True Tears 10, decision and indecision
March 9th, 2008 by Shirukii
So…I have absolutely no clue what’s going on anymore. I thought that a Hiromi end had been cemented with the past couple episodes of development, but then they throw this twist in our face, not only that but we have Noe and Shin reconciling their relationship. However, even that is put into question by Shin’s confrontation of Hiromi in the dying minutes of the episode. MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
Episode Rating: 10/10
Having been suspended, Hiromi helps out with the chores around the house to make up for missing club activities. As Shin leaves for school, the same thought rings through both their minds: they’re not siblings after all. With time to spare, Hiromi does some self study (of what seems to be statistics) when she gets a call from Jun, which she decides to ignore. Jun is suspended as well and is working at a bike repair shop to pay for his own repair costs, his boss jokes around with him for calling his girlfriend, but Jun knows it’s nothing but a farce.
At school the next day, Shin scrambles to copy down notes in math class after he sees Tomoyo, whom Hiromi is probably depending on for notes, passed out cold, Nobuse seeming irked that he’s going so far for her. Things have gone downhill for Nobuse, Ai made her feelings clear to him and asked to break up, but he can’t bring himself to accept it. With nowhere else to turn, Nobuse seeks help from Noe, asking her to put a curse on him to turn him into a man whose heart can stand firm, so he can let go of his love for Ai-chan.
After school, Shin heads home and gives his notes to Hiromi, telling her that it’s useless to rely on Tomoyo for notes, she was well past any state you could call fit for note taking. Accepting his notes with a smile, Hiromi thanks him and looks over them with a serene look, jokingly noting how terrible his handwriting is. Up in his room, Shin works a bit on his picture book before throwing himself on his bed, trying to sort out his feelings and figure out his situation with Noe.
Meanwhile, Hiromi heads over to the sake brewery where Shin’s dad is and the two talk about a decision Hiromi recently made, to leave the Nakagami household to live on her own. Shin’s dad apologizes for all the trouble Shin’s mom, Kanae (holy crap they gave her a name!) caused her, and reminds her that she will always be thought of as their child.
Continuing her crusade to tie up loose ends, Hiromi goes to visit Jun next. She rather bluntly tells him that they should stop pretending to be a couple, not that she particularly hates him or anything, just that a lot of things have happened lately and she wants to be able to think things over with a clear mind. Jun isn’t so keen on the idea though, thinking of the trouble it would cause the other side of his agreement with Shin.
Elsewhere, at school, Nobuse tells Shin about his break up with Ai-chan, and despite Nobuse’s reassurance, Shin still feels bad and begins to blame himself for it. Afterwards he heads to the chicken coop to see Noe, apologizing for the chaos that’s been going on lately, to make up for lost time, he invites her to come watch him at dance practice. There, Noe and Ai-chan meet face to face for the first time, Shin almost introduces Ai as Nobuse’s girlfriend before catching himself at the last minute and introducing her as his childhood friend, Noe needs no introduction, Ai-chan knows fully well who she is.
The two talk while Shin practices, Ai-chan thanking Noe for the curse she put on Nobuse that finally allowed him to let go. However, Noe says with a serious look on her face, that there are no such thing as curses…
After practice Noe hurries home, since she didn’t have a chance to let her brother know where she was. Shin walks Ai home and the conversation quickly shifts to her recent breakup with Nobuse. Surprisingly, Ai doesn’t beat around the bush, she places the blame squarely on Shin for what happened, but says that she won’t rely on him anymore, that she’s ‘graduated’ from Shin.
The surprises continue as the night goes on, Hiromi coming to talk to Shin that afternoon, dropping the news that she’s moving out on him. Shin tries to convince her to stay, but Hiromi’s decision has been made and she plans to stand by it firmly.
With less than a week’s notice, Hiromi’s moving day arrives quickly, and the two find themselves standing in Hiromi’s nearly empty room for the last time together. Nostalgia begins to hit, and Hiromi remembers that day when the two of them were kids, the festival where they got separated, the loneliness she felt when she was apart from Shin and the happiness she felt when they were reunited and spent the rest of the festival walking around together. Shin is shocked that she remembered, since she had denied it before, Hiromi says that she would never forget such a thing…before the conversation goes any further, Hiromi walks away.
Hiromi says her final goodbye to Shin’s parents, who tell her that she’s welcome to return anytime she wants for however long she wants. As Hiromi’s moving truck pulls away, Shin explodes out of the house, riding a bike, chasing it down. Racing down the ice covered roads, he finally comes within sight of the truck, Hiromi looking back at him through the window just in time to see him wipe out. She gets out to run to his side but ends up slipping on the snow and the two collapse to the ground together. Tired, bruised and out of breath, Shin tells Hiromi that “he’ll do everything properly”.
Thoughts
I’m so confused, I can’t think of how to piece the events of this episode together. Though. this certainly makes things interesting again, with only a couple episodes remaining, is this a sign that Noe simply lost a battle and will win the war? Or is this just Shin having to overcome his last moments of hesitation before settling on Hiromi? It certainly didn’t help that it was Hiromi, not Noe, who spoke the ominous 11th episode title.
At a glance this episode seems like it could act almost as a finale with Shin and Hiromi’s scene at the end. But I’m not ready to call it just yet, while the outcome seems likely, keep in mind exactly how much changed in the span of two episodes and remember that there’s nothing saying that it won’t happen again.
As I thought, Shin hasn’t explicitly broken up with Noe just yet, rather, he seems to have come to accept her as his girlfriend. Noe herself looks like she’s had her hopes renewed, somewhat back to her cheerful self around Shin. There was also her short monologue address to her late grandmother, suggesting that she’s not ready to give up on Shin just yet. Though at the same time, she knows that the odds are against her, when she tells Ai-chan that there aren’t such things as curses, I’m thinking the next line out of her mouth would have been about how she wouldn’t be having such a hard time dealing with Hiromi.
I still think a Noe end is reaching a bit, Hiromi definitely has the upper hand right now, but at least hope remains, as fleeting as it may be. But at the same time, it could be said that Noe has begun the process of moving on. The final shot in the dying moments of the episode and her behaviour as she bid farewell to Shin after dance practice suggests that she may be giving up.
Can’t say the same for Aiko though. We all knew that she was out of the running before the show even started, but having stolen Shin’s first kiss, there was a faint glitter of possibility that she may pull off the impossible. That was quickly shut down though, and now the poor girl is left all alone. I admire her though, not only did she build up the courage to make her feelings to Shin known even with the possibility of losing him as a friend, she stopped stringing Nobuse along. She may be single and her love may be unrequited, but she was the first girl of the three to come to terms with her feelings for Shin and pursue them with no regret.
And finally Hiromi, who is quickly redeeming her shortcomings. I don’t say this just because of the huge controversy of last week which called my objectivity in question, she showed genuine improvement in a rather short amount of time. Her actions, words and even her expressions were the most sincere they have been all series long. I guess it was the whole sibling issue that was trapping her feelings, because as soon as that was dealt with and she came to terms with Shin’s mom, she began to sort herself out.
Moving out of the Nakagami household made me initially think that she was running away from her problems, but it’s actually the opposite, she did it so she could level things off and start from scratch. No longer would she be Shin’s pseudo sister or feel obliged to his family for taking care of her. With this, Hiromi and Shin can see each other as a girl and a boy, no false pretenses, no obligations, no awkwardness. Even when Hiromi told Shin that she remembered that festival night years ago, she walked out on him before he could say anything while caught up in the moment.
It seems no matter how much thought I put into the foresight of events in True Tears, there’s always something that comes up and blindsides my carefully constructed theories. Honestly, who could have predicted the huge shift that would be caused by that motorcycle crash? I’m still thinking that we’re heading for a Hiromi end, it’s been the “obvious” conclusion from the beginning and the events that are building up suggest that won’t change. However, given the various “WHAT A TWIST” moments of True Tears, you can never be too sure.
As for my personal feelings on the characters, I can’t say that they’ve changed much. Noe > Ai > Hiromi
Hiromi has shown that she’s capable of being true to herself, but even in taking steps to do so she shows how inherently selfish she is, breaking up with Jun and moving out of the Nakagami household at her convenience. But humans are naturally selfish beings to begin with, so I can’t say I fault her much for that, at least she’s not sending mixed signals anymore.
Noe remains my favourite with her outward innocence that makes you want to protect her, but deep down she’s well aware of her situation and isn’t so innocent in dealing with it. Very early on in the series I noted that Noe was flawless in her manipulation of Shin, throughout the series that began to break down and her desperation to understand him became apparent during her confrontations with Hiromi. She seemed to have resigned herself to Hiromi last episode, but this week she vowed to give it one last chance. At this point in the series I think it’s Noe whose feelings are wavering the most.
A final point to consider is Raigomaru, in the context of Shin’s story, and who he represents in the overall scheme of things. Rather than a characterization of any single one of them, I think Raigomaru is a generalization that can be applied to any one of the characters. The desire to “fly” and the fears preventing them from doing so can be attributed to all six key characters in True Tears. How they chose to deal with the dilemma differs from person to person, but the theme is consistent.
And so it’s another week long wait to find out if “The One You Like Isn’t Me” is really Hiromi’s line, if so, who is on the receiving end and the true weight of its meaning.
Scary thought: cyanide pill?
~ Shirukii ~
Post Script: This post was based off the raw, so if there are any mistakes, inconsistencies, etc. Feel free to point them out.
32 Responses to “True Tears 10, decision and indecision”
Leave a Reply
Please use [spoiler] [/spoiler] tags for spoilers.
Loading ...
I think it’s important to note that Ai refers to Noe as “Shin’s first girlfriend”—WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE, etc.
Poor Ai-chan; ” I *liked* Shinchiro”.
Lying to herself to force herself to move forward…
Happens too often ;____;
The last scene between Shin and Hiromi was beautiful o__o
The animation shot up as the “true tears” flew sparkling and a glow TuT
I LOVE how Noe was clapping after Shin danced, reminded me of a seal XD
I wish for a nice closure of feelings for all girls if they get rejected :/
Is it me, or does it sound like Noe is becoming somewhat unhinged???
Granted, I don’t think it will take any WTF!?! kind of turns, but I see confrontation in the near future……
Btw,…..two thumbs up for Hiromi’s shoveling abilities :D…..Wonder if Japan gets as much snow as Southern Ontario in March OTZ
Noe’s love will prevail!
I wanna see more Jun X Noe time, lols.
I can’t help but wonder if that “The One You Like Isn’t Me” line is in reference to Shinichirō’s feelings being based on his ‘little girl at the festival’ memory of Hiromi, rather than the young adult Hiromi of the here and now which he still knows very little about in truth.
Despite really not liking Hiromi’s behaviour over recent episodes, I have to admit I had to ‘awwwww’ at the end of this week’s instalment before the credits rolled.
Given how this series has twisted and turned so far, I’m certainly not going to make any predictions as to how it’ll end - Hell, I still think you’re being brave writing off Aiko! ;)
The insert song was for HiromixShin, there’s no turning back after that =/
Three episodes left now? Damn, that means anything can happen within the next 66 minutes or so @_@
Maybe we’ll get MASSIVE OMGSHOCKZ and he’ll end up with Ai-chan. I’m still hoping for a Shin x Noe ending.
Last episode was really good and this one is even more awesome. Especially, the last scene where Hiromi runs toward to Shin. The music behind that scene was really emotional. So what the hell, Shirukii. You gave last episode 8 and yet you gave this episode 10. Man, your rating suck ass. LOL Remember that you told me that you can handle a lot of trash talking, right? XD. OK, here I go.
I noticed that you tried to say everything nicer this time. Are you scare to have more controversy like the last episode again ?? BTW, I forgot to comment in Clannad ep. 20. You gave it 9.5 and yet there weren’t any action of either Kyou and Tomoyo. So much for your loyalty for being Kyou’s fan. You trailor !! At least, Totali is loyal to Fuko until the end. Man, screw your rating. Next time, let me do the rating since it seems too hard for you to do it. LOL.
Hope that wasn’t too hard on you. Have fun in your engineering classes, dude.
I just watched an .avi file titled “True Tears 10,” and judging from your first paragraph, I’m not certain that we saw the same thing.
Yes, it was abrupt that Hiromi moved out of Shinichiro’s house, but the overall feeling that I received from the overall theme of the episode was “Hiromi FTW.” I didn’t see many signs indicating that Shin and Noe reconciled their problems; she watched him dance and then ran off. I’m leaning more towards Kanon_fan’s prognosis. My “there will be blood” feeling is gone, but Noe’s definitely the victim of “Break The Cutie.”
My predictions for next week:
- Regarding the ep. title: either Hiromi says it to Jun (no shock there; she already pinned him as siscon) or Noe says it to Shinichiro (who, aside from her chicken obsessions, is probably the most astute person in the cast).
- Jun does something stupid. It’s a feeling that I can’t shake.
- Judging from the first scene in the preview, Shinichiro does something stupid, too, towards Hiromi.
- Raigomaru is Keyser Soze. (j/k)
@ lolikit: Don’t shatter my already fragile hopes ;_;
@ Kaelyn: Well they won’t all get rejected. At this point if Noe doesn’t end up with Shin I at least want her to end up with Jun.
@ Kanon_fan82: I don’t think Noe is any more crazy now than she was at the beginning, perhaps just more educated to the pains of romance.
Also, I know your pain. Man it snowed a lot yesterday, I was running out of place to put the snow!
@ ShadowFang: JunXNoe would make me a very happy camper :3
@ Hanners: I must be the only one who didn’t particularly like that last scene? The scene itself was very well constructed, but it felt like it was too early for it to be happening. Hiromi suddenly decides to be true to herself and she has Shin reciprocating within days? Unbelievable.
As for Aiko, I wrote her off when the show started, lol.
@ Derek: That. I did not know… ;_;
@ IcyStorm: ShinXNoe is a faint yet possible outcome, hoping for ShinXAi is just asking to be disappointed.
@ kenshin514: My ratings -DO- suck ass, lol. I’ve repeatedly stated that they’re almost completely arbitrary, based on my feelings at the time. They’re by no means a scale of comparison or a measure of episode quality. I’d stop putting them in, but sometimes people ask about them when I leave them out.
Also, yea, you’re not imagining things, I was trying to be more impartial here. But it’s not so much that I’m trying to avoid another shitstorm, I had a ton of fun last week replying to that discussion. It’s just that I really was being unfair in my bias towards Noe, combined with the fact that Hiromi actually didn’t act like a five year old this episode made this week’s post and last week’s post seem like polar opposites.
And hey! I noted how angry I was at the lack of Kyou. But I really am enjoying the new direction Clannad is going in, so I’m not raging that hard.
@ W4: That’s what every single blogger aside from me is saying! I don’t get it, did I miss something by watching it raw? Sure Noe was shoved aside in lieu of Hiromi, but to call this episode the breaker in terms of her chances of “winning”? I don’t see it.
The revelation that she actually remembered the festival all along just adds to the growing number of examples of Hiromi’s needless passive aggressiveness that I’ve found so distasteful. If Shin does end up with her, it’ll prove the hypothesis that guys do seek out women who seem like their mothers.
@ Shirukii:
Ah but those initial pangs of love and rejection hurt like a bitch, neh???
the fact that this ep. cemented–or at least appears to–cement a ShinxHiromi ending in the last scene is what leads me to believe Noe is going to have a breakdown, confrontation, and ultimately shed some tears….she’s been fighting it for like the last three episodes
re snow: being in a wheelchair, I don’t necessarily have to deal with shovelling as much as cabin fever ;)
@ ItAintEazy:
Passive-agressive is how a LOT of women function, at least in my experience when competing for someone’s affections….True Tears has (generally) really stood out for me in terms of portraying realistic emotional responses from characters……….
that is, if you take away Rigamarou “you can fly” stuff……it works wonderful as a metaphor for the show, but would a 16 year old girl REALLY think that????? I think not.
What a coincidence ..the same time Mao (KimiKiss) leaves Kouichi’s house Hiromi leaves Shin’s. Maybe the two will bunk up and be roomies.
i think Hiromi ending for sure … hers tears at the end if u slow it down abit - the ones thats shines are all heart shape
Kanon_fan: Hell, they can be passive-agressive even if you aren’t in love with them, take my sisters (PLEASE!) But I guess the series would be boring if the “leading girl” was always honest and up front about her feelings from the start.
For the record, I always tune out the Rigamarou parts. That got old really quick.
Andy: MAJI??! *undeletes raw* Holy shit, you’re right!
>>@ lolikit: Don’t shatter my already fragile hopes ;_;
Why do you think I read this blog? For that matter, why do you think you write this blog?
@ ItAintEazy: Freud vs Westermarck, fight, heh. Though, Shin seems to hate his mother.
@ Kanon_fan82: I don’t really see any reason for Noe to shed the tears she’s been searching for all this time. Even if she is “rejected” by Shin, they weren’t that serious a couple that she would go angsty over it. Though…perhaps I’m underestimating how much she felt for him.
@ Avery: Huh, good point. I didn’t remember that until now, probably because Kimikiss has been slipping these past few episodes, not nearly as good as the outset.
@ Andy: I’m continually amazed at how people notice things like that, nice catch.
@ lolikit: Right. Troll D=
As for why I write this blog, I have no idea.
Also, where are your ARIA posts?!
>>As for why I write this blog, I have no idea.
You were wrong about “troll” being the reason for me reading your blog. I’ll give you a hint: the reason why I read your blog is the same reason that you write it. This is probably a different reason from the reason you were writing this blog when you started writing it. It’s also the reason Owen writes his blog, and it’s also the reason I got the 1000th comment on it.
It’s a very very delicious reason. Think long and think hard.
As for my ARIA posts… my my, it looks like I didn’t blog Episode 7! Kind of like I said I wouldn’t! Episode 8’s post is due to come out in the wee hours tomorrow, though. Keep in mind, DotQ has a schedule, and I work anime posts in around that schedule (so available days are Tues, Thurs, Sat). Also, you’ll see the posts on Anime Nano when they come out, so don’t get impatient!
Watching this series is like watching a morning drama or something. That is to say, I’m quite enjoying it.
Dang, I don’t know how you can rank Ai over Hiromi! Of course Hiromi is going to act odd since the one she’s always loved is (supposedly) her brother. Given her circumstances, I think she deserves a pass. Ai, on the other hand, messed up way worse and isn’t really even sorry! She’s just glad to be rid of Miyokichi… thanks Noe!
I also wondered about Ai drinking water. That can’t possibly just be an idle “thinking while drinking” scene, right?
When Shinichiro was painfully pedaling up the hill, I kept thinking it would be faster just to walk the bike up the small hill =D. I guess he wasn’t really thinking straight, though.
>> “The One You Like Isn’t Me”
Without a doubt this will be said by Hiromi (go back to check last episode who said “I’ll do everything properly” and the voice in the preview never changed the character) and the receiver is noone beside Jun because he is going to bash her in next episode. It come to one question, why Jun is so much care about Noe and wants her to be happy?
>> “I also wondered about Ai drinking water. That can’t possibly just be an idle “thinking while drinking” scene, right?”
What about she was thinking about taking some strange drugs and calls Shin for help, LOL
@lolikitsune: My, my… finally you are coming back, lolikit.
“They were wrong, lolikit lives.”
HAHAHA last episode might of fooled me please dont fool me again however…
OK i’m not guessing anymore. Anythin can happen in TT. I’ll jz cling on to my vote for Noe until the final moment, like you Shirukii:
Noe > Ai > Hiromi
BE BRAVE *CHICKEN GIRL*!!! T_T
Siva—yeah, #AB seems to think I die. Often. Because I come back often, and they’re like: “Holy shit! It’s trollikitsune! GTFO!” unless they’re Owen, in which case they’re like: “Go kill yourself, stupid teenager.”
Ahh the woes of childhood.
Anyway, here’s the big news: I’m reopening notDotQ on April 1st.
@ lolikit: You’re such a tease D= I honestly have no idea, when I first started out, it was because I was bored, while that remains a part of it, it’s no longer my main motivating factor.
I have a midterm tomorrow, my ARIA 08 post will probably be delayed until Wednesday at the earliest. It’ll break up my usual weekday dry spell nicely at least.
Looking forward to notdotq’s return, even it’s just a not so subtle April Fool’s joke.
@ solgae: Pretty much, drama just seems to work better in anime than it does in day time soap opera.
@ Kabitzin: Would have been easier to shift down to a lower gear and then kick it back into a higher one when he reached the hill’s peak. That’s why manual gear selection is put there in the first place.
I stand by my ratings!
@ Siva: But I don’t see the sense in Hiromi saying that to Jun, they both know full well that Jun doesn’t have any feelings for Hiromi.
@ proxyman: Fooled towards or away from a Hiromi end?
@ nafesco: Well, at least she won’t be succumbing to the same fate she does in the eroge TT is adapted from. …or at least I’d hope not, that would be one extremely WTF ending.
Hiromi FTW! :3 It’s so nice to see her all cheerful!
And yet I felt a little bit sorry for Noe, then it vanished. She, Hiromi and Ai can all do better than indecisive Shin. -_- If it ends that way, I’ll be happy.
I suppose that’s much to ask. ^-^;
Shirukii - the answer is: me.
And no, notDotQ’s return isn’t an April Fools joke (though everyone seems to think it will be). I’m waiting to hear back from colleges. I should have all my responses by the end of this month, so the beginning of April is when I let loose. It makes sense to me :(
In the second column of screencaps, Ai-chan looks like a Daruma.
I spent a good amount of time coloring in the eyes but id rather not post my finished copies since there might be backlash from fans. Although it was pretty fun and somewhat hilarious…ok ok just a very simple one: http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6318/darumaiwh9.png
It just changes that entire scene with a single frame edit
PS: RIP Raigomaru, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me with that second to last screencap
@Shirukii: Alright, we will see it who is right in the next episode :)
@lolikit: Looking forward to it.
@Siva: weird. I always thought you hated me, for some reason.
Haha, I can’t believe you put Ai before Hiromi xDD That’s hilarious. Good job!
That’d be really something if Ai kills herself for losing.
But really, when Noe paused at the bottom of the stairs, Shin should’ve said something. That was his moment to really solidify their relationship. I think she was waiting for him to say something. ‘Sayonara’ isn’t something that should be said often (though I hear it used often), for it’s more like a ‘final’ goodbye than a ’see you later’ goodbye.
What really surprised me was the fact that I think they were almost trying to push Miyokichi x Noe. I was yelling ‘USO!’ for the longest time. That, or, if there’s really not going to be a Noe end, Jun will freaking molest his sister.
I have a feeling the missing word in Shin’s sentence was ‘like’. I’m still desperately hoping for a Noe end, though. Even if it means Shin staying with her out of obligation…well, maybe not. But jeez, Noe has to get her tears back, ne? If Shin picks her for Hiromi, I’m sure she’ll get ‘em back xDD
I’m still rooting for NoexShin, but I know that won’t happen. I can’t see how HiromixShin can happen too since the girl who hooks up with the guy 2 episodes before the end, usually ends up not. I definitely don’t see a AikoxShin ending since he had never had any feeling for her.
My call: Shin will be flying solo. :)