true tears fue la mejor serie dramática de 2008. Sin demasiada parafernalia y sosteniéndose en la solvencia de personajes de hondo trazo psicológico, el triángulo amoroso entre Shin’ichiro, Noe y Hiromi consiguió enganchar al espectador gracias a la pericia de los guionistas para planificar y dosificar el contenido de cada capítulo haciendo coincidir cada final de episodio con un calculado suspenso que superaba las expectativas de la semana previa. Imposible permanecer imparcial con true tears: estabas obligado a amar a Noe y convertirte en un intransigente noefag (este blogger se adhiere a esta definición) o defender los derechos de osana najimi de Hiromi y emprender la ruta del obcecado hiromifag. Aunque el desenlace canónico favoreció a esta última tendencia, fue Noe Isurugi, esa chica misteriosa y espontánea, dueña de sus propias leyes, de su propia filosofía, de una inquebrantable fortaleza moral, quien se apropiaría de los reflectores y de la simpatía mayoritaria desde los primeros episodios. Sería imposible mencionar a true tears sin asociarla de inmediato a las andanzas de Noe alimentando a Shin con alpiste para pollos, lavándole la cara en una fontana pública, construyendo una tumba para Raigomaru, huyendo de vergüenza de la declaración de Shin, saltando de un árbol, peleando con Hiromi o trepada sobre la espalda de Shin’ichiro cantando su clásica canción de la cucharacha, o declarando mientras camina como equilibrista sobre un parapeto que sus lágrimas se secaron. El transcurso de las estaciones en un pequeño pueblo costero del Japón se cierra al comenzar la primavera, cuando Noe recupera su capacidad de llorar, unas lágrimas que se perfilan arrastradas por el viento, porque los directores acertaron en no mostrarnos los ojos del personaje, sino colocarla de espaldas resguardando la intimidad de su triunfo. Estos pensamientos volvieron a mi cabeza cuando leía esta noticia en MCAnime (posteado por el usuario lawfer):

Según Newtype, edición de diciembre, una caja Blu-ray de True Tears fue anunciada para ser lanzada el 26 de marzo de 2010. En esta caja, un anime corto de solo 3 minutos será incluido en el box set y será una secuela de la serie de televisión.
Sin embargo, ¡la venta de los boxset se cancelará si el número de pre-órdenes es menor a 2,000 ejemplares!

¿Cuánto puede transmitirse en tres minutos? true tears es una serie densa y paradójicamente, consigue condensar una enorme cantidad de información en doce episodios pese a prevalecer un ritmo poco trepidante salvo momentos de grave tensión dramática. Especular cualquier escenario es frustrante porque requeriría una mayor duración si pretenden que sea una adición significativa al relato. Para tratarse de un mero omake, un extra humorístico o un complemento sin repercusión, quizá no debería concitar demasiado interés. Personalmente, aunque hubiese preferido un desenlace donde Shin se decidiera por Noe, porque desafiaba la premisa inaugural del relato, reconozco que el final de true tears es una pequeña joya de artesanía narrativa por su madurez en la resolución, su manejo sobrio pero precioso de los elementos visuales y porque ató los cabos necesarios (el romance) y dejó sueltos aquellos donde debía operar la imaginación (la relación entre Noe y Jun). No valdría la pena arruinarlos con 180 segundos de explicaciones superfluas.

True Tears

Plot Summary:

Shinichiro is a student living in what would be a dream come true for most high school boys, but for him is mostly a frustration. A well liked girl in school named Hiromi has lived in his house for a year along with his family. Her father was a close friend of the family, and when he died they immediately took her in. She is popular and well liked, always smiles, is talented in sports- but Shinichiro knows there must be tears inside her. Having an artistic tendency, he makes watercolours of her and thinks about wishing to ease her tears. Yet he cannot bring up the nerve to talk to her even in his own home.

She, too, is quiet and withdrawn in their house, quite unlike at school. Shinichiro is also distracted by teasing from his friend Nobuse for watching Hiromi from afar, a curse of bad luck from a strange girl named Noe, and being forced to perform Muhiga dancing. By helping Noe he hopes to ease his own problems, yet he seems to have difficulty helping himself.

Genre: Drama, Romance, School

Age Rating: Teenage and above (may contain bloody violence / bad language / nudity)

No. of Episodes: 13 episodes

Story

Well, I don’t know anything about its visual novel. I heard that both stories are completely different. Anyway, I came across this anime while I was browsing through myanimelist and found it has high average ranking and popularity. Thus I give it a try.

At first, I thought it just another romance, slice-of-life and even harem anime… But wait… It turned out to be a really great anime. The story is similar with those AIR or Kanon… which has mysterious or abstruse kind of story. Many anime tried to do so, but failed to bring that kind of mood/feel. However, True Tears did it.

It has the metaphorical story telling method which some people find hard to understand. However, it is the main aspect that made it a great anime with wonderful story. Other than that, with 3 heroines, many people would thought that it is just another harem anime having a male protagonist teamed by the heroines. But, unlike those, it has its own method of story development. It has more expertly conducted interactions.

Overall, its being a while for watching any anime with such story. Thumbs up for it.

I’ll have it rated: 36/40

Animation

Studio: P.A.Works

Year: 2008

Type: Series

The animation quality of this anime is beyond my expectation. I don’t remember if I ever watch any anime produced by P.A.Works. This might be the first from them, and they successfully give me a great impression.

The artwork is impressive, the characters are vividly drawn. The characters looks alive under their creation. The movements are fluid and natural. For example during the basket ball scenes, which is superbly natural.

Other than that, the background details is impressive. Usually a animation studio would not bother to care the background details in order to cut down the production cost. However, What I’ve seen in this anime is that, the background scenes are actually moving. Everything are don so naturally that I’m so impressed with this animation studio.

I also like the way they make some special or memorable scenes with water-colour effect. Just like how Shinichiro’s art book. It increase the impact of the story greatly.

This might be one of the anime with best animation I’ve ever seen.

I’ll have it rated: 29.5/30

Audio

Opening Theme(s):

1. “reflectia” by eufonius

Ending Theme(s):

1. “Sekai no Namida” by Yuhki Aira

Insert Theme(s):

1. a

The sound work of this anime is splendid too. The opening and ending theme is great to listen to and suits the anime perfectly. I like how the ending animation is being presented, chibi characters moving through the screen.

The background music is great too, it provide what the story needs. Not to forget the voice cast in this anime. The voice cast is done very well.

I’ll have it rated: 18/20

Personal Rating

This is one of the best anime I’ve watch this year. Definitely recommend to those who likes anime such as AIR and Kanon.

10/10

OVERALL POINTS

36.5 + 29.5 + 18 + 10 = 94points

94points, MASTERPIECE anime [04/10/2009]

More Anime Reviews and Rating – Click HERE

How I Rate Anime – Click HERE

Bueno, es por todos conocido que la cultura otaku esta siendo acojida gradualmente por varias partes del mundo pero en U.S ya tienen un nivel bastante bueno, y eso se puede reflejado en cosas como estas.

Algunas de las canciones de las series de anime “Sola” y “True Tears” ya se pueden comprar legalmente desde el Itunes estadounidense, entre los titulos que podemos encontrar se encuentran:

Sola:”Colorless Wind” y “Koi Shika Nakatta”

True Tears: “Reflectia” y “Elekto”

Una noticia verdaderamente buena para el usuario del ipod y fan de estas dos magnificas series, venga itunes danos nuestro anime tambien! xD

Aún esperamos el dia en que cosas como estas puedan llegar a Mexico y a distintos sitios de Latinoamerica, con tiendas especializada y buen servicio que falta nos hace ya que todo el anime que veo por la calel es Pirata. (pero hay que decirlo, piratas de muy buena calidad XD)

More short crappy reviews! True Tears, Night Wizard, Bus Gamer, Kaiji and Monochrome Factor after the cut!

True Tears: Standard plot line, but very nicely done – 3.5/5

PLOT: True Tears has a pretty standard plotline, but the execution was nicely done. The love triangle ended up being the entire drive of the story rather than just a plot device and as such the drama felt that much more real. It’s a slow burner, building the characters up slowly and giving lots to development avoiding any feeling of shallowness. The characters themselves are fairly likeable, but I personally do not see why Shinichiro had 3 cute girls lusting after him! Oh well this is anime! The drama took a while to develop, but it was nicely done and the series ended nicely. My favourite character was definitely Noe – she’s very quirky & appealing. Hiromi on the other hand bugged the life out of me and I just couldn’t see her appeal. The side characters also got adequate development and Shinichiro’s parents had an actual role to play rather than just being soulless cardboard cutouts. I did feel that there was still something lacking, although I just can’t put my finger on what – maybe its because I just didn’t really like Shinichiro and began to feel that he didn’t really deserve to have so many women lusting after him!

ANIMATION: I have to say that this series is beautifully animated. The character designs are appealing and the backgrounds wonderfully detailed. PA Works have done an excellent job on this series for a relatively recent studio. The festival scene near the end of the series is nothing short of stunning and the wintry backdrop of most of the series was really atmospheric.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: The OP & ED were cute, nothing overly spectacular but decent. Same with the voice acting, no one really stands out too much though.

Overall I liked True Tears, but felt that there was something lacking. It’s a slow paced romance, but the wonderful animation and well thought out characters make it a superior example of its genre.

Night Wizard:The Animation: Pretty average action series, but entertaining nonetheless - 3/5

PLOT: I watched this weekly when it aired, and it managed to do its job, in that it provided me with a decent slice of wizarding action every week. Night Wizard is a game conversion so there is plenty of action. At first it’s more like a comedy adventure series, with the main focus being collecting jewels and battling the villain of the week. In the latter episodes the focus shifts to the bigger picture and most of the comedy is lost, as the plot turns serious. I found this threw me quite a bit, as earlier episodes were very light and comedic. However I didn’t expect much from the show to begin with so I was quite pleased with there being an actual plot! Overall an entertaining show that does not demand too much from the viewer, so worth a look if you want some mindless action.

ANIMATION: Its not going to win awards, but it was pretty enough and quite consistent. The action scenes were well done and the character designs were generic, but attractive.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: I really liked the ED and the OP was also OK – BGM was fitting for this type of show as was the voice acting (if kind of bog-standard and uninspiring).

So yeah, a pretty average gamer conversion, but there wasn’t a whole lot wrong with the series. Recommended for light viewing.

Bus Gamer: Interesting premise, but way too short and therefore rushed 3/5

PLOT: Bus Gamer was strange – these 3 episodes feel more like a pilot for a longer series than anything self-contained. I suspect that there will be a Bus Gamer anime at some stage, since the characters are sort of left in limbo at the end of the final episode. It was oddly paced; the first episode was slow and lacked tension and all the action was squished into the last 5-10mins when the trio finally get their act together and get into their 1st ‘Biz Game’! The other 2 episodes sort of repeated that pattern – every time a bit of tension builds Saitou, the comic relief character, quickly defuses it by saying/doing something stupid (his OTT-ness makes me think its an act though – I’m suspicious like that, but nothing is resolved in the end). There is a lack of character development and everything is shallow feeling, but the concept itself is interesting and I would happily watch more!

ANIMATION: I wasn’t very impressed with the production quality of this show – I felt that it could have been better, some scenes just came across as cheap. The character designs just screamed ‘bishie’ at me and I found myself expecting some random shounen-ai to develop (it doesn’t – think its just my warped mind ). The thing that really annoyed me though, was that Nakajou’s eyes were permanently hidden by his hair = bloody irritating.
MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: The music is decent enough – nothing spectacular. The voice acting is good, I liked all the main characters and the opening titles are sung by the 3 (not the best song in the world though).

Overall I feel that an interesting premise was somewhat wasted and hope that there will be longer series in the future as this show does have promise.

Kaiji: Tense, atmospheric show with very striking animation – 4/5

PLOT: Fairly straightforward plot, I was worried initially that they couldn’t milk enough episodes out of the concept, but I need not have worried. Kaiji is a show full of tension and twists – its all very entertaining! I don’t much like the actual characters themselves as it’s hard to sympathise with them as people, but it’s interesting to watch them struggle to outwit each other. The constant narration does occasionally get on my nerves though as its sometimes a touch too OTT, but that’s a minor quibble. By the end I still didn’t much like Kaiji as a person – he’s a bit of a hopeless case, but does demonstrate a bit of backbone and a touch of intelligence – the man needs to stop gambling though, he’s really crap at it!

ANIMATION: In a word the animation is UGLY! Nothing will get me to change my mind on this – the character designs are just plain ugly! However the actual animation quality is extremely high. The detailing of the backgrounds and excellent use of bright colours and heavy shadowing just oozes style. A very well put together show as one would expect from Madhouse. If only the characters were not so ugly, I’d be so much more enraptured of this anime – but not every show can be stuffed full of bishounen! (unfortunately!) What can I say – I’m shallow like that!

VOICE ACTING & MUSIC: Voice acting is very solid, you can tell that Kaiji’s VA is mainly a live action actor as he really does emote every well. The narrator is great (well he is Zaraki Kenpachi himself!), and the supporting cast does a great job too. Music wise the score is brilliant – really enhancing the tension in the right places. The OP is really short and I’m convinced I’ve heard it before somewhere – the ED does the job but is mostly unremarkable.

Overall I’m enjoyed Kaiji quite alot and highly recommend it, however felt that it was a touch OTT at times and perhaps slightly overlong.  Although saying that I’m still really looking forward to the live action version!

Monochrome Factor: Shallow and predictable, yet somehow extremely entertaining! – 3.5/5

PLOT: Well its very generic, straightforward and blatantly pandering to BL fangirls, but somehow still manages to be interesting! I was pleasantly surprised by the series as I had zero expectations from it when I was previewing it. The series is from the same team as Loveless, but where Loveless is heavy on the drama, Monochrome Factor is much more comedic. The characters are fantastic fun (if completely stereotypical) and the script is very witty. There isn’t much closure at the end of the series and stuff tends to happen with not a lot of explanation – there is also quite a lot of filler material. However Monochrome Factor was great for light viewing, I even picked up the manga because I enjoyed the series so much!

ANIMATION: The bishie character designs are nice – I like them, but I dont like the whole pink lipstick thing Shirogane has going on. I think the fact he has a 5ft braid and dresses Traptastically is enough to indicate the gayness of the character. The series clearly has a low budget, but it does use it well – things are simple but pretty. Excellent use of chibi’s to enhance the comedy too.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: Great voice cast – love each and every one of them though Shirogane is a favourite ^_^ The OP is brilliant (have it downloaded) and the ED and BGM are decent enough too.

Overall a very enjoyable show, surprisingly one of my favourites from the Spring 2008 season!

As ever, more when I have time!