AnimeSuki Forums

ThereminVox · 2011-06-19, 16:03

I finished a marathon rewatch of the series a few nights ago, and I'm more convinced than ever that Toradora's strength was in filling a serviceable love polygon story with some of the most likable and unassailable characters ever, and casting some of the most talented people out there to bring them to life. Yes, even Kitamura rules.

I just can't help but want each and every one of them to be happy every time they're on screen. The lynchpin really is Ryuuji, even if I enjoy Minori and Ami more as characters. He's just such a great guy, and a charming character throughout the series that even when the drama is focusing on the girls, and even when he's holding the idiot ball, you really buy him as a person worth pining over. And the male lead is where most romantic comedy anime are at their weakest.

I feel like the whole series was designed to make us wish we were part of a tight-knit group like them back in high school.

DragoZERO · 2011-06-22, 12:03

This... was an awesome episode.

Taiga was so darn cute with those twin tails!

Haruta having a girlfriend in college! Whaat!?

And at the end in that classroom... I don't think anyone thought Taiga was going to get cornered like that.

Simply amazing stuff.

The animation got a little iffy though... I don't know, they just looked too scary, I guess. Although the part with Taiga tearing up before running out was great.

MeoTwister5 · 2011-06-23, 06:44

Late to Episode 23 lol. Also aren't we at the last week of the series at Episode 25 this coming weekend?

Episode 23

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had to pick up my jaw from the floor when we saw Haruta with a girl. Also Noto going apeshit again.

The entire episode was a role reversal for the two. This time Taiga's being the mature and dependable one and Ryuuji's the aimless wanderer. Watching her hold the line when Ryuuji slowly falters goes to show just how much they have each other's backs. But the golden line of the episode and maybe the series?

"If I got you chocolates, would you be happy?"

Sometimes I think Kugimiya Rie drew years of experience voicing Tsunderes just to do this entire conversation with perfection. She's typecasted for a reason, and love it or hate it no one does the role like she does.

The final scene was heartbreaking in it's tense awkwardness. Ryuuji realizes he never told her what really happened on that cliff side that fateful blizzard day. Ryuuji is in the hot seat because at that very moment everyone's sacrifices and, most of all, everyone's lies begin to unravel. Watching Taiga completely act it out in both ignorance and dishonesty as everyone just looks at Ryuuji just tore through everyone. Minorin is completely right, only she can really get her happines, and brings to light what everyone should have realized at this point: Each person has the right to happiness, and must get it themselves.

No time for if's or but's. No time for regrets. It's do or die time for Ryuuji.

ubiquitial · 2011-07-01, 21:13

Rewatched this show too a while back and loved it. It really deserves to be on my favorites list.

From a production POV, the show is very smoothly animated, the camera angles are often unique and even cinematographic in style, and the seiyuu cast, with no one special in particular, does do a decent job nonetheless.

Toradora's characters, for the most part, are very likable, believable, and sympathetic. They're deep, yes, but in a very unpretentious, very relate-able manner. The smooth animation, the cliched setting, and the goddamn awful OP all distract from this fact, that this shiny, gaudy coat of glitter and shine actually belies a very uniquely intimate story. Ami had a sense of maturity and mystique but also showed a touch of vulnerability. Minori seemed energetic but got slightly more emotional towards the end, though still with her usual optimism. Her VA wasn't quite as good in the emo parts but that dash of hopefulness still spices up her character. Even characters that only appear for one episode, like the president, manage to strike a chord with me somehow. And the MC was awesome, but he's been analyzed to death so I'll refrain.

More fascinating than the already-plenty-fascinating characters is how they develop. The cast of Toradora plays off one another in interesting ways, save for Minori and the Green-haired dude. Each character has considerable, noticeable influence on the personalities of all the other characters. It's kind of hard to describe, but they just have really good chemistry, especially in the second half.

Unlike most other highschool romance anime, which focus either on a romanticized tale of true love, or a simpleton dude with a bad haircut being surrounded by a gaggle of slutty girls, Toradora instead tells the tale of people who chase after their vision of love, and inadvertently find their soulmates while doing so, but are so blinded by their admiration that they fail to admire the beauty beside them. It makes very clear the difference between infatuation and "love," and I find that interesting.

The show does have one major flaw, though. It's small, brown-haired, and voiced by the queen of Tsundere. God she was annoying. In a cast of all these complex and human characters you suddenly toss in the most contrived and see-through of all character archetypes. A tsundere is, for the most part, an attempt at character depth, done wrong. Which is really odd, because all the other characters are sterling examples of character depth done right. It's like if someone tossed Shana into AnoHana or Louise into Wandering Son. Plus, her character is unbelievable obnoxious, annoying, and STATIC. There was nothing sympathetic about her, nothing likable, nothing even remotely human... Until the second half.

Then she became the best part of the show. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen the show, but somehow they managed to tone down the Tsun and to give her a heart. There was actual chemistry with Ryuuji, and the moments of introspection were touching albeit a bit pretentious.

So, yeah. Those are my thoughts upon rewatching the show.

MeoTwister5 · 2011-07-03, 07:46

Episode 24

Ami said it best. Life does, indeed, go on. You could actually debate what she meant by "or..." when Minorin finally broke down, but in the end both of them lost in the end, fully aware of it, but know that life has to go on. You have to find it for yourself in the end, and Takasu knew that as well, even if you don't agree with his plan. He knows he'd still be a kid even when he turns 18, and running away wouldn't change that.

Taiga's words at the preview hinted a bit at the twist at the final episode, but who would have thought she would actually do something like it...

Episode 25 (Final)

Being told that she raised Ryuuji well was probably more than enough vindication for Yasuko who had felt guilty all these years for not giving him the ideal life she had always wanted him to have. Just like that other series that aired alongside Toradora, the focus on family dynamics that deep bond that goes between people that we sometimes take for granted was something I had never expected out of the show and it's premise. And perhaps neither did Taiga and Ryuuji. I still think that when Yasuko told him her story, he had started to realize that he was making the same mistake her mother made in both of their attempts to find a life for their own.

The wedding practice scene started strangely awkward and cheesy, but would turn out to be really endearing and heartwarming. Likewise, love or hate Taiga's decision, Minorin's interpretation or the eventual ending that had divided the fanbase, it managed to put a satisfying lid on a show that started out looking like a standard Kugimiya Tsundere-based romcom, and ended up being what is perhaps the best show of its kind. That is to say, if I ever believed that a modern Tsundere high school romcom could ever be any good, this is the show I would point to.

And with that, my Toradora rewatch has ended. Time to look for another show to rewatch!

Haak · 2011-07-03, 08:23

Episode 23.

You know when Taiga had those twin-tails, I almost felt like she reached maximum level or something.

Episode 24

When Minori broke down, I thought it was an excellent touch. I've seen it happen a lot during weddings when a family member of the groom or bride starts crying because it's like they have to see them fly away. And I loved how Ryuuji and Taiga announced they would run away and get married. It was such an innocent and naive teenager-like thing to do that it was so heartwarming.

Amagetu · 2011-07-04, 09:55

Currently gonna rewatch this series, was one of the first Romance animes I ever watched, since then I decided to stop watching animes that don't have any element of romance, it's just the fact that these animes can make you actually feel something, happy, sad, excited, I never felt any of these from an action anime or a horror.

DragoZERO · 2011-07-06, 10:50

Episode 24

This is where things got messy for me when I first watched it. Now I know that they ran out of time and had to make due, so it all sits okay with me. Plus since I read the novel, I can understand the choices they made.

Episode 25

The mock-wedding is cheesy, every time. But it was sweet that they finally kissed and all. And Taiga running away but not running away was kind of wtf. But she decided to settle things with her family like Ryuji did and for that, I cannot fault her for.

Don't forget the read the novels now, everyone!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Episode 24

Ami said it best. Life does, indeed, go on. You could actually debate what she meant by "or..." when Minorin finally broke down, but in the end both of them lost in the end, fully aware of it, but know that life has to go on. You have to find it for yourself in the end, and Takasu knew that as well, even if you don't agree with his plan. He knows he'd still be a kid even when he turns 18, and running away wouldn't change that.

Taiga's words at the preview hinted a bit at the twist at the final episode, but who would have thought she would actually do something like it...

Yeah, I felt a little bad for Minori and Ami too. Minori sure took it hard, but she was close to both of them after all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haak

Episode 23.

You know when Taiga had those twin-tails, I almost felt like she reached maximum level or something.

Episode 24

When Minori broke down, I thought it was an excellent touch. I've seen it happen a lot during weddings when a family member of the groom or bride starts crying because it's like they have to see them fly away. And I loved how Ryuuji and Taiga announced they would run away and get married. It was such an innocent and naive teenager-like thing to do that it was so heartwarming.

Their running away to elope is a good example of how realistically immature the characters are.

Amagetu · 2011-07-06, 12:48

Not sure if this has been posted yet but, this month a Blu-ray version of Toradora will be released in Japan, in that Blu-ray release there will be an OVA acting as an epilogue to the series.

Yukinokesshou · 2011-07-06, 14:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amagetu

Not sure if this has been posted yet but, this month a Blu-ray version of Toradora will be released in Japan, in that Blu-ray release there will be an OVA acting as an epilogue to the series.

Assuming that is true, you just made my day

Amagetu · 2011-07-09, 22:50

It is certainly true, the OVA was released on July 5th with the Blu-ray version in Japan, I have not been able to find a RAW yet, and have not been able to find any sub groups who have plans of translating it, this is very unfortunate. :{

AP24 · 2011-07-10, 09:49

Are you sure you're not talking about the DVD standard edition released in North America on July 5?

Amagetu · 2011-07-10, 16:42

I am sure. The standard edition doesn't come with Blu ray capabilities ;p

marcosius · 2011-07-11, 23:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amagetu

I am sure. The standard edition doesn't come with Blu ray capabilities ;p

Where can we confirm that?

Amagetu · 2011-07-14, 22:34

Haha may of been mistaken, sadly, Thanks for depressing me further more. :[

PyroManiac13 · 2011-07-16, 16:47

Just watched this series for the first time this week. I was avoiding it at first because I was a bit put off by the main character, but am so glad I gave in and watched it. What a well done series. It'd be nice to come back to this in a couple of years and re-watch it like you guys did.

Amagetu · 2011-07-16, 22:09

I'm rewatching Shakugan no Shana atm, same month I watched it the first time, great series. I always wished Toradora got an afterstory like Clannad, that would be pretty good.

Aurine · 2011-08-16, 01:44

Hmm.. just rewatch it again today, definitely still my favorite anime of that year..
Taiga!! Kyun > w<
I can't resist the tsun-dere power of Taiga, oh crap nosebleed

On side note, I wished that there were second season...
But oh well.. I can handle things myself...

DragoZERO · 2011-08-21, 21:38

There can't be a second season since it's based on a complete light novel series and they covered it until the end.

Aurine · 2011-08-22, 02:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

There can't be a second season since it's based on a complete light novel series and they covered it until the end.

Oh I know it would be 80% impossible, but at least... -3- wishing for something isn't that bad right?

2011-06-22, 12:03	Link #182
DragoZERO Spoilaphobic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Age: 37	Episode 23 This... was an awesome episode. Taiga was so darn cute with those twin tails! Haruta having a girlfriend in college! Whaat!? And at the end in that classroom... I don't think anyone thought Taiga was going to get cornered like that. Simply amazing stuff. The animation got a little iffy though... I don't know, they just looked too scary, I guess. Although the part with Taiga tearing up before running out was great. __________________ • Anime List \| Manga List \| Manga Thread Template •

2011-06-23, 06:44	Link #183
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	Late to Episode 23 lol. Also aren't we at the last week of the series at Episode 25 this coming weekend? Episode 23 I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had to pick up my jaw from the floor when we saw Haruta with a girl. Also Noto going apeshit again. The entire episode was a role reversal for the two. This time Taiga's being the mature and dependable one and Ryuuji's the aimless wanderer. Watching her hold the line when Ryuuji slowly falters goes to show just how much they have each other's backs. But the golden line of the episode and maybe the series? "If I got you chocolates, would you be happy?" Sometimes I think Kugimiya Rie drew years of experience voicing Tsunderes just to do this entire conversation with perfection. She's typecasted for a reason, and love it or hate it no one does the role like she does. The final scene was heartbreaking in it's tense awkwardness. Ryuuji realizes he never told her what really happened on that cliff side that fateful blizzard day. Ryuuji is in the hot seat because at that very moment everyone's sacrifices and, most of all, everyone's lies begin to unravel. Watching Taiga completely act it out in both ignorance and dishonesty as everyone just looks at Ryuuji just tore through everyone. Minorin is completely right, only she can really get her happines, and brings to light what everyone should have realized at this point: Each person has the right to happiness, and must get it themselves. No time for if's or but's. No time for regrets. It's do or die time for Ryuuji. __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing -

2011-07-03, 07:46	Link #185
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	Episode 24 Ami said it best. Life does, indeed, go on. You could actually debate what she meant by "or..." when Minorin finally broke down, but in the end both of them lost in the end, fully aware of it, but know that life has to go on. You have to find it for yourself in the end, and Takasu knew that as well, even if you don't agree with his plan. He knows he'd still be a kid even when he turns 18, and running away wouldn't change that. Taiga's words at the preview hinted a bit at the twist at the final episode, but who would have thought she would actually do something like it... Episode 25 (Final) Being told that she raised Ryuuji well was probably more than enough vindication for Yasuko who had felt guilty all these years for not giving him the ideal life she had always wanted him to have. Just like that other series that aired alongside Toradora, the focus on family dynamics that deep bond that goes between people that we sometimes take for granted was something I had never expected out of the show and it's premise. And perhaps neither did Taiga and Ryuuji. I still think that when Yasuko told him her story, he had started to realize that he was making the same mistake her mother made in both of their attempts to find a life for their own. The wedding practice scene started strangely awkward and cheesy, but would turn out to be really endearing and heartwarming. Likewise, love or hate Taiga's decision, Minorin's interpretation or the eventual ending that had divided the fanbase, it managed to put a satisfying lid on a show that started out looking like a standard Kugimiya Tsundere-based romcom, and ended up being what is perhaps the best show of its kind. That is to say, if I ever believed that a modern Tsundere high school romcom could ever be any good, this is the show I would point to. And with that, my Toradora rewatch has ended. Time to look for another show to rewatch! __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing -

2011-07-03, 08:23	Link #186
Haak Me, An Intellectual Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: UK Age: 33	Episode 23. You know when Taiga had those twin-tails, I almost felt like she reached maximum level or something. Episode 24 When Minori broke down, I thought it was an excellent touch. I've seen it happen a lot during weddings when a family member of the groom or bride starts crying because it's like they have to see them fly away. And I loved how Ryuuji and Taiga announced they would run away and get married. It was such an innocent and naive teenager-like thing to do that it was so heartwarming. __________________ MAL \| AnimeSuki Choice Awards 2020 Winners Last edited by Haak; 2011-07-04 at 14:19.

2011-08-21, 21:38	Link #199
DragoZERO Spoilaphobic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Age: 37	There can't be a second season since it's based on a complete light novel series and they covered it until the end. __________________ • Anime List \| Manga List \| Manga Thread Template •

2011-06-19, 16:03	Link #181
ThereminVox Guess what time it is? Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Age: 38	I finished a marathon rewatch of the series a few nights ago, and I'm more convinced than ever that Toradora's strength was in filling a serviceable love polygon story with some of the most likable and unassailable characters ever, and casting some of the most talented people out there to bring them to life. Yes, even Kitamura rules. I just can't help but want each and every one of them to be happy every time they're on screen. The lynchpin really is Ryuuji, even if I enjoy Minori and Ami more as characters. He's just such a great guy, and a charming character throughout the series that even when the drama is focusing on the girls, and even when he's holding the idiot ball, you really buy him as a person worth pining over. And the male lead is where most romantic comedy anime are at their weakest. I feel like the whole series was designed to make us wish we were part of a tight-knit group like them back in high school.

2011-07-01, 21:13	Link #184
ubiquitial 戯言遣い Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Are we a pair?	Rewatched this show too a while back and loved it. It really deserves to be on my favorites list. From a production POV, the show is very smoothly animated, the camera angles are often unique and even cinematographic in style, and the seiyuu cast, with no one special in particular, does do a decent job nonetheless. Toradora's characters, for the most part, are very likable, believable, and sympathetic. They're deep, yes, but in a very unpretentious, very relate-able manner. The smooth animation, the cliched setting, and the goddamn awful OP all distract from this fact, that this shiny, gaudy coat of glitter and shine actually belies a very uniquely intimate story. Ami had a sense of maturity and mystique but also showed a touch of vulnerability. Minori seemed energetic but got slightly more emotional towards the end, though still with her usual optimism. Her VA wasn't quite as good in the emo parts but that dash of hopefulness still spices up her character. Even characters that only appear for one episode, like the president, manage to strike a chord with me somehow. And the MC was awesome, but he's been analyzed to death so I'll refrain. More fascinating than the already-plenty-fascinating characters is how they develop. The cast of Toradora plays off one another in interesting ways, save for Minori and the Green-haired dude. Each character has considerable, noticeable influence on the personalities of all the other characters. It's kind of hard to describe, but they just have really good chemistry, especially in the second half. Unlike most other highschool romance anime, which focus either on a romanticized tale of true love, or a simpleton dude with a bad haircut being surrounded by a gaggle of slutty girls, Toradora instead tells the tale of people who chase after their vision of love, and inadvertently find their soulmates while doing so, but are so blinded by their admiration that they fail to admire the beauty beside them. It makes very clear the difference between infatuation and "love," and I find that interesting. The show does have one major flaw, though. It's small, brown-haired, and voiced by the queen of Tsundere. God she was annoying. In a cast of all these complex and human characters you suddenly toss in the most contrived and see-through of all character archetypes. A tsundere is, for the most part, an attempt at character depth, done wrong. Which is really odd, because all the other characters are sterling examples of character depth done right. It's like if someone tossed Shana into AnoHana or Louise into Wandering Son. Plus, her character is unbelievable obnoxious, annoying, and STATIC. There was nothing sympathetic about her, nothing likable, nothing even remotely human... Until the second half. Then she became the best part of the show. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen the show, but somehow they managed to tone down the Tsun and to give her a heart. There was actual chemistry with Ryuuji, and the moments of introspection were touching albeit a bit pretentious. So, yeah. Those are my thoughts upon rewatching the show.

2011-07-04, 09:55	Link #187
Amagetu Member Join Date: Jul 2011	Currently gonna rewatch this series, was one of the first Romance animes I ever watched, since then I decided to stop watching animes that don't have any element of romance, it's just the fact that these animes can make you actually feel something, happy, sad, excited, I never felt any of these from an action anime or a horror.

2011-07-06, 12:48	Link #189
Amagetu Member Join Date: Jul 2011	Not sure if this has been posted yet but, this month a Blu-ray version of Toradora will be released in Japan, in that Blu-ray release there will be an OVA acting as an epilogue to the series.

2011-07-09, 22:50	Link #191
Amagetu Member Join Date: Jul 2011	It is certainly true, the OVA was released on July 5th with the Blu-ray version in Japan, I have not been able to find a RAW yet, and have not been able to find any sub groups who have plans of translating it, this is very unfortunate. :{

2011-07-10, 09:49	Link #192
AP24 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011	Are you sure you're not talking about the DVD standard edition released in North America on July 5?

2011-07-10, 16:42	Link #193
Amagetu Member Join Date: Jul 2011	I am sure. The standard edition doesn't come with Blu ray capabilities ;p

2011-07-14, 22:34	Link #195
Amagetu Member Join Date: Jul 2011	Haha may of been mistaken, sadly, Thanks for depressing me further more. :[

2011-07-16, 16:47	Link #196
PyroManiac13 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2011	Just watched this series for the first time this week. I was avoiding it at first because I was a bit put off by the main character, but am so glad I gave in and watched it. What a well done series. It'd be nice to come back to this in a couple of years and re-watch it like you guys did.

2011-07-16, 22:09	Link #197
Amagetu Member Join Date: Jul 2011	I'm rewatching Shakugan no Shana atm, same month I watched it the first time, great series. I always wished Toradora got an afterstory like Clannad, that would be pretty good.

2011-08-16, 01:44	Link #198
Aurine <Honoka-mi> Join Date: May 2010 Location: Currently Sydney, Unknown in past Age: 30	Hmm.. just rewatch it again today, definitely still my favorite anime of that year.. Taiga!! Kyun > w< I can't resist the tsun-dere power of Taiga, oh crap nosebleed On side note, I wished that there were second season... But oh well.. I can handle things myself...