Originally Posted by Akiyoshi
That's because she indeed was thiniking only of herself at the beginning, i like her because the show cemented her personality and status towards Ryuuji very well, in the first couple of chapters he's only a classmate who get involved into her troubles, during Ch. 1 she sees him as a nuisance but then accepted him as a helpér because it's very convenient(he is Yuusaku's best friend and also apparently have more experience than her with love things, also she's Minori's best friend so she have good measures to control Ryuuji xDU), also she only treats Ryuuji that way because of his involvement with the letter. When things clears up she calms down and even apologizes to him, so yeah Taiga was rude with Ryuuji at the beginning but she's rude with everyone at that point and doesen't have any particular biasing(or feelings) towards him. It's a huge difference from other Kugimiya tsunderes, they don't instantly fall in love with each other or feel embarrassed or soemthing(Taiga was only embarrassed about the letter and her crush on Kitamura xDU) and from Ch. 2 an on Ryuuji take the courage to stand up to Taiga as an equal wich manage to get her attention and start viewing him as a friend more than a lackey.
Over the course of the story she goes through an evolution process, by chapter three she's accustomed to Ryuuji's prescence and cemented her relationship with him as good friends, supporting each other and spending time togheter without the pressure of being a couple(altough the entire class understandably misunderstood the situation xDU), the thing is that Taiga grew more and more dependant on Ryuuji over the time, she can have the courage to go after Kitamura probably because she knows that Ryuuji is supporting her and will be there if she gets in trouble. the first hints of Taiga's feelings for Ryuuji came in Ch. 7-8 during the pool episodes, more visible hints are throwed during the "School Festival Arc"(where Ryuuji subcouncsiciously take a very protective role over Taiga like some sort of father-like fiugure which hasn't go unnoticed to Ami), by this point Taiga is not only fond of having Ryuuji as a Nakama but she also starting to get along with the rest of the class an other people, she's still a bit rude but very less violent and much more open to people than in the beginning. This culminates during the "Christmas Arc" where she evolves from Palmtop Tiger to Angel Taiga even if she's a bit hypocritical(Taiga even admits that she does it in part for self-satisfaction) it's undeniably that Taiga is now actively chasing a good relationship with her friends and even allows her to open more to Ryuuji as a person(instead of playing tsundere with him as before)m said opening is also probably the cause of her finally realizing what's inside her for real. the last part of the story has her dealing with her feelings about loving Ryuuji in contrast with her intention of helping him to reach happiness by make it out with Minori. By that point Taiga speaks and behave normally around Kitamura and is also able to enjoy time with her classmates, assiting to study sessions, hangiong out with Ryuuji's friends and such(you know, things that the Taiga of the beginning will never do). by the very end she find that her behavior is only a mean to scape her problems, she sees Ryuuji afronting his own family problems and thantks to that she find the courge to face her own problems, she wants to be with Ryuuji but as Ryuuji himself says, she wants to be truly happy which can be only acomplished with the approval of the people she cares for after repairing her family life.
I like Taiga's character because it has much more elements that only be "in love", she's in love right, but she also care very deeply for Minorin, grow strong nakama bonds with Ryuuji and Ami(really, it's amusing to see how the Palmtop Tiger and the Stupid Chihuahua became such good friends by the end) and have a more complex past wich have an important impact on her descisons(she leaves the boy she loves in order to fix her family life first, a very mature descision), i didn't really dislike anyone on this series, Toradora is full of entertaining and interesting characters xD.
P.D.- Sorry for expanding too much with the answer xDU.
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