Toradora! - Episode 15

Last time around we got to see Kitamura in a bit of a funk for reasons unknown, but in episode fifteen of Toradora! it soon becomes clear just how serious his depression is. After some rather confused ramblings, his next outburst is to confirm that he's left the student council and is refusing to run for student council president in the forthcoming election, and by the next day he's turned up at school with his hair dyed blonde and playing the typical deliquent role.

So, what exactly is going on? Even by the end of this episode we still have no clear idea, although the current student council president Sumire seems to know more than she's letting on, and we already know how Kitamura feels about her... So, despite the best efforts of Taiga, Minori and Ryuuji, what ailes Kitamura remains a mystery, and the only thing that really seems to cheer him up is Taiga showing a hitherto unknown talen for baseball. Besides all that, who is going to run for student council president with Kitamura out of the running? Actually, it's probably best not to ask...


Although there's arguably little plot progression this episode aside from Kitamura's depression and Taiga's decision which sandwich this instalment, Toradora! as per usual still has plenty of little pointers to drop when it comes to character development. Both Minori and Ami drop their guard for long enough to let their vulnerabilities show to Ryuuji briefly, although on both occasions they're sufficiently cryptic to be little more than tantalising knowledge for future episodes, while Taiga's complete inability to act normally around Kitamura is as cute as ever and her tears almost got me going. It's this love for all of the major characters and their varying foibles which really keeps this show going, and as per usual I can only salute and enjoy it while impatiently waiting for more of the same.