Toradora! - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Zippicus]

While I could be wrong here, I strongly suspect anyone pulling for anything other than a Taiga x Ryuji ending is going to be disappointed. There have been a ton of subtle, and some not so subtle, clues that have shut down pretty much any other possibility.

[typhonsentra]

Biggest one I can think of would be that.... if she can fall out of love with Kitamura to go with Ryuuji, what's stopping her from switching again?

[Tamad]

Most likely, I just wish it wasn't. What attracted me to the show to begin with was that the two main characters were attracted to other people instead of each other, and that provided a lot of humor and intrigue. For a series that is around 20 episodes long, I was hoping that they would keep me guessing a lot longer than up to episode nine... so I hope this episode didn't really set everything in stone. The RyuujixMinorin scene shook things up, but the scene right after makes me worried.

[Darknemo2000]

Tamad, lets just say if you wish for another pairing other than TaigaxRyuuji you might be very disappointed in the end. It is hard to tell how will it excatly end but sume subtile and some not so subtile hints tell you that it will be taigaxryuuji.

So far this series look like 98% TaigaxRyuuji 1.9% MinorixRyuuji and 0.1% AmixRyuuji.

[Baka Ronin]

Kitamura needs to correct them and tell Minori what she saw lololol it was not a seaweed monster

[Tamad]

Originally Posted by Darknemo2000

Tamad, lets just say if you wish for another pairing other than TaigaxRyuuji you might be very disappointed in the end. It is hard to tell how will it excatly end but sume subtile and some not so subtile hints tell you that it will be taigaxryuuji.

So far this series look like 98% TaigaxRyuuji 1.9% MinorixRyuuji and 0.1% AmixRyuuji.

Yeah, I know it's looking that way right about now. I really wouldn't mind a TaigaxRyuuji ending, but what I'm trying to say is I wish it wasn't so early into the series.

[Voitan]

Originally Posted by LeaD36

Can we already know who Ryuuji is gonna end up with? It should go with the first girls comes, first girl gets situation, so basically it´s Taiga yeah, but i´d love it if he wouldn´t.

Finally some characters like Minorin should get the chance

I'm hoping the show goes for something different as well.

I love Taiga and Ryuuji as the best of buddies, but romantic commitment between the two means we'd no longer see the buddy schemes and plots.

For once, I want a romantic interest that respects the lead. A person who is honest and sincere, and very considerate of other people, not some domesticated house wife ideal, but a dear and loving person period.

Which from Ryuuji's and my POV, Minorin has in spades. I guess I can relate fairly with Ryuuji here.

Ami is trying to work past her trust and commitment issues before she fully throws herself into the idea of Ami x Ryuuji. So far, all she does is "test the waters" a bit everytime she flirts with Ryuuji, to see if he's as trustworthy and decent as he appears. Dealing with that stalker and distant parents has put a dent in her ability to trust others and herself.

[zibi88]

Honestly I kinda feel sad for Ami.... since she mostly fallen in love with Ryuuji and what she wants is to spend some alone time with him... for a walk...talk but she allways get interupted...

Well Ryuuji was mostly one (besides kitamura) who kinda accepted Ami's normal personality and is kinda immune for her good look (while other guys cant drop their looks from her) so she is interested in him... but when she finaly has opportunity to talk with him 1v1 there is allways Taiga or someone else in the way.

Taiga personaly kinda pisses me off (maybe to much Louise from zero no tsukaima resemblence) since she claims that she has no feelings for Ryuuji yet she allways stands in the way for other girls... Ryuuji cant talk with Ami and not even with Minorin... that kind of butting your nose in other peoples lifes pisses me off really... yet Ryuuji did so many moments with her beign alone with Kitamura and she allways mesed it up... (and she did none to help him to get closer to Minorin... and where is the justice... becouse of her clumsy style Ryuuji's lifes suffers ehh)

I rather would be happy for Ryuuji beign with Minorin or Ami then Taiga... (but we already know how it will end from first episode so other pairing ending its wateing of time....)

[frubam]

I would think that it'd be a RyuTora pairing, but after someone mentioned Honey & Clover a while back, i think that there's a possibility it won't happen. I mean, everyone probably thought that it was gonna be a Takemoto/Hagu and Yamada/Mayama pairing with Morita only being comic relief, i'm sure no one knew it would end up the way it did. And since this show is kinda like it(at least Morita = Minorin), I won't expect anything, cause it won't take much to break the solid friendship going on and start to get serious.

[Darknemo2000]

It's the same as saying that Louise from Zero No Tsukaima will end up with Malicorne and not Saito...

[Mistypearl]

Taiga > Louise.

Why? Taiga has more character development in the course of 9 episodes than 3 whole seasons of Zero.

Episode 9 and 8... really have gotten me into this series, so many great parts (all have been said, no use to repeat really)
Yay :3

[Darknemo2000]

Shrugs, anime Louise is not a character I am talking about anyway, as it is simply not worth to compare that parody to anyone. You are aware that novel Louise does have pretty much of development, right? It is just that JC Syaff decided to ignore the development and give you more idiotic boob-jokes or "Louise explodes" endings.

But as an original source Louise isnt that far from Taiga as she also has her own problems it is just that Toradora had more luck to get much better team than ZnT... Now imagine what would have happened out of Toradora if it was the same one... Probably all the boob scenes would get twice as length as they have now. Giving the fanservice 8 minutes or so, then build up for fanservice other 13 minutes and the rest few minutes for the plot and a few seconds for character development.

[Bonta Kun]

I haven't read the LN for either Toradora and ZnT, so can't make that comparison but between animes

Taiga > Louise

now don't get me wrong I know anime Louise is really a shambles of a character, that much I can tell.

something I noticed about the ep but is totally irrelevant, is how Ya-chan falls over, from the way shes shown to be sitting its almost impossible

I hate to nitpick, it annoys me when I do but I can't help it

[frubam]

I've never seen the ZnT anime(except ep 1) nor read the novel myself, and I really don't care to compare them. It's actually annoying to me, since I only know of its crappy reputation, comparing that to Toradora.

Originally Posted by Bonta Kun

something I noticed about the ep but is totally irrelevant, is how Ya-chan falls over, from the way shes shown to be sitting its almost impossible

I hate to nitpick, it annoys me when I do but I can't help it

Didn't notice that, that's pretty funny . I noticed that Ryuuji never calls Kitamura's name, but he came in anyway butt-naked, so I wonder was there some pun in there somewhere that calls Kitamura by his name(and the translation itself[coalguys] is just literal) or did he do that on purpose with some ulterior motive?

[Samatarou]

Well I finally saw this episode. Well worth waiting for!

Re. Ami, I feel a little sorry for her, her plan was to be alone with Ryuuji but she somehow ends up with three chaperones, and worse it's beginning to dawn on her that she's not "the other woman" but more the "other other woman", little more than a bystander who gets to see the romantic triangle from the outside, in other words she's totally out of the loop.

Re. Minori/Ryuuji chat, at first it seemed to be about Ryuuji saying "maybe there's love waiting for you if you'd only believe in it", but after reading posts here I begin to feel it's more about Minori saying "you need to open your eyes and realise it's Taiga you're in love with, not me."

Whatever it meant, it was awesome and I'm going to have to watch that scene again a few times.

As for Kitamura, the guy is an flagrant exhibitionist!

But who planted the stuff in the beds? Is it Minori getting even for the seaweed prank, or Ami (and maybe Kitamura) up to something?

[KeitaroNagato]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Hardly a minute in the episode that wasn't well executed ... but I admit the foot rub moment expressed a LOT to me that some might not quite catch.

Was it just ankle to ankle in volume 4. I'm trying to remember...

Originally Posted by typhonsentra

Biggest one I can think of would be that.... if she can fall out of love with Kitamura to go with Ryuuji, what's stopping her from switching again?

True, what if it wined up Ryuuji and Ami, it seems that Ami really like hims. That would indeed by the wildcard. I just watched it again, didnt pay to much attention after Ryuuji left to help out Mirorin, it seems Ami was hurt that he left.

[Haesslich]

Originally Posted by frubam

I would think that it'd be a RyuTora pairing, but after someone mentioned Honey & Clover a while back, i think that there's a possibility it won't happen. I mean, everyone probably thought that it was gonna be a Takemoto/Hagu and Yamada/Mayama pairing with Morita only being comic relief, i'm sure no one knew it would end up the way it did. And since this show is kinda like it(at least Morita = Minorin), I won't expect anything, cause it won't take much to break the solid friendship going on and start to get serious.

Takemoto x Hagu? Since when was THAT possible? She never really seemed to LOOK at Takemoto in that way - whereas she spaced out while looking at Morita an awful lot, and reacted to him while she didn't to Takemoto (getting panicky, getting upset). And Mayama x Ayu was all in the head of a few shippers... especially since he spent EVERY episode that she tried to chase him in turning her down, even telling her to get over him. This is a far cry from the ToraDora situation, where there's at least signs that the two of them are 'in sync' enough that they're quite aware of what the other's thinking... right down to dreaming the same sort of nightmare about having kids together.

Minori's made it clear she's not looking at romance right now, unlike either Taiga or Ryuuji. Ryuuji's at least talking with her in a way that hinted at his feelings, which is a hell of a jump where he was basically blushing and inarticulate around her.

[stormy001_M1A2]

Well Minorin could have referred it in reverse, instead of towards him. It could she is talking about herself.

We never know.

[Spring_sakura111]

Minorin really showed a lot in this episode. I love thier group more now. They're all so close~ I love every part of this episode and I think it's executed pretty well. Please , no Taiga X Ryuuji. I think they are a cute couple. But if they ended up together , I'd say that it would be too predictable.

[xminori-chanxx]

I defidently want taiga and ruujii to end up together in the end. But i think it would be really intereting if Ryuujii went out with either Ami or Minorin first> Then while he is going out with one of them he realizes it dosn't feel right, and taiga stops comeing over or something along those lines. And then he finally breaks up with ami or minorin and then he finds taiga and is all like "I love you" XD just a fantasy i played out in my head. And that way the minorinxryuujii fans would be satisfied (cause that is most likely who they would pair him with). And in the end taigaxryuujii fans would be happy. Idk it was just a thought, i think it would be cool if that happened. x3