Episode One: Tiger and Dragon
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:
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?
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