True Tears was an excellent series, blurring the line between visual novel and shoujo – much like KimiKiss – and delivering a heart-pounding love story with elements familiar to both genres. Defying all laws of harem (and apparently defying the original game’s story, as well), it proved to be one of my favourite shows of the year, no doubt due to the amount of drama built up throughout the series. Just as realism is something I often enjoy in romance (see Clannad After Story), unrealistic melodramatic stories can also be good, so long as the characters are understandable and their actions aren’t too ridiculous. To me, True Tears stood out not only because of its genre-defying developments, but also because of its plot twists, and the sixth episode is one that left me with my jaw dropped.
The love – what was it, pentagon? – of True Tears was something that I enjoyed immensely. As impractical as it may have been, the setup was nothing short of brilliant, and the execution was adequate at the very least; I found my enjoyment increasing dramatically with every passing week. Around half way through the series, however, things really picked up, and I believe a large portion of that was due to the realization (false or not) that Shinichirou and Hiromi were related.
Of course, there’s much that one can say about True Tears, this plot twist being only one of the many surprises and dramatic scenes that took place throughout the series. However, with the pentagon growing ever more vivid – and ever more painful – this specific twist was just what I needed to make me realize just how good the show that I was watching was. Through the show’s air time, it transformed in my eyes from mediocre VN adaptation to romance/drama brilliance on the same level as KimiNozo, and right in the middle of it was this little cruel twist that left me in a daze.
It also reminded me of that route in a certain VN involving Blick Winkel-san, but I’d rather not remember that one…
~ ETERNAL
つづく
