Atarashii Prelude

Toradora – 17

Depressed Minori makes me feel sad.

With the departure of Sumire to the States and the declaration of victory by Taiga the Kitamura arc has been brought to a close. This episode mainly serves, as a set-up to the following arc that is Minori’s arc.

With the Christmas season in full swing its time for more serious drama as befitting of any love story. Ryuuji’s relationship with Minori has now hit a new low with her constantly avoiding him and even Taiga failing to persuade her to join the Christmas party with Ryuuji. Speaking of Christmas, Taiga is so sickly sweet in this episode that I could

I see what you did there.

In other news, the sob story of Yuri-sensei’s life continues with her being cheated by yet another man. That said, since her luck with men is so appalling she should have just opted for the yuri route instead and save herself the trouble.

In this episode, the minor characters also got some well-deserved exposure with Haruta and Noto taking the lead and trying to pair Taiga with Kitamura. Another minor character that got some exposure this episode was Kihara who not only declares her interest in Kitamura aka ‘Maruo’ but also manages to hit the nail on Ryuuji’s head by telling him that he actually has feelings for Taiga.

IMO the new OP and ED of Toradora reflects the current mood of the series better than the previous one. Toradora has now graduated from the school of love comedy and is now heading in the direction of serious drama; the OP reflects this well with a more serious tone while remaining upbeat.

P.S. Thank god I don’t have yaoi dreams/nightmares.