God of Making Women Cry.
First off I dislike the OP since it’s much less badass and catchy than the first one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all very nice and it reflects the shift in the tone of the series that’s (at least supposed to be) taking place towards SRS BSNS but it’s just not as instantly loveable as Pre-Parade. Just because you throw a teary Taiga at me doesn’t mean I’m going to get down on my knees, cry and proclaim ” Toradora’s done it again!” like some sort of zombie, blindly following and praising this series as it can DO NO WRONG.
On the other hand, “ORANGE” CAN DO NO WRONG, >>> Vanilla Salt.
That said, I still loved the episode, there was a welcome return to comedy which was a strong-point nearer the first half of the show. I especially loved the fact that Kitamura (the terrible, terrible chracter that he is) has been reduced to a mere object in the grand scheme of things. All he’s really useful for at this point is for some random girl (Kihara, I think it was) to chase after him so that she can break up him and Taiga before they ever get together or something. I really don’t care about her enough to think about it deeply, she’s not part of the main cast and she already irritates me. She’ll lose anyway, so meh.
Minori has decided to simply emo about her situation with Ryuuji, which is really disappointing. I understand she’s supposed to be facing up to her feelings but to just turn her into a secluded and negative person after 16 episodes of her “covering up her feelings beneath a barrage of positive energy with occasional bouts of introspection” seems kind of awkward.
Interesting to note that when they were just friends Minori was able to confide in Ryuuji more. Perhaps she views a progression of that relationship to something more as ruining their relationship and losing Taiga as a friend.
Toradora 18
Nothing particularly notable here, other than Minori RUINING CHRISTMAS. It’s simply the good quality that I’ve come to expect from the show by this point. Though I must point out that the loli version of a loli is enough to make some people go crazy. Though not me <_<
I too am surprised (but not as enraged) that nothing happened in the standard storeroom scene in the episode. I think due to Clannad we’ve come to expect something of any storeroom scene involving a male protagonist and a female who’s got no chance of winning by the end the show. I did like the metaphor of playing house, but then again there’s always metaphors to like from Toradora.
I also liked the link between Taiga’s childhood and Christmas. For her, it was a time when she was loved and protected, a time when her entire family was together and her world was filled with that rose-tinted glaze of happiness. She believes simply getting wrapped up in the Christmas craze (the presents, the trees, the good cheer) allows her to recapture that blissful youth that she’ll never have again. But even so, she still has other friends to watch over her and be there for her.
The entire episode was kind of a slow-burn up to Minori RUINING CHRISTMAS and even afterwards (with another metaphor of 2things not returning to the way they were yet being able to be fixed up to a certain point”) there was something about that scene which came off as forced. It’s not exactly a major development, but it’s nice to see Ryuuji finally voice some sort of intention towards going after Minori.
Grand Punk Railroad 
I’m with you in being disappointed in Minori going emo mode. But then I never really had high hopes for Minori anyway.
The storeroom scene was lacking one very minor, but crucial point: the door being locked from the outside. Without that, nothing entertaining can happen~
Minori’s constant (and one could now say forced) cheerfulness as well as her always having to do something constructive can be seen as her running and trying to avoid facing the reality of her own feelings about…well, anything serious, not just Ryuuji.
Minorin emo is not unwelcome. There was going to be something up with that unnatural genkiness anyway.
The high point of the show has passed, those episodes were all deposits in our emotional bank accounts, so that when the mood shifts and the show needs to slow things down to move the stories in their respective directions, there’s enough goodwill in us to let it.
This manifests in our ability to just give a damn about these characters. And it feels good to care too.
Emo Minorin sucks! And I never liked her in the first place! I always expected that the arc (that looks like it’s) dedicated to her will make me like her like how it did for ami and kitamura. hate emo characters.
and yes, i didn’t like the new OP. the ED’s ok. they both grew on me by now so i have no problems with them.
hey atleast in clannad there was a basis for that scene, ie to appease fans of kyou, where tomoya acutally got to rock her world, emo minorin is really depressing, changes the tone of the show quite a bit. The comments that ryuugi makes in episode 17 of the cafe reminded me so much of the tennis match in clannad, where tomoya’s actions pretty much sealed up kyou and tomoyo’s routes. Sigh want more ami but thats a sad wish that will never come… sigh again.
Seeing emo Minori is weird and odd…but at least there’s some character to her other than that genki she’s famous for…
And I think I’m the ONLY one who likes “Silky Heart” more than “Pre-Parade”…
@nazarielle
MUST HAVE STANDARD TROPES.
@AstroNerdBoy
True, true. But she did take Taiga’s relationship with her dad seriously. You could say it’s the only thing she’s been serious the entire show.
@ghostlightning
Yes, but what made her so appealing as a character was that that genkiness was undercut by the “bouts of introspection” I keep talking about. Characters don;t always have to become negative when some sort of drama happens, or at the very least it doesn’t have to be so overstated. I’ve said that Minori’s been my favourite character for a while, but this episode didn’t do her any favours. I even stopped using the affection “-n” at the end of her name D:
@biankita
But Kitamura sucks so much more than Minori 😉
Meh, silky love’s just staying mediocre for me.
@muppetatax
Ami, you are destined to lose but do so gracefully ;_;
@53RG10
HERETIC!
[…] very interesting reading, going above and beyond what I thought about the episode and it’s portrayal of Taiga. It’s kind of strange that such seemingly simple scenes and imagery can be viewed in such […]