True Tears

Infobox animanga/Header
name = True Tears


caption = "True Tears" logo
ja_name = トゥルーティアーズ
ja_name_trans = Turū Tiāzu
genre = Drama, RomanceInfobox animanga/Game
developer = La'cryma
publisher = flagicon|Japan La'cryma (PC)
flagicon|Taiwan flagicon|Hong Kong T-Time Technology (PC)
flagicon|Japan Sweets (PS2)
genre = Visual novel
ratings = Everyone (PC)
CERO: B (PS2)
platforms = PC, PlayStation 2
released = flagicon|Japan March 31 2006 (PC)
release_other = flagicon|Taiwan flagicon|Hong Kong March 31 2007 (PC)
flagicon|Japan August 7 2008 (PS2)Infobox animanga/Manga
author = La'cryma
illustrator = Asaki
publisher = flagicon|Japan Flex Comix
demographic = Seinen
magazine = Comi Digi "(former)"
Comi Digi +
first = December 10 2005
last = August 21 2006
volumes = 1Infobox animanga/Movie
live_action = yes
director = Kazuya Hatazawa
producer =
music =
studio =
released = flagicon|Japan December 22 2006
runtime = Infobox animanga/Other
title = TV anime
content =
*"True Tears"

Nihongo|"True Tears"|トゥルーティアーズ|Turū Tiāzu is a Japanese visual novel developed by La'cryma, a collaboration between Broccoli, Circus, GameCrab and Rei Izumi,citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/products/index.html| accessdate=2008-04-28|language=Japanese|title=Product info of the game "True Tears"|publisher=La'cryma] and was originally released on March 31 2006 for the PC as a DVD in Japan rated for everyone, followed by a Hong Kong and Taiwanese release on March 31 2007. A PlayStation 2 version was first announced to be released on March 13 2008, but was later delayed for an August 7 2008 release. The gameplay in "True Tears" follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters.

"True Tears" has made several transitions to other media. A manga adaptation illustrated by Japanese artist Asaki was first serialized in the Japanese magazine "Comi Digi" (later "Comi Digi +") between December 10 2005 and August 21 2006. A thirteen-episode anime loosely based on the visual novel was created by P.A. Works and aired in Japan between January 6 2008 and March 30 2008. Two Internet radio shows, two drama CDs, and a live action drama adaptation have also been produced.

Gameplay

The gameplay in "True Tears" requires little player interaction as much time is spent on reading the text that appears on the lower portion of the screen, representing either dialogue between characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Before the beginning of every week in the game's storyline, the player is given the option to plan a schedule, and is allowed to pick and view any three days of the given week.citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/game/index.html|title=Game introduction at "True Tears" official website|accessdate=2008-04-28|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese] Different events occur depending on the days that the player chooses. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point" where he or she is given the chance to choose from options that are displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. Depending on which choice the player makes, the "tear points" of the heroine associated with the events of the day would either increase, decrease, or remains the same. "Tear points" act as a system notifying the player how well he or she is treating a certain character. If a character's tear points exceed the maximum amount of eight, her ending is rendered inaccessible during that specific playthrough. There are multiple plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience. To view all of the plot lines, the player will need to replay the game multiple times and make different schedules and choices during decision points to progress the plot in an alternate direction.

Plot and characters

The story of "True Tears" revolves around the protagonist Nihongo|Tetsuya Mizuno|水野 哲也|Mizuno Tetsuya, a third year high school student whose role the player assumes, and his interactions with his schoolmates during the second half of his final year attending nihongo|Mizuho Academy|瑞鳳学園|Mizuho Gakuen, in which the main part of the story takes place. Tetsuya meets Nihongo|Yuzuko Sanada|真田 柚子|Sanada Yuzuko|"Voiced by:" Yūna Inamura, a heroine and a childhood friend whom he nicknamed Yuzu one day on his way to school. Yuzuko actually has a crush on Tetsuya. To her advantage, she is skilled at cooking and homemaking, but has a timid personality. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/yuzuko/index.html|title=Yuzuko Sanada's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] He later also meets Nihongo|Rui Nakane|仲根 るい|Rui Nakane|"Voiced by:" Yui Itsuki at the pool after running errands for Nihongo|Asumi Akiyama|秋山 飛美|Akiyama Asumi|"Voiced by:" Kyōko Hikami, his cousin who is also the school nurse. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/asumi/index.html|title=Asumi Akiyama's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] Rui is the main heroine in the story, who holds vast knowledge, and is very affectionate towards animals to the extent where her aim is to become a veterinarian. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/rui/index.html|title=Rui Nakane's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] Despite her love toward animals, she has a severe fear of touching cats due to a past incident.

Tetsuya is later confronted by Nihongo|Katsura Yukishiro|雪代 かつら|Yukishiro Katsura|"Voiced by:" Rina Satō, another heroine. Katsura is the student council president of the school. She is intelligent, and often places herself at the top of academic rankings. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/katsura/index.html|title=Katsura Yukishiro's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] Despite being a third year student like Tetsuya, she is actually one year older than him, taking a year off due to her father's suicide in the past. Tetsuya later also meets Nihongo|Honoka Uehara|上原 穂香|Uehara Honoka|"Voiced by:" Erina Nakayama, also an heroine who attends his class. Honoka shows great interest in literature but is really shy and timid. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/honoka/index.html|title=Honoka Uehara's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] She is in fact a net idol, and goes by the handle Asumi, named after Tetsuya's cousin Asumi, whom she admires. Tetsuya also meets Nihongo|Io Sakuragawa|桜川 依緒|Sakuragawa Io|"Voiced by:" Sakura Nogawa, "True Tears"' last main heroine, after breaking up a fight between her and her brother. Io is an energetic second year student who is actually a voice actress. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/io/index.html|title=Io Sakuragawa's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] She often uses her acting skills, such as faking her tears, to tip the situation in her favor.

Other characters include Nihongo|Hikari Ogasawara|小笠原 光里|Ogasawara Hikari|"Voiced by:" Ami Koshimizu, a friend of Yuzuko's, and Nihongo|Mako Momose|百瀬 真子|Momose Mako|"Voiced by:" Akeno Watanabe, Io's fellow broadcasting club member who strives to be a comedian. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/mako/index.html|title=Mako Momose's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] The two often appears together as supporting characters, but in addition to Asumi Akiyama, the two are also side-heroines. Nihongo|Keigo Sakuragawa|桜川 圭悟|Sakuragawa Keigo|"Voiced by:" Hideki Tasaka is Io's stubborn elder brother. [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/keigo/index.html|title=Keigo Sakuragawa's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] Despite usually arguing with her sister over her ideals, he is actually quite fond of her and sometimes gets overprotective, to her dismay. Nihongo|Riku Morioka|森岡 陸|Morioka Riku|"Voiced by:" Masahito Yabe is a friend of Mizuno. He is often depicted as a comic relief character, but also accompanies the protagonist on events like the school's festival. Nihongo|Gion Inoue|井上 祇園|Inoue Gion|"Voiced by:" Yukari Fukui is a girl whose childish appearance resembles a grade school student.citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/chara/gion/index.html|title=Gion Inoue's character profile at "True Tears"' official website|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-06-06] She constantly mixes in onomatopoeia phrases in her speeches.

Development

"True Tears" was first announced on May 4 2005 at the Dream Party convention hosted at the Tokyo Big Sight. [citeweb|publisher=Game Watch|url=http://watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20050506/tears.htm|title=An announcement of the game "True Tears"|accessdate=2008-05-14|language=Japanese] It was announced as the first project by the visual novel studio La'cryma, a collaboration among visual novel studios Broccoli, Circus, GameCrab, and Japanese artist Rei Izumi. The executive producers for the visual novel were Takaaki Kitani from Broccoli, and Tororo from Circus.citeweb|url=http://www.insani.org/truetears.html|title=Information on the PC release of "True Tears"|publisher=Insani|accessdate=2008-05-19] While their respective companies also led the planning, the scenario is worked on by Nonoka Maihama and GameCrab. [citeweb|url=http://erogamescape.ddo.jp/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/creater.php?creater=4069|title=A list of Maihama's work on ErogameScape|publisher=ErogameScape|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-04-29] Art direction was headed by Rei Izumi, known for her work on "Hibiki's Magic" and ".hack//Legend of the Twilight", who also provided character designs. Music from the game was composed entirely by Kometto Nekono, who had also provided music for the "" series. [citeweb|url=http://erogamescape.ddo.jp/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/creater.php?creater=2578|title=A list of Nekono's work on ErogameScape|publisher=ErogameScape|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-04-29]

Release history

"True Tears" was first released for the PC on March 31 2006, as both a limited edition and a regular edition. The limited edition contained the game itself, a handkerchief, and a calendar; the regular edition did not contain the aforementioned extras. It was then followed by a Hong Kong and Taiwanese release on March 31 2007 published by T-Time Technology. [citeweb|url=http://ttime-s8.myweb.hinet.net/ttime/products/products_5.htm|title=List of romance video games published by T-Time Technology|publisher=T-Time Technology|accessdate=2008-05-07|language=Chinese] A PlayStation 2 version published by Sweets was announced to be released on March 13 2008, [citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/tt_ps2/|title=Official website of the PS2 version of "True Tears"|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-05-18] but was later delayed for an August 7 2008 release.citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/tt_ps2/product.html|title=Product Information on the PS2 version of "True Tears"|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-04-28] The PS2 game contained the game itself, a drama CD and a illustration booklet.

Related media

Internet radio shows

There were two Internet radio shows based on "True Tears". The first radio show was titled nihongo|"Radio True Tears: Rui and Honoka's Mizuho Academy Broadcasting Club"|ラジオトゥルーティアーズ るいと穂香の瑞鳳学園放送部(T_T)|Radio True Tears: Rui to Honoka no Mizuho Gakuen hōsō bu, and was hosted by Yui Itsuki, Erina Nakayama, and Yukari Fukui. It began broadcasting on November 4 2005 on Radio Kansai,citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/radio/index.html|title=Information on the radio shows at "True Tears"'s official website|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060307211330/lacryma.info/radio/index.html|archivedate=2006-10-24|publisher=La'cryma|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-05-17] followed by an online stream every Wednesday, and continued to broadcast every Friday until March 31 2006. It was followed by a second radio show titled nihongo|"Yui and Sakura's Tear Radio: Special"|ゆいとさくらの てぃあらじ 番外編|Yui to Sakura no Tia Raji: Bangai-hen hosted by Yui Itsuki and Sakura Nogawa. It was first streamed online on June 8 2006, with a new episode streamed online on every second and fourth Sunday of the month. It was retitled nihongo|"Yūna and Erina's Tear Radio: Pure Album"|優奈と恵里奈の てぃあらじ 〜pure album〜|Yūna to Erina no Tia Raji: Pure Album on November 10 2006, after the host was changed to Yūna Inamura and Erina Nakayama, and continued to be streamed under that title until September 28 2007.

Manga

A manga adaptation by Japanese artist Asaki began serialization in the bi-monthly seinen manga magazine "Comi Digi" published by Broccoli on December 10 2005. It was later transferred to "Comi Digi +" on April 21 2006 after the magazine was renamed, and ended serialization on August 21 2006, spanning a total of five chapters. It was collected into a single bound volume, containing an extra chapter, and was released on December 21 2006. [citeweb|url=http://shop.broccoli.co.jp/item_detail.php?product_id=944|title="True Tears" volume one on Gamers online store|publisher=Broccoli|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-05-19]

Audio CDs

Two pieces of theme music were used in the visual novel. Noriyatsu Agematsu, who has previously also provided composition for "Galaxy Angel", wrote the opening and ending themes, [citeweb|url=http://www.elements-garden.com/creators/agematsu.html|title=Agematsu's profile on Elements Garden|publisher=Elements Garden|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-04-29] "Tears in Snow", sung by Hiromi Satō, and Nihongo|"On Towards Tomorrow with You"|君とあしたへ|Kimi to Ashita e, sung by Yozuca*. Tororo, who had previously provided composition and lyrics for the "" series, written the lyrics for the songs. Two singles were released containing the two theme songs. The first, a maxi single titled "Tears in Snow", was released on December 23 2005, containing both the opening theme, and the opening theme used in the first radio show, titled "Melody". The second single, titled "Kimi to Ashita e", was released on April 26 2006, containing the ending theme and remixed versions of the song.

Two drama CDs based on "True Tears" was also produced. The first drama CD, titled "X'mas Party", first available to the public on December 29 2005, as part of a set of "True Tears" related products sold during Comiket 69.citeweb|url=http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/goods/index.html|title=Information on "True Tears" related products at its official website|publisher=La'cryma|accessdate=2008-05-20|language=Japanese] It was followed by a second drama CD, titled Nihongo|Mizuho Academy High School Department Cultural Festival|瑞鳳学園高等部文化祭|Mizuho Gakuen Kōtōbu Bunkasai, released as an extra to those who have pre-ordered the original game. [citeweb|url=http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=222545|title="True Tears"' page at Getchu.com|publisher=Getchu|accessdate=2008-06-21|language=Japanese] A third drama CD was included with the PlayStation 2 game, on August 7 2008.

Live action movie

"True Tears" was also adapted into a 35-minute live action film entitled "True Tears: Pure Album". The film was released on December 22 2006 as a direct-to-video release. It was directed by Kazuya Hatazawa, and starred Azusa Takeda as Rui Nakane, Arisa Suzuki as Yuzuko Sanada, Makoto Kawahara as Katsura Yukishiro, Miki Tachibana as Honoka Uehara, and Hikari Kajiwara as Io Sakuragawa. Yūna Inamura and Erina Nakayama, who voiced Yuzuko Sanada and Honoka Uehara in the visual novel respectively, also appeared in the film.

Anime

A thirteen-episode anime also named "True Tears" aired on TV Kanagawa between January 6 2008 and March 29 2008.cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6257|title=True Tears (TV)|publisher=Anime News Network|accessdate=2008-05-14] Despite sharing the same title, the anime series otherwise shares no relation with the original game, using a different storyline featuring different characters. The anime series was produced by P.A. Works and was directed by Junji Nishimura, with screenplay written by Mari Okada, while La'cryma is still credited for creating the original work.citeweb|date=December 10 2007|url=http://www.truetears.jp/staff/|title=Staff page of the official website of the anime adaption of "True Tears"|publisher=P.A. Works|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-01-05]

Reception and sales

Unlike "", one of the two games that often appeared alongside "True Tears" in advertising campaigns, [citeweb|url=http://watch.impress.co.jp/game%2Fdocs/20060208/true.htm|title=True Tears announcement, Kitani discusses about development. Anime adaptation confirmed.|publisher=Game Watch|accessdate=2008-05-19|language=Japanese] the game did not enjoy as high of a sales record, ranking forty-first out of fifty on the national ranking of bishōjo games based on amount sold in Japan during the last two weeks of March 2006, [citeweb|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070418045800/peakspub.co.jp/ranking/rank192.html|archivedate=2007-04-18|title=PC News ranking for bishōjo games; "True Tears" placed at forty-first place|url=http://www.peakspub.co.jp/ranking/rank192.html|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-05-17] compared to "D.C. II"'s first place debut on the same chart two months later. [citeweb|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060823122444/www.peakspub.co.jp/ranking/rank196.html|archivedate=2006-08-23|title=PC News ranking for bishōjo games; "D.C. II: Da Capo II" placed at first place|url=http://www.peakspub.co.jp/ranking/rank196.html|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-05-17]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.lacryma.info/truetears/ Visual novel's official website] ja icon
* [http://www.truetears.jp/index.html Anime's official website] ja icon
*ann anime|id=6257