But almost all of the criticism leveraged against Aiko and her actions, nay, presence in True Tears is made within the paradigm of bad harem anime. People wanted True Tears to be a typical love polygon anime, they wanted Shinichiro to be a chick magnet for stupid reasons, and so on. They expected Aiko to be more or less, but not to be what she was: a wrench in everything. Something Shinichiro hadn’t planned on, but not a windfall. Something that threw him off. Something that threw off his audience.

The problem with Aiko is that everything about her is awkward.

Not that she as a character is awkward (though she might be).

But that she as a part of the show is awkward.

No one was ready for True Tears to be so honest, so genuine. Sometimes, your best friend’s girlfriend falls in love with you. And you’re like, “well, shit.” And you do exactly what Shinichiro did and refuse to let it become an issue. And she fades into Bolivia. And when the story’s over, and you’re happily sharing gentle days with a girl you love, you might remember the time she forced a kiss on you—but probably not.

Rest in oblivion, Aiko.

You were honest. And Shinichiro was honest. And True Tears was good.

No one—not even I—was ready.

But I understand you now.

This is the greatest and best song in the world. . . tribute.

Long time ago, me…

and my brother Kyle here…

we was hitchhikin’ down a long and lonesome road.

All of a sudden,

there shined a shiny demon…
in the middle…
of the road.

And he said:
“Play the best song in the world,
or I’ll eat your souls.”

Well me and Kyle,… we looked at each other,

and we each said…

“Okay.”

And we played the first thing that came to our heads,

Just so happened to be,

The Best Song in the World,

it was The Best Song in the World.

Look into my eyes and it’s easy to see
One and one make two,
two and one make three,
It was destiny.

These lyrics are so passé.

Once every hundred-thousand years or so,
When the sun doth shine

and the moon doth glow

and the grass doth grow oooh…

Needless to say,
the beast was stunned.

Whip-crack went his whippet tail,
And the beast was done.

He asked us:

“(snort) BE you angels?”

And we said,
“Nay.”

“We are but men!”

Rock!!
Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahn,
Ohhh, whoah, ah-whoah-oh!

This is not “The Greatest Song in the World,” no.

This is just a tribute.

If you’re wondering what an AMB is, wonder no longer—Akari was curious as well, so I explained it to her.

	What’s an “AMB,” Mr. Lolikit?
	Objection!
	Hahi~! Umm… so, Mr. lolikit, what’s an “AMB?”
	An AMB is like an AMV, minus the video, and presented on a blog. You could call it an Anime Music Blog-post, I suppose.
	Suteki~
	Desho?

Yep, it’s pretty suteki alright. Baka-Raptor told me to ask myself, “what would Lovely Kitsune do?” I can’t just make fun of this excellent show known as Mouryou no Hako. I doubt even Lovely Kitsune could. But Lovely Kitsune also doesn’t blog anything seriously. What would Lovely Kitsune do?

He’d write gimmick posts.