“O what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

This phrase best sums up the current situation of True Tears, with its complicated characters and relationships. The more I watch it, the more I feel as if my [hated] melodrama animes, particularly Marmalade Boy (the half brother and sister angle, past issues between their parents), Kimagure Orange Road (the unbreakable triangle loop), and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (pimping someone else for the one you like; not fighting for the love you want), are coming back to haunt me.

The plot devices and the schema of relationships in True Tears seem all familiar, but for some reason it still proves to be a refreshing watch. Perhaps it’s the awesome visuals, which accentuates all the subtleties in each of the character’s actions and emotions. Or the fact that it’s only 13-episodes long, which means that it won’t beat around the bush unlike the aforementioned animes, and resolve things rather quickly (and hopefully, effectively).

So what does the web of deceit look like now? JRoxas provided a graphical view of this entangled relationships in the show, and just to expound on this further…

The sweater, embodiment of Aiko’s woven facade - of lies and truth.

Aiko loves Shinichirou, but Shinichirou sees her as no more than a friend. On top of being oblivious to Ai’s feelings, Shinichirou takes on the role of the omniscient matchmaker who knows what’s best for her love life, and hooks her up with his best friend Miyokichi.

Ai however decides not stand up for feelings and goes with the flow out with Miyokichi, in the hopes that this will allow her to become closer to Shinichirou(? Based on her comment in the second episode; though it can also be to stir up Shinichirou’s “jealousy”). Now that she has a boyfriend, she still harbors feelings for Shinichirou, and it shows in her actions, especially as of late. She’s becoming more frustrated as the number of girls going after Shinichirou have increased (x3) and she can’t even be considered a contender given her current “in a relationship” state (unless she breaks free).

Aiko is breaking free, at long last.

Miyokichi already felt that something’s wrong with his relationship with Ai, ever since the day she asked out Shinichirou to go on shopping without even telling him about it. He tried to dismiss any negative and malicious thoughts about this, but Aiko’s behavior shows otherwise.

A smile, with not even a hint of lies, doubts, nor fears.

Noe likes Shinichirou, and sticks to him like a glue. Is it true love or just a pet-ty love? Jun-nii knows best.

Jun (aka No.6) loves Noe, perhaps more than a sister, based on what we’ve seen of his actions in episode 4. Being the good brother that he is, he allows Noe to pursue the love she wants, despite his feelings. He even helps out(?), by matchmaking her with Shinichirou. He orders Shinichirou to go out with Noe, but we’re not sure if it’s triggered by a selfish or pure unselfish motive.

Noe is bold and aggressive o_O~

Shinichirou is drawn to the eccentric Noe, and how he wasn’t able to outright refuse Jun-nii’s order shows that he’s attracted to her, enough to cause him confusion. But then again it could also be because of frustration from his thought-to-be unrequited love for Hiromi, after finding out that he likes No.6, or so he thinks.

Oh to love like a child again, innocent and free from complications.

Hiromi actually loves Shinichirou, ever since they were kids (from the flashbacks we’ve seen), but issues in her troubled past (involving Shinichirou and his parents) caused her to conceal these feelings. When her rival for the love of Shinichirou in the person Noe suddenly appears, and the balance in their relationship started to crumble. Hiromi denies that she’s affected by Noe, convincing her friend (and herself) that she actually likes No.6, which Shinichirou witnesses, out of all people.

Despite Hiromi’s inkling desire to correct Shinichirou’s misconception, she takes the indecisive path and leaves things as misunderstood as it is. Again, brought about by her troubled past. Shinichirou takes on the role of the martyr, who gives up on his love for Hiromi, for the sake of the guy she truly loves, or so he thinks (again). Whilst brother Jun is hooking him up with Noe, he repays the favor by hooking him up with Hiromi.

Jun is all game to the idea, and orders Hiromi to go on a date with him. Despite knowing his feelings, as well as both Shinichirou and Hiromi’s feelings for each other. Not knowing that Jun’s date is Hiromi, Noe cheers her brother from the bottom of her heart.

Initially resistant to the idea of having a date with Jun, Hiromi agrees soon afterwards. Either driven by being upset at Shinichirou’s decision to do her this unsolicited favor, or just for the sake of it.

Come episode 5, Noe decides to get close to Hiromi, to mend the relationship between her and Shinichirou, and rid Shinichirou of the worthless tears she caused him.

In episode 6, Hiromi finds out that Shinichirou is gonna go out with Noe, but doesn’t know the exact details of Shinichirou’s agreement with Jun. On top of this, Shinichirou’s mom continues to show her contempt, scorning her cheap girl behavior. Hiromi’s pent-up feelings gush out at that instant, as she recalls her words on that snowy night. The very toxic to her indecisiveness and passiveness.

It’s no joke, Shinichirou.

Shinichirou overhears this conversation (this plot device has now been used twice), and finds out the possibility that Hiromi is his sister. If this is indeed true, then it means that their parents also found themselves caught in a similar entanglement of deceit. Will we consider them, victims of fate and circumstance then?

Can tears borne from deceit be considered ‘true tears’?

Will Shinichirou and Hiromi finally be able to break free from this tangled web, we’ll find out in the next episode.

And, here’s a little something to think about, as a closing to this post…

Can the very fate that brought these characters together, be the one that’ll also pull them apart? Or is fate nothing else but an invisible confinement, to which people limit themselves to? As they allow fate to decide things for them, and settle for mediocrity instead of doing something to overcome this fate. If so, is this fate yet another deception then? A layer on top of the web of deceit we now see in True Tears.

Similar Posts:

• A True Tears Perso-Noe-fication: The Melancholy of Isurugi Noe
• True Tears 9 - So the Shin x Hiromi Fans Must Be Rejoicing Now… Are You?
• True Tears 12 - OMGz! Just As Planned?!
• Thoughts of the Persona~l and True Tears-rific Kind
• True Tears 11 - Is There Noe Hope? (In Defense of Noe)

Popularity: 4% [?]