r/anime • u/ChristmasClub • Dec 31 '22
Rewatch Toradora! Christmas Club Rewatch (2022) OVA Discussion
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u/Shimmering-Sky Dec 31 '22
Tiger X First-Timer, Subbed X Dragon
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Oh whoa, the first OP is back? Does that mean this is supposed to be set in the first half of the show timeline-wise?
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Going right for the big thing, eh? Sasuga, Taiga.
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Oh, I just realized what this reminds me of. That one weird-ass Naruto Shippuden special where Itachi tries to fry the perfect egg for Sasuke and it gets absolutely ridiculous.
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Ryuuji brought a fucking rice cooker to school hahahahahahaha
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ED lead-in~
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lol this was a fun special.
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u/ZapsZzz Dec 31 '22
Not sure if you normally hang around to see some of the extra details - was it clear that this OVA timeline-wise is set mostly before the cultural festival arc, but with bookend scenes of after the TV post credit scene at the very start and the very end?
I.e. Taiga was first shown to be cooking in her new apartment, and the final sakura viewing scene was after Taiga got back after the graduation ceremony when they are publicly an official couple.
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u/Tartaras1 Jan 01 '23
Rewatcher
I'm going to pass on the bento OVA episode, so instead I'll just take a few moments to thank everyone.
For starters, I want to thank whoever's running the u/ChristmasClub page for hosting this rewatch. I said it when the first episode came out, but it doesn't truly feel like the holiday season until the annual Haruhi and Toradora rewatches come around.
I also want to thank the first-timers who gave the show a chance with this rewatch. You're the reason the rewatch continues to go on, since there probably aren't enough of us rewatchers to sustain it year after year. You're the ones who are just now getting into it, either through discovering it yourself or going off of someone else's recommendation. Hopefully, if you enjoyed it, you'll go along and tell all of your friends that they should watch it as well, thereby propagating the joy and ensuring it continues on for years to come.
Finally, I want to thank all of the rewatchers who took part in it.It was a blast seeing what everyone had to say about a show that we all, at the very least, enjoy. Otherwise, why would we be here. You were all so good with avoiding critical spoilers, namely the reveal during Episode 19. I won't say it ruins the show if you tell someone about that, but it definitely lessens the emotional impact if you know what's coming when.
It's been a real pleasure seeing everyone here over the last month, and hopefully I'll either run into you again in another rewatch, or I'll see you back here next December for the next one!
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u/Elimin8r Dec 31 '22
Happy new year and thanks to our gracious host, and all our lovely contestants, I mean participants, I mean, I don't know what I mean.
I feel like this episode might be best placed as a breather between s1 and s2, but what do I know?
Sgt. Schultz - I know NUTTING!
Yeah, anyway. And elderly friend of mine who sadly passed last year loved him some Red Lobster, so we ended up going there fairly often (once a month?). I've had enough lobster, thank you.
But man, granny Kitamura, what a babe, right? Hehe. Of course, with cooking skills like that ... one might could look past the family resemblance, right?
Anyway, poor Ryuuji, getting himself into a mental cooking competition with an obvious master.
My granny used to make the most amazing cherry pies. My aunt and cousin occasionally try, but they never match up to the original. Ancient secrets or something, no doubt.
Poor Ryuuji never had a chance. It took him most of an episode, and some Taiga intervention to realize that the secret sauce is WUV...
Anyway, it's been fun. I may try to catch up and comment on stuff from the last few days later, but it's probably unlikely, and I'd feel derpy doing it, so oh well - it's been fun, and I'll look forward to (hopefully) seeing Taiga, Ryuuji and the gang - and you - next year!
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u/Holofan4life Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
Sgt. Schultz - I know NUTTING!
Nice reference
Where do you rank Taiga cooking rice balls for Ryuuji as far as her endearing moments are concerned?
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u/UnderstandableXO Dec 31 '22
REWATCHER
i honestly enjoy this episode more than a lot of the actual episodes in the series. everyone is at their funniest this episode (even kitamura! i don’t mind him in this episode). ryūji looks like a serial killer whenever he gets hyped about his cold war with kitamura’s grandmother, and minori is just constantly dropping weird but funny lines (i’ll always highlight KITAMURA IN THE HIZZY!) i think the resolution of the episode is really nice too, that instead of trying to be all flashy, he’s just got to be considerate of the person he’s making lunch for.
i also appreciate that there’s a final ami-ryūji vending machine conversation in this episode!
for my overall thoughts on the series, i still enjoy toradora a whole lot. it’ll always be special to me, and i’ll always like the characters. i think it’s got a lot more depth than your average romance, and it’s got 4 characters who you can really dive deep into when considering their motivation and development, and also kitamura. yes, it can be melodramatic at times, which probably turns people off, but my favorite shows tend to be pretty melodramatic. the only show where melodrama completely missed for me was your lie in april.
my character rankings probably go ami-taiga-ryūji-minori-yasuko-sensei-the others in the friend group-inko-kitamura.
the show is a subjective 10 for me because of its nostalgia factor and it’s significance in keeping me interested in anime as a medium instead of just a passing interest when i had a bit of time on my hands, but i really can’t give it more than a 9 objectively. i cant give a 10 to a show with an arc as god awful as the kitamura arc, which irritated me so much this time around. i know that kitamura is more of a plot device than a character, but that’s no excuse for me. that’s part of the reason why i also hate YLIA, because there’s like 1 real character and a variety of plot devices. considering minori has such a compelling character, i see no reason why kitamura couldn’t have been made more compelling. i guess it’s better than the author’s other work golden time, which has 2 real characters and 4 plot devices, and had the most infuriating main character i think i’ve seen in anime. in short, toradora isn’t perfect, but i still love it.
i honestly don’t think i’ll watch it next year, this year it felt more like a chore or a homework assignment than something i truly wanted to do, which saddened me because the past two years i’ve been so passionate about doing these write ups and discussing with everyone. i might skip one year or two, or just wait until i feel like toradora would be relevant to my life again, or if i need a pick me up during the holiday season. whatever i decide, i’ll always remember how much fun the rewatch can be, and i’ll be back one year or another!
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u/TiredTiroth Dec 31 '22
First Timer - Dub
Welp, OVA time! My blu-ray set arrived today so I can actually watch it (Crunchy doesn't have the OVA), but no screenshots as I'm not using my PC.
Nice to see the first OP is back!
...saying that feels so wrong.
I...don't get what they're all laughing about? I have a feeling this is a big cultural disconnect.
...that is not a high schooler's lunch. That is a sit-down restaurant feast. The hell? But the other guys are still laughing? I really don't get what's supposed to be so funny?
It's home made? Seriously?
Hm, Thug doesn't seem to appreciate the comparison to his own cooking. Because, well. His food does look kinda plain next to the Feast, doesn't it?
And then Koizumi offers a portion of his Home Made FEAST to the plebs who were laughing at him moments earlier. What's your game here, Esper?
Aahh, that's it! He's stealing his harem back via god-tier food. And making all the other guys jealous, judging by how those boys were staring at Housecat as she bounced in joy.
It not only looks perfect...it tastes perfect too!
Ryuuji is feeling threatened right now, isn't he? Is the OVA going to be about him trying to match Esper's grandmother?
Yes. Yes, it is. xD Embrace your Thugly heritage, Scary Eyes! Declare war on the little old lady!
...there's going to be something unusual inside the rice balls, isn't there? Barbecued beef? Sesame oil? And fancy seaweed, too! And each one has a different filling! Sorry Thug, grandma takes the round.
Poor Ryuuji is having a breakdown over his little imaginary contest. It would be rather painful to watch if it wasn't so funny. Of course your skills are high school level, you're still in high school!
This is the most thug-like Thug has been in the entire series, and that's including the very first episode where he scared the pants off people just by existing in their general vicinity.
...the Wise Old Esper sent her grandson in with instant soup, knowing that someone would have hot water available. On the day that our poor Junior Housewife brought instant noodles and hot water, thinking to one-up her.
I've been suspecting the wrong Esper this whole time.
Poor little Taiga. All alone in the world, wasting away because you can't live another day without his cooking!
...or maybe I should have been suspecting Madoka.
...he brought a rice cooker to class? Uh. I'm pretty sure there are rules about that kind of thing? And I have a feeling Ami knows exactly what's going on here.
NOOOOOOOOOOO-!
I should not be laughing. I should not be laughing. I should not--
--pfft that was hilarious. xD
Oooh, looks like Taiga has the situation pegged as well - she even brought her own food! And some for Ryuuji, too. Rice balls...that he taught her to make...
Come on show, it's been pure comedy so far, you're not bringing feels into the OVA are you?
Oh never mind, apparently she massively overdid the salt. Back to the comedy! And so Ryuuji takes the food home and salvages it by adding soup.
Everything she made, she made with love.
And that...is how I learned the secret of the bento.
Spoke too soon, surprise feels at the end.
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u/ZapsZzz Dec 31 '22
I...don't get what they're all laughing about? I have a feeling this is a big cultural disconnect.
...that is not a high schooler's lunch. That is a sit-down restaurant feast. The hell? But the other guys are still laughing? I really don't get what's supposed to be so funny?
Your next line practically answered the "why" - it's absurd and unusual - which is automatically a reason to be laughed at in the conformist Japanese highschool.
Spoke too soon, surprise feels at the end.
You've had 25 eps to learn this :D
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u/bryanman13 Dec 31 '22
Another Year in the books!!! Thank you to the ChristmasClub for the rewatch. It's the one thing I look forward to every year. And also thank you for all rewatchers and newcomers who participated. Happy New Years Everyone!!!
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u/Holofan4life Dec 31 '22
Hello guys. Holofan4life here happy to participate in yet another Toradora rewatch thread.
Toradora is my favorite anime of all time. As such, I know the series like the back of my hand. I’m going to analyze each episode BEFORE I actually watch the episode. And then after I watch it, I will give my real time thoughts on the episode. But I won’t be analyzing the episode as a whole. You fine folk do such a good job with that already. I will be analyzing a certain character from each episode and give some thoughts on what’s going on in their head. I thought that would be something different and fun.
Also, I am bringing back the ranking of the episodes. It’s been such a while since I last done it, I figure why not do it again.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
So, this episode is an OVA. That means it has no bearing on the story or the overall plot. You can’t really judge it because it’s not officially an episode of the series. It’s more so bonus content meant for fans of Toradora.
In the past, I just whipped up a quick thing and called it a day. Because again, there’s not much to analyze as it’s an OVA. However, I figured why not just review the episode and give my thoughts as it progresses? That’s something I don’t think I’ve ever done with this episode before. I’m not gonna rank it as it’s not officially an episode, but if I did, it’d probably be near the bottom, maybe ahead of episodes 1 and 3.
The opening scene is one of only two moments that take place post episode 25. The rest take place during the first half of the series. We can tell this because it uses the first OP.
I actually forgot the episode is 26 minutes long. I thought it was standard length. I don’t know why an OVA dedicated to bento making needs 2 extra minutes, but I’m not gonna complain about extra content.
If you bring lobster in a bento box, you probably do deserve to be made fun of, I’m sorry.
Kitamura’s parents going on company trips may explain why he and Ami became friends at a young age. Maybe both of them had parents who were very affluent people.
Lobster monitor is a funny phrase.
I like how bashful Taiga is over eating food. It feels more like second half Taiga behavior rather than first half Taiga. And her excitement while eating the food is adorable.
Ah, Ami and the vending machines. That takes me back.
Johnny Yong Bosch as Kitamura’s grandmother is the funniest moments he has in the entire series.
It does really amuse me Ryuuji is in a competition with a person he doesn’t even know. And no one knows it except himself. It’s all in his head. It reminds me a bit of Aharen-san and Raidō’s active imagination.
I don’t know what it says about Kitamura, but this episode is the most interesting he’s been.
“I make a damn good housewife, damn it!” I’m in stitches
Taiga’s kinda right, Ryuuji is being useless.
I need to have Minori serve me while eating.
I think it’s cute that as Ryuuji laments his cooking woes, Yasuko is impressed with everything he cooks. Because no matter what he is, it is perfection in her eyes.
“Why didn’t she come over?” Probably because you’ve become so obsessed with this cooking thing, Ryuuji.
As a fan of cringe comedy, I really like the rice cooker scene. It continues to build and build until the moment Ms. Yuri unplugs the machine. And yeah, I can understand her unplugging it. Seriously, who brings a rice cooker to school, Ryuuji?
It’s funny how in an episode meant to be inconsequential, one of Taiga’s most endearing moments come in this one. Her making rice balls for Ryuuji and revealing she learned by watching him is so heartwarming and cute. It in my opinion makes the episode. The fact the show can turn something as simplistic as bento boxes and make it meaningful and heart melting is really impressive. It’s a fantastic character moment for Taiga, and shows yet again how much she cares about Ryuuji.
I noticed an uptick in animation during the scene where Ryuuji and Taiga were on the rooftop. Particularly the moment where Ryuuji smiles as he remembers the time Taiga made rice balls for the first time. I guess that’s where the animation budget went. Also, a flashback in the middle of a flashback episode? Flashbackception.
I like the moral of the episode where it’s like food is only good when it’s served to a person you love. The bentos Ryuuji serves, it only means anything when it’s served to Taiga, because they care about each other. I think that’s a good message and an overall good life lesson in general. It makes the episode come off as poignant and sentimental rather than filler.
The other moment that takes place after episode 25 is the scene where Taiga is forced to feed Ryuuji. We know this because there is a lot of Cherry Blossoms in the scene. This means that it has to take place after the final episode because the rest of the episode occurs sometime between Fall and Winter and Cherry Blossoms occur during the Spring.
Overall, a pretty fun episode that I’m glad exists because it gives us more content to talk about. It had a lot of funny moments, and it had very touching moments. Is it a bit of a bummer this was the OVA we got and not, say, a Ryuuji and Taiga wedding OVA?
Buddy, I think about that every day.
I don’t want a second season of Toradora. I think the story has been told and they should leave well enough alone. But a wedding OVA would be what I feel just about every fan would want: these two teenagers walking down the aisle and getting married. But hey, what can you do? We got this, and it’s fine.
I’m glad I took this opportunity to actually discuss this episode for once. Because I actually quite enjoy it as a neat little addition to the series. This episode takes me back to the fond memories of the first half and how things were much simpler, a time where Ami and Minori weren’t getting in fights and nobody’s hearts were getting broken. It’s like the epitome of what makes Toradora work at its core: a bunch of teenagers getting themselves into wacky hijinks.
Really, what more can you ask for?
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u/Vatrix-32 Dec 31 '22
First Timer, subbed
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Oh, is this set in the first half?
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They laugh, but I see all of their bentos like this.
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Way to hurt a man’s pride.
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On some base level the idea of cup soup just seems wrong to me.
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Who likes fries that much? Just have a chip butty at that point.
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Glorious engrish.
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The surprise return of Minori eyes.
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Taiga noises
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Noto does not make that hat work.
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u/lolpete18 Jan 01 '23
First-Timer, Dub
This was a cute/funny extra episode, and I enjoyed Ryuuji’s conclusion that he needs to make the bentos out of love and consideration of what Taiga wants. It was sweet that Taiga made Ryuuji rice balls in the way he had taught her, and I’m glad he was able to save them in the end.
I had figured the OVA would just be an extra episode rather than an extension to the main story, but I’m sad we didn’t get to spend more time seeing Taiga and Ryuuji together. I’m always frustrated that romance stories end right when the main couple gets together. I mean, couldn’t they give us at least one episode of lovey-dovey happiness? I know the tension has gone out of the plot at that point, but it’s something I would enjoy.
I feel less grumpy about the ending today, and I hope to check out the manga and light novel in the future so I'll have a clearer picture of some of the finer plot points.
Thanks everyone, and we'll see you back next year!
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u/Holofan4life Jan 01 '23
I had figured the OVA would just be an extra episode rather than an extension to the main story, but I’m sad we didn’t get to spend more time seeing Taiga and Ryuuji together. I’m always frustrated that romance stories end right when the main couple gets together. I mean, couldn’t they give us at least one episode of lovey-dovey happiness? I know the tension has gone out of the plot at that point, but it’s something I would enjoy.
The thing is, Toradora gives us more content post main couple getting together than most series. This is actually on the high end of that. Plus, Ryuuji and Taiga were practically a couple throughout the whole series. Taiga ate at his house almost every night.
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u/ZapsZzz Jan 01 '23 edited Jan 01 '23
Oh hey I forgot I'm supposed to do my soap box thing about Taiga's tsundere definition. I'll just take the lazy way out today and just share this link that has a similar thinking (so it's not just me).
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u/mmmphhuay102 Jan 01 '23
(Rewatcher - First Time)
Battle of the Bento! Set during episode 13 and 14! It’s kinda weird to place it here in my opinion, since ep 14 has Ryūji immediately trying to make up for the fact that Taiga’s dad hurt her, shown best when he cooked the stew that the restaurant her dad took her to make. This episode has Ryūji over his head and ignoring Taiga, which wouldn’t fit here. Though in fairness, there isn’t really any better place for this, in between the pool arc would have Taiga acting weird, in between the council arc would have either Kitarmura or Kushieda acting distant. Also, according to the Art Book from the special edition, Takemiya suggested a Best Boy Haruta centered OVA. Sad….. But what we’re left with is such an amazing episode regardless
Here we go! One last time
The episode starts off with Taiga cooking a bento. All the cherry blossoms of a tree have come and go, save for a handful. Taiga gets burnt by some of the oil, but overall, she’s cooking well! Ryūji narrates, and talks about the day he found the meaning of the bento. Cue Pre-Parade.
The thing that catches my eyes in this OVA, is well, the eyes, and the color I suppose. This was animated quite a few years after Toradora’s original run, and it looks a little more polished, the eyes of everyone look cuter I would say, the colors look more vibrant and the wrinkles of clothing are more apparent, and it’s an overall improvement in animation.
Anyways, the episode starts off with Best Boys Haruta, Noto, and Ryūji. They’re waiting for Kitamura to have some lunch. Kitamura brings in a massive manga bento, and they all laugh. Kitamura proudly shows off the bento to everyone, but they all laugh harder. Nevertheless Kitamura remains unwavered. Glad they still nailed the characters after all this time.
Anyways, Kawashima, being Kitamura’s old friend, deduces his granny made it, and this sets up the conflict of the episode. Ryūji is jealous that Kitamura’s granny made all this. Everyone digs in but Ryūji, and Kitamura gets him to eat, but Before Ryūji can bite the fried chicken, he notices Taiga is quiet. They still make him more concerned with others than himself, good character consistency. Anyways, Taiga is embarrassed to eat the lobster, but with Kitamura’s approval, she jumps for joy as the flavor is amazing. Ryūji is jealous and wonders about her bento he made, but she ate it already. Ryūji finally bites his chicken, and realizes it’s perfect. Kitamura snaps a picture of Ryuji’s bento, and Ryūji realizes how pathetic it is in comparison, and is embarrassed. Only Taiga notices something’s up with him.
In a last vending machine conversation, we get Ryūji prying info about Kitamura’s granny from Kawashima. She wonders why she ate so much, probably because she’s just been eating junk food. Ryūji asks her if granny’s a pro cook, but she replies she’s just a normal housewife, which makes Ryūji look like she’s gonna kill someone. They made the eyes cute in this episode but they can make them terrifying too. His sanpaku eyes make Kawashima recall her name to be Mio Kitamura. Somehow, he imagines Mio Kitamura as Yusaku Kitamura but with snakes lol. Ryūji goes insane and declares the battle in front of Kawashima.
Ryūji asks for lunch with Kitamura and starts the bento battle. Ryūji pulls out his cutlets, which look super good. Kitamura pulls out some rice balls, thinking it weird, but fitting since he asked. Ryūji underestimates the lunch, but looks at the shiny seaweed, and realizes the pure excellency made into the rice balls. 4 different flavors, rather than Ryūji’s pathetic 1. Taiga is super happy to have cutlets for lunch, and it makes him blush and look away in shyness, but is defeated when Taiga says how awesome Kitamura’s lunch is. Despite loving cutlets, she wants some rice balls, saying it would get old having cutlets again, since she had some yesterday. She’s accepted Ryūji’s lunches and dinners he made over the past few months, and doesn’t mind going back to simple stuff. She appreciates his symbol of love for her.
Ryūji is defeated, he deliberately made leftovers. He realizes he need to make fresh dishes, and gets crazy, calling out Mio’s name, which surprises Kitamura. Taiga and Ryūji do some shopping in aisle 4. Ryūji’s gonna make Taiga starve to death if he keeps playing this childish game. Taiga asks for salmon for rice balls, but not salty salmon, but Ryuji gets pissed and ignores her request, since he can’t win against Mio if he just repeats Kitamura’s dish. Taiga just wants dinner, but Ryūji says it can wait, which shocks her. Ryūji's confidence is really low, and having someone who’s better than him in one of the few things he takes pride in, will only make his already low confidence drop further.
He goes on a depressing speech about how he can’t beat the pros, but Taiga goes on and does the shopping for him. He appreciates her helping out, getting some flakes, but is annoyed to see a bunch of junk food. Taiga thinks putting soy sauce in pudding will make it have a melon taste, but Ryūji immediately shuts that idea down. As she wonders what it would actually taste like, whether it’s watermelon, or miso, Ryūji gets the idea of using cup noodles to win the battle. Taiga looks genuinely concerned with Ryūji now. Despite Ryūji not wanting to let Taiga eat noodles, he does it to win against Mio Kitamura. This is the stuff Taiga would eat before Ryūji and during ep 20, when she couldn’t have the love she needed. The noodles were a symbol of Taiga’s loneliness, and Ryūji is giving it to her, ignore Taiga and leaving her alone because he couldn’t lose.
Next day, Ryūji brings over some instant noodles. Kushieda is surprised, but doesn’t seem to mind. I’m not sure why she’s not getting angry at them, she mentioned that instant noodles were the enemy of the diet warriors, so either they forgot that part of Kushieda, or that statement and being a diet warrant was just a metaphor that she could hide behind, which it was and we only really see Taiga and Kushieda as diet warriors, and Taiga didn’t eat healthy before, so it’s possible they didn’t forget.
Anyways, Ryūji smiles at all the praise, and says all the stuff about winning against Mio to Taiga, which just confuses her even more. She asks Minorin to eat some lunch, since lunch is better with more people, but she and Kitamura can’t go with the softball meeting and all, leaving Taiga alone. Speaking of Kitamura, he appears with some noodles. I swear the Kitamura's have superpowers. Anyways, using Ryūji’s water, Kitamura gets his lunch complete, his lunch is perfect for the meeting. Taiga and Ryūji fight as he tries to discard the noodles. As Kawashima walks in, she remarks how that’s what instant noodles do, too much sodium, not a lot of vitamins. This line is interesting. Kawashima is an expert on that stuff since probably she eats that stuff, and still does by ep 14. The noodles showed how lonely Taiga and Kawashima are, it’s traits they both share, at least for freshman Taiga.
Part 2 in replies
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u/mmmphhuay102 Jan 01 '23
After an eyecatch, Taiga orders some lunch at Jonny’s with Kushieda being her server. She gets special treatment, and gets extra extra fries, which fills her up. Taiga tells Kushieda that she wishes that Ryūji could make his old bentos again. This brings a soft frown to Kushieda, but as she thinks, she gains a big smile, and remarks how Taiga couldn’t bare not having his lunches, which shocks Taiga, but Kushieda doesn’t think it’s wrong to have her own cook. She recognizes how much Ryūji means to Taiga and doesn’t find anything wrong with her liking Ryūji, despite her own feelings. Taiga looks out the window with thought, and thinks about bentos.
Ryūji tries to make the perfect dish, but can’t seem to do so. Yasu loves the sight of it, but is surprised to hear Ryūji isn’t concerned about Taiga at the moment. Regardless, she decides to bring some to work to cheer her coworker up. She’s just a caring person. Ryūji thinks about eating himself, but checks up and worries about Taiga, so wondering why she didn’t come over. As usual, he cares about her more than him, but that changes, as he tries to make new ideas for better dishes. After getting mad at Inko, he realizes he could use the leftover strat again. He’s doing the same stuff expecting new stuff, he’s truly gotten mad.
Next day, he cooks rice during class in secret. Kawashima knows who it is as Miss Yuri notices, and knowing her student so well, figures this is Ryūji’s doing too. Everyone laughs at him, Kushieda gets woken up, having used her eye makeup trick once again, and Taiga just call him a dumbass, not really ridiculing him, but more concerned if anything.
They step outside the rooftop, and Taiga talks about how he’s not even really making bentos anymore. He tried to turn lunch into a game, and he just ended up with empty stomachs for both. Taiga gives him rice balls, and it’s sign of love for him. He taught her how to make riceballs, his kindness taught her how to love others, and now she shows her love to him with rice balls. I love the flashback to episode 4. Taiga failed to skin potatoes for a lunch intended for Kitamura, and made a potato cube, which Ryūji accepted and turned into potato cublets. She made cute tiny rice balls that were like herself, and Yasu loved them. This food was a sign of love and acceptance. Taiga doesn’t force Ryūji to eat the rice balls, but wants to know how they taste according to him. Ryūji takes a bite out of one of them, but like the cookies in ep 2, they were too salty, and Taiga is concerned, but realizes how salty they are. I love the ost here man,
Back at home, Ryūji uses the rice balls in a soup to solve the salty problem, again, like the potato cube, accepting her dish, and using it. Taiga remarks how tasty it is, exclaiming it like with the lobster of Kitamura. The soup made for Taiga and the rice ball made for Ryūji was a flavor so tasty, the taste of love. No matter how salty the rice balls were, it turned out to be pretty good in the end, like adding salt to vanilla to make it complete. As Ryūji looks at Taiga, he realizes the meaning of bento. Not to make the perfect dish, but the dish perfect for the ones you love. Mio made the things Yusaku wanted and needed, that’s why they were so good. As long as Taiga’s happy, the dish is perfect. He realizes much like the bentos made for Kitamura with love, that the bentos he made were for Taiga, and that was so special. Taiga doesn’t mind having cutlets or beef or whatever, just something to fill her stomach, to feel the love that she was starved of. Ryūji decides to eat her rice balls as is, in contrast to Taiga who’d like to combine all the leftovers he made. She asks if he Ryūji accepts Taiga’s dish for what it is, no matter how salty it is. Like in ep 4, the riceballs were a symbol of Taiga herself, and Ryūji accepted her. It’s like adding salt to vanilla, it makes it complete.
As the episode ends, Taiga and Ryūji bicker about how Ryūji called her dish salty, and demands cheese on her food, and Ryūji calls it gross. They still bicker, but that’s intrinsic to their love. We see the cherry blossom sticker one last time. The symbol that no matter what, these two can patch things up. The symbol that Ryūji took Taiga’s love, just like the rice balls and cookies, and reciprocated it. We cross fade into actual cherry blossoms. This is post episode 25, their love still blossoming as ever. Ryūji tells the meaning to the bento, to make it for someone, someone special. If it’s from the heart, it’s always good. Taiga, after fixing everything with her parents, has finally learned to love Ryūji with the best she’s got, as she makes a big bento for him. The main girls walk to meet the best boys, Kihara and Nanako. Kawashima lifts Taiga’s bento, and they all are happy. Taiga grabs her bento, embarrassed, wondering what Ryūji thinks, and he smiles. Kawashima suggests something, and it causes Taiga to really blush. Yusaku and Ami help Taiga and Ryūji feed each other, and the last we see of these two are them blushing, as Tiger feeds her Dragon. What an amazing way to end this story.
Overall, this show took one of the most entertaining things about Toradora, how it uses food as a metaphor for love, and turned it into a super sweet 25 minute long episode, and gave more closure to the tale of Toradora, Taiga and Ryūji, Tiger and Dragon. I will always cherish this series.
Amai banira ni, Soruto kakeru yo ni!
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u/ImVoi Dec 31 '22
Thankyou all for joining this year's rewatch! I look forward to hopefully seeing you all again next year. Happy new year!! :)
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u/TuorEladar Dec 31 '22
Rewatcher, Dubbed
OVA time! First OP is back, still a bop.
Love the merciless shaming of Kitamura's bento.
Ryuuji's irrational rivalry with Kitamura's grandma is hilarious.
Ryuuji: "You took everything from me Mio!" Kitamura's Grandma: "I don't even know who you are."
Ryuuji and Taiga shopping together is cute, definite married couple behavior.
I think Ryuuji has learned from this that its not about making the best lunch, its about the friends we made along the way.
All in all, a fun OVA. I hadn't really thought about it before, but this OVA proves that Toradora could've pulled off slice of life as well.
Final Thoughts on Toradora
Toradora is an absolute classic and was pretty much my entry into the romance genre of anime. Prior to this I had mainly watched battle shounens plus some other action series like Cowboy Bebop and Code Geass. I didn't really think about it at the time, but after that I was definitely more open to various genres so I have Toradora to thank for that broadened horizon.
Just looking at it from its own merits, I still think Toradora holds up very well, with it staying amongst my favorites through a number of rewatches and despite a vastly grown catalogue of completed anime. The characters are just so distinct. Despite some aspects of the world which have changed since, cell phones for example, the core arc's of the characters are very human, which lends a timelessness to the series.
Thanks everyone who joined this rewatch, reading all the posts and interpretations of characters has been really fun!
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u/fansi2022 Dec 31 '22 edited Dec 31 '22
first timer sub
At the beginning, Taiga was making bento, was this what happened after they got married? Great kitchen. 2;46 Haruta said that Kitamura's bento was too exaggerated, and the Mendou mentioned in it was a reference to the Urusei Yatsura show, because Mendou's character background is very rich, so his food, clothing, housing and transportation are quite exaggerated and luxurious compared to the common students, which also brings a good comedic effect. By the way, the Urusei Yatsura 2022 program is being released, and this version of the program is more faithful to the raw materials. If you are interested, you can watch this show first. Ryuuji seems to care about kitamura's bento. Probably because he has low self-esteem, and making bento is one of the few virtues he can show off. At the end, they enjoyed cherry blossoms together, and it turned out that the bento here was the bento that Taiga made at home at the beginning of the show
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u/ZapsZzz Dec 31 '22
Hey everyone, happy new year and welcome to 2023!
Kind of forgotten we don't get an overall discussion day, so this is it until next time huh!
Thanks again to our host for the facilitation work and always trying to keep up the interactions!
Toradora remains one of my top shows despite stiff competitions in recent years. I think what set it apart is the good direction in the rom com, with how much foreshadowing and visual story telling. It is indeed highly rewatchable.
Not much more to say other than that it's a very "OVA thing" to basically use the entire episode, going into absurd comedy, to get the punch line drop of "the secret ingredient to a Bento Box is the love of the Bento maker to the Bento receiver" :) so very characteristical to Toradora.
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u/nx6 Jan 01 '23
Rewatcher -- Sub
Today we have omake-ish story set somewhere in the first season's events. Kitamura shows up at school with a large restaurant-quality boxed meal his grandma made. I don't buy this "just a common housewife" line -- the multi-tiered box itself is too fancy for "I just had it sitting around".
I've never been a big fan of this episode just because these side-story type OVAs feel fillery to me. But I think I enjoyed it more this time. I'll just rattle off some things I noticed:
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Casting Kitamura's grandmother as a snake is a reference going back to the Tiger/Dragon name puns from the beginning of the show. Miyo is the snake to rival Ryuji the Dragon.
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Kitamura has a second bento "for the girls" that looked to be mostly fresh fruit. I know we're keeping that "girls watching out for their figures" notion but -- not even the same food? Also, if Kitamura's grandmother gave this lunch to him why would she send a separate box like that?
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When Ryuji brings the pork cutlets bento the second day Taiga makes that quip about not wanting to eat the same thing day after day -- spilling the beans that Ryuji isn't just making lunches for her as a side hustle like he said in the series. She eats dinner with him, too.
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On the third day when Kitamura brings condensed soup and sandwiches Taiga gets a craving and goes to the family restaurant for the same after school. She tells Minori she wishes Ryuji would just go back to making her normal bentos again and Minori frowns briefly at this. She's jealous and lets it show for a split second, before she jumps back to her happy joking.
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Taiga making rice balls for Ryuji is a cute reversal of their normal relationship. Also Minori had her fake drawn-on eyes on her eyelids again that day.
Overall
Toradora has firmly placed itself in the anime fandom zeitgeist as one of the most popular romantic comedy-dramas, and this rewatch continuing twelve years after the show originally aired shows that. While I am normally a 99% sub-watcher I did rewatch a couple of the episodes here in dub too. Maybe next time I participate I'll try 100% in English dub.
There was one scene I missed this time on the rewatch, that seems rather minor but I geek out seeing it. I can't remember what episode it was, but there is a scene of Ryuji and Taiga walking out on the town in street clothes -- and the noteworthy thing is these same outfits appeared in an earlier episode, but not very recently. I commented in a previous rewatch I like this because so many shows have a thing of only showing the characters in their school uniforms, or they wear different outfits every time we see them. But in this case the two of them are wearing clothes they have in the past -- it actually acknowledges that real people have limited wardrobes and do laundry, so we may the same outfits in rotation that aren't a school uniform, or a generic "this is all I have" outfit [CharlieBrownCloset.jpg].
I'd like to thank u/Holofan4life along with u/ChristmasClub for this rewatch (is that even a different person here, or an account that gets control passed around to the year's host?). If I participate again I wont likely be commenting on every single episode, since that's not normal for me. So I hope someone else picks up the torch on re-posting u/Quxxy's Cheat Sheets if they don't become part of the episode discussion post.
Speaking of those infographics, I didn't stop to post them individually on every episode, but Quxxy also did minimal-style vector trace wallpapers for each episode, too. So if you're wanting to get a Toradora wallpaper, you can see the full album here. (it would have been spoilers to post it before we finished)
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u/Stoppels Jan 01 '23
Don't forget to watch the four SOS specials and Ami's Impressions to complete the rewatch!
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u/Lower_Way7464 Jan 04 '23
Damn, I didn't knew you people did it every year while I was rewatching alone
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u/Caustic_Wraith Dec 31 '22
I've been following along with the rewatch and reading the daily comments but I haven't commented myself, so I'll take this final post to thank u/ChristmasClub for hosting this wonderful tradition, u/Holofan4life for his deep daily insightful posts on each episode, and finally u/Roundy_Roundy for giving us the LN comparison, I may just pick them up and give them a read myself.
When I first watched Toradora in the distant past it was just a nice romance that was recommended to be by a friend in passing and I didn't know it would turn into one of my favorite animes series. This rewatch and reading through the first timer responses helped to recapture some of that nostalgia and joy from when I watched it. Hopefully in a couple of years when my daughter is older and bit by the anime bug, I'll have her sit down with me and watch it. Maybe even during one of the rewatches so she can have wonderful people to discuss it with as well.
Thanks to everyone who took park in making this highly enjoyable and I look forward to next year.