Toradora! - Episode 9

With the result of the swimming contest last episode a tie, the chance to spend part of the Summer holiday at Ami's villa ended up being opened up to all and sundry, meaning that the whole gaggle of main characters get to spend some quality time together.

Before that though, both Taiga and Ryuuji have a rather odd dream to get out of their system (that's what comes of watching too many horror DVDs), which leaves Taiga deciding that she needs to move things apace with either her or Ryuuji's unrequited love problem to prevent said dream from becoming some kind of prophecy. Unfortunately for Taiga she loses the game which decides who is going to be the "support" for the other's love interest, leaving her in charge of the plan for getting Ryuuji and Minori together - A plan which involves ghosts in an attempt to capitalise on Minori's terror at the supernatural.


So, the group arrive at Ami's villa (via some hilarious shenanigans at the airport which cracked me up absolutely), and aside from the odd hiccup things seem to be going pretty well for both Taiga and Ryuuji in terms of getting closer to their respective love interests, although it appears that Aisaka's supernatural plan might just be about to get its own back on her...

You're probably all fed up of hearing me gush over Toradora! by now, but tough, because I'm going to do it some more. As with most episodes of this series so far, the eighth instalment of the show doesn't aim to be laugh out loud funny every single minute, yet it does manage to keep up a consistent pace of light-hearted banter, goings-on and amusement while throwing in some hilarious scenarios every now and again. Even more skilful is the way all of the major characters are handled, with each of them having obvious (or occasionally not so obvious) depths beyond their outwards appearances and actions, and all having foibles that somehow make them even more likeable in the long-term... Yes, even in Ami's case, as I found myself starting to almost feel a little sympathy towards her this episode. In short, this was another neat little slice of Toradora! genius, and to be honest I can't even decide which (if any) romantic match-ups I want to see in this series, which probably only helps to make it all the more enjoyable for me.