True Tears 12, I believe I can fly…
March 23rd, 2008 by Shirukii
…metaphorically, of course
That thud at the end made me cringe.
A lot happened in this episode, but it was all build up, the stage is set and the curtains are drawn, everything comes down to finale. This episode reminded me of why I love True Tears so much, despite going through the first have of it having no clue why I was enjoying it. I’m going to start things off by saying that I will accept either a Hiromi or Noe end at this point, both have proven that they have genuine feelings for Shin and Shin has developed a true liking for both of them. That being said, I will bitch and whine if Noe loses or rub it in Hiromi fans’ faces if she wins, for that, I apologize in advance.
Picking up from last episode, Noe is on the shoreline holding Jibeta and Shin watches on from a distance. Noe puts Jibeta down and tells him to fly, when he doesn’t, she holds him up as the poor chicken struggles. Noe realizes that whether it be flying or getting back her tears, if it’s not something she decides to do for herself, it won’t make her happy. Jibeta has decided not to fly, opting to live as he is, looking towards to future, which Noe thinks is the same as taking flight.
Shin returns home and calls Hiromi, telling her that he found Noe, that she’s fine and will probably be home soon, asking her to pass the message along to Jun. As Shin sits in his room he begins to think about Noe’s speech and realizes that he’s no different. Despite saying that he’s do everything properly, he continues to be indecisive, the situation with Hiromi and Noe, his responsibilities for the Mugiha festival dance, his picture book, he’s never faced them head on.
Elsewhere, Noe returns home to find Jun finishing up dinner. He welcomes her back as usual, no scolding, no relieved break down, just a simple “welcome back”. Noe hugs her brother, thanking him repeatedly.
The following day is the long anticipated start of the Mugiha festival, the Nakagami household left without a moment to spare. Thankfully, they have Hiromi to lend a helping hand, when the other dancers notice Shin is missing, Hiromi goes to help him get ready. As she helps him put the rest of his outfit on, the two talk about what happened yesterday, Hiromi asking if he slept alright afterwards. The conversation then shifts to Shin’s upcoming dance, Hiromi wondering where the best spot to watch him from is. Remembering Noe and her promise to watch him from the best spot, Shin tells Hiromi that she shouldn’t strain herself trying to get the best spot since it’ll be crowded.
Meanwhile, Noe sits at home, alone, curled up with the chicken shaped tissue box Shin made her, trying to decide whether or not to go see Shin at the festival.
Back at the festival, the opening dance begins, signaling the beginning of the festivities. Ai-chan is running late to the Nakagami household and meets Hiromi on the way. After talking a bit, the two notice Noe around the corner, eying the tents, she makes a run for it when she’s spotted. Ai nonchalantly remarks that she must be here to watch Shin, being his girlfriend and all. Hiromi replies bluntly, claiming that she is Shin’s girlfriend, before running after Noe, Ai left behind lamenting at how little she knows about these things.
Hiromi catches up to Noe and tells her flat out to not get between her and Shin anymore. In tears, she tells Noe that she’s in love with him and is sure that he feels the same way, so she begs her not to interfere when they’ve finally come to terms with their feelings. Noe remarks that Hiromi’s tears are beautiful, and runs off without another word.
With some spare time, Shin goes to visit Nobuse who is tending to Ai-chan’s stand in her place, Shin has a bite to eat before Nobuse snaps him back into it, wondering what he’s doing loitering around the festival all alone.
Elsewhere, Noe has shut herself inside her house trying to drown out the sounds of the festival, her cries are cut off by a phone call. Afterwards, she rushes over to where Jun is working, holding a crumpled up envelope, she tells him that she got a phone call from a company in Tokyo that he applied to, demanding to know why he changed his mind about it. Jun begins to reminisce about their past and how after their grandmother passed away, Jun decided that he would always protect Noe. However, his feelings for her developed into something completely different…
Jun then confesses to Noe, who still doesn’t realize that he’s not talking about the love between siblings. He asks Noe if he can kiss her, Noe agrees. He starts by kissing her forehead, then her cheek, then leans in to kiss her on the lips, Noe opens her eyes and stumbles back in shock. Jun is relieved that she finally understands and tells her that it’s been hard for him by her side all this time. Noe heads back to the shoreline where she laments her inability to understand the feelings of others, whether it’s Jun, Shin, Hiromi, she just can’t understand them.
Back at the Mugiha temple, the final dance for the day has come. During the dance, Shin thinks about a new ending for Raigomaru and Jibeta’s story, remembering that the whole reason he wrote it was because of Noe and her belief that he could fly. Hiromi watches on as Shin dances when she notices Noe there as well. However, as soon as the dance ends, Noe disappears.
Afterwards, Shin runs off to find Noe, only to bump into Hiromi instead. She tells him about the conversation she had with Noe earlier and how she told her to leave the two of them alone. With that in mind, Shin walks off leaving Hiromi alone, who begs not to be left behind, taking off one of her shoes.
At the chicken shed behind school, Noe climbs the tree where she first met Shin, going on about wanting to see the sky. Shin desperately runs to catch up to her, only to get there in time to see her jump off…
Thoughts
Figures, the penultimate (so rarely do I ever get to use that word) episode and they throw in the worst/best cliffhanger they have all season, damn PAWorks and their uncanny ability to make me writhe in agony, anticipating the next episode. As I said, this episode had a lot of development and confrontational scenes adding to the Noe-Hiromi-Shin love triangle, but not much in terms of an indication as to how it’ll end.
But hey, I’m not going to let that stop me. Unlike my passive stance on the events of Clannad, I’m going to go ahead and say: NOE END!
I really felt for Noe this episode, everything seemed to pile up on her this episode to wreak maximum havoc on her already questionable grip on sanity. Beginning with the crushing admission to herself that Hiromi is the one in Shin’s heart, she then comes to realize that a chicken has more determination in deciding the path of his life than she does, she then has a face to face confrontation with Hiromi where she’s basically told to fuck off and to top it all off, her brother, who she’s never thought of as anything more than a sibling, confesses his love to her. Talk about a rough couple of days. But, er…whether that merits leaping out of a tree is questionable.
As for Hiromi, she certainly did a 180 in all things concerning Shin. She openly admits her love for him to Noe and even snaps back at Aiko with an “I’m his girlfriend” when she casually remarked that Noe was. This coming from the girl who flat out denied any feelings for him for the better part of the series, made up a fake crush to divert the topic and rubbed said fake crush in Shin’s face. Yea yea, the whole “He might be my brother thing” probably caused that, but that doesn’t change the fact that Hiromi has no sense of balance. When suppressing her feelings, she went all out in ensuring that she make her indifference towards Shin well known, yet now she becomes ultra possessive, claiming to be his girlfriend while there’s no indication that they’ve reached that level of intimacy.
I know I’m twisting things against her and that under a different light, and one could say that Hiromi’s actions are well justified. But I can’t rid myself of the inherent hate I have for certain aspects of Hiromi’s personality. She’s damn cute when casually relaxing at home, but that cuteness is elusive when she not so subtly tells Noe to GTFO and falsely claiming to be Shin’s girlfriend, a la Katsura.
Obligatory Ai-chan screenshot and token mention. I still hate that she fell back on her determination to break up with Nobuse, but hey, as long as she’s somewhat happy, good for her. Also, eyes, delicious eyes.
And so, how will this all end?
In support of a Noe end, Shin continues to think about her constantly. Even when he’s with Hiromi, the minute she says something that he can link to Noe, thoughts of her run wildly through his head. During the dance he was looking at her, not Hiromi, and afterwards he abandons Hiromi to seek out Noe instead. Noe’s one step away from being admitted into a mental asylum and the only one who can bring her back is Shin. Also, when the two first started “dating”, Noe mentioned that she was so happy that she could almost cry, a loving reunion between the two would definitely give Noe back her tears.
In support of a Hiromi end, she’s being completely open with her feelings now. The elimination of the whole family issue let loose the floodgates and Hiromi’s repressed love is pouring out. The scene at the end where Shin leaves her is interesting. Hiromi whispers to herself, asking not to be left alone, she then removes one of her slippers, a throwback to what happened during their childhood when she lost one of her slippers while searching for Shin. A HiromiXShin end would also be a way to give Noe back her tears, though they would obviously be shed in sadness rather than joy.
So why do I think it’ll swing towards Noe? Simple. Hiromi’s actions are contrived, her actions throughout the entire series have been. What screamed out to me in particular was the whole slipper thing, Hiromi doesn’t lose the slipper in desperation like she did in their childhood, she purposefully removes it. Trying to force things like that never turn out well.
Early in the series I continually mentioned that Noe was masterful at manipulating Shin, and that may seem to conflict my present thoughts. While I admit it’s slightly hypocritical, I defend myself by saying that Noe’s actions were never malicious, rather, they were playful. At the same time I said all of this, I was trying to sort out whether Noe liked Shin at that point, I don’t think she did. Given her reaction to when Shin first asked her if she liked him, Noe’s response was similarly naive to her response to Jun this episode, I think that rather than being a matter of liking Shin at that time, she just thought he was interesting, since he seemed like he could “fly”.
So there you have it, I pick Noe for the plain and simple reason that her actions and feelings are honest. Often naive? Yes. But honest all the same. Whereas Hiromi actively tries to skew things to suit her selfishness. Not that Noe isn’t selfish sometimes, she blatantly accused Hiromi of being the one responsible for Shin’s midseason bout of depression. But she never went so far as to tell her to not get in between them, even when the two began dating.
We’re never going to find out what was behind Kanae’s bitchiness, are we D=?
~ Shirukii ~
28 Responses to “True Tears 12, I believe I can fly…”
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Hiromi told Noe to GTFO? Maybe, but remember what else she said?
“Realizing that she’s saying some really selfish things, Hiromi apologizes, however she nevertheless asks Noe to leave them alone since she and Shinichirou now finally understand each other.” - Random Curiosity Blogger
Interesting how you left that out /:3 Or maybe I missed it.
But, I don’t blame you. The Noe syndrome is widespread after all!
Hiromi’s a bitch (and getting pretty desperate), Noe’s bat shit crazy (what’s with the yellow tights?)
True tears is boring, I liked it better before when Hiromi wasn’t the one chasing after their loved one.
But honestly, the whole flying thing is getting really annoying.
Oh, and the ” your tears are beautiful” thing.
If Noe does win, hurrah! It honestly doesn’t really matter now :/
Noe is just a sister.
Imagine this: in an anime, a brother knows that his sister loves tasty food, so he cooks tasty breakfast for his sister. His sister says: “It tastes really great! Brother I love you so much you are such a great cook!”
Shin knows that Noe love chicken drawings, so he draws chicken for her. Noe says this to Shin: “Your drawing is really great! Shin I love you so much you are such a great artist!”
Noe is behaving just like a little sister, this is not love, but brother sister relationship. Shin should wake up and understand his real feeling for Noe, he is only treating her as a little sister.
I think people who like Noe are the youngest children in their family, or the single child in the family. They never have a sister, so they found Noe to be a very interesting character.
I lost some interest after Shin rejection for Aiko…
I still prefer a Noe ending…
Noe must prevail! \o/
I think deep in Hiromi’s heart is a cloud of doubt that Noe is now residing somewhere in Shin’s heart, enough to overpower the supposedly love she thought Shin had for her. This fear is what most likely drove her to say all those things to Noe. If this will be Shin x Noe till the end, Hiromi will certainly regret not standing up on her feelings before. Instead of being a support to Shin, she just made him feel all the more confused and troubled (as far as the first few episodes are concerned) :[
@kuma_cyan: in defense of Noe, supporting someone’s dream, admiring his skills, isn’t an outright sign of a brother-sister relationship. It’s even better if that kind of ‘bond’ is present in romantic relationships.
Noe wants to be by Shin’s side, to be of support to him, and become the witness to the events in his life, till forever if she can. Their relationship was never platonic, as can be seen in their actions (and reactions).
Welp Show ▼
I had more to say on this episode, but I was distracted by how your second set of screenshots didn’t include that creepy closeup of the siscon kiss. I was all ready to complain but then by the next picture, bam that special blowup of that cringe-inducing scene. So I might as well reward good fan service, kudos!
I root for every word you say!!! NOE’S END!!!
… that is, if she doesn’t die or paralyze!!! OMG! My worse fear has come true!!! Daaaamn!!! *cry river*
Suggestion for Shin: Go Polygamy, take Aiko along too - happy ending *grin*
lol Am I really the only guy here who never bought the Hiromi ending ever since episode 1? Episode 10–the ‘big’ Hiromi episode–almost had me, but the plot devices tell you otherwise.
See here. All throughout the show, Shin struggles with Hiromi, but he will always go back to the picturebook to pour his emotions. In episode 1, Shin was first drawing Hiromi, but he didn’t continue since the bastard wanted to “draw more elegantly”. After eating he started about the angel and her tears (Noe). He didn’t stop and continued drawing the “sparkle of the tree of tears”. From then on, everything he puts in that picturebook has been influenced by Noe. No matter what happens (whether he gets in good terms with Hiromi or whatever) to Shin, he writes or thinks of stuffs to put in the picturebook. That’s Noe’s value in this show. The picturebook is Noe’s connection to Shin.
Now the concept of flight in this series. I’m not officially sure what it is, but I can absolutely say it’s way more emphasized than this childhood memory between Hiromi and Shin. The chickens, the flight, the picturebook all can be traced back to Noe.
If you’re thinking I haven’t been watching the character developments between Hiromi and Shin, I do. Even so, I still don’t buy it. Because whenever you see Shin after an encounter with Hiromi, he just can’t leave that damn picturebook alone. The feeling is like the dude’s reporting to Noe everytime Hiromi spends time with him. Also, I guess the purposely dramatic encounter between Noe and Shin in episode 1 helps cement the deal for me a bit. And that’s how it is, Noe will not be the one wallowing in sadness for the finale. She’s more important in this show than one would think. Should there be a curve ball, I’m pretty confident Noe’s spotlight will still stay where it is.
I feel for that chick Hiromi. I recall that pimp Shin (ep 4 or 5?) even once said that the Hiromi that he doesn’t know is the happy Hiromi. Yeah, I know Hiromi was still emo when he thought that, but IMO that might just be a fitting end to her issue. The Hiromi Shinichiro doesn’t know is a smiling Hiromi. lol Ironic.
Nooo…what the hell happened? My hopes for a Hiromi end went to its peak point last week and now in Davy Jones’ locker today?
It’s MGS2 all over again!
*ahem* Exaggeration aside, wow. It was a lot more suspenseful than I had previously thought it would be. It’s the same feeling I got when this show started, back when it was a painfully slow week to wait for an episode to come out.
Well, don’t have much for predictions, but I will reference my half-serious comment last episode when I said things might twist around. And I believe I also said this before, but Ichigo 100% manga End, and what’s funny is that whoever wins I can still say it ended similarly due to the situations.
That’s it. It’s gonna be a long week.
screw it, I predict Shin would end up with no one, ’cause he deserves neither Noe nor Hiromi!
>> “Hiromi told Noe to GTFO? Maybe, but remember what else she said?
“Realizing that she’s saying some really selfish things, Hiromi apologizes, however she nevertheless asks Noe to leave them alone since she and Shinichirou now finally understand each other.”- Random Curiosity Blogger”
Ah! a quote from Random Curiosity Blogger?
In that conversation, Hiromi actually said GTFO and the rest she just explain that Noe has no right to get in between her and Shin, when Noe hasn’t done anything wrong?
@kuma_cyan:
>>”Shin should wake up and understand his real feeling for Noe, he is only treating her as a little sister.” I guess u mean Jun in here.
>>”I think people who like Noe are the youngest children in their family, or the single child in the family. They never have a sister, so they found Noe to be a very interesting character.”
I am an older brother and i actually have a younger sister and brother. And i talk to my sister more than anyone in my family or you can say i only talk to my sister at home. 3 things that you point out is wrong to me.
@ItAintEazy: Yes it looks like they took another direction.
@Shirukii: “NOE END!”
OMG Finally you said it, are we ready to hold hand become a tank and crush everything in front of us?
I still think either ending is open to us. I’m rooting for a Noe ending, the pessimist in me thinks a Hiromi ending is favored, and the evidence of the show can be construed in several different ways but it all comes down to being able to go either way.
I’ve been looking at things more from a narrative standpoint. For either ending certain things needed to happen on order for Shin to end up with one girl and resolve things with the other girl(or resolve things with both girls and end up alone). So far, as far as I’ve been able to keep track, all the things that would need to happen have happened. Even the siscon ending is still very much possible now that Jun has let his feelings known.
Imo this is a testament to the fine story telling that this studio has done that even one episode away, the ending is still very much up in the air. That either hiromi or noe or no one could end up as the endgirl, that several different permutations of those endings are still completly possible, and any of them could be done logically within the scope of the story.
Can you say drama????
wow @_@
Loved the siscon moment with Noe and Jun…….Noe looked like she got hit with a Mack Truck when the light finally went on……
Gotta feel sorry for her though……On the bright side, I think the fact that Noe was in Shin’s mind during the dance (and that rather dramatic still-shot of Noe in his eye) pretty much solidifies a Noe end :)
Can’t wait for next week :)
I go into more detail on my blog, but up until this point, I thought it would be a Hiromi ending, even though I prefer Noe as a character. That’s the general shape the plotline was taking and in a way, it still kind of seems that way. It reminds me a bit of KGNE, with Hiromi being Mitsuki, the same insecurity and neediness.
But I still have to wonder. Because All through the dance, he is thinking of and watching Noe. At the end, he lies to Hiromi. If he is running to Noe to show her the picture book and then break up, why doesn’t he tell Hiromi the truth? Methinks there is still a chance of a Noe ending.
@ Kaelyn: Aww, sorry to hear you’re becoming disillusioned with the show, I still like it, lol.
Yes, Hiromi did apologize for being so blunt about her request, but she didn’t take it back. Her true feelings, her true desperation to get rid of Noe was made clear.
@ kuma_cyan: I can’t argue against this one, as I don’t have a sister and can’t think objectively about the situation you proposed.
Though I never thought of Noe as a sister-like character, I’ve always seen her as that cute eccentric girl that would be a hand full to date, but fun all the same.
@ Toonleap: Haha, yea, that sucked, but everyone knew it was coming. Ai-chan never stood a chance =(
@ usagijen: Indeed, the fact that she took off her slipper and pleaded not to be left alone makes it look like she’s fearing losing Shin just after she thought she finally caught him. It’s entirely possible that her upcoming plea to him will work, but I’m still leaning towards Noe here.
@ ItAintEazy: Yep, anime has virtually nothing in common with the VN.
Haha, you didn’t seriously think I’d pass up posting the moment we were literally a few millimeters away from a siscon end, did you? Have more faith =P
@ nafesco: She’ll be fine, I believe we hear her talking in the preview, so that’s a good sign.
@ Derrick: Good point, I never thought about it before, but the amount of time he spent reminiscing about his childhood versus the time he put into his book and Noe is incomparable. Although, you can’t deny that True Tears has taken us for one hell of a twisted path, even though it’s the second last episode I still can’t call what’s going to happen with much certainty.
A Hiromi end was predictable from the start, then evidence for a Noe end began to trickle through. Either one makes sense at this point, it’s all down to the finale.
@ RJ: Oh no you le didn’t. Ichigo 100% was made of fail and lose, I watched the anime only to get an “loldunno” end, and more of the same in the manga until I finally gave up and stopped. Unless…did it get any better?
@ Michael: 404 comment not found.
@ Mike: Whaaa? He’s not that bad. He might have been a little wishy washy at the beginning, but he’s doing better than most harem leads at this point.
@ Siva: Haha, yep. God help us if we’re wrong man, we’re so dead.
@ Dirian: Exactly, and the suspense is why I hate/love PAWorks so much. They’ve kept us guessing until the very last moment and the Hiromi vs Noe fancamps are raging at full force.
I disagree with the siscon end being open though, Noe was really shocked at Jun, I don’t think she could even begin to think of him like that.
Everything else is still wide open though.
@ Kanon_fan82: I actually only caught the Noe silhouette in Shin’s eyes during my second watch through (watching RAW takes massive attention to conversation ;_;) and it was at that point where the Noe fan inside me cried out “WE WON!”. Let’s hope it’s right.
@ Theowne: I threw my comment onto your blog, check it out there :3
I still maintain that the girl at the base of the tree in Episode 1 was in fact Noe, and from that the point when she first appeared ON the tree she was, and always will be, the shining star of True Tears.
@Kuma_cyan
There might be some truth to the sister comments, tho having a life partner that supports you and encourages you cannot be said to be a bad thing. I also imagine that is how Noe treats anyone that she likes in a similarly supportive fashion. It’s just her personality.
In any case, it is still better than the entire basis for Hiromi’s and Shin’s relationship - her one bare foot.
@Siva
Actually, Kuma does give us a pretty interesting point.
You don’t prove a point wrong by just basing it off of your personal life, now if you surveryed 100 people than that would be legit =)
I too, think that Shin and Noe’s relationship is more platonic than romantic :/
@Shirukii
Well, by getting better you mean it finally ended, then yes. I’ll put a spoiler just in case you feel like reading it again, but basically this happens:
Show ▼
Yup.
@Shirukii
Yeah, you’re right that the situation is different from Mitsuki in a lot of ways. I guess that moment where she was acting a bit insecure towards Noe just reminded me so much of Mitsuki.
That dance scene made me really think there might be a chance for Noe as well. Think about how much time has been spent building up to the Mugiha dance and how much emphasis was placed on it. And for him to be watching her when it happens…
I wonder how seriously injured Noe is. Are they going to have a talk right there immediately or is Noe going to be in the hospital, perhaps unconscious? If they’re going to have a big talk right there underneath the tree then I don’t think it could be a Noe ending because of the tried and true tradition - the girl you see first is the “runner up”, and you leave the “winner” for last. If the second situation is true, then I think we may have a chance. The only thing is, if it’s a Noe ending, what about Hiromi? I don’t think the writers will just say “too bad” towards Hiromi without some kind of resolution. What kind of resolution could they possibly give her that could be satisfactory? Jun?
I -definitely- want a Noe ending, -especially- if she’s dead.
All I thought was ‘BITCH PLZ’ when Hiromi told Noe that “me and Shin love each other and you should fuck off ‘cuz he’s mine.” I wanted to slap that girl so hard. I throw all the obscenities in the world at Hiromi. I don’t care what she had to hide when she thought she and Shin were siblings. She has no right to speak for Shin and to tell Noe to leave them alone. Let Shin ‘do things properly’.
And OMFG Jun almost kissed his sister. See, Hiromi should learn something from this guy. Who cares if Shin might be your brother? xD Freaking go for it, man. But seriously, props to Jun. He accepts his feelings, and decides to leave so he won’t hurt her. Real props.
All I have to say is GO NOE! And I knew those chickens represented them xD
Ok all you Noe-lovers, let me paint a picture for you to explain why there cannot be a Shinichiro x Noe ending:
[Shinichiro drops Noe off]
Jun: How was your date?
Shinichiro: Good.
Jun: How far did you get?
Shinichiro: Uh….
Jun: Were her lips soft? I bet they were soft.
Shinichiro: …
Jun: If you ever need to borrow a camera or anything, I have several.
See? See?! I can’t be the only one thinking this!!!
*Kabitzin climbs up tall tree and jumps off*
@Kaelyn: I never said he is totally or completely wrong but what i mean is that his point is wrong to me. If my personal life see it is wrong then how can i say it is right? now if you can surveyed 100 people and brought the list back to me I will appreciate it.
Though i like Noe more than the others in True Tears but she is not my #1 favorite character and not even in my top 5 girls in this season.
@:Whispered.Hope
>>”And OMFG Jun almost kissed his sister. See, Hiromi should learn something from this guy. Who cares if Shin might be your brother? xD Freaking go for it, man. But seriously, props to Jun. He accepts his feelings, and decides to leave so he won’t hurt her. Real props.”
LOL, You make me want to give you a hug.
@Theowne:
>>”The only thing is, if it’s a Noe ending, what about Hiromi? I don’t think the writers will just say “too bad” towards Hiromi without some kind of resolution. What kind of resolution could they possibly give her that could be satisfactory? Jun?”
I don’t know how they are going to end Hiromi but she will never give up on Shin no matter what. And Jun X Hiromi is impossible, none of them have a feeling for the other.
If it will be a Hiromi ending, what will happen to Noe?
I can only see 2 possibilities here..
1. Noe dies..(omg please not this one..)
2. Siscon..(this is a no as well)
It’s hard to imagine Noe just leaving Shinichiro and Hiromi be..
Noe must do something..
Heehee, I’m free for a hug anytime ^_-
I caught up in one night! Can a join the cool kid circle again???
It depends on who you are picking to end up with Shinichiro.
Rewatched 12 and awaiting 13. Still support Hiromi end. This will be an interestin’… :3