Blogging Toradora!: Episodes 3 & 4

Episode Three: Your Song

After acquiring a new job, Ryuji finds himself locked in a warehouse with Minori while Taiga traverses town on a bike she doesn't know how to ride.

I’m finding the pacing of this show to be...interesting. I don’t watch many slice-of-life animes, so I can’t say if this odd structure is typical and I’m confused because it’s not the type of storytelling I’m used to or…if this is actually a little disjointed. It’s still the first batch of episodes, and I imagine it’ll find its stride at some point, but as it stands I feel like everything has been a bit rushed.

Taiga and Ryuji’s relationship is in constant awkward flux as well. She goes from showing him kindness and sincerity one minute and then the next is yelling at him about being nitpicky. Not that he IS being that nitpicky, at least in that scene, since getting tissues caught in the laundry and having to clean them out doesn’t sound like fun and separating darks from lights keeps the clothes from getting, you know, ruined (It’s true—I once destroyed a favorite shirt because I put it in with a pair of dark wash jeans). I suppose for someone like Taiga, whose definition of “doing the laundry” includes throwing the clothes everywhere and letting them collect dirt and mold, his behavior is excessive. Next to her, washing your hands could seem out-of-the-ordinary.

We get more of Minori in this episode, and she’s not quite the type of character the show paints her to be at first glance. I assumed that she was going to be played as the cutesy dim-wit to juxtapose Taiga’s aggressive and intense personality, but there’s more to her than her apparent air-headedness. She’s still kind of a goober, since I don’t know how many teenagers use their school’s anthem to calm themselves down or sing the same intimidation song fifty times in a row when playing softball, but she’s also charming and more than willing to work.

Speaking of which, there’s something going on behind the scenes with her constant job-snatching. This girl is in high school and is working somewhere between three and five jobs, claiming it’s for the hell of it, and to me that's ridiculous and unlikely. High schoolers aren’t interested in working more than one job, let alone potentially five, “because there’s a curb to grind.” There are only so many hours in the day. Taiga makes it a point to tell Ryuji to back off and stay out of Minori’s life; that she’s the only person who knows what's underneath her cutesy, outgoing exterior. She plays it off as Ryuji making his crush obvious, but I’m not buying it. Anyone would be curious why another person works so many jobs, and Ryuji’s suggestions felt more like he was thinking out loud rather than gushing. Taiga is putting up a wall there, for both her and Minori.

Which…makes Taiga’s behavior in this episode fascinating. She doesn’t seem to have many friends aside from Minori, and her anger comes out in full swing when she realizes that Ryuji is back at the store alone with her. I think Taiga’s anger is two-fold here: She’s angry because her best friend is by herself with a guy who has a serious crush on her (and girls can be hyper-protective when it comes to situations like that), but I also feel like Taiga is concerned about losing her best friend to a kid she’s been semi-affectionately been referring to as her dog for the past three episodes. If Taiga’s only concern was the happiness of her friend, she might be less inclined to come barreling through the store and tear through it in fury looking for them. It’s pretty obvious that Taiga is drowning in insecurities and she manifests that through her violent rampages. I wonder if she’s afraid that Minori may end up returning Ryuji’s feelings, because if that happens, she’ll lose a little bit of her best friend to someone else.

Oh, and that scene where Ryuji makes it to the top of the warehouse window and she’s glaring at him and saying “Found you…” is hilarious.

As a side note, there was a moment in episode two where I thought it was possible that Taiga’s actual interests were in Ryuji and not Yusaku; she was using her supposed crush on his best friend as a means to get close to Ryuji. I tossed the idea around in my head for a minute and came back to it during this episode. I don’t think this is the case, as Taiga acts nervous and awkward around Yusaku when no one else is present during that scene where she crashes the bike, and her internal thoughts make it clear that her interests do lie in him and not Ryuji. That will obviously change as the show plays out.

Yukasu’s character doesn’t get much better in this episode. Right now he’s the weakest person in the cast, and I attribute at least some of that to the fact that he has precious little screen time. His behavior in this episode is so…so…bizarre. Taiga crashes her bike, starts grumbling to herself, he appears right the hell out of nowhere, and then stands there staring off into the distance while dispensing some absurd statement about how bikes “open up your world.” I’m sorry, but this kid is a dweeb. What teenager says that about bicycles? I wouldn’t even say that about a car. He also admits that: “For most of last year, I was sort of keeping an eye on you,” which isn’t creepy in and of itself when you’re in high school and do funky things like that, but the way he says it and then walks away as if he just stated something innocuous like, “It’s warm today” makes it weird.

Don’t get me wrong—Minori is weird, too. She bedazzles people’s phones and sings out of rhythm while working several jobs “for fun.” But at least that gives her a personality. Yusaku comes off as though they could replace him with a cardboard box and there wouldn’t be much of a difference.

On a more technical side, this show uses some neat visual repetition. The opening shots of these first three episodes have all included nature of some sort, with a still image punctuated by a small amount of movement (i.e. the bird flittering on the power line and the leaf falling off the tree). They’re great shots and I have a feeling there’s going to be some significance to them later on. Then we have another scene with Taiga and Ryuji walking home in the dark and passing by a street lamp. I don’t know if it’s meant to be the street lamp from before, but the image it presents is the same. And of course we have that disgusting parrot which, at this point, is so obviously meant to be symbolic of something that I almost have to roll my eyes. I’ll sit back and wait for it to say something, since that’s inevitable.

Taiga’s outfits are great, too. The one she wears to the diner is of particular note for a couple of reasons: It plays up her doll-like quality (a feature of her appearance that Ryuji has commented on), says a lot about her personality, and the color scheme might be of importance. Taiga may be aggressive and quick to violence, but the things she wears are far more representative of someone who is cute and innocent. This dress is frilly and girly and her shoes look like something a little girl would wear. I guess you can take it as either a front that she puts up to lure people into a false sense of security, or that sweetness and innocence is her real personality buried underneath a wall of aggression meant to protect her.

The color scheme of her outfit, which is a white dress with red shoes, is trickier since different cultures vary in their interpretations of color. In the West, white is symbolic of purity and innocence while red is more romantic and evocative. According to this website, in Japan red is representative of life, anger, and danger, while white is for death and mourning. Hilarious juxtaposition aside, both interpretations can work in the context of this character. The purity of white and romance of red in the West fits with her doll-like appearance and potential softer character underneath her urge to punch people as well as the general romantic direction of the show. The danger of red and death of white in Japan could almost be played for laughs, since I doubt Taiga has killed anyone or that Ryuji’s life is in actual jeopardy.

Then again, Taiga's actions are often hard to predict and she did try to kill him in the first episode, so who knows.

Episode Four: That Look You Had

Taiga demands that Ryuji take pictures of Yusaku for her, but when none of them end up giving her what she wants, her frustration leads to a surprising revelation.

"Sudoh-Bucks?" Really?

You know, I've come to the conclusion that everyone in this show is at least partly insane. Ryuji seems to be the only person who has a head on his shoulders, and even that's marred by his obsession with cleaning. I don't know if students in Japan are required to take turns cleaning the bathrooms, but if they're not...Ryuji, son, the mold won't kill you or anyone else. Go home. He plays the straight man role in general, and his reactions to Taiga's behavior in this episode are particularly humorous. He's got a lot of expression in his face and body, which is fun to watch.

At least I feel like the show is starting to get its footing. I'm adjusting to these characters and they are each certainly entertaining, if their eccentricities make them anything besides abnormal. Yusaku has gone from cardboard cut-out to brain-dead idiot, and I'm still not sure what Taiga sees in him. Ryuji makes a comment that he doesn't know what all the girls see in him since, according to a couple of them in his class, being the class vice president makes him a buzzkill. Yusaku isn't even that attractive, as anime characters go, and his personality thus far is about as interesting as oatmeal. The one moment of individuality and intrigue I will give him is his confession of love to Taiga--as horrible and dumb and awkward as it is. He seems like the kind of person who only has a vague idea of what's going on around him, so at least that made sense and it gave him something resembling a character. What I did find strange and couldn't rectify in my mind was his behavior towards the student body president. He doesn't appear to have any romantic feelings for her, but he jumps to her defense and tries to keep Taiga quiet as though he values the words that the girl is saying. Maybe he just didn't want things to escalate to a fist-fight (which, knowing Taiga, was entirely likely)? I don't know. That whole scene came off as awkward and bizarre and the fight itself felt forced.

Yusaku's relationship with Ryuji isn't well-established, either, as he spends more time meandering about town and spouting stupid things about bicycles than with his supposed best friend. Ryuji, on the other hand, acts like they've been good friends for years and when Taiga explains that he confessed his love to her the previous year doesn't come across as surprised--just embarrassed for him.Yusaku doesn't appear to reciprocate that kind of relationship. A big part of this, I think, is the fact that Ryuji is a much stronger character than Yusaku, but I was hoping that four episodes in I wouldn't question what's supposed to be a major relationship in one of the protagonists' lives.

Ugh. There's something about Yusaku's character that confuses me and feels less-than-human, and I'm hoping that my issues dissolve as the show progresses.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Ryuji and Taiga's relationship, which is solid. They've spent enough time together to begin building bits of trust in each other, as evidenced by the fact that Taiga naturally fell into an explanation of her feelings for Yusaku without much prompting. She reacts to it in a realistic way, too (aside from...well, her flying kick into the wall): freaking out once everything is out in the open, shocked that she let herself be that vulnerable. The banter between them is great as well, though I do wish Ryuji would stop letting her kick and punch him so often.

As for the student body president...I'm not sure "dope" is a strong enough word. This show so far has played the ditsy card once already with Minori. While it still kept her a little out there, it did give her enough personality to make up for it. This girl, Ami, comes across as even denser than everyone else--which is an achievement--and there isn't anything about her that's engaging. She's flat and boring and air-headed, and it astounds me that she managed to gain such a position of power and that anyone actually listens to her.

Then again, looking her at her face and the way the camera rolls over her body, maybe it's not so shocking after all.

 
She's also the one character in the English dub that is horribly miscast. Whoever is playing her didn't so much as attempt to sound like a teenager. It's not that her voice is unpleasant, it's just far too low and mature to come out of the mouth of a high school student. That's going to be a pain in the neck moving forward, regardless of how well the actress plays the part. And given that she's part of the cast in both the promotional images and the opening/ending, her presence will be important enough to warrant some grumbling about the voice. If I have to listen to it for the remainder of the show, it should sound appropriate.

Veering off into the artsy side, I'd like to commend this show on its lighting. Both of these episodes had scenes that took place in late afternoon/early evening and in either case the lighting reflected that in some stunning ways. The first is when Ryuji and Minori are stuck inside the warehouse in episode three, where the light is both dim and dark, but instead of taking the easy way out and keeping everything shrouded in shadows, the dark is layered with a little bit of orange and yellow from the outside window. The second is in this episode, the moment when Taiga tells Ryuji about Yusaku's confession. That whole shot in general is great (see above picture), and the intense explosion of orange and yellow that smothers it is really beautiful.

And that bird spoke! Saw that one coming. I still don't know what the hell is wrong with it, but the fact that it was able to speak for the first time means that the tone of the show is shifting. Taiga became vulnerable, Ryuji is starting to get a better understanding of how she operates, and now that we have the symbol of the bird speaking something is going to happen. I'm ready.

General Thoughts

To clarify, all of my complaining doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying myself. The first few episodes have been hit or miss, but overall the material is strong enough to keep me watching. Taiga and Ryuji's characters are the show's largest saving grace. I'm still holding out some hope that the others will follow suit and grow into both interesting and complex people rather than the strange, pseudo-characterized ones they are now.

I'm also thinking that there is going to be more to this story than high school romance, since the way everything has been set up so far doesn't exactly make for twenty-six episodes worth of plot on that concept alone. There's more to this show than it appears. We've already been dropped a few hints, between Taiga's curious family background, her relationship to Minori, and Ryuji's insecurities. They've got some other material to work with. I'm curious as to what's up next for our two leads and where this story is headed.

Why We Need to Stop Fighting Over FMA's Incarnations

(Author’s note: I had originally intended to do a full-on review/analysis of Brotherhood after concluding my blogging experience, but then I read a fabulous article defending the 2003 series and it kind of inspired me to return to this idea. I figured this would suffice as a "review" for both series, since I never even touched the 2003 version in terms of blogging and my Brotherhood review was turning into a freaking term paper in its length.)

Three points before I say anything:

• These words are said without malice, but I’m going to be honest. My thoughts here are coming from an examination of what I’ve seen across the Internet, not from a position of preference or bias. 
• There's still a lot of material in here that is my opinion, and you're welcome to disagree with me as long as you are mature and reasonable about it.
• I’m not telling you which one I prefer because it doesn’t matter. To do so would defeat the entire point of this article. So don’t ask me.

The Internet continues to baffle me in its level of hypocrisy and contradiction. We live in a world where people can have fifty-different OTP’s despite the fact that the acronym means “ONE True Pairing,” everyone has their own headcannon for everything under the sun, I’ve seen more gender-bending in fandom than I ever cared to encounter, and any character can be interpreted as twenty different sexualities while people scream at each other that all “ships” are legitimate and we shouldn’t condemn others for what they like.

And yet, despite all this versatility, God-forbid Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood exist together in the same space, or universe, or dimension.

I don’t really get it. Nowadays there are so many different creative possibilities for entertainment and one would think that the formal existence of two interpretations of the same material would be welcomed with open arms. People should be dancing on the rooftops, singing songs of rejoice, soaking in the discussion that could be spawned from looking at differences and similarities between the shows…but instead, it’s practically turned into a bloodbath, one strong enough to scare away formal reviewers from even grazing the topic. Even the English voice actors subvert the question every single time it’s asked at a convention by saying something to the effect of: “Well, I see them as two different entities, so it’s impossible to really compare them.” No one can have an opinion without getting hate for it.

I’m going to call out everyone on this. I have spent enough time Googling articles, scanning YouTube comments, and browsing Tumblr to see that the bitterness and spite is launched from both sides of the debate, though I think the reasons for it are different.

For those who prefer the 2003 series, their anger comes from a couple of places. Many of these people fell in love with anime through this series (back when it was airing on Cartoon Network) and so they hold a high regard for it emotionally. It has historical significance in terms of its effect on the anime community in large part because of that secular exposure. It was loved and respected by a great deal of fans and critics. Once Brotherhood appeared and proceeded to swipe the spotlight, fans of the 2003 series I think became resentful. In the wake of its flashier, more expensive, and more manga-faithful counterpart, Fullmetal Alchemist started to drift into the shadows and was demoted to “second best.” Cartoon Network aired Brotherhood as it came out and stopped showing reruns of the original. People quit recommending it in favor of Brotherhood, and many of the original’s faults were highlighted as a way to support the legitimacy of the remake.

As a result, those who like the original better developed this weird sense of superiority out of that resentment. Somehow preferring the 2003 series seems to make people think they they’re better, since it’s the original incarnation of the show and somehow “more hardcore.” There’s a passive-aggressive way that they talk about their preference, almost as if they’re daring someone to argue with them so they can launch into an epic diatribe about how Fullmetal Alchemist is better, both critically and historically, and you’re not a “serious anime fan” if you prefer Brotherhood.

This guy, though. He's for real.

So the people on the Brotherhood side bit back as a way to defend themselves. They kept pointing out the faults of the original, lamenting the ending of that series and how it didn’t make any sense, and in some cases out-right mocking people who liked the “old series.” Others pointed out that Brotherhood follows the manga, which is often seen as the true cannon above any animated adaptation, and therefore should be considered superior by default. I have seen Brotherhood supporters egg people on in a much more directly aggressive way and intentionally spark arguments because they know that they have a better shot at winning since more people like Brotherhood. Which, you know, isn’t even true if you take a moment to browse a chat board or any of the ten different Tumblr tags for these series.

What you have left is a bunch of spiteful, bitter people who all feel personally attacked and wounded for their preference and the whole thing runs on a never-ending cycle.

We all need to take a minute to breathe and chill the hell out. In light of this, here are a couple of points I’d like to make in regards to this endless debate:

The existence of Brotherhood does not invalidate the original 2003 series.

I’m going to repeat this: The existence of Brotherhood does not invalidate the 2003 series. As I mentioned above, I think a lot of the anger comes from a feeling of being ignored or forgotten. Tumblr has an entire freaking week dedicated to the original series alone, complete with its own tag. It’s true that more people suggest Brotherhood to those who have no exposure to the series as a whole, but what isn’t true is this idea that the original series is somehow dissolving into the abyss of obscurity. It’s 2015. The Internet is a thing. It’s a powerful force with virtually unlimited resources and I am telling you right now that is it impossible for someone to look up and watch Brotherhood without running into its predecessor in some form or fashion. Even if the person who recommended Brotherhood said the original sucked, it wouldn’t take much digging for someone to find out that such an opinion is a little on the extreme side. You don't have to feel like it's being ignored. It isn't.

Japan certainly isn't ignoring it, either.

In fact, most articles and forums I’ve browsed will tell you to watch both, and those that don’t are typically speaking to people who have little to no experience with anime. For someone who is new to this type of animation, Brotherhood is going to be an easier adjustment than the original because of its type of narrative, character archetypes, and animation, all of which tend to lean towards the familiar side to an American viewer.

Which brings me to my next point:

Fans of the original series have to accept that Brotherhood, from a technical standpoint, looks better than the 2003 series.

Brotherhood had more money thrown at it, they don’t waste any of it, and by that point technology had improved enough that there is a visible difference between the quality of Brotherhood’s artwork and the original’s. That’s just reality. The animation and character designs themselves are fine (some people prefer the original's since they're a little more faithful to Arakawa's style) and for its time the art and designs still hold up pretty well. For a seasoned anime fan, there shouldn’t be any real issue switching to and from both shows. The limited budget and dated animation does not hurt the show’s overall value. However, for someone who has next to no experience with this type of animation, Brotherhood is visually more appealing and easier to watch because people are shallow and don’t like watching something that looks dated. And Fullmetal Alchemist does look a bit dated.

Top: FMA; Bottom: Brotherhood

And I'm not going to sit here and compare every element, but the difference is apparent even in the openings. Fullmetal Alchemist's openings feature a lot of Ed and Al sitting/standing still, frames where nothing but one or two objects (or even just the camera) move, and people staring off in the distance with pensive expressions on their faces. The action is limited to small snippets and is more involved with the last two openings than the first. In retrospect it fits the series, since it's much less action-oriented than the remake, but that kind of opening is about as interesting to watch as a photograph slideshow: You only care when you know who's in the pictures, and if you haven't gotten a chance to see the show, some of these openings can be straight-up boring. The limited budget restricted what they could do. When you compare that to Brotherhood, whose openings are fast-paced, action-centric, and feature crisper and smoother animation, it isn't much of a contest for the general public as to which one will grab their attention.

It's the same reason why it's easier to get people to watch something like The Princess and the Frog over Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There's nothing wrong with Snow White's animation, per se (especially for its time and the fact that it was the first full-length animated feature), but it looks dated, even when it's in HD. Technology can only fix so much. Therefore the film is more off-putting than Princess and the Frog, which is so damn beautiful it will make your eyes sing. By that point technology had improved, people knew what they were doing, and the budget for the film was higher because Disney had become a monstrous corporate beast and had the money to spend. Of course it's going to look better. Standards of quality have changed and the environment that these products are released in is different. John Lasseter was also pushing really hard to bring back 2D animation which is probably why there was so much put into that film.

Should that make you consider watching Snow White any less? No, but chances are you're going to pick up the more modern film long before you do the old one. How much you like recent material often determines whether or not you explore older things. Hell, this applies to any medium when you think about it: books, movies, television shows, even some artwork. For whatever reason, it's just human nature.

Both shows have their strengths and weaknesses.

So many people have such a nostalgic and personal connection to Fullmetal Alchemist, and that’s great. But the issue is that those attachments end up making criticism feel like a personal attack, and the fact that its faults are often juxtaposed with the strengths of Brotherhood makes it all ten times worse. It’s kind of like an older sibling having terrible hair and everyone points out how much that hair sucks in light of their younger sibling’s flowing, glorious locks. People shouldn’t be comparing you in the first place, since you’re both separate beings and independent of one another, but you’re also both related and can’t escape the fact that you’re always going to have that connection.

Then you’ve got the people on the Brotherhood side, who get cocky and any time criticism is thrown in that show’s direction they turn it back around on Fullmetal Alchemist. “Oh, the way they handled Hughes’ relationship to Ed and Al in Brotherhood was sloppy and unconvincing? Well HOW ABOUT THAT HORRIBLE ENDING IN THE ORIGINAL? What about that, huh??? Your show doesn’t even follow the manga!” Their need to defend the legitimacy of the remake morphs into this refusal to accept that certain elements of it were, in fact, not perfect. As if, somehow, saying that the first twelve or so episodes were rushed negates your ability to prefer it.

Both shows have two totally different approaches to the narrative. They’re two different ways of telling a story: The 2003 series is slower, more character-driven, and heavier on theme. Brotherhood is a fast-paced adventure with more emphasis on plot and action than anything else. Great characters and themes are present, they’re just not the focus. Neither of these approaches is wrong. They both lend themselves to different strengths and weaknesses, all of which are legitimate for critics and reviewers to point out and discuss. Preference is going to come down to a matter of taste in most cases, and there are a handful of people who will give a recommendation for which to watch based on that. Again, it depends on the situation and context.

Watching both gives you an appreciation for both.

Fun fact: When I first watched the original series, my mind wasn’t blown. I liked it a lot—it was definitely great and I would have suggested it to anyone who asked. But I wasn’t hanging on the edge of my seat, anticipating the next episode, until the last ten or so. The ending annoyed me more because of the sheer amount of plot holes than the fact that it was bittersweet.

But oh boy was I glad I’d watched it when I started Brotherhood.

The emotional impact that certain events in Brotherhood had often came from my attachment to characters in the original. The first episode had a “roll call” sensibility to it that felt fun and familiar, even though I had finished the 2003 series literally less than 48 hours prior. Certain elements of the show had the impact they did because I had already been entrenched in the universe for two months and fifty-one episodes. At the same time, Brotherhood felt more complete and whole, was overall much more fun, and the ending made more sense than the original’s did.

But those bonuses complimented Fullmetal Alchemist, they didn’t detract from it. My enjoyment of the remake created a new appreciation for the original because it had things that Brotherhood lacked. Brotherhood has the more appealing ending, while Fullmetal Alchemist has the better beginning. Brotherhood has better animation, Fullmetal Alchemist a better score. Brotherhood’s Winry is given something to do and Fullmetal Alchemist’s Winry is a tertiary character at best. They balance each other out in an almost creepily perfect way. They can exist together; they’re not mutually exclusive. I think it’s detrimental to your enjoyment of the series as a whole if you opt for one over the other.

You are not better for liking one more than the other.

This petty competition amongst fandom in general has got to be one of the most aggravating things on the planet and really just needs to stop. Your experience with a show is your experience. No one can take that away from you, even if they spend 5,000 words on Tumblr ripping apart what you love. Having a preference for something—regardless of what it is or how many people agree with you—doesn’t make you superior to someone else who doesn’t share that same preference. By the same token, liking something that less people do doesn’t give you some kind of Super Cred, and claiming it does makes you look like a douchey hipster. Don't be a douchey hipster.

Don't be this guy.

It's okay to feel sad if someone doesn't care for something that you have a passion for. It's not okay to think that their opinion somehow wounds your pride and makes you less of a person. Own your preferences, but accept those that differ from you with grace. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which one is "better." They're both great shows that have struck a chord in thousands of people, plot holes and pacing problems and animation included. If one matters more to you than the other, then that's all that should matter. Stop trying to justify your preference and just put yourself at peace.

Now, everyone go buy Fullmetal Alchemist because it's coming out on Blu-Ray in September.

Blogging Toradora!: Episodes 1 & 2

Episode One: Tiger and Dragon

The dragon and tiger have a shocking encounter!

At the suggestion of a user on Tumblr, I decided to test out the Japanese version of the show in congruence with the English dub for the first episode and come to a decision on which one to watch based on that. The downside is Crunchyroll doesn’t have the subbed version available unless you’re a premium member (because of course they don’t), so I switched to Hulu to see if they had it. And what do you know, the only version they have is the subbed.

Watching anime has become like playing Frogger: I spend so much time jumping around from website to website* and avoiding obstacles that I don’t ever feel like I get anywhere.

Anyway, aside from a few awkward English-specific lines of dialogue tweaked from the Japanese, the dub itself isn’t bad. I happen to think it’s well-cast on all fronts. The leads are great and it sounds like they got an actual teenage girl to play Taiga. No one has an obnoxious or distracting voice, and most of the line deliveries sound natural. So I was happy.

The Japanese version is much the same way. I can’t claim that it’s well-acted because I don’t speak Japanese, but the voices match the characters and honestly aren’t a big change in terms of pitch or tone from the English counterparts. My only complaint is the internal monologues that the characters—in particular Ryuji—dispense tend to run over the dialogue in the actual show, and it’s harder to separate the internal from the external when it’s in a language I don’t speak. It ends up sounding like an awkward mish-mash of words and I wasn’t able to even read the subtitles fast enough to catch everything he said. It isn’t of dire importance that I do, but still.

Even so, I’ve decided to stick with the dub for one particular reason: The ads on Hulu are becoming unbearable. This episode alone—which runs a whopping twenty-five minutes—had FIVE breaks for commercials. Five. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the patience for that, especially when it comes to collecting screen caps for my images in these posts. There’s no reason for that kind of bombardment and they slow the whole show down. I’d love to watch this in its original language, and after I finish the series and don’t have to go back and re-watch or screen cap anything I probably will run through the Japanese version. Until then, the dub will have to suffice.

Now, onto the actual commentary!

This show has a much more traditional “anime” look to it than Brotherhood does, but I do overall like the character designs. Taiga in particular is quite cute and they do a great job of giving that ridiculous amount of hair life and movement while making sure it doesn’t overshadow her actual body. Ryuji’s design is pretty standard and unremarkable. Pleasant to look at and the joke about his face being mean is funny, but nothing strikes me as memorable. Aside from maybe his blue hair, I suppose, which is still a mystery.

I like the opening scene a lot—it does two things well, and those two things are of utmost importance: It sets up the tone and direction of the story and gives us a snapshot of who our main leads are as characters. On the first point, the opening scene maintains a sense of seriousness with the overlaying narration and relaxed, almost reserved background music while mixing in a bit of comedy with Ryuji’s hair and his freakout over the presence of mold in the bathroom. The viewer can assume that this will continue throughout the show, and as long as they balance it well, I’m okay with some goofy humor. The first episode in general does a good job of mixing comedy with some less manic moments. As far as characters go, it shocked me a little how attached I became to Ryuji in such a short amount of time. Within the first minute, the show establishes that this kid is a high school student struggling with his self-image and has a deep appreciate for clean, mold-free environments. Taiga is a little less clear, since she doesn’t get a chance to speak outside of the narration, but you can see the clothes scattered all over her room which implies she’s not quite as clean as Ryuji. Her bed is also big and obnoxious, with lots of pink and a freaking canopy. She’s girly, but messy. They also apply great transitions, as one image of Ryuji’s school uniform fades into one of Taiga’s and another shot of her head turning leads into the same with Ryuji. It all flows well.

As for the opening…I’m not so much a fan. There’s a chance it will grow on me, since I said the same thing about a couple of other openings and ended up liking them more than I thought I would, but I can’t stand that high-pitched singing that's used with a lot of these types of shows. It sounds like they stuck a singer’s voice through some kind of filter after they sucked in a bunch of helium and it’s terrible. The song itself isn’t that interesting, either musically or lyrically. The visuals are fine; I like some of the group shots and the way they present the title. It’s serviceable.

Other than that, this episode was a solid start. I like Ryuji and Taiga’s characters a lot. Taiga is insane, for sure, though you can tell there’s more beneath the iron-clad surface. I have to wonder how much affection she gets at home if her parents don’t appear to be around a lot in the apartment and she lets the place become a health hazard within a short amount of time. It’s hilarious that everyone is afraid of her and Ryuji but for different reasons. Taiga is actually violent and has no qualms about breaking and entering or punching people in the face when they bump in the hallway. Ryuji just happens to look mean and is a nice enough guy that he chose not to open the love letter he found in his backpack that was meant for his friend even though he could have. Not to mention he reorganized the desks in the classroom after Taiga ran her tornado through them. I don’t know if that’s weird or very considerate.

His mother, though. Oh my goodness. The first time I saw her, I thought she was supposed to be either Ryuji’s girlfriend or a hooker. The former doesn’t make much sense because that would make it difficult to start up what’s supposed to be a love story, and the latter doesn’t work with the brief amount of information we’re given about his character up until that point. Which, you know, again speaks to how well that opening scene establishes who this guy is. Even setting aside the way they introduce her, the design of her character is juvenile. She doesn’t look much older than Taiga or the other girls in this show, and she must be in order to have a teenage boy. In any case, I’m glad they established her as his mother within that scene, otherwise I would have been much more confused.

I do wonder about Ryuji’s relationship to his dad. He’s no longer in the picture, and Ryuji doesn’t appear to harbor any resentment towards him. The only issue is that he looks just like his dad, and as far as I can tell it’s strictly an aesthetic problem. He doesn’t like that his face is so mean because it scares others away. Whether or not there are any emotional wounds there as well is hard to tell since it’s the first episode. I want to know how Ryuji feels about his dad. I’m hoping as the show progresses it will reveal more.

His mom makes a comment about the new apartment building blocking the sunshine and Ryuji goes off on a mental tangent about how he hates it because it takes longer for the clothes to dry and therefore produces more mold (why they don’t just invest in a dryer is a mystery; maybe it’s too expensive?). Is this…potentially metaphorical? Is…is the show smart enough to do that? I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out.

I’m surprised that the infamous fight scene between Taiga and Ryuji was in the first episode. I expected it a little later. Taiga is quite emotionally closed-off if she resorts to breaking into a stranger’s house and attempting to give him amnesia by whacking him over the head with a stick in order to protect her “secret.” That’s dedication, even if it is, you know, illegal. And a bit extreme. I’m also impressed that she’s able to maneuver that weapon (is there a name for this weapon? I don’t know it) given its size in relation to her own body. I did find the fight direction here to be a little awkward and the animation tends to do some funky things, but it isn’t bad.

The proximity of Taiga’s apartment to Ryuji’s window is hysterical. One thing the actor in the English dub did great was the way he delivered the “Oh my god” line when he found out. I laughed pretty hard at that.

With the final few minutes of this episode, we have our setup: After Ryuji and Taiga find out about each other’s crushes, Ryuji agrees to become Taiga’s dog and help her win over his friend Yusaku so she’ll leave his house. Ryuji has to do whatever Taiga asks of him, presumably until she gets bored with the shtick and moves on or she gets Yusaku to like her back.

Episode Two: Taiga and Ryuji

What will Taiga and Ryuji decide?

Aaaaand this episode is exactly why I will never regret remaining single throughout high school. Kids will make big deals out of anything.

Side note: Why do the male uniforms at this school look like priest attire? The girls get red jackets and cute skirts and the boys are stuck with a black suit-ish thing?

I’m not too sure what kind of friend Minori is if she is so willing to spread rumors about Taiga. She apologized at the end, yeah, but after Taiga made sure she understood that there was nothing going on between her and Ryuji. And by the way she worded it, it sounds like Taiga almost did to her what she did to the desks in the classroom. What kind of relationship do these girls have? Minori comes across as a bit of an airhead, too, as I’m not sure what teenager wouldn’t know the latest “lingo” for two people that are dating.

All that aside, I do feel like the cathartic moment in this episode—where they’re kicking the light post and venting their frustrations—hit sooner than it should have. We haven’t had much time to build that up and from what I understood, the emotional baggage that each of them were carrying was supposed to play a large role in their development. One would assume, then, that they don’t burst that bubble in episode two. It’s not that they don’t have growth left, because they do, it’s just likely going to come from a different angle. In general I feel that this episode was a little rushed, as everything is kind of thrown at us and at one point Taiga flat-out tells the audience all of the clutzy things she’s done so far. I wasn’t getting the impression Taiga was clumsy so much as she was aggressive in the way she moves, talks, and interacts with people—and being that way can make you do stupid things. Like trip on a staircase. Or toss a bunch of desks around a classroom. Either it all moved too fast or they didn’t do a good job portraying her actions as “clutzy.”She was able to fight with a weapon that’s taller than she is, and falling over in the middle of it because of hunger isn’t clumsy. It’s…kind of normal.

You can tell that Taiga’s forceful behavior around Ryuji is her own awkward way of showing affection, though, as he’s the only one so far that she has deliberately struck and talks to as if he is an actual dog. I think Ryuji, on some level, can see that, even if he isn’t aware of it. Ryuji’s character in general is one of the strongest elements of this show. He feels like an actual teenager, with insecurities and fears and…a slightly unhealthy obsession with being clean. But he also possesses a level of maturity. I’m guessing having a mother who spends a lot of time at bars and doesn’t appear capable of taking care of herself requires a kid to grow up pretty fast. He’s got a lot of patience to put up with being assaulted by Taiga every other minute, that’s for sure.

His friend on the other hand, Yusaku…I’m not understanding what it is that Taiga sees in him. He isn’t all that bright, if their conversation towards the end of the episode and Taiga’s confession of her feelings is any indication of his awareness of other people, and his design has him looking a little bit…dweeby:

The kid has big eyes, glasses, and some nerdy hairstyle that has everything come down flat over his face. I mean, I wouldn’t call Ryuji a stud or anything, but at least he looks like he’s in high school. This kid doesn’t come across as older than twelve. I’m hoping they give him some more development and maybe a personality as the show progresses.

This is the first time in a while that I've seen a female character get friend-zoned, too. And to her credit, she doesn't sit back and give up on it right there. She still has the courage and tenacity to try again, which I think is appropriate in this situation given that Yusaku is a moron and had no idea what she was trying to tell him. And he did compliment her with the "you look more interesting" line, even if that is the dumbest way to describe a girl he thinks is pretty. 

For all of my complaining, though, this show is definitely fun—there’s a lot of great humor here, and a good bit of it has to do with the deliveries of some of the lines by the voice actors. Both Taiga and Ryuji’s actors are strong and pull of the dialogue of awkward, emotionally unstable teenagers well.

The one exception is that bird. I have no idea what role that thing is supposed to play in the story, but I’m with Taiga on this—that bird is U.G.L.Y. It also looks like it’s perpetually choking on its tongue, in which case I think Ryuji needs to take it to a vet. That can’t be healthy.

General Thoughts

Two episodes down and Toradora! has managed to hook me with its humor and the two leads. I’m expecting the side characters to grow a bit more and develop interesting personalities as well as their own arcs. It’s only the beginning. There’s some time left for that.

I think I’ve also got to keep in mind that this isn’t FMAB and the hardcore analysis and critique may need to be set aside for the sake of my own sanity. These types of shows—regardless of medium—don’t often lend themselves to complex, multi-layered plots and themes. Which there’s nothing wrong with; sometimes it’s nice to sit down and watch something emotionally satisfying and simple. Not that my brain won’t still try to dig deeper meaning out of everything, but hey. I guess that’s part of the fun, no?

***

*I currently have four (legal) means of watching anime, and not a single one of them consistently has the shows I’m looking for in the language I want without having to pay for it: Netflix, Hulu, Funimation, and Crunchyroll. Obviously, since Toradora! isn’t licensed by Funimation, it wouldn’t be available on their website. I’m not saying it’s wrong for these websites to charge you money for more access; it’s just that they advertise that “YOU CAN WATCH ALL THIS ANIME FOR FREE” and it might as well come with an asterisk that says: “…except if it has any level of popularity. And we’re going to charge you to watch the language everyone prefers it in.” They’re not out-right lying to you, they’re just being deceptive. Advertising at its finest, I suppose.

Blogging Toradora!: The Intro

For those of you who have dug around my blog here (or have even paid a visit or two), you’ll know that I spent the better part of two months blogging every episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I had intended for that particular feature to be a one-off occurrence, making a big deal about a show that has more or less become a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in anime or animation in general. It was long, it was grueling, it was exhausting, and at times I wanted to quit and walk away because the urge to binge-watch the rest of the show was intense. Also, it would have been nice to scroll through an FMA tag on Tumblr without risking spoilers.

And now I’m going to do it again.

To be fair, the experience of blogging every episode of a show—especially one that I have next to no real idea about in terms of plot—was a lot of fun. Yeah, there were days where I wanted to punch a kitten in the face (Blogger has some horrible problems with its formatting and there are days where words are just hard), but for the most part I enjoyed writing out my thoughts and taking the time to process the episodes as I went. It kept me flexing my writing muscles, too, which is always a good thing.

But keeping in mind that I took two whole months to finish that series and that I am in a rather demanding grad school program, I figured this go-around I’d pick something that wasn’t going to take me an entire summer to complete or stretch my brain to the limits of its ability to analyze. So I dug around various streaming sites trying to recall some titles that I knew were under thirty episodes. I’ve already seen Baccano and Anohana, two shows that are under fifteen episodes, so those were out. Toradora popped up and I remembered hearing good things about it through a couple of different sources. Since my previous show was a shonen/action-adventure story, I figured I could slow things down with a romance.

My knowledge of Toradora is limited. I know that the lead female is kind of insane and her name sounds like “Tiger” (fitting, I suppose) while her love interest's name has something to do with dragons and he has blue hair. My watching will be free from any bias or previous experience aside from a clip of her attacking said male love interest inside his house. The only other anime romance I’ve watched is Your Lie in April, which made me cry like a baby, and I’m hoping that this show doesn’t try and pull another one of those on me. I cry enough as it is with my grad school work. The general premise sounds kind of generic, so I’m relying on the good reviews and word of mouth that this won’t put me to sleep or make me groan with its immaturity.

So, without further ado, here are some points before diving in:

• Again, I’m keeping with the “no more than three episodes in a post” rule. Nine times out of ten it will be two episodes to a post, with the exception here and there. At this point it’s probably safe to assume that I will never have the time or the patience to comment on four episodes at once, but hey. Gotta reign in the potential insanity somehow.
• The streaming site I’ll be using is Cruchyroll.com. Why they have this show and not FMAB, I have no idea.
• I am choosing to watch this dubbed. The show was licensed by NIS America, a company I’ve never heard of, and stars a cast with not a single name I recognize. NIS America is still around, since they re-released the show on Blu-Ray in 2014, so that’s encouraging I suppose. I don’t know if the dub is good or not because I didn’t want to read too much information should I accidentally run into a spoiler. If it sucks, I’ll switch to Japanese.
• If, for some reason, you see something in these blog entries that you’d like to reply to or comment on and don’t want to leave a comment at the bottom of the entry, you can send me an Ask on my Tumblr (if you have one as well). I’ll lose my mind. Seriously. I love it.

And that’s it! We’ll see how this goes!

Entries in This Series Include: 

(Hover over the text for links to each entry)

Episodes 1 & 2
Episodes 3 & 4