Taiga Aisaka

The so-called “Palmtop Tiger” really didn’t interest me as a character at the beginning. Sure she added a bit of humour to the series along with Ryuji, but the way she acted timid around Yusaku all the time was really annoying. To me, she just seemed like your typical anime tsundere girl, and tsundere girls in anime are way overused nowadays. I didn’t start liking her until around episode 9 or 10 when she started to show some feelings for Ryuji. I guess at that point she seemed a bit more open than she did previously. The whole thing with trying to hook up Ryuji and Minori even though she has feelings for Ryuji also made me so sorry for her (the scene with her sitting at home alone by a candle on christmas eve comes to mind). It was also good to see how Taiga had changed from someone who beat up anyone that got in her way to a person that cares for the people around her, even going so far as to leave all of her friends to make her mother happy. I loved how she reunited with Ryuji though; hiding in the locker in the corner of the classroom. I actually would’ve liked to see her roll out of it again, but I guess that’d just ruin the mood.

Ryuji Takasu

I think Ryuji personifies the saying that the best things in life are right under your nose (really though, the height difference between him and Taiga is so great that she’s literally right under his nose). Right from the beginning of the first episode, Ryuji is complaining about how is looks scare people away (I think he should’ve taken advantage of this and made some money). Anyways, throughout the series Ryuji is so obsessed with trying to get closer to Minori that he really doesn’t notice Taiga’s growing feelings towards him at all. What I didn’t like about Ryuji is that he kept chasing Minori until she finally rejected him, and right after, when Taiga accidently confesses her feelings to him, he suddenly loses interest in Minori. Pretty soon after that, he ends up asking Taiga to marry him. I don’t know about the rest of you, but Ryuji seems like a fickle person to me.

Minori Kushieda

Minori is one of those characters that you love one moment and hate the next. At the start of the series, she could be classified as the person that’s always happy and smiling, the type of character that everyone likes. That changes a few times in the series, revealing a character that’s torn between her best friend and her own feelings. I think the first time that Minori wasn’t putting on her “happy” act was at Ami’s summer villa when Ryuji was trying to find the right time to confess to her. That scene was a bit confusing the first time I watched it, but after seeing the whole series, you realize that even that early on Minori had at least some feelings towards Ryuji but was trying to steer the conversation away from who likes whom because she knew Taiga liked Ryuji. When you go back and think about how much Minori has sacrificed so that Taiga would be happy, you can almost forgive the time she broke the christmas tree or the time she rejected Ryuji without even giving him a chance to confess. On another note, I believe that Minori is bisexual, if you don’t trust me, you should take a look at this post on Sankaku Complex.

Ami Kawashima

My favourite Toradora character, Ami is a teen model keeping a low profile to hide from stalkers. When you think of models, you usually think of the stereotypical no brains and all beauty, but that’s certainly not the case with Ami. I think Ami is the hardest character to understand in Toradora. Some of her comments and actions really contradict each other. For instance, when Ami was alone with Ryuji in a cave during summer vacation, she told him that she’d be a better choice because he’d get burnt if he got too close to Minori, but then after the cultural festival there was the comment she made to Minori about not having to feel guilty about liking Ryuji (and pushing her on to accept his feelings). I think that Ami really means well, but she has a bad habit of toying around with people so she ends up getting on their nerves. Everything turns out well in the end though, so I’m happy :)

Yusaku Kitamura

This guy is like a masochistic exhibitionist, I’m not joking. Just think about it, he was originally the one who confessed to Taiga back when she was still beating people up, he mentioned that he liked Ami’s bitchy side more than her cute side, and he had a crush on the dictator-like student council president. As for the exhibitionist part, I don’t think that needs any explaining since he’s almost naked half the time.

Overall, I liked the way the character development went in Toradora. The only thing I thought was left out was whether or not Noto and Maya got together in the end.

Related posts:

1. Toradora ep. 21
2. Toradora ep. 19 & 20
3. Toradora ep. 9

Just a few minutes into the episode, we already see the first argument taking place when Ryuji asks Taiga why she didn’t tell him about meeting with Kitamura during New Years. They actually showed Taiga and Kitamura meeting at New Years for a few seconds in a previous episode. What the two of them talked about is obviously a secret since Taiga got mad and refused to say anything after Ryuji asked her about it.

Before Ryuji is able to find out anything from Taiga, the two of them are interrupted by yet another argument between Maya and Noto. From the looks of it, they’re arguing over who to go up the ski lift with. My guess is that Maya wanted to be on the same lift as Kitamura, but since a lift only takes 3 people at a time, either Noto or Haruta would have to trade spots with her. Obviously, having Maya and Kitamura together doesn’t sit well with Noto since he secretly likes Maya, and so the name calling begins. Minori and Kitamura try to stop the argument with little success and it ends with Maya in tears. This little scene certainly set the mood for the rest of the episode, telling viewers that there’ll be no fun and games this week.

Later on, when Ryuji was by himself, Minori approaches him and starts to talk to him about how to fix things up between Noto and Maya. Here it’s revealed that Minori thinks Noto is trying to keep Maya away from Kitamura because he misunderstands Taiga’s feelings for Kitamura. I know that some viewers think that Minori is a horrible person for what she did to Ryuji, but I think what she says here shows that she’s always thinking about her best friend Taiga. This is really unfortunate for Ryuji though because that means that Minori will never go out with him since she now knows how Taiga feels about him. Having Minori ignore him was already hard on Ryuji, but during their little talk Minori pulls out the hairpin that Ryuji was going to give her after his confession. Apparently Taiga had given it to Minori without Ryuji knowing and told her it was something precious and to hold on to it.

Of course, Ryuji wonders why Taiga is still trying to get the two of them together when he’s trying to forget about Minori. He then goes and hides in his room to think things over. Seeing Ryuji act so gloomy, his friends pressure him into telling them what’s wrong and he reveals that he was shot down by Minori. These guys are supposed to be Ryuji’s best friends and they acted so surprised to find out he even had a crush on Minori, some friends they are. I guess Ryuji had to spill the beans sometime during the series and the writers thought this was the best time. Kitamura’s face during this “revelation” was awesome though.

In an effort to help Ryuji out, the guys march over to the girls room to demand Minori explain why she rejected Ryuji. When they get to the girls’ room they find no one there except a huge mess and so start cleaning it up (as if 4 guys would just randomly start cleaning up a room, but whatever). When they hear footsteps coming, they realize it would look really bad if they were digging through the girls’ stuff (as if the girls wouldn’t notice that someone had cleaned their room) and cram into the closet. Taiga finds the guys, but ends up hiding in the closet as well when the other girls return.

This is where we get to the good part: girl talk. As we all know, girls (on tv anyways) always talk relationships and get into catfights when they’re by themselves. The conversation starts off innocent enough discussing whether Taiga really likes Kitamura or Ryuji, but then Ami brings up how Minori turned down Ryuji. During the course of the conversation Ami tries to get an irritated Minori to explain why she rejected Ryuji when she has feelings for him. It’s as if Ami knows that everyone is listening in on their conversation. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did know about everyone in the closet considering she was right beside it and Taiga dropped her towel when she was dragged in (not to mention that throughout the series Ami always seems to know something everyone else doesn’t).

Before a fight breaks out between Ami and Minori, Maya ends the conversation and Ami apologizes. All of this leaves a bitter feeling between Ami and Minori and a group of guys mystified as to what Ami was trying to get Minori to say. The next day on the ski slope, Ami tells Ryuji that she really hates people that aren’t true to their feelings. It’s then that Taiga and Minori crash into Ami while riding on a sled. All hell breaks loose soon afterwards as Ami and Minori go at it throwing punches left and right while everyone else is trying to hold them back. In the middle of it all, Minori’s hairpin gets knocked off and flies off a steep hill. Taiga goes after it, but no one notices her run off because of the fight.

Next comes something I predicted last week and have been waiting for until now: THE STORM!

OK, so no one got trapped together in a blizzard like I thought would happen, but Ryuji did go searching for Taiga in the middle of it, which is close enough. Ryuji sees Minori’s hairpin on a treebranch and finds Taiga nearby unconscious and bleeding from her forehead. Ryuji carries her on his back up the hill, but when Taiga wakes up she thinks it’s Kitamura carrying her after knocking Ryuji’s goggles and mistaking them for glasses. Here we find out what Taiga and Kitamura talked about on New Years as Taiga tells “Kitamura” that she wishes that Ryuji saved her and that she can’t stop loving him.

I really didn’t think that Ryuji would find out Taiga’s true feelings until the end, but having Ryuji find out now just means that there’s more drama to come. One still has to wonder whether Minori will still support Taiga’s feelings for Ryuji when it was so easy for Ami to shake her up. There’s also the question of whether Ryuji will fall for Taiga or continue to have feelings for Minori, everything’s up in the air now.

Like episode 19, I thought 21 really progressed the plot a lot without feeling too rushed and revealed everyone’s true natures. I had originally thought that Ami had intended to hook up Taiga and Ryuji, but I see now that she’s only interested in having everyone be true to themselves. As to why she would want that, it’s probably due to her modelling/acting career. Being a model/actress means you have to put on a mask (figuratively speaking) to help your career and so you don’t have the chance to be who you really are. This is probably why it pisses off Ami that people who can do whatever and act however they want hide their true desires.

I was also surprised at how hard angry Minori got whenever Ami tried to bring up what happened between her and Ryuji. If she didn’t like Ryuji at all she could have just said so, but the fact that she didn’t means that she really likes him.

Hopefully the next episode will be as good as or better than this one.

Related posts:

1. Toradora ep. 9
2. Toradora ep. 19 & 20
3. Toradora ep. 1

Episode 19 continues on with the Christmas arc where the school’s Christmas party is about to start and Taiga is doing her best to help Ryuji confess his feelings for Minori by convincing her to show up to the party. The problem with Taiga though is that she’s always hanging around Ryuji and they look like they’re going out.

Kitamura starts off the party wearing his strange outfit which just begs for someone to yell at him, no one wants to see a half naked guy at a Christmas party. My theory is that Kitamura is a masochist, he liked both Taiga and the student council president who both have really agressive and bossy personalities. He also mentioned that he liked Ami’s “true” self near the beginning of the series when she was a b*tch acting like an angel.

Halfway through the party, Ami and Taiga make a surprise performance. Things between those two have really changed since the start of the series. They’re no longer fighting with each other and are actually good friends now. What I like about Ami is that she’s one of the more mature and observant characters in the anime, but sometimes she does things she shouldn’t have. I think the most well-known example of this was at the end of episode 16 where she asks Minori whether her feelings of guilt were gone (refering to Minori liking Ryuji even though she knows Taiga likes him). It was clear that Ami regretted this afterwards as she was walking away and gritted her teeth.

After the performance, Taiga leaves the party to head to Minori’s house to tell her that Ryuji is waiting at the school for her and won’t leave until she shows up (which was a lie). Taiga then heads home to spend the rest of Christmas eve by her lonesome self :(

Upon hearing that Taiga was heading to Minori’s place and then back home (from Ami), Ryuji rushes to Taiga’s apartment. I think this was Ami’s way of making up for pushing Minori on to accept Ryuji’s feelings when she knows that Taiga would make a better match for him. Feeling bad about leaving Taiga alone, Ryuji shows up at Taiga’s home in a giant bear costume pretending to be santa, but of course Taiga knows it’s Ryuji. After a few happy moments and hugs, Taiga thanks Ryuji and basically forces him out to go meet Minori.

What happened next was something that I had been waiting for for a while. Until now, Taiga has only shown glimpses of her feelings for Ryuji and still claims that she likes Kitamura. After Ryuji left, Taiga broke down in tears and ran out after him, but he was already gone. This confirms that the person Taiga really likes is Ryuji and not Kitamura. Of course, this wouldn’t have an impact on the story if Minori didn’t witness anything. My guess as to why she was at Taiga’s place rather than the school is probably to thank Taiga for everything before meeting Ryuji.

It’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen during Ryuji’s confession after Minori sees Taiga in tears. Minori was obviously distraught when she shattered Taiga’s crystal star and seeing her best friend like this, she couldn’t bear to hurt her any more. When Minori meets up with Ryuji at the school she doesn’t even give him the chance to confess his love and turns him down. What’s interesting to note in this scene though is that when Minori turns Ryuji down, she covers her eyes, possibly because she couldn’t bare to look him in the face because she knows how much this will hurt him or because she was hiding her own tears. I prefer to think it’s the latter, since there have also been hints that Minori likes Ryuji.

I thought episode 19 was one of the best episodes, on par with episode 9. The revelation of Taiga’s true feelings means that the show is in its final stretch, and Ryuji’s rejection signals the beginning of the awkward phase of the story.

Episode 20 could have gone two ways in terms of how Minori acts towards Ryuji from now on. She could’ve either avoided him or just acted like normal; she went with acting normal. One thing that did change was Taiga’s reaction to all of this. Seeing how her plans to hook up Minori and Ryuji have failed, she begins to distance herself from Ryuji thinking that Minori is under the impression that the two of them like each other.

In this episode we find out that the class’s trip to Okinawa has been cancelled since their hotel burned down, so they will be going on a ski trip instead. Personally, I think the ski trip in the mountains scenario is used way too much in anime, but everyone probably uses it because it’s effective at progressing the story.

There was one scene in this episode that made me wonder what Ami has planned up her sleeves. Ami, Taiga, and Ryuji are at a “Sudohbucks” coffee shop when Taiga tells Ami how Ryuji was rejected. Ami goes on to brag breifly about how she was right about Ryuji getting burned if he got too close to Minori. When they leave, Ami tells Ryuji that she hopes he’s the only one that gets hurt (meaning she hopes that Taiga won’t be hurt anymore since her relationship with Ryuji can progress further now). Of course, she says this with a kind of “I have a plan” look in her eyes.

Before the skiing trip, the class was split into groups and each group decides what they will be doing during the trip. I thought this was a good way to foreshadow something that might happen during the trip. Most school-life love comedies in anime have some minor characters that hook up in the end and now we get a hint as to who they might be:

I predict that the next episode will involve some people getting trapped on the mountain during a snow storm since that’s what usually happens. The question is who will end up with each other and what will happen to their relationships.

Episode 20 was a good way to follow up on episode 19. After having so much happen in one episode, the audience needs some time to absorb everything thats happened. This is usually done very poorly by following up with an episode that puts everything back to normal (making the previous events pointless), or one with even more big changes which just loses everyone. This episode put in a few awkward moments and didn’t set everything back to normal, making it a good follow-up to episode 19. It also acts like a cooling off period from all the drama before the ski trip which I expect will have even more drama since it’s so close to the end. I really hope the creators of Toradora keep up their good work and don’t dissapoint with their last 5 episodes.

Related posts:

1. Toradora ep. 9
2. Toradora ep. 1