True Tears

Genre: Romance
Length: 13 episodes
Rating: 15 for incest and other adult themes
Score: Good

Shinichiro is a student living in 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 She, too, is quiet and withdrawn in their house, quite unlike at school.

This is one *strange* series. Shinichiro is the protagonist in a love rectange – which’d usually push the series into harem territory, but this series doesn’t have the traits commonly associated with a harem drama. The interaction between the different characters is really quite complicated, both children and adults, and certainly demonstrates some of the more unpleasant aspects of human nature. The three love interests are decidedly bitchy towards each other, and Shinichiro’s desperate attempts to maintain neutrality just serve to inflame the situation ever further. By trying to hurt no-one, everyone ends up getting hurt.

I can’t quite explain why I like this series, but I do think it’s well worth a watch. It’s unashamedly a romance, so those of you with no interest in this genre will probably want to avoid it.