Toradora!
a review by erikmythos
a review by erikmythos
Be warned, matey.
Today I want to write some random scattered thoughts about Toradora. I watched all 25 episodes in one day yesterday and have some things I want to get down on paper (figuratively). This isn't really a review, but just some scattered thoughts, organized roughly by topic headers. You won't understand any of this if you haven't watched Toradora, so for those who haven't: I would recommend watching this only if you are a fan of melodrama. This is a show that only barely could be classified as romance.
The plot is driven forward by Ryuuji's crush on Minori and Taiga's crush on Kitamura. But neither of these romances ever feel believable. Kitamura/Taiga and Ryuuji/Minori have no chemistry. Even with all of the scenes of Taiga blushing up a storm in front of Kitamura and Ryuuji clamming up when Minori is around I don't feel it. It just feels as if the show is forcing us to accept that these two have the crushes they do solely because that is the premise of the show and nothing would happen otherwise. Only the main ship ever had a chance of sailing anywhere which makes all the fiddling around with these side romances up until basically the last couple episodes feel incredibly frustrating. All I want to see is Ryuuji and Taiga happy together.
Perhaps the biggest problem with Toradora is this guy.
Yuusaku Kitamura is evil. If you ship him with Taiga, you are evil. Taiga confesses to him in the second episode or so. He denies her - but not by saying "I'm sorry, I like someone else now." He does so in the lightest possible fashion, in order to incite Taiga to keep pursuing him regardless. He further provokes her at every opportunity - taking every chance to be alone with her, or come in physical contact, or dance with her at the bonfire - all the while fully aware that she has already confessed to him. In order to stoke the flames of her heart and keep her running after him. He plays with her feelings over the course of basically an entire year, and for what? I can only think of two reasons:
In either case, clearly he is a malicious character. However, the issue is not that he's evil, but that I don't believe Toradora is intelligent enough to realize this. Certainly no characters in the show ever confront him over his emotional manipulation, and it is never a plot point, which makes me think that his despicable behavior was not intentional on the author's part, which if so is just incompetent. But even if if it is intentional, and Kitamura is meant to be like two-faced Ami but 100x worse, this aspect of his character is never explored in the story so it's basically irrelevant.
Seeing a confession in the second episode might give you hope for Toradora breaking the mold of traditional Japanese romance anime where every character is incapable of speaking anything they are feeling, but those hopes will be betrayed ten times over.
You will be yelling "JUST TALK WITH EACH OTHER!" at the screen, either in your mind or literally, while watching this show. Perhaps the worst example of this is after Taiga is rescued from the snow.
#####Why does Ryuuji ask this of Kitamura? The entire series has been nothing but people covering up their feelings with lies. Does he still intend to get with Minori at this point? It's just like... What the f\\\* are you even doing Ryuuji? Minori, after finding out Ryuuji has done this, is justifiably furious, despite her having done the same s\\\* throughout the series. I suppose that segues into the next topic well.
Some of the best scenes in the anime are when characters get angry or fight over the fact that other characters are lying about their feelings. It's very telling of what a viewer can expect from Toradora that this is prevalent enough to justify it being its own sub-subgenre.
The Ami vs. Minori fights, both verbal and physical, are great, as is the Taiga vs. Student Council President one.
And as I mentioned above, the one where Minori gets furious with Ryuuji is a classic.
##########
The other type of scenes that were enjoyable where the ones where Taiga shows she cares for Ryuuji. In particular, these are when Ryuuji was close to drowning in the pool, after Ryuuji left Taiga's apartment for the Christmas party, the bridge scene, and the kiss scene. Honestly I think if you want to watch Toradora, you should watch up until the pool episode, then just skip to the penultimate episode. In between there is just a bunch of melodrama where no one is happy and that's not fun for anyone.
#The ending is so stupid. The whole anime has a theme of finally learning to express your feelings and not keep them bottled up inside, and how does Taiga express her desire to return to her mother's house and mend her family relationships before returning to Ryuuji? By leaving a note - a tiny little insignificant note - for the love of her life, speaking NOT ONE WORD to him, before leaving for an ENTIRE YEAR at the DROP OF A HAT. What the FUCK is this. All she had to do is TALK TO RYUUJI! WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST TALK WITH HIM? WHAT THE FUCK! AAAAAAAAAAAAA
There used to be a section contrasting Toradora with SAO here, rambling about how despite all the flaws of SAO, it at least provides a fun romance between Kirito and Asuna, unlike this show. However, it was removed by a moderator for not being relevant enough. (Incidentally, this moderator was a Toradora fan... Suspicious.)
Side Ships
I would support Student Council President x Kitamura, except Kitamura is evil so I don't want him to be with anyone. I also would support Ami x Minori - certainly that pairing has more chemistry than any other pairings each of the two could be in. But I find myself against it just because Ami deserves better, as probably the most interesting character in the show. She certainly deserves better than Ryuuji and somehow I don't see Minori making her happy either, even new, reformed, "actually speaks her mind" Minori.
VA Work, Art
Rie Kugimiya is brilliant as Taiga, great casting and great acting. Similarly, Taiga is drawn incredibly adorably. One of the most visually appealing anime characters I can think of. The art in general is excellent also.
Tsundere Overload?
Some people have called Taiga's violence too much, often calling her a "bitch". Normally I am not too tolerant of excessive female-on-male violence but for whatever reason I was totally fine with it in Toradora. Taiga is just too cute.
Mountain Rescue Stupidity
...Why did they just leave the scene where Taiga disappeared and go back to the hotel for several hours? Why didn't they investigate for two seconds as soon as they noticed she was gone and see the obvious tracks from where she fell?
Toradora is a melodrama anime, not a romance anime. The characters are frustrating and arguably the best-written one (Ami) does not play enough of a role to overshadow everything else the other characters manage to get themselves into. Even if you ship the correct main couple you won't come away satisfied due to the ridiculous ending. Despite all of this, I do have to praise Toradora for being incredibly gripping. I simply couldn't put it down. I think this is because Taiga and Ryuuji are just such a compelling couple. I wanted to see them together, to realize their love and become happy together. I think I loved everything up through episode 7, but after that it should have skipped all the melodrama from that point on to the finish and just focused on the main couple. In the end I don't know if that temptation to keep watching the next episode was worth it.
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