Toradora! Ep. 20 - Hands, hands, hands - Printable Version +- Element Zero Studio Forums (https://www.elementzerostudio.com/discuss) +-- Forum: Community (https://www.elementzerostudio.com/discuss/forum-5.html) +--- Forum: Anime and Manga (https://www.elementzerostudio.com/discuss/forum-8.html) +--- Thread: Toradora! Ep. 20 - Hands, hands, hands (/thread-124.html) |
Toradora! Ep. 20 - Hands, hands, hands - SimsHsia - Fri Feb 20 2009 Episode 20: Always, like this Ah, we're only five episodes away from the final conclusion of Toradora! It's certainly been a fun watch so far. Hey, I'm actually updating the day the episode aired ― alright, more like 15 hours after it originally aired over in Japan. Please don't mind the horrible photomontage above that took me forever to finish. (Couldn't decide on a right placement of each photo!)
Recap from last time(s): Lots of stuff happened from last time, but if you're talking about a recap from episode 19, well look no further... The Christmas party occurred and Taiga gives it her all to give a good chance to Ryuuji to finally get together with Minorin. However, when Taiga leaves after singing a duet Christmas song at the party to urge Minorin to go, and is later alone in her apartment to celebrate Christmas alone. Ryuuji, dressed in a bear Santa Claus suit, cheers Taiga up and is soon ushered off to the party and get together with Minorin only to find out that she doesn't want this. In the end, when Minorin eventually meets up with Ryuuji, she essentially rejects him and quickly runs off before a response could be made. To sum it up, everyone's Christmas turns out to be a lonely one. Key plot points:
Episode thoughts: You might have noticed that this thread topic of "Hands, hands, hands" and the summary image are related ― save for that random Ryuuji and Taiga meeting scene I randomly included at the upper right of the image. Coming from the last four post extravaganza where I found photos that sum up the episode as a whole, I thought that since there were a lot of hands seen in this episode, specifically between Ryuuji and Minorin, it's quite fitting. Haruta's antics against Taiga actually went quite well. The word on the pamphlet was chinsuko, a type of Japanese sweet biscuit native to Okinawa, but Taiga pronounced it as chinko or the Japanese word for "penis". Yes, Haruta, you're great comic relief. If you haven't noticed, this is the first time I've mentioned "Sudohbucks Coffee" ― obviously a word play/parody of Starbucks Coffee (thank you, Capt. Obvious!) ― ever in a Toradora! summary. "Sudohbucks" has been seen a couple of times before since the beginning of the series (in fact the first sighting of it was in the first opening sequence), so it's nothing new, I just didn't bother to include it in the summary until now. It's interesting to note how the title of this episode, Always like this (zutto, kono mama), correlates to exactly the same line Ryuuji says, rather thinks, if things could always remain the same and never change. It's as just as Minorin and Taiga says, their time together is limited because this is their last semester before they become seniors in high school, from then on it's exams upon exams, applying to colleges/universities or planning your future, and then, ultimately, graduation. I couldn't agree more with Ryuuji, sometimes you wish that the experiences you remember would never go away and the people you know will never have to go their separate ways in the journey we call life. Alright, I'll get off the soap box now. Well, this is a good start for some great potential character development between Ryuuji and Minorin and/or Taiga and Yuusaku. A first example would be when Minorin tried to grab Ryuuji's hand then quickly let go but regained her confidence and (not to have Ryuuji underestimate her) grabs Ryuuji's sleeve instead. Second example, after Taiga threw her bag at Ryuuji's face, we see Minorin cursing Taiga under her breath but then quickly changes back to her usual self when Ryuuji notices. This pretty much confirms, to us the viewer at least, that Minorin does have feelings for Ryuuji ― how strong these feelings are we're not entirely sure of just yet. A third, yet separate example, is noted above about Taiga and Yuusaku. Taiga, unlike her usual self in the last 19 episodes, has somehow gained a boatload of confidence and she is able to more readily and easily communicate with Yuusaku. Hopefully there will be more character development as well as relationship development/advancement in the next episode. Either that or it'll be another flop, and I just looked at the episode preview, looks like things don't go quite well as planned ... we'll see. Ah, speaking of which: Episode 21, doushitatte or No Matter What. The group's skiing, Haruta seems happy to be skiing (he sure can become satisfied with no effort, huh?), Ami gets a bit mad (perhaps from falling?), and Ryuuji looks like he's dejected. Looks, and sounds, like things don't go so well for either Taiga and Ryuuji ... the reason for this, just wait until next time! |