True Tears, Episode 9
Can’t Seem To Fly
Call me Legion, for I am many.
The Legion of Noe Fans on the Internet, that is. Nerd Rage in the making. Get where I’m going? They are not gonna be pleased this week, because this is not a visual novel and you don’t get to pick the outcome. Thankfully.
Recap
No dice on Jun dying in a motorcycle crash. But a fiery crash does happen. After finding out if Hiromi is OK, he goes about the process of grieving for his true love. You get the feeling he’d probably still care more about the bike even if Hiromi’s neck was broken, but did you expect any less? Anyway, she uses the flames to warm her hands, which gave me a laugh.
Shinichiro’s mom is beside herself with guilt when Hiromi bolts from the house; after all, it’s kind of her fault. She goes out looking for both kids, even going as far as to call the cops. But worried Shin and Noe are already on the trail in a cab, and soon catch up with the flaming wreckage and take the pair home.
Not before Shin embraces Hiromi… somewhat meaningfully. This makes Noe sad, and pleases Legion even less.
It isn’t long before Hiromi is the talk of the town, and soon she and Jun are both suspended from their respective schools. Damn, Japan is hard core. Here in this country, if you put a girl on the back of your bike and try to kill her by riding off into the sunset in the middle of winter, they give you a medal. I’ve seen it. It’s got James Dean punching kittens on it, and if you look real close Sinatra is fucking a bald eagle in the background.
Anyway, the kids are rough on Hiromi, and Shin finds himself pounding faces to defend her honor, but it doesn’t look so good for him when Noe finds that out. That makes her more sad. Somewhere on an anime room in a dark corner of IRC, torches are being soaked with oil.
Shinichiro’s mom realizes she’s kind of been a horribly shitty person, and not only apologizes to Hiromi (even buys her ice cream, the universal sign in any culture of Great Parental Gesture) — she tells her the truth. And the truth is… she lied about that thing. “You’re not. I lied. Sorry for fucking up your head for the past few years.” Hiromi is understandably angry at first, but her life — and her feelings — just got a little less complicated. Now things look really bad for the Noe contingent.
And finally, Shinichiro is having a damn hard time writing his book now. It’s actually a fantastic scene when he’s explaining Raigomaru the Rooster’s flight problems and Noe asks simply, “Are you talking about yourself?” It’s quite a rare self-aware moment for the show (there are actually two in this episode), and it should easily bounce your accusations of pretense. Edit: And I’m so dumb I missed its real meaning.
It’s very sad when she runs away from him at the shore, but he returns home to find a surprisingly warm and apologetic Hiromi.
What We’ve Learned
This episode reminded me that I’m watching an anime drama and everything can’t be rosy, but it also further reminded me what makes True Tears so different. It’s not about broad sweeping changes that rock the course of human history, it’s about Shin’s mom buying Hiromi ice cream. It’s about little tiny victories and heartbreaks along the way that makes others’ attempts seem really ham-fisted and unsophisticated, even Clannad’s. Which is not to say that I think it’ll be that way for the remainder. I just think that when and if they do break out bigger guns, they’ll have the power to end worlds.
Thoughts
I’m going to stay away from blindly stroking the show today, and think about my views on the future. I have none. This episode felt especially dreamlike, even for True Tears, and really made me want to just absorb and let what happens next come. There does appear to be some Aiko and Nobuse stuff going on in the preview, though.
There are no clear routes to predict anyway, although I will voice a thought that’s peeking back to me from the earliest episodes that people seem to have forgotten: If Shinichiro’s purpose to Noe is to “give back her tears,” isn’t the best way to break her heart?
- otou-san out!
March 4th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Here, I fixed it for you.
Because the tear-giver has to be a dear person, I don’t think Shinichiro can just waltz in and dump her. I think what he is going to do is make her realize that SHE is actually Raigomaru, and she can fly. Then she will realize she does not need Shinichiro, so he can go back to peeping on Hiromi.
Everyone assumes that Shinichiro is writing about himself, but I think he is actually writing a story about Noe. I think this will tie in to the fact that Noe has a feather on her backpack.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
hot pockets are dangerous themselves. Burnt tongue waiting to happen.
As for Noe being Raigomaru, that’s pretty astute on your part. It crossed my mind before but after what she said this week it should be obvious — makes me feel a little dumb.
“Everyone assumes” it’s Shinichiro, you’re right, but that includes him. I think.