Bow down to Taiga! To the Queen of the Tigers!

Minnie: Out of all the animes I watch this year, ToraDora probably has one of the fastest subbing groups in my opinion. Of course, this is because I’m not watching the other two highly anticipated animes- Clannad: After Story and Gundam: Zero Season 2. I must say the subs are out one day slower than usual and I am thankful for that. I myself are watching 12 animes now and reviewing er… 9-10 of them? My writing is getting behind because of my blogging but I must say since I’ve been waiting for ToraDora episode since forever, I will review it right here and now. Need. More. Ami.

Minnie: Before the OP, the scene between Ami, Taiga, and Minori should make you go “huh” because it definitely did to me. I have this feeling I know what is going on but I will hold my theories until proven correctly. Basically, Minori and Taiga attack Ami in front of her female friends and then leave without warning. Of course, Ami is mad at them but she can’t show it. Instead, she pretends to cry it off. Anyways, after the OP, Minori and Taiga have a girl talk on the rooftop with Ryuuji as the bystander. Minori thinks their attack is effective. I believe that Minori is fighting for diets everywhere of some sort. I may be wrong but I am very confused on what is happening here. Anyways, three of them spots a boy with a camera outside the school gates. Looks very suspicious indeed. On the way home, Taiga unexpectly offers to make salad for Ryuuji. She must be in a good mood for this to happen, in which case Ryuuji corrects her on a couple of important steps. This is when she calls him “sister-in-law”. Good stuff.

Garrick: Hah! Wow, I LOVE Minori. That scene (pre-OP) alone was… well, exactly the reason. What I was wondering, though, in that very first scene, was if Taiga was helping Minori as a… well… Diet Brigade member, or just because she hates Ami? Or just being Minorin’s friend. Either way, it struck me as odd for Taiga to act as enthusiastic as she did. But, that scene really just strengthens the rivalry-ish thing between Taiga and Ami.

Ric: Awawawawa~ Minori’s so much fun, the Diet Brigade was just brilliant.

Minnie: Right then, Ami enters the scene and clings onto Ryuuji for help against the suspicious boy with the camera from before. Reminder- Ami does not know Ryuuji knows about her true self. That’s why she’s using her fake self on him. Because Ryuuji and Ami are too close to each other, Taiga throws a trash can at them out of anger, which both of them duck in time and winds up hitting the stalker instead. He runs away and Ami uses this to beg to hide in their house. This is when Taiga becomes awesome. She asks if Ami would rather hide in a wooden place like Ryuuji’s house or a high class with security locks like her apartment. Of course, Ami doesn’t know which belong to which so her model instincts kick in and she wants to stay at the high security place. This decision falls into Taiga’s trap quite nicely because it’s her place and she can do anything to Ami at her place. Although Ami changes her mind at the last minute, Taiga laughs it off and says the security around Ryuuji’s house sucks since even she can get into it. Wow. Go Taiga!

Garrick: Man, Taiga being manipulative… that was just awesome. (for lack of a different word) It’s hilarious the way Ami gravitated away from the securityless house of Ryuuji’s. But, well… I’d have to sympathize with her, in the predicament she’s in.

Ric: Taiga really should show her manipulative side more, she’s rather good at setting “traps” like that and it makes for a delightful watch.

Minnie: This is the point in the episode that I am utterly lost and probably need Koala and Ric to figure thigns out for me. In the end, Ami does stay at Taiga’s place to hide for the day. Taiga lets Ami drinks “honey-pickled kumquat”, which causes Ami to cough and scream out about it being too sweet. At this point, they exchange about Ami’s true self. Taiga wants to show it to the whole class. Ami wants to hide it. This is when Taiga says the drink should clear Ami’s throat and Taiga will use this chance for Ami to show the fake self she created to herself to Taiga. The audience doesn’t exactly get to see what goes on between them for those six hours or so. All we know is that the following morning, Ami looks completely fatigue because Taiga gets her to do 150 rapid-fire impressions. How did Taiga manage this? If Ami doesn’t obey her, Taiga throws her out. Harsh Taiga but I must admit that Ami deserves it.

Garrick: Harsh, Taiga… and AWESOME. Taiga’s rather interesting to me. At times, she the girliest girl of the cast, save Ami-chan (not Ami, Ami-chan. You know what I mean). Other times… she’s the least. Blackmailing Ami so horrendously, and also her violent side, it’s really interesting.

Ric: I’m wondering just what those impressions were. With any luck we might get some sort of flashback or something. xD

Minnie: Now, it is time for Kitamura to enter the scene and actually do something! He asks Taiga for a favor and once again we don’t get to see what it is. All we know is that Taiga blackmails Ami into eating lunch with her group, including Minori and Ryuuji. How did she blackmail Ami? Well, she has photos, I think, of Ami’s impressions from the previous day. A model always cares about her reputation first after all. Oh! I get it now! The reason why Ami is with this gang is because Kitamura wants Ami to make some real friends who know about her true nature- Ryuuji and Taiga. Ryuuji has no problem with this and… Taiga doesn’t either since Kitamura ask her after all. So cute. While the four of them eat, Kitamura is off at a Council Meeting. They talk about bentos. Minori’s bento is large but low in calories. However, it doesn’t take long for Ami to notice that Taiga and Ryuuji have the same ones. To cover this up, Taiga eats all of Ryuuji’s side dishes. I love her speech about Ryuuji is her dog in his previous life and such. At this point, Ami makes a move on Ryuuji by giving him some of her meat balls.

Garrick: Hey, it could count as a past life. But, it was a creative comment, I admit. But, yeah… Ami-chan is definitely trying to get Ryuuji on her side… so Ami can use him against Taiga. Good thing for Taiga, anyway.

Ric: I always thought that meatballs were a perfect peace offering. Anyway, Ami really seemed to be gravitating towards Ryuuji this episode, perhaps he has some sort of tsundere magnet somewhere?

Minnie: The same four from lunch time are volunteering to clean up the neighborhood. They all have different reasons for doing this although I am a bit skeptical with Ami’s. She probably has an interior motive. Does it have to do with Ryuuji? Hmm. The Student President is giving a moral speech I believe on their duties. Taiga is mad at her as usual. However, Kitamura looks proud of her. In the end, Kitamura doesn’t go on the same route as the four since he has to stay with the other officers of his council. Poor Taiga. Her reason for being here went down the drain. At least, we get to see some excitement between her and Ami again. Because Taiga is irked, she and Minori splits off from the other two. They left Ryuuji behind with Ami! What is going to happen next?

Ric: I really get the feeling that Kitamura likes the Council President, it would provide some sort of explanation to why he’s so eager to do all the running around he does for her.

Minnie: The next scene is between Ryuuji and Ami. It’s very interesting how much she changes back and forth between her real and fake self. Because of a frog on her shoe, she shows her true self quite clearly but she saves herself by saying ‘just kidding; did you believe it?’. Again, the irony is being played pretty well here. Soon enough, it’s raining and Ryuuji finally fesses up about him knowing her true self already and tries to convince her to stop this annoying chore. However, Ami says she cannot be without this mask of hers. I’m sympathetic toward her, yet I don’t know why. In the end, she’s scared by something and runs off ahead of Ryuuji. Finally, he catches up to her to find her hiding near the motorcyles. In actuality, the reason why she’s taking a break from modeling and moves here is because of that stalker. He follows her wherever she goes and ruins her life. She doesn’t want to bring trouble to her parents so she imposes on her relatives instead. It’s sad but true. Models get this kind of treatment very often.

Garrick: That’s a really sad part of Ami’s life. It’s amazing, and, well… I really enjoyed listening to it. While it doesn’t explain WHY she has both Ami-chan and Ami… but it’s a nice story, and it makes me like them both.

Minnie: However, soon enough, Taiga and Minori arrive and the stalker proceeds to taking pictures of Taiga, calling her a cute ghost. This ticks her off so she throws the trash bag at him and starts chasing after him in anger. This is when Ami realizes that she’s been afraid of this stalker for no reason. Even if she fears him, Taiga shows no such emotion. In other words, she is no better than the stalker or Taiga. This is enough motivation for her to throw off her mask and stick to her real, dark personality. I must say that I got a bit emotional at this scene when Ami chases after the stalker with Ryuuji narrating. I don’t know why but it’s so touching. In the end, Ami steps all over the camera and the stalker realizes that she is not the cute girl he imagine her to be. He is horrified and yet, she’s satisfied, tired and scared.

Garrick: Yep. Touching… not the touching I’m used to seeing, in a way I can’t really explain, but touching. The way Ami totally let her self go… was, well… adorable, in a very… cathartic sort of way. What I’m interested in seeing… is how Ami stages the “disappearance” of Ami-chan when they return ot school.

Ric: I’m rather worried that they’ll just make her “Ami” without showing the reactions.

Minnie: The episode ends with Ryuuji and Ami together after the rain in his house. Ami wonders out loud if he would fall in love with her if she shows him more of her true personality to him. They are in an awkward position when Taiga walks in. The sick parrot foreshadows that there is trouble for Ryuuji in the future. Because of Ami’s enormous character development in this episode, I am willing to say that I am a semi-Ryuuji/Ami fan now. I know it won’t happen and the other two candidates for Ryuuji have a much higher chance. However, I am convinced that I like this pairing more at the moment because one, I like Ami more than the other two because of character development and two, they seem to work better in my mind. In the end though, I am not really a big fan of pairings for this anime. I don’t know why… Oh btw, the ending is fabulous. I have to give some credit to that. More Toradora!

Ric: The look on Taiga’s face when she came in really made me rather sad that it ended where it did, I can’t wait until next week to see what happens. >.<

Minnie’s Overall Rating for Episode: 9/10

Garrick’s Rating for Episode Six: 9/10

Ric’s Overall Rating for Episode Six: 9/10

Minnie’s Anticipation for Next Episode: 9/10

Garrick’s Anticipation Scale: 9/10

Ric’s Anticipation-o-meter: 10/10 (Must see Taiga’s reaction to AmixRyuuji.) >.<

                -Minnie, Garrick, and Ric