Toradora 10-12: Horror Fetishist Minorin

Creating a new type of fangirl.

Episode 10

I don’t think I’ve had as much of a change of heart towards a character as I have towards Ami. She’s gone from irritatingly bitchy to mysteriously aloof within such a short time that I’m not really sure what her intentions are anymore. On the one hand she’s almost always teasing Ryuuji (props for that “We’re lost! LOLNO” bit”) but on the other she’s constantly questioning him about his relationship with Minori. There’s a bevy of little pieces of dialogue in conversation that you could pick apart (this show seems to love its metaphors and analogies) but for now I’ll suffice to say that although Ami clearly, for lack of a more accurate term, has a thing for Ryuuji, she still remains a hard to read character. Crusader pretty much says all there is to say about “seine Frau”, at least as of episode 9. She’s more upfront than half the characters in the show, and yet at the same time she’s still two-faced. Curiouser and curioser…

Minori’s constant fluctuations between energetic prankster and introspective young woman are slightly jarring. From the conversation that was had near the end, I can assume (what with the ghost metaphor and everything, seriously, they kept switching back between the metaphor and literal meaning so much that I actually thought that the UFO represented something. Maybe it did. *shrugs*) one important thing: Minori knows Ryuuji. Although there’s much about Minori that Ryuuji is still attempting to understand, the former seems to have the eyes of a hawk in relation to knowing the people around her, and that’s an impressive and admirable quality.

Must also applaud the major trollage by Kitamura-Kushieda team. 1-0 to them.

Episode 11

Woah, high comedy and high tension. On the one hand we get Toradora! in all its glorious hilarity and on the other there are father issues for both of the main characters, who were somewhat neglected as of late (though in a good way; I’d rather see Minorin and Ami get development than be simply confined to the sidelines). It really shows the strength of their relationship in that Taiga who was so stubborn at the start of the series 1. didn’t immediately kick Ryuuji’s ass when he grabbed her and 2. actually listened and took on board what Ryuuji had to say. Even if Ryuuji was somewhat super-imposing his own relationship (or rather lack of) with his father onto her’s.

I’m not sure what at all to make of Taiga’s father; on the one hand he comes off as a generally okay and soft-spoken guy who didn’t really deserve to get kicked in the balls, but then again we all know how two-faced people can be in both anime and especially in real life.

One small thing that stood out to me was how Minorin completely ignored Ryuuji’s attempt to continue their conversation from before. I’ve got no idea what to make of that as it seems the two had come such a long way since, well, around 3 episodes ago.

Episode 12

Well, I think at this point it’s safe to assume that Taiga’s father isn’t as powerfully dedicated to his daughter as he seems. To be honest, in retrospect he seemed too much of a P.I.M.P to really be such an upstanding pillar of fatherhood, what with his scraggly beard, pink scarf and silver ring. Or maybe that’s just me being sterotypical *shrugs*. But the fact that even Minorin was pissed off at Ryuuji  (and it takes a hell of a lot to piss her off) shows that not everything is as simple (or as simply resolved) as it may seem.

Ryuuji’ still being kind of an ignoramus though; his thoughts that any father at all is a good/must-be-respected father is just completely retarded. Hell, even his drunken, lazy-ass MILF of a mother thought there was something off about Mr. Aisaka. Ami takes the centre stage slightly as well, the small oasis of support for Ryuuji in the desert of irritation that is Minorin and Taiga. I can’t overstate how the little lines of dialogue are what makes this show awesome. Seriously, even with the somewhat fillerish parts of the show (Pro-Wrestling BEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBE ftw?) Toradora!’s still shaping up to be one of the best anime romcom anime’s I’ve ever seen, mostly because ths show knows how to strike a fine balance between the romance/drama aspects and the comedy.

One more thing. Damn, Ryuuji looks damn well near murderous next episode, I would not want to be in his way…