True Tears 07 – Cruel love
It's going to be a Shin X Hiromi finish and I'm coming from a storyboarding point of view here. Noe and Shin's getting together at this time for all the wrong reasons tells me their relationship is going to end prematurely. Nonetheless, it is a vital checkpoint in the story as their relationship will now be the fulcrum point for all other plot developments. We note that it has already triggered Ai action and in the next ep - a possible Jun and Hiromi relationship. With only 6 eps to go, it'd make sense to devote 2 eps to sort out the Ai mess, another 2 to resolve the Jun/Noe conundrum and the closing 2 eps for a Shin X Hiromi finale. Of course a good storyteller would weave all these storythreads concurrently into a coherent tale and I expect nothing less than an epic tale of a love given how spectacular these 7 eps has been.
It was painful to watch Shin confess to Noe. He must have convinced himself that he was merely responding to the affections of an incredibly cute girl but the audience knows better - the doomed relationship is founded on his love for Hiromi. I have mentioned it before. There is nothing, NOTHING more cruel than proxy love. I hope Jun doesn't make the same mistake with Hiromi. It's fine if Jun seeks Hiromi out as a friend for siscon rehabilitation but anything beyond that, he'd be worse than Makoto-scum.. well almost. That said, I'm also full of sympathy for him. Of those with unreached feelings in this series, he has taken it the farthest and the degree of suppression reflects the extent of the self-inflicted cruelty. The words, ".... (we) cannot not change...." must have been meant for himself.
Well at least one with unreached feelings broke the curse, though communicated in one of the worst ways possible. Man, how are you supposed to react when your best friend's girlfriend makes moves on you? Worse, she's supposedly a good platonic friend too. Myself, I'd kiss back, Ai is too darn cute! Her line, "Onegai, watashi no koto wo mite yo..." has to be the saddest in this episode. Ai continues to be the pioneer in the series, being the first to make the mistake of misappropriating her love, first to realise the cruelty of her ways and attempt a breakup, first to break the taboo and relay her true feelings. Of course I'd expect her to be the first real casualty in the series even though she's the 2nd to shed tears. Much like Suzumiya Akane in Kiminozo, she's not even a contender to Shin's heart. Yeah, I dare you PA works, prove me wrong!
Speaking of tears, I wonder who would Noe shed tears for finally - Shin after he utterly tramples on her heart by revealing his deep love for Hiromi or Jun after realising the immeasurable pain of his siscon. I can't wait to see Noe cry.
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February 17th, 2008 - 11:53
Somehow, the last line rubbed off wrong on me at first glance. I wonder why…. :O
I remember someone commented in your blog that Noe’s reactions to situations around her either ‘portrays her genius or betrays her eternally young mindset’. With this episode, I would think the latter holds. No matter how much you wish to know a person, no matter how much you think you can help a person, that person has a right to privacy. Noe’s persistence in trying to find a way to help Shinichiro led to her trying to take independent action by approaching Hiromi, possibly partly out of frustration that Shinichiro refuses to talk. She may have meant well for Shinichiro and maybe even Hiromi, but without knowledge of the situation, her words are at best not helpful, and at worst, downright selfish and hurtful. She cannot expect to tell Hiromi how “she can never fly” and how “she’s holding back Shinichiro from the sky” to have any positive effect, let alone throw a temper tantrum about how she is being kept in the dark. If it was a problem that could be told, surely Shinichiro would have told her. As it is, it wasn’t, and confronting Hiromi about it only served to antagonize Hiromi even further. All in all, I see her confrontation with Hiromi as disrespectful to Shinichiro’s request for privacy and to Hiromi’s current situation. Her childlike nature may be her charm, but if she continues to be like this, it will fast become a drawback. For the record, I do not hate Noe, far be it from me to hate her, but I definitely cannot agree with people who will doubtlessly say that Noe is merely doing the right thing in trying to ‘break the impasse’.
Aiko continues her advance on Shinichiro, and she certainly isn’t afraid to take what she wants. However, I have to wonder if she knows how much mental agony she will inflict on Shinichiro with that confession? Shinichiro has always looked up to her as a ‘big sister’, being the place he goes to to seek advice for problems and to escape from them. With that one kiss, not only does he have his best friend’s girlfriend confessing to him, but he does not have that ‘big sister’ anymore, right at a time where he needed her to listen to him, no less. I do not fault Aiko for the action itself, but I fault her for its timing. If Shinichiro’s previous reactions suggests anything, he will be far more anguished than happy to be kissed by Aiko. Stupid of him? Hardly, because he has shown himself to be a strong friend of Nobuse, and moreover, it has happened to him when he needed her support the most.
I suppose the theme of the episode is selfishness, in a way. Noe was acting ‘wagamama’ in persistently trying to find out the reason behind Shinichiro’s distance, Nobuse’s refusal to hear Aiko’s true feelings can be legitimately interpreted as trying to take care of his own interests (though it is just as possible that he is trying to give Aiko a place to return to when she fails) and Aiko very likely didn’t give much thought as to how Shinichiro would have felt when she kissed him.
I would like to apologize for the overly long comment; blame True Tears’ spectacular scripting for it XD
February 17th, 2008 - 18:14
Wonderful insights! Frankly, on confirming that Noe is of the ‘latter’ disposition, she lost some of that charm for me since a lot of her allure thrives on a certain mystic. :p That confrontation with Hiromi was uncalled for surely. Shin and Hiromi’s issues are something Noe cannot hope to solve although ironically it’s a problem she has except she hasn’t realised it.
As for the theme of this ep, it’s interesting that for the other 2 boys, Shin and Jun, it’s cruel love masquerading as selfless love. Despite the best of intentions for their loves, they have unknowingly deal a most cruel card instead.
Can’t wait for the rest for TT either.
February 17th, 2008 - 21:00
Shin’s confession to Noe was one of the more touching moments in the series and I seriously doubt that any Shin/Hiromi moment could top it. True love consists of actions and choices that build upon emotions and Shin/Noe is a textbook example. Hiromi can provide stronger emotions and greater melodrama but such stuff is not indicative of lasting relationships.
I’m afraid we’re headed for a train wreck if Shin switches over at this point. He may not be as reviled as Makoto or Takayuki, but he will surely reach Rin’s level. Ah, the pain of jilted love… maybe Noe should meet up with Yoshino Sakura at some point?
February 17th, 2008 - 21:10
Stripey, I got a bad news. It may be that Shinichiro’s mother wasn’t totally truthful during the conversation with Hiromi.
February 18th, 2008 - 08:45
dsong: Actions and choices are driven by motivations and in Shin’s case, I’m afraid it is less than honourable in his confession with Noe. It may be sweet and all (I especially love the gloves bit
) but it’s sad that Noe and Shin are embarking on a relationship built on falsehood. Shin clearly isn’t certain of his feelings for Noe. In fact he is still struggling over his feelings for Hiromi which was why he was lamenting about giving up Hiromi early in the ep. His seeking out of Ai for solace after the confession is yet another sign.
As for Rin, I thought Asa was the girl for him. (Of course Primula in another 5 years time when the rest of the SHUFFLE cast grow old and wrinkled
). On jilted love, I think Kiri of Canvas2 is a better candidate. 
I think it’s time for another one of those losers in love post. 
maglor: Meaning they are not siblings after all?
Actually I am hoping for this outcome. After all the siscon theme would have play out its part already. A good twist would be Hiromi is a half Nakagami but Shinichiro was actually adopted or something 
February 18th, 2008 - 09:16
Shin/Noe looks like a farce at this point. I’m sure there were others that felt this so it can’t just be me, but his abrupt about-face towards a Noe inclination felt forced and fake to me, as if he was just telling himself that he likes Noe in order to forget about her. Sounds doomed to me.
On the other hand, one girl’s tears have been shed already, namely Hiromi’s. As much as I am a Shin/Hiromi fan, wouldn’t it make sense to have him get together with the girl whom he sees crying the last? I’m just guessing here, but it would make sense if so… and “true tears” doesn’t necessarily have to be that of sadness, so the final one could be tears of joy or happiness. Just my thoughts.
February 18th, 2008 - 20:41
By Noe’s standards, the tears shed in ep 6 by Hiromi would be deemed unworthy. Possibly we could have worthy tears of happiness when Hiromi and Shin finally gets together after much tribulation? That then could be her ‘True’ tears in line with the series’ them.
Just extrapolating on your thoughts
February 18th, 2008 - 22:39
Would the happy tears shed by you as you watched sorta-siscon with Noe/Jun and Hiromi/Shinichiro be judged worthy =D?
February 18th, 2008 - 23:38
Oooh Kabitzin, you caught up! Looking fwd to reading your ep 6 and 7 thoughts.
My siscon tears? Worthy of course! After I did devou… assimilate Raigomaru, the first bearer of Noe’s aspirations
February 19th, 2008 - 00:50
Well I had a post to respond to this, but I’ll kep it short in the mean time.
Hiromi’s tears were genuinely sad you miserly eater of Raigomaru. If anything Hiromi’s wings had been unjustly clipped, she could have flown once you know but the wicked step mother had it in for her.
I feel sympathetic to the plights of Jun and Nobuse, but they are both men and they would gladly bear the pain for the sake of the ones they love. There is no rhyme or reason to it, they are in love. Also quit goading PA Works to screw Nobuse over like that. He’s a better man than you, didn’t jump on Ai-chan like you would have and he had every right to be pissed too.
Not only did you eat Noe’s beloved Raigomaru you want to see her cry too, you rotten unprincipled tanuki. How can you say such things? I hope Nauzron decided to punish you for your insolence towards glorious Noe…I hope she makes you cry.
February 19th, 2008 - 19:58
At this point I’m rooting for an Ai-chan x Noe ending since they’re the only ones being honest with their feelings.
But sadly I don’t think it’s in the cards.
February 20th, 2008 - 09:07
Crusader: LOL! Guilty as charged! All the male characters in True Tears are better men then me. If I were Jun, I would have jumped, Noe; if Shin, Hiromi and Nobuse… well I’m not sure about him though since it looks like he didn’t have the chance to not because he didn’t want to jump Ai. Anyhow, my sympathies for Nobuse but clearly Shin is the better man. Nobuse gives too flighty a feeling. Shin is more introspective and steady giving women that feeling of security in love that they place so much importance on.
And yes, I got my due punishment already. I cried when my mistress asked me to chop up the onions that day… XD
Dirian: I’d put you on the True Tear production team if I had the power.
February 24th, 2008 - 19:31
Hiromi calling out Jun’s siscon=awesome
@ Stripey:
That’s the first time I’ve ever seen the word “fulcrum” used in a blog post, or any modern English sentence in a LOOOOOOONG time……10 points of awesomeness to you
February 25th, 2008 - 00:35
Hiromi’s stock took a beating in episode 8 and she may be headed for an epic collapse…
February 25th, 2008 - 15:53
You are the go-to tanuki for siscon… episode 8 banzai!
February 25th, 2008 - 19:06
“Dirian: I
February 26th, 2008 - 04:36
Kanon_fan82: Heh, thanks for enduring my liberties with the English language
Kabitzin: Jun is my idol now
Dirian: Interesting you should mention Yuri in a True tears entry since the director/writer works on the fabled Simoun
February 26th, 2008 - 21:23
Don’t give me false hope Stripey. False hope is the worst kind of cruelty.