Super Official Anime Discussion Thread

[Super_Boom]

pokoko said:

Toradora is an anime a lot of people seem to like but, personally, I didn't care for it very much, mostly because of the female lead.  She was abusive and selfish and awful as a person.  I much prefered the other girls.  Almost as importantly, I did not have much respect for the male lead for being a total sponge.  It just didn't make much sense to me.  I mean, I can understand that he has his own mental issues that draws him to someone needy, but that seems an awfully shallow reason.

Just something I think of whenever I see people talk about Toradora.

Taiga is most definitely an imperfect character, and has a lot of selfish moments, but at the same time, I found she grew much more likable for me as the story went on. She was definitely harsh at the beginning, but looking at her during the Christmas arc...or after the ski accident, it's really hard for me to treat her as a wholy selfish person. She was so desperate to keep Ryuji from learning about her feelings because of the promise they made, the last few episodes killed me. x.x

I suppose you could argue the initial impression was bad enough that she was beyond saving, or the subsequent plot wasn't able to overcome. Definitely not a viewpoint I share, especially in this case, but I've seen it enough that I usually resign myself to it. I have a habit of rooting for imperfect characters that grow with the story, and I usually feel like the minority in a lot of my fandoms. 

Can't really defend the abuse part...as some people don't mind it and some people do. I usually laugh at the abuse trope when it's done in a comedic context, since I find it easier to switch lenses when I watch shows like this. I just generally enjoy couples that employ the 'fighting like an old married couple' adage, so I often find the trope works with shows that I enjoy. Again though...mostly a preference thing that I won't try to defend.