Toradora! 14 I’m late watching it because of school starting back up, and my boyfriend getting his jaw broken a few nights ago (*sadface*), but this was a really well-done episode. It integrated the “Palmtop Tiger of Happiness” school myth from the spin-off novel with the beginning of the depressed Kitamura arc. There was also some character development for Ami, Minorin and Kitamura as all three are dealing with various problems of their own. Ami feels distant from her classmates and is privately considering quitting school to go back to modelling because everyone thinks she’s so “mature”. But Ryuuji in his full-on housewife mode calls her a kid and gives her some meat from his grocery bag, which changes her mind about leaving, reminding her that she has friends there. Kitamura’s depression involving the student council president will be explored more next week, and I’m not sure what Minorin is thinking about, but she’s troubled by Ryuuji picking a picture of the two of them together from last week’s cultural festival photo prints. One of the things I adore about Toradora is how subtly and slowly everyone’s respective personalities and desires are revealed. It’s very unconventional - which has always been my favourite thing about this series. The two leads are kind of on the backburner this episode, but I’m finding myself shipping for them more and more. Despite how much he likes Minorin, Ryuuji seems to care about Taiga’s happiness even more, worrying all episode about how she got burned by her father in the previous arc. Ami has noticed this about him, of course. Taiga is back to her usual selfish, scathingly critical and violent self, trying to avoid all the people who want to touch her to achieve “happiness” and revelling in the rumours that she and Kitamura are dating after their dance at the festival, but you know her loneliness is present just under the surface. That she and Ryuuji are the only characters in this show that truly understand each other is perfectly clear. She picks up immediately on the fact that he is trying to cheer her up over her father’s betrayal by making an extra large dinner, and grumpily grunts “I told you I was fine already.” Around the dinner table at the end of the episode Ryuuji’s mom calls Taiga the third member of their family which was an adorable moment.
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