First Impressions / true tears

Summary:

Having just revealed that she gave up her tears, Noe tells Shinichirou that he’s the first person she’s ever told about this. She questions what he thinks tears are, and when he tries to give her the scientific explanation, she decides that he shows promise. Bringing out a small bottle that she’s wearing as a necklace, Noe reveals that she has a mission to get back her tears. To do that, she needs the tears of a chosen one, and she looks at Shinichirou as if he’s that person. Noe comments on how she knew he’d believe her, but after she runs off on her own, Shinichirou isn’t so sure about that. That night, over dinner, Shinichirou’s mother tries to ask him again about what they started speaking about yesterday, but Shinichirou responds by wolfing down his rice and excusing himself. He feels bad about going against his mother even though he’s been rejected by the publisher, however the big question on his mind is what will happen to him if he gets Noe’s tears for her.

In class the following day, Shinichirou happens to look out the window and sees Noe waving at him from the tennis courts. She attracts a lot of attention by doing this, and Shinichirou gets quite embarrassed. Nobuse points out during lunch that Shinichirou is both living with Hirose and getting love from Noe, and the other boys at the school mock Shinichirou for being a stud. Things don’t get any better when Noe visits Shinichirou’s class and tries to give him some of the red bird feed. According to her, she loves looking up at him because he seems close to the sky, and all this causes Shinichirou to think that he’s truly become a replacement for the chicken Raigomaru. Hiromi meanwhile watches this scene between the two unfold in front of her, and her friend wonders if it’s okay for Shinichirou to be taken from her. However, Hiromi claims that she and him aren’t like that. Hiromi nevertheless is curious enough to visit the chicken coop under Noe’s care, and she finds that there’s now a sign on it marking the grave of Raigomaru.

Hiromi tries to tell Noe that she can’t put a grave marker on the coop while there’s still another chicken inside, but Noe ignores her and walks away when Hiromi’s friend approaches to see what’s going on. A little later, Hiromi approaches Shinichirou’s shoe locker and asks him about being acquainted with Noe. She specifically refers to the rumors surrounding Noe, and Shinichirou is surprised to hear the one about Noe climbing up a tree and trying to pick up guys who pass by. What’s also surprising is how Hiromi asks him to introduce her to Noe the next day. In story terms, Shinichirou thinks of his situation as like being trapped inside a bottle by a monster who had taken the form of an angel and seeing a crying girl in different bottle nearby. He feels that if Noe has to take someone’s tears, it could be Hiromi instead of him. With this in mind, he tells Noe that there’s a girl who wants to be her friend and offers to introduce them.

Hiromi is at that moment in the middle of basketball practice, however she has a hard time concentrating on playing defense because she remembers a particular event from her past where she was alone and looking for Shinichirou. Right as she wonders what she wants to do, Hiromi notices Noe standing in the doorway of the gym, and the momentary loss of focus causes her to trip and fall. Hiromi then goes outside to talk with Noe, and the first thing Noe brings up is how she suspects it was Hiromi who moved the grave sign from on top of the chicken coop to its own mound beside the coop. After Hiromi admits to having done so because she felt that a grave should be properly built, Noe agrees and acknowledges her mistake. Noe then changes the subject to how Shinichirou had said that Hiromi wanted to be her friend, but Noe thinks that this was a lie on Hiromi’s part because she doesn’t believe that Hiromi actually likes her. Noe claims to be not angry though, and she walks away without a second thought, leaving Hiromi speechless.

At home that night, Hiromi tells Shinichirou that Noe rejected her, and she apologizes to him because she realized that it was true that she didn’t want to be Noe’s friend. Still, this makes her think that Noe is amazing for being able to see through her.

Preview

I liked the second episode a lot more than the first – it didn’t feel slow like the first episode did, and that may just be because we’re past the introductions. I found it interesting seeing how Hiromi dealt with Noe and vice-versa, mainly because it’s true that Hiromi didn’t really want to become friends with Noe. It was really all about Shinichirou – if she hadn’t seen him involved with Noe, then the two girls probably wouldn’t have ever met. Thus, it felt like Hiromi was trying either to gauge her competition or to use a friendship with Noe to get closer somehow to Shinichirou.

What this leads us to is a situation where Shinichirou has feelings for Hiromi, and she has feelings for him (at least that’s what’s heavily suggested, particularly by the short flashback scene), but he’s also intrigued by Noe, and Noe sees him as the chosen one to help her get her tears back. My gut tells me that Noe is the special girl that Shinichirou will end up with (if he ends up with anyone), but it’s still too early in the series to rule out any possibilities, particularly since Ai has yet to play a major role in this.

All this is what I meant when I said last week that I think this series has a lot of potential, and the fact that the animation quality is holding up remarkably well is like icing on the cake. However, given how good Shigofumi has also been, it’s hard for me to settle on which Saturday show to follow for the rest of the season, and I’ll need to see the third episodes of both before deciding.

34 Comments

  6. Well, this show can’t slow down really, it’s only 13 episodes, and it’s the main character and it looks like 3 girls. I could be wrong but I think the shorty, forget her name, ahh, Aoi? Might like the main character also, though maybe she’s going out with the other guy already? Or the other guy is just trying to get with her still.

    I figure this could be a triangle or a square, but we’ll see.

    GP
    Reply

  7. @GP
    I think the other guy just think of Aoi as his girlfriend and they are not actually really dating. It is pretty obvious by the way she give him the cold shoulder. He is the type of guy to take things for granted.

    golthin
    Reply

  8. Glad to hear you liked the animation: this show was entirely animated by Chinese animators, and even the animation supervisor for the episode was Chinese (judging by all their names). I think that tells us how P.A. Works can produce such detailed animation without going broke.

    I loved this ep. It solidified my admiration for the show.

    hashihime
    Reply

  16. @Deadlyrain:
    That would be Isurugi Jun, according to the credits. His exact relationship to Noe isn’t known yet, but from his surname, we know they’re related.

    @Omni:
    As per H2O, I say keep watching true tears, but just don’t blog it. It’s in HD and the animation quality has been nice so far. Mix in a relatively interesting bunch of characters/setting and it could turn out to be the “ef – a tale of memories.” of the season, so you probably wouldn’t want to miss out on that. 🙂

    Also, for those interested and haven’t seen them yet, I’ve uploaded high quality versions of the OP/ED on YouTube.

    「true tears」 OP “Reflectia” 「リフレクティア」
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYv6EcjtIjE

    「true tears」 ED “Sekai no Namida” 「セカイノナミダ」 (“Tears of the World”)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDYgdriHZ98

    divine
    Reply

  17. @Windspirit — On 2channel, some people called this a “Chinese anime.” I won’t go that far. The basic staff is still Japanese. But all the on-screen end-credits for animation for this episode were Chinese names, including the episode director and the episode animation supervisor. The storyboard was by the main director, Nishimura Junji, however.

    @Deadlyrain — I wonder who that guy Noe hugs is, too. He could be brother, father, or lover. I don’t think we get any real indication in the scene. I think he appears in the preview of ep3, coming to pick her up on his motorcycle at school.

    hashihime
    Reply

  20. This may sound stupid, but it’s in my blood to want to blog whatever I watch. Since 2005, I think I’ve only watched maybe half a dozen shows that I haven’t also blogged.
    In the end of course, it always boils down to a time problem – too many shows and never enough time…

    Omni
    Reply

  21. For now i’m going to guess that the guy is Noe’s brother. He probably goes to another school, and it looks like he plays basketball also.

    Maybe he’ll have something to do with the other girl cuz she plays basketball also? This could get a bit more complicated than I was expecting if this is the case.

    Anyways, teh 3rd girl, shorty #2 (damn I can’t remember names at all!), seems pretty cool to, if she’s free and after the main guy also, then welcome to teh love square!

    GP
    Reply

  23. Hmmm.. I must say at this point I am liking True tears more than H2) and Shigofumi. H20 was a head of TT till Ep2 hit. I really didn’t like the episode. Guess I’ll wait for another episode to decide with which one to stick with.

    jubeihimura
    Reply

  25. It’s odd, Noe is kinda cool cuz she’s blunt and gets right to the point. But the cryptic side of her is a bit weird at this point. What Hiromi wanted to do by getting close to her I could only guess, probably to find out if Noe likes the guy or not. Hiromi seemed pretty happy at the end of the episode with her little smile etc.

    I can’t wait for ep3 to come, I wan’t to see Aoi make her move, it looks like she goes all out with a sneak-kissu attack in the preview.

    GP
    Reply

  27. Jesus christ how many people have been scarred by school days xD seriously like with every anime that comes out its either me or someone else thinking “Oh snap I hope it doesn’t turn out like school days” xD The director knew what he was doing evidently o.o

    Daiske
    Reply

  28. @Lying on my side

    The animation doesn’t look anything like it……the art form used is like universal…….. dude……..everyone and there dog draws like that xD also thoughs are pretty common school clothes….of all things to say its like you pick a epic anime from the 90’s o.o…….not haruhi, not clannad, not kanon, which probably would have the closest animation style…….but you choose……evangelion……a next to forgotten epic anime from the 90’s…..dude your just….awesome xD

    Random guy ted
    Reply

  34. These relations can only get complex, shin just seems to get more and more puzzled over both women’s decisions etc…..will get even more interesting once Ai gets involved I imagine!

    Comito
    Reply

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