Toradora! Ep. 16 - 19

[SimsHsia]

Episode 17: Mercury Retrogrades at Christmas

The above pretty much shows how silly most of the episode is.

Yes, Virginia, the new OP/ED is here! OP: Silky Heart by Horie Yui and ED: Orange by the trio of female seiyuus (Kugimiya Rie, Horie Yui, Kitamura Eri).
By the way, on the very day ep. 17 originally aired (Feb. 5th) it was announced that the light novel series will end in March with the 10th volume. As a result, the production team of the anime and author of the light novels are both collaborating together for both works to have the same canon ending.

Key plot points:

• At a softball game, Minorin spaces out but quickly snaps out of it. She pitches the ball and the batter fumbles it and rolls the ball toward her. As she begins to throw it toward first base, Minorin looses her grip on the ball which ultimately causes her team to lose the game.
  
• Christmas is in the air, and Taiga loves it (she even believes in Santa Claus). Taiga asks Ryuuji if he has made any progress with Minorin and, when seeing his reaction, is disappointed in him since her suspension gave him a very good chance.
  
• The next day, Taiga returns to school from her suspension but is blocked by a large group of guys. They are fans of Taiga who heard about the fight between the "boss" (Sumire) and the Palmtop Tiger (Taiga). Both Ryuuji and Taiga walk in on a calamity: Minorin is wearing a bald wig and singing about her thighs and Yuusaku comes in lying face down greeting both of them. When asked why he's lying face down on the floor, Yuusaku responds that he is full of admiration for Taiga and kneeling just won't do.
  
• During lunch, there is a PA broadcast program with an unidentified woman and Yuusaku (as host) in the school's broadcast room. In the end, it turns out that Yuri-sensei, the previously unidentified woman with the pseudo-name of "Y-chan", was recalling a failed date with an assistant professor teacher and transitions from laughing cheerfully to bawling. Yuusaku has become a respected figure for any relationship troubles after his public confession to Sumire.
  
• With a crying Yuri-sensei in the background, Yuusaku announces a Christmas party will be held. It is encouraged to go to the party with a partner.
  
• At Ryuuji's home, both Ryuuji and his mom are in crouching positions in front of Inko-chan (you know, their parrot?) to respectfully apologize to their bird and promises never to cook him. This was a result of Inko-chan eyeing a book Ryuuji borrowed about cooking poultry for a Christmas meal.
  
• Taiga invites everyone to Minorin's place of work: the family restaurant to read up on the boss' (Sumire) notes before final exams begin. It turns out that Minorin took the day off, so she couldn't join Ryuuji, Taiga, Yuusaku, Kouji Haruta, Noto Hisamitsu, and Kihara Maya. It turns out that Haruta and Hisamitsu are trying to pair Taiga and Yuusaku together for the Christmas party, but there's a bit of a problem. Maya appears to have feelings for Yuusaku and ends up supporting Ryuuji to be a couple with Taiga.
  

Episode thoughts:
This episode was chock full of laughs and amusing moments. It looks like the next few episodes will be all about Minorin (as expected) and the reason about why she's all down. About the light novel series and this anime series coming to a conclusion in March, I find that this is favorable as this will not cause the series to drag on for several series (Zero no Tsukaima, for instance). As a result, for you light novel folks, this episode brings us to the 7th volume. By the way, I was laughing with tears in my eyes when Minorin was singing her song, I never knew Horie Yui (voice actor of Minorin) could sing so high! By the way, gotta love the Guns 'n Roses reference Ryuuji makes.

About the OP and ED, I'm going to need to listen to the OP (Silky Heart) a couple of times in order for it to grow on me, but the ED (Orange) has a positive impact from me. Regardless, both songs are fitting for the second half (well, we're 4 episodes over) of the series. At least neither song isn't as quick paced as Pre-Parade (imagine trying to sing that song at a karaoke bar)! What's interesting about the ED sequence is that Ryuuji's "baking" the orange fruit cake in a microwave, hunh.