ToraDora! #15 — Watching You Sleep

January 14th, 2009

 

Get out of my face, you crazy punks.

Impressions:

Ah yes, I’ve always said how much I like Kitamura and how it’s a damn shame that they don’t spend more time on him, so an entire arc dedicated to him angsting out is exactly what I wanted. Oh wait, no. That’s the exact opposite of what I wanted. Most of the episode was one great big ball of angst in various ways. Kitamura flipping out for some as of yet unknown reason relating to Sumire [spoiler]She’s going to America which means that he won’t be able to confeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessss, waaaaaaaah[/spoiler]. Minori feeling immature next to Ami, Taiga feeling inadaquate in general, and Yasuko losing her beauty sleep. Alright, so I have no problems whatsoever with that last one. Taiga’s really the only one whose angst is semi-resolved thanks to Ryuuji’s magical therapy. Thanks for the astronomy lesson, Mufasa.

At least the piano themes throughout the episode were rather soothing. Ami and Taiga both punched Kitamura in the face too, which was cathartic for multiple reasons. Maybe the next one will drive a shard of his glasses into his brain so he can leave the show a vegetable. I’ll consider that a happy ending. Acidic vitriol aside though, not a particularly interesting episode, and I’m rather put off by how bullheaded the entire cast is being about Kitamura and Sumire. They know it has something to do with her, but not once do they even consider that it could be a relationship thing. It’s painful to watch it just get strung along for what’ll be three full weeks now like it’s some kind of mystery.

Ugh. At least there’s Yasuko. There’s always Yasuko.

 

Preview:

 

What kind of student council president wears a cape?

Posted in ToraDora | 16 Comments »

16 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • nobaka says:
    January 14, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    What kind of student council president wears a cape?

    The best kind.

    I’ve always found Kitamura to be rather uninteresting. He’s more of a plot device than a character.

  • Chen says:
    January 14, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    Haha, Yasuko is all like “Here’s some money. Now GTFO.”

  • kadian1364 says:
    January 14, 2009 at 10:52 pm

    I’m so torn on this series. Toradora has shown some very nice, heartfelt moments throughout its run, unexpected and moving. But other times it just clunks along, like this episode. Everyone’s dumb and predictable, and the comedy has never been good enough to pull it completely out of the mud.

    I want so much to like Toradora, but 15 episodes in, I just can’t fully buy into it.

  • Kaisos says:
    January 15, 2009 at 3:23 am

    The exact same could be said for a lot of other series. Nothing is perfect.

    I’m getting rather sick with how everyone has to criticize EVERYTHING like some sort of literary professor.

    Is this new or am I just noticing negativity more?

  • FF says:
    January 15, 2009 at 3:43 am

    I have the pleasure of telling you you’ve read it wrong, AGAIN. I must say, with regard to this particular series you’ve been hopeless in reading the subtleties displayed by the characters.

  • Aroduc says:
    January 15, 2009 at 5:56 am

    I think if you’re finding subtle things in this particular presentation, then you’re imprinting expectations from outside sources onto it.

    Besides which, things are called subtleties because they’re subtle. If they were meant to be obvious and important, they’d be called importantees, which I believe is a brand of t-shirt.

  • Yue says:
    January 15, 2009 at 7:14 am

    Yay, Kitamura episode… oh the sarcasm! ^o^

  • FF says:
    January 15, 2009 at 7:33 am

    Meh, outside sources don’t imprint expectations, merely teach you what to look for. It means I don’t have to be particularly clever to spot stuff, but I occasionally read unspoiled bloggers who are able to see the same so it’s not impossible for first-timers to read.

    Oh, and there’s a HUGE fallacy in your argument there. Subtle and important are not exclusive at all. You just have to cook it in the right way. Like putting apples in a curry to make it twice as delicious.

  • name says:
    January 15, 2009 at 8:21 am

    Wasn’t too put off by the angst myself. I’ve generally found the series to be a disappointing culmination of tropes, stereotypes, and cliches, so I welcomed that there was any sort of change.

    So pretty much I was thinking two things throughout the episode: either the reason for the moping was justifiable (I honestly thought it could have been possible that (spoiler tag used for the reason that it “reveals” the reason to the extent of showing what it ISN’T)[spoiler] he might’ve had a kid with her. Now THAT would’ve been weighty indeed.[/spoiler], or that it would be overblown in typical ToraDora fashion (a la the whole dealie with Taiga’s pappy).

  • sage says:
    January 15, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    I’d still hit it, until my pOnOs breaks, and even then I’d keep on hitting it until it becomes dust.

  • Aroduc says:
    January 15, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    Just saying, this series has all the light touch of a bulldozer. I’m not even certain what particular thing you’re arguing about anyway.

  • Gummi says:
    January 15, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Why is it in this episode, it shows how much of a wimp and coward Kitamura is?

  • Hibiki says:
    January 15, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    Jet black? I thought Kitamura’s hair is dark green.

  • Kaisos says:
    January 15, 2009 at 8:59 pm

    This is one of those anime where the hair colors aren’t actually real.

    So everyone’s hair is actually jet black. Just not visually.

    Odd yes, I know.

  • Kevin says:
    January 16, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    NOOO. I CLICKED THE SPOILER BY ACCIDENT!

  • TJ says:
    January 16, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    Taiga as president and Ryuji as her campaign manager… what an intimidating combination. If Taiga wins then the school will never be the same *shudders at the thought*

    Ami is right about Yusaku: he is a wimp who is acting rebellious so somebody will come along and help him. Unfortunately the way he is acting makes it hard for his friends to actually find out what’s going on (except for Ami who is amazingly perceptive).