Toradora!: Bentou no Gokui

I enjoyed Bento Battle.

It was a good insight and made me happy. Minori is always a delight to have as always.

The Story: The episode begins with Ryuuji and Taiga preparing their bentos with the help of their friends. As they gather ingredients and put their culinary skills to the test, the friendly rivalry between them intensifies. The atmosphere is filled with excitement and anticipation as everyone works diligently to create mouthwatering bentos.

As the competition commences, Ryuuji and Taiga present their creations to a panel of judges. Each bento reflects the unique personalities of its creator, showcasing their dedication and creativity. The intense battle results in ... a surprising turn of events, challenging the characters' bonds and bringing unexpected revelations.

The music: Op1 is the best OP for toradora and I enjoyed that as well

The Animation: Same as the rest of the show.

This ones a no brainer. Watch it cuz it is fun and light hearted.

Final Score: 7/10

Thanks!
-CyanCheetah

So I'm gonna keep it a stack for y'all,
I needed something to cope up. I finished the show yesterday and my mind is stuck on this show... I miss the characters and couldn't accept it was over.
Somehow I found this special episode.
I was hoping for a bit more Ryuuji and Taiga action, but it was more just food food food... Its alright though. The episode doesn't bore you and I mean, we all want more Toradora so this couldn't hurt. 7/10 from me.
Probably gonna rewatch the show soon though, I feel kind of empty inside...

The reason the episode doesn't bore you is probably because we ... all love the characters in Toradora, I mean... we hated Ami-chan and now we like her kind of for some reason... And they always, in every episode are a good addition!
SO ye 26 minutes of straight up Ryuuji making bentos sounds boring...
But it was really enjoyable with the other characters!

(The ending was wholesome and made me crave for more Toradora even though there is no more, so that's good and sad for me.)

Review in brief: While this special does have something to offer to fans of the series it also partially disregards what made the main show so enjoyable in the first place. If you weren't a fan of Toradora! to begin with this probably isn't worth watching.

Review in full: Toradora!: Bentou no Gokui is a zany one-off episode that focuses on Ryuuji early in the series. It shows a deterministic side of him that doesn't come up too often in the main series and gives the viewer a better idea of who he is and what drives him. However the plot feels a tad forced in ... that Ryuuji would have to be triggered pretty hard to push the episode's main dilemma like he does if we're going by what the main show told us. Within the main show he typically doesn't become competitive for its own sake, but here that's about all that can be drawn from the situation.

The way the main joke repeats itself doesn't make it as funny as the comedy in the main show either. In fact I can't recall any episode in the main show that recycled a joke as its main premise throughout its duration. It also doesn't help that most of Toradora! relied on and was seemingly built for story arcs that lasted 2-3 episodes. Perhaps this story could have been better if it had more room to develop. While the many characters present are generally themselves and the conclusion to the episode is nice, the episode as a whole just feels off-kilter.

Lastly, Bentou no Gokui's general production quality is simply good enough for what it sets out to do. The visual style is no different than Toradora! ever was, but there aren't any moments where particularly interesting camera angles or special animation changes are used like they were in the main show. At least the sakura scene was nice. Meanwhile the voice acting is just as lively & expressive as ever, but the episode sounds somewhat empty as far as music & SFX are concerned. Of course both are entirely reused from the main show, it's just applied more sparsely than before, which is not to Bentou no Gokui's benefit.

Verdict: It's a good thing they decided to skip out on this story in the main series as doesn't fit very well with the rest of it and would have thrown off the show