blog好き

Mar 27 2009

Categories: anime
Tagged: toradora

25 Comments »

Mo ichido~~

Is there anything more enjoyable in anime than seeing a tsundere stripped of her defenses and break down? It’s a thing of joy that never gets old. It’s like watching LeBron go coast-to-coast untouched. It’s like watching Peterson rumble 50 yards for a TD. (Even better if you have him on your fantasy team.) It’s like watching Lester carry a shutout into the eighth inning. And, of course, the more epic the tsundere, the more epic the sweetness that flows out.

I have to admit, despite the rushed ending, I really enjoyed Toradora. Yes, I would have loved to see it end without the episode seem like it was plowing through a checklist of plot points, but I enjoyed the tension of Ryuji’s and Taiga’s first night together. Taiga is Rie Kugimiya’s greatest wrathful loli-like substance ever– surpassing Shana, Louise, and Nagi. (Though the fact she wasn’t cast as Index in Toaru Majutsu no Index was shocking… but Taiga still trumps Index nonetheless.)

The MMS ending was, uh, interesting, but I like anime that incorporate cell phones. I have no clue why. After watching Clannad, I thought the visual novel was originally released in 1994 not 2004. They could have fooled me since cell phones were as scarce as yummy Nagisa moments. Another thing I enjoyed about Toradora‘s MMS ending is that every character whipped out a clamshell phone! Seriously? Clamshell? Now that’s suitable for 2004. When I was out at dinner a few nights ago with friends, I remarked about how everyone had a smart phone like a Blackberry, G1, or iPhone. No one sported a clamshell, and no one would be caught dead with a RAZR anymore. Just chuckled. See, this is why anime can’t go mainstream in the US– we can’t get over small stuff like clamshell vs. candybar phones.

(Has there been an anime featuring an iPhone or Blackberry? I’d love to see one show up randomly in Full Metal Alchemist just to see the vitriol spew from certain people…)

I wanted Ami-chan to get trapped in there with Ryuji, just for olde thyme’s sake. I still feel like she got shafted screentime-wise (like Kyou), but I can’t complain for what we did get. The thing is that most of these shows… we know who the end girl will be. It kinda takes the juice out of the series. When Clannad started, we saw Ushio running in the sunflower field, so 46 episodes ago, we knew we were going Nagisa. With Toradora, the name of the series is Toradora!!! I just laughed reading the treads on animesuki arguing about who people thought Takasu would end up with… gee… the name of the series is Tora for “Tiger” and Dora for “Dragon.” Mmm… I know! Ami-chan! Right?

(Though I almost hope it goes the other way like with Gundam 00 where Marina is the first girl shown, but she does absolutely nothing. And, in fact, Feldt is moving on her territory. It would be exciting if either did anything… sigh. Gosh, it’s almost like Yuyuko Takemiya thought out Toradora properly beforehand whereas Sunrise didn’t for 00… nah. Can’t be. Awesome, I got my Sunrise bashing for the post done early. And, yes, 500 words in is considered early for me.)

One of my pet peeves of harem anime is that they don’t really go into what happens to the rest of the haremettes after it finishes. Too few anime do a good job at it– though– gasp– Kimikiss kinda tried with the OVA. I’m not asking for a full blown OVA about the haremettes, but at least I keep hoping for a Shuffle scenario where we see Minori push Ami-chan down. Though I like how we learn about what happens to Kitamura, but not Minori or Ami-chan… fantastic. Almost as fantastic as Kyoto copping out and just giving us Tomoyo staring in to the ocean scene at the end of After Story.

(Though Druaga does a half-decent job at this. I just wished it did a half-decent attempt at a Coopa ending.)

(I mentioned like three weeks ago I would do a fun Clannad post, and I haven’t yet. It’s been in my draft pile for a while, and I still can’t muster any motivation to finish writing it. I’m in too much of a serious mode– I hope the final episode of Gundam 00 S2 will snap me out of it.)

Come to think of it, I think I would like some sort of OVA about the remaining haremettes afterwards. Or least an alternate tale a la Clannad Another World. I think that’s a good way to taper off a series.

The light novels went into actual detail about Taiga and her parents, but there she was allowed to go back to Takasu’s school again. Though seeing her in a seifuku that accents her DFC isn’t bad. Oh wait, am I thinking out loud again?

It’s hard to take Yasuko seriously when she’s looking better than any of the Toradora heroines. Though this does complete my theory that Takasu wasn’t interested in Ami-chan at all because she’s too much like his mom. He wanted someone with the completely opposite body type. Congratulations!

Though I’m not thrilled with the “Wha?” why is she suddenly back at her parent’s house so quickly. It was like Kenshin headed back to Kyoto four episodes after the Kyoto Arc finished. Bad, bad times.

When I saw Takasu found a random Taiga sock, I laughed at the final reference to Takasu’s epic housewife abilities. Though another part of me wondered if it’s June 29th.

(My readers who have gone through Tomoyo After are nodding right now.)

I want to know what happens to Yuri-sensei. Did she get her real estate license? Is she in a Christmas cake support group with Kuroi-sensei? We need to know these things. Though from what I understand, she’s a lot less psychopathic in the anime than the light novels when it comes to her status.

I gotta say, JC Staff’s animation quality is getting better. The bridge scene pushed them up to around Kyoto’s B-level (Munto!) and above Sunrise’s A-level. Toradora was still a bit inconsistent when it came to how the characters looked early on, but by the end, it got a lot better. And the backgrounds were done better too, but Kyoto still rules the roost when it comes to backgrounds.

The Toradora SOS DVD extra was more confusing than funny. It was almost a shot at Lucky Star despite the naming of the extra. JC Staff should have just gone with the tried and true formula of sticking some wrathful DFC loli on top of the main hero’s head chomping away at wheat-created substance while spewing classic one-liners.

Wait, I said “head” not “belly”.. you’re doing it all wrong!

*sigh*

Much better.

(URACHAI! URACHAI! URACHAI!)

The ED, Orange, would have been much better suited for Code Geass R2— imagine Orange as the ED with Lulu baking a cake while waiting for Suzaku. That just cannot be topped. Then I’d use Mahou Tsukai Desu Kedo for Toradora with the three heroines dressed up like witches while baking a cake. That could work. Then Druaga would get Waga Routashi Aku no Hana, which actually kinda fits the fucked up nature of the tower. All in all, it’s a good three team trade. Let’s make it happen.

Also give props to Horie Yui, since this was her best role in a while. She actually uses a different voice for Minori, though she slips back to her silky default voice every once in a while. In the last 10 years, has any seiyuu sung more OP/ED than Horie Yui? It’s an incredible list. I still remember the Love Hina Live concert where she stole Sakura Saku out from Megumi Hayashibara– Megumi Hayashibara! It’s like watching Wade dunking over Duncan.

As for Minori, she was fantastic. I liked how she stood up and slapped some sense in Taiga at the end. Definitely liked how she admitted to Takasu that she liked him, yet gave him up for Taiga– if you told me during episode 6 that Minori would be the most sensible and farseeing character, I would have looked at you the same way as if someone explaining Kamen no Maid Guy to me in 2004. “Wait, dude in a meido outfit? Hun? Meido are supposed to be moe! Who’d watch that flaming pile of garbage?” Greatly liked how Minori reminded me of an even more cheerful Natsumi Hinata… I’d imagine that this would be Natsumi’s manifest destiny if Keroro never showed up. Highly liked her occasional emo facial distortions. Come on JC Staff, would it have killed ya to imply more to the Minori and Ami-chan relationship? Toss us a bone.

(I am joking. Please don’t kill me Kogarashi.)

One thing I enjoyed about Ami-chan was that she constantly referred to herself as “Ami-chan.” Fantastic. Minori calls her “Amin,” and Taiga calls her “Baka Chi.” Three nicknames… my gosh, there’s more meme dysfunction in Toradora than blog好き. Definitely enjoyed how she hid between two vending machines. Greatly enjoyed how she softened a lot towards Takasu after he said something that made her beat up her stalker. Highly enjoyed how she antagonized Taiga, since no one else would, but Ami-chan always seemed to get the short end of the stick when dealing with Taiga. Come on JC Staff, would it have killed ya to put in more Ami-chan tries to seduce Takasu scenes?

Guy who has a bromance with the hero… flying towards the hero nakkid… while the hero ignores the two top tier haremettes near him… if you don’t know where I’m going with this item, shame on you. Shame. On. You.

One thing about an iPhone– it won’t focus on a tiny star in the sky. Hell, my DSLR can’t even get a good shot at a star in the sky, and I have it mounted on a tripod. Anyway, Taiga should have at least gone to dinner with Takasu. Not showing up was almost like a final moment of tsundere-ness.

Toradora!

Fin.