True Tears 12: Sad Girls in Snow Should Not Climb Trees!

(spoilers for true tears 12 and a certain Kyoto Animation adaptation of a KEY game)

"I Can't Believe It's Not KANON"

(At least Noe's 'flight' was intentional, though much too emotionally driven. I was actually going "NOOOO NOEEE DON'T DO IT!!" while watching this scene, whereas when Ayu fell in Kanon I was actually close to laughing - it felt so incredibly surreal and came out of nowhere (in the 2002 version. In 2006 they included the wind) and the first thoughts in my mind were: "What th- So this is why they call her squirrel girl???")

I've got to hand it to true tears. Not only has it split the viewers into two camps (Noe VS Hiromi. Oh, and Jason), the story has snaked itself from one direction to the other and the art has been consistently gorgeous in the snow - I mean show =P I've always been a Noe supporter myself but I had my money on a Hiromi end from the start (Chinese New Year should have taught me that this isn't my best year in gambling -_-"), but now I've (finally) joined the giddifying wait for what should be the most anticipated end of a series this season.

Small points of interest:
Though we've seen the Mugiha festival in the OP for the past 12 episodes, it was still a treat for the eyes to see it finally unfold. P.A. Works certainly did a good job conjuring up the atmosphere for the event, which gave the unfolding drama the right backdrop. And of course, anime this may be, but the practice the dancers had throughout the series made their synchronity in their dancing a bit more believable than say Motekke Sailor Fuku.

As for Jun, I dunno whether to give him kudos or raise an eyebrow to his own realization and actions towards his 'affections' *coughs* towards Noe. It's probably the first time I've seen a character in anime acknowledge that he's a siscon and act against it. In fact I didn't really expect the script to tie up this section of the story at all, but now that it has, will we be getting a Noe end in the end?

gg Hiromi?

I'd like to think that's true, but that judgment will be reserved till later. Hiromi's early 'win' a few episodes before should have raised alarms since there was about of a quarter of the series left (The same goes for Kimikiss *sigh*), and now that she's really feeling the threat of Noe, things don't look too good for her camp. Her confrontation with Noe this episode is of particular note, and though her standing her ground may make her look like the bitch of the show , Kurogane has conveniently dispelled that notion. Personally, I felt pretty bad for her when Shinichiro snubbed her in the end to go after Noe. Though my gut now tells me Noe will win, we'll just have to wait and see.