Toradora! – 20
“Hey, Taiga. Say this.”
Summary:
Yusaku meets Taiga at the start of the new year, surprised to see that she isn’t with Ryuji. Taiga explains that Ryuji had fallen ill with the flu, but despite Yusaku’s almost leaving in response, Taiga stops him with a bow and what seems to be the start of a request. As the winter break is ending, Ryuji finally regains his health. Recalling his encounter with Minori, he realizes that she had certainly turned him down. When Ryuji sees Taiga looking at him through her window, he takes the chance to ask why she hasn’t been visiting lately. Taiga initially implies that Ryuji shouldn’t move his feelings towards her because of Minori, but she further states that she is avoiding him for his and Minori’s sake. The both of them realize that it wasn’t as if Minori did not have any feelings for Ryuji, but it was more like she couldn’t take Ryuji away from Taiga who seemed to need him. With this, Taiga again confirms that she will do her best to live on her own.
Before going back to school the next morning, Yasuko reminds Ryuji to take a certain form with him. This is one dealing with the trip his class would be having soon. On the way to school, Ryuji determines to call out to Minori if he sees her. At the lockers, Ryuji is given the suit he lent out previously back. He also learns that he had left Minori’s gift inside, though he mentions that this turned out to be something he didn’t need that night anyways. Koji meets Taiga in the classroom elsewhere, surprised that Ryuji isn’t with her. He soon plays a prank on Taiga, causing her to chase him into the halls. This is where they meet Ryuji, holding a small hairpin in his hands. Koji quickly takes this when Ryuji suggests that he no longer needs it, but Taiga quickly has him return it. When Minori appears to greet the group in her usual energetic aura, Ryuji cannot help but escape in panic.
In class, Yuri surprises the class by announcing that their trip plans have changed because of the hotel they planned on staying in having burned down. With this, they would be visiting a ski resort instead. The majority of the class objects to this, even taking note of Ami’s absence during such a time, but Yuri quickly has them quiet down. Yusaku meets Ryuji as he prepares to leave that afternoon, surprised to see that he isn’t with Taiga. Ryuji claims that Taiga had something to take care of, but in his mind, he worries about her doing things like eating cup ramen for his sake. Watching Ryuji’s obviously frustrated expression as he leaves, Yusaku cannot help but be concerned.
Ryuji runs into Ami on the way home, but isn’t greeted very well by her. Further more, Ryuji is surprised to see Taiga appear to meet Ami. The three stop by a coffee shop afterwards, as Taiga receives an item she requested from Ami. Taiga eventually reveals to Ami that their trip plans had been changed, then warning her not to interfere with Ryuji during it. She explains Minori’s turning down Ryuji, as well as her true intentions, but Ami pretends not to take any interest in this conversation. The three leave soon after, but not before Ami takes the chance to imply Ryuji’s ignorance to him again. Ryuji follows Taiga on her way home, expressing his surprise towards how much she had thought about his and Minori’s relationship. With this, Taiga finally reveals her reasons for doing so; she saw Ryuji as a person fit for Minori, and trusted him. With this thought in his mind as Taiga leaves, Ryuji seems to gain new confidence.
Ryuji runs into Minori in town the next morning, this time calling out to her. Minori takes the effort to put on her usual energetic face in response, then telling him not to worry about what had happened the previous day. The idle chatter is interrupted by Taiga’s appearance from behind who, by throwing her bag at Ryuji and calling out to them, tricks Minori into grabbing hold of Ryuji’s hand before escaping. Minori becomes flustered about this, but she soon has Ryuji help her to hold Taiga’s bag on the way to school. Ryuji continues talking with Minori along the way, and noticing her new hairstyle, he admits to have realized the change because of his always watching her. The two meet Ami upon reaching the school, who expresses her usual subdued interest in the couple before leaving them.
In class later, Maya takes opposition to Yusaku’s choice in room arrangements for the trip. When Ryuji and the rest of the class find it alright, she becomes quite confused. The usual group of friends gather at Taiga’s house for further preparations that afternoon, most of them expressing their amazement towards the mansion. Ryuji notices that Taiga has finally started being able to talk to Yusaku normally, but more importantly to her, Taiga tells Ryuji to help Minori who had gone to prepare tea. While with her, Ryuji learns that Minori had visited Taiga’s house during the previous incident with her father. She couldn’t come up with the courage to continue though, and seeing how much change had happened to the home, Minori credits Ryuji’s involvement with Taiga to all of it. Watching the group interact with each other in their usual ways, Minori’s wish that they could all continue like this forever resonates in Ryuji’s mind. Finally on the bus while going to their trip’s location later, Ryuji becomes determined to learn Minori’s true feelings.
Preview: Angst at the ski resort!
Impression:
W-w-whaaaat? Realistic relationships in MY anime lovcom? Who wrote this!? Someone who has actually had experience with love? I DON’T BELIEVE IT. What happened to characters being so shallow that they can’t actually realize others’ feelings? There wasn’t even one “tripping and falling into someone’s boobies” scene in this episode! The lovcom is a lie. ….A lie I tell you!!!!!
Of course, I loved this episode because of all of that. I was truly caught off guard by the quick development, rather than terrible resets that I’ve become so used to, and the return to natural interaction between all of the characters was so refreshing after the last arc. Minori’s hiding her personality was intentionally obvious in this episode, and her flustered state after grabbing Ryuji’s hand was too good for a single watch.
I’m really feeling the advancing of time in this series, and like I said before, even the OP is reflecting a lot of this – which is why I had grown to like it. A lot of people have been suggesting that the anime is in tune with the novels to have the same ending, so I can only hope that this will be true. A poor ending to the such solid development we’ve been having so far would be a terrible shame.
Notes:
- “Hey…wanna come have some cup ramen at my place later..?” *wink*
- A penis joke? In MY Toradora?
- Taiga is hella short.
- *Kira~*
11 Comments so far
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Maybe Ryuuji and Ami are just tall? Ami is/was a model after all.
Call me an insidious infidel, but the show truly has taken a turn in a rather unpleasant realistic direction. For some, that may come as a pleasant surprise, so they’d welcome it. For others, even someone like me who’s keeping up with the novels, it’s getting borderline painful to watch.. The character dynamics and misunderstandings are beginning to reflect reality a lot more than I’m comfortable with. All these misunderstandings and incongruous actions just signify tragedy.
For me, Toradora was a pleasant surprised back when I read the first volume that KinnyRiddle translated the first volume in practically a week. After that, it was like an addiction, since it gave me this WAFF (something I haven’t felt from an anime series in a relatively long time). So I was already thoroughly enamored with the story of the series before it started. However, now with the anime and novels taking such a dramatic turn, I just can’t help but feel that it’s setting up more emotional angst than needed. Sure, angst and emo makes for a story. But a good story? I can handle angst and emo just fine, it’s just that I didn’t expect my light-hearted love-comedy to be giving me fits of rage every other moment.
I’ve never taken this show seriously Taiga and Ryuuji’s respective love interests. The past few arcs proved to me that I probably should have, but I still can’t. Bias as it may be, the only relationship I care for is Ryuuji and Taiga’s. This is mainly because their relationship is the only one I enjoy watching, and the only one that actually make any sense to me. I mean, the show is centered around their relationship. They’re relationship is probably what makes the show so entertaining. So the fact that they’re breaking that apart and making way for angst and emo just doesn’t sit well with me. Even if some say it’s a necessary step in order to resolve the conflict, I for one just can’t help but be dissatisfied with the turn of events.
I hope the next ep can get back to toradorable. Since this ep was pretty devoid of any of it’s signature WAFF moments for me. Also, I hope to one day see dere dere taiga, as opposed to tsun tsun dere.
wow… i like this route the anime is taking…. there is hope for the next month and a half yet! i predict fun and charcter development… and i cannot wait for ami to blow her top…..
Taiga’s shorter than even me! By a whole… 2 and a half inches. D:
Taiga is less than five feet tall, so she’d be pretty small compared to even your average Japanese male teen. I’d be over a foot taller than her.
Surprisingly zero fallout from the previous episode, but it’s good to see the comedy making a comeback.
Penis jokes are great when used in an unexpected situation lol.
Ya-chan is love. <3
Rawr: The novels lose the WAFF pretty damned fast, from what I’ve heard, so for the people who were afraid this would go off the rails, story-wife, like ZnT did, this is a pleasant surprise. As for the naturalness of the relationship between Taiga and Ryuuji, it does show up here – that’s why she’s pushing him towards Minorin, even if he’s somewhat confused as to whether he should continue his pursuit and Taiga herself feels much more comfortable around Ryuuji than perhaps she should for a pair that started their association through mutual self-interest.
It’s DECULTURE!!
Aside from that, the characters in the lovcom has shown some slice-of-life moments. Not much happened. Must be waiting for an avalanche to trap them in the next episode so everyone can BE FRIENDLY!
(I’ll have some cup ramen, but depends on what flavor. ^^)
I thought the characters showed some real maturity in these episodes. I was thinking about how I felt about Kannagi’s ending. They took a turn for the dramatic emo/angst and for me it didn’t work. I blame the 13 episode format. Toradora has had time to build it’s characters up and gently mold them into what they are now. I think they have every right to turn to drama or realism and still be able to keep the story precisely because their characters have been built up already. If everything went back to normal it’d be boring. Toradora is character driven and I want to see the characters grow. During this episode they showed that while they can get back to semi-normal and have the characters acting somewhat like they did in previous episodes there are little (and big) signs of the changes that they’ve gone through to this point showing through.
Strange. I swore I posted something here, but now it’s gone.
Anyway, what are you guys talking about? IMHO, this story has improved its standing amongst other romance anime in my eyes precisely because of the turning point of Taiga realizing she likes Ryuji. The story can only get better from now on as Ryuji has to eventually realize who he really wants to be with.
Credit must be given to the author, Takemiya Yuyuko, for being able to balance comedy and good drama well. Credit must also go to series director Nagai Tatsuyuki for a good adaptation. Nagai’s previous directorial roles include Honey & Clover II, which might explain why he’s good in adapting romance anime.
Mark my words, Toradora is the best romance anime I’ve seen in many years, and it doesn’t rely on anything supernatural or science fictional as plot device or elements. So in this aspect of realism, Toradora is better than the Key/Kyo-Ani adaptations. (This is not to say the Key works are bad, not at all. )
In fact, I dare say the story’s good enough for a live action adaptation, though whether it’ll succeed depends on how good the producers are.
Right, enough mindless raving of this series for me today.
Man I’d love to have it be like instead of it looking like Taiga needs Ryuji but Ryuji realizing he needs Taiga or something. I’m just hoping for a RyujixTaiga ending. Though I also have this feeling that it might end without anyone getting together and would end on a “and days go on” sorta way.. Its kinda the same feeling I got with Nagasarete Airantou. I wanted Ikuto and Suzu to get together but at the end it was just a “and days go on” thing. << I want a second season of Nagasarete Airantou..
I say they end it with Ryuji being with one of the girls for this TV series and then creating OVA’s for the other girls so everyone gets their treat in the end!