
@darwin: I know it already go beyond that. Gundam 00? haha, It is already have people started it in Gundam 00. I only wait for Naruto to join one too, LOL.
@Shirukii: If that were the case then we have to wait and see how far can he pull off and how far can he makes her understand it. So far I believe in him.
@Servbot: OMG, Why are you so praise about Rambo, now check this out “Baby Jesu” this is what we called “Arnold”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2UXnTDGOF8
-you can’t go around killing people.
-why?
-cause its among the ten commandments.thao shall not kill.
-why?
-cause its a sin.
why?
because its not nice.
why?.
I’d prefer a Shin x Ai-chan ending or a Shin x Noe ending(heh heh Noe rhymes with Moe =X), but only if he actually has or develops feelings for whichever one he ends up with. It’d be beyond frustrating for him to end up in a repeat of Ai and Nobuse’s relationship.
Which is ultimately why I also think it’s going to be a Hiromi x Shin ending even though I like her the least(she may have reasons for being how she is, but that doesn’t make her inability to be honest with at least herself anyone’s fault but her own ultimately).
An ending where Shin has developed feelings for Ai-chan or Noe and then Hiromi finally fesses up and he shuts her down would be kind of an ideal ending for me, but I’m just mean like that, but at this point I think he’s lying to himself about his feelings for Noe(hey! him and Hiromi DO kind of deserve each other), and much as I love Ai-chan and much as I’m happy that at the very least she’s going to go down fighting, and fighting hard, I still don’t hold out much hope for her in the end(POOR AI-CHAIN ; - ;).
In the end I just want Ai-chan and Noe to be happy. That’s going to involve some pretty big heartbreak no matter who he chooses(or even if he ends up alone which would be what he deserves for his meddling and indecisiveness). If he chooses Hiromi as many seem to think he will, including me, then both are going to have some rough times ahead, but they can still come through it and be better off for it, so I just hope that if they don’t end up with shin, they find something better.
I confess I just don’t care enough about Hiromi to care whether she ends up with Shin or not. I can only support a Shin x Hiromi ending if he just doesn’t develop any feelings whatsoever for Ai-chan or Noe, and even then I’d just as soon have him end up alone as with Hiromi.
Well….First of all i’ll be straight in one thing….I absolutely LOVE Hiromi so i guess there´s no need to express the anger i feel when i see her mistreated by Shin’s mother…or when Noe’s brother try to use her as a last resort to forget (his romantic feelings?) towards his sister…Not to mention about this “game thing” he is scheming….
Now, that been said,the scene when Shin and Noe decide to go out together was pretty strange..if not sad.
Jibeta, (remember,the chicken that “cant fly”) caged, looking at them while Shinchiro wrote in the ground “I love noe”…it was a strange atmosphere—-
Or am i thinking too much?
Anyways,love the show and hey! i like your reviews!
Sorry about my rusty english, but im from Argentina and i prefer to watch versions from english fansubs since their translations are far better than the spanish ones.