True Tears (anime)

True Tears
Japanese DVD cover of True Tears volume 7 featuring the main characters
Genre	Drama, Romance, Slice of life
Anime television series
Directed by	Junji Nishimura
Produced by	Kenji Horikawa
Written by	Mari Okada
Studio	P.A.Works
Licensed by	NA Discotek Media
Original network	TV Kanagawa, Kansai TV, Chiba TV, TV Saitama, Tōkai TV, BS11, Kids Station
Original run	January 6, 2008 – March 30, 2008
Episodes	13 (List of episodes)

True Tears is a Japanese anime television series produced by P.A.Works and directed by Junji Nishimura. The anime aired in Japan on the TV Kanagawa television network between January 6, 2008 and March 30, 2008, containing thirteen episodes. The anime shares almost nothing in common with the visual novel of the same name that preceded it, using an entirely different story with different characters, and a different art style. An Internet radio show hosted by three voice actresses from the anime was also produced to promote the anime. The anime has been released by Bandai Entertainment in an English subtitle-only box set. A Blu-ray box set released in Japan contained an extra three-minute epilogue.

True Tears revolves around a high school student named Shin'ichirō Nakagami with a high artistic ability. He lives with his mother, father, and fellow high school student Hiromi Yuasa who moved into his house after her father died. Her father had been a close friend of the family, so it was natural for Hiromi to come stay with the Nakagami family; one year has passed since she came to live in their home. Shin'ichirō has known Hiromi for years, but before he had always treasured her smile, though now she acts coldly when at home and he cannot bring up the nerve to talk with her either. When she is at school, Hiromi is popular, always smiles, and is talented in sports, but Shin'ichirō knows she must be hiding things inside her. At school, he meets a strange girl named Noe Isurugi who wishes him misfortune after Shin'ichirō teases her. After a bit of bad luck, he reconciles with Noe by crafting a chicken out of a tissue box, and he finds out from her that she "gave her tears away". Shin'ichirō also likes to spend time with his childhood friends Miyokichi Nobuse and Aiko Endō at the Imagawayaki shop Aiko's family owns, and she helps out at the shop too. Shin'ichirō juggles all of these problems on a day-to-day basis as he learns about love and the sadness of those around him.

The opening video of the anime contains shots of the Tateyama mountain range in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, and is where the series is set. Incidentally, the animation studio which produced the anime, P.A.Works, is located in Jōhana, Toyama, and places in the series are modeled after that town. However, the town in True Tears faces the sea, and in reality Jōhana is inland. The seaside was modeled after Himi, Toyama, the shopping centered from Toyama, Toyama, and Aiko's shop the fountain in the park were modeled from Takaoka, Toyama. Furthermore, three surnames used in the series—Isurugi, Kurobe, and Takaoka—are place names in Toyama Prefecture.