True Tears, Episode 8
A Town Where It Doesn’t Snow
[If you're not up to speed, check out the new True Tears info page]
Well. I realized as I sat down to watch this that I was super dooper excited. True Tears really is my favorite show right now, and you can bet I’m not throwing out that Trapper Keeper where I wrote “Mike hearts True Tears 4ever” all over in glitter sparkle pen. I still think it’s a fucking farce that Bandai is going to want $40 a pop for two-episode DVDs of what has to be the shortest series in town, just so we can see Crispin Freeman as Jun (mark my words…).
The Obligatory Recap
The pacing continues to be solid, with story developments coming fast enough to hold my attention but no so fast as to lose the feel of the show — nor does it seem like it’s going to run out of steam prematurely.
Shinichiro really seems to enjoy his time spent with Noe, which is ever-increasing. Perhaps he wasn’t just trying to convince himself he liked her, after all. In fact, he’s walking on sunshine, whoah. He’s writing a picture book again, this one’s about Raigomaru the rooster, and Noe couldn’t be happier to hear it. In fact, it even earns Shin a kiss on the cheek.
Speaking of smooooch, the aftermath of the Aiko kiss incident is as expected: while I usually knock the whole “pretend it didn’t happen” thing in dramatic anime, it’s not the show itself that’s pretending it didn’t happen. Shinichiro is actually taking the pretty mature route here. He says he thinks of her like a sister, not to mention he’s not willing to be a party to crushing his friend Nobuse.
Hiromi , suffering more subtle jabs than ever from Shin’s mom, starts to turn (even more) despondent. While hanging out with cold-ass Jun, she wins a rigged basketball-driven truth or dare type game, and asks him two questions:
1. How many boys has Noe gone out with before? Zero. As Jun starts to ramble on about Noe, Hiromi calls his ass to the table: “Siscon.” I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been waiting to hear that.
2. Why are you going out with me? And not surprisingly, the cold cold bastard tells her. She slips in a third question — what happens if one side breaks up. His only reply: That would be a problem.
As if by cruel fate, the two pairs meet. Hiromi is not feeling especially charitable, but she doesn’t tell Noe about the Dirty Deal. Instead, she makes a pretty unkind comment about how easily Noe stole Shinichiro’s heart, before immediately realizing how much like Shin’s mom she sounds.
We end with Hiromi deciding to bolt from the house, probably for Shin’s mom’s benefit as much as anyone’s, and demanding that Jun take her somewhere (”a town where it doesn’t snow”) on his bike, despite the danger of riding in the snow.
What we’ve learned, what’s to come
Hiromi is now up to speed with the viewer on just about everything, only Noe is in the dark about the Deal. Let’s hope it stays that way, since Shin seems to really be into her these days. The Aiko-Nobuse situation is looking bleak, but look closely: the next episode preview sees Shin fighting with someone, but it’s not Nobuse. Could he be defending Noe’s honor?
Other interesting bits of the preview include a cop car (motorcycle incident or just Mrs. Nakagami calling in Hiromi as missing?), Shin arguing with his mother (probably over what he sees as her driving Hiromi out), and Hiromi apparently disrobing (eh?).
And furthermore
Can I just take a second to verbally spooge all over this show again? This week’s Magic Scene could be Noe and Shinichiro by the seaside, sure. But I think I’d vote for Hiromi vs. Noe by the chicken coops. The subtle range of emotion in both characters’ faces is absolute brilliance, down to Hiromi’s oh-so-tiny tooth grinding. I’d wager it’s even better than Aiko and Nobuse at the mall. Not to mention, Hiromi’s voice acting is the best on TV. Bandai have their hands full with this overpriced dub, no matter how many Crispin Freemans or Kari Wahlgrens they bring to the table.
At any rate, True Tears is my jam and it’s not disappointing me yet. It’s subtely fascinating and still surprisingly real, so I continue to have high hopes.
- otou-san out!
