How on Earth do they manage to cram so much drama and emotion (and dangling bento boxes) into a single episode of true tears?

Answer to question: Nishimura Junji, that’s how.

Episode 7 was plot twist after plot twist, and the plot jerks you around like you are a bento box dangling on a belt above a flight of stairs. The hard thing about watching this series, at least for me, is that I like the entire cast, male and female alike, and I don’t want to see any of them have their life destroyed. But, of course, for all of them to be happy, barring a deus ex machina of some sort, some of them are going to have to suffer. The fact that the series is called “true tears” isn’t much of a upper either.

The fact that I like the entire main cast astounds me. None of the characters are behaving in such an idiotic fashion. Hiromi might behave idiotically at times, but I don’t not like her because of it, and at any rate her character is such that it’s impossible not to feel sorry for her and her predicament.

Noe gets some depth, now; last time I mentioned she was the least developed, but now she’s something more than just a cute face and a quirky expression. I think the first episode had something along the lines of those that got involved with Noe were cursed and had horrible things happen to them. This is most certainly true, as she seems to be the cause of all the complications. Ai-chan wouldn’t have kissed Shin’ichiro if she hadn’t been there when Noe’s brother told him to date Noe, nor would she have tried to break up with Miyokichi. The tantalizing n-gon of the relationships in this series is amazing.

There’s not much to predict, as this series has been entirely unprefictable from start to finish. My gut feeling tells me Noe is going to be the one left behind to feel miserable all by herself, which will bring back her tears, but I really have no idea. Sometimes, I find comfort in knowing where something is going, but on the flip side, recklessly charging into the unknown with no clue what’s going to happen next is a marvelous feeling too. I think this series is the best of the season for sure, and is probably going to be one of the best of the year, when 2008 is said and done. Yes, I’m naming best-ofs already. That’s how good this is.