Reviews

Feb 28, 2012
I had just finished Toradora! When I did some research and learned that special had just come out only two months prior. Excited, and since the original anime was so darn good, I quickly watched it, thinking it was going to be, at the very least, AWESOME. However, it turned out to be much more disappointing than I originally had anticipated. In fact, it made me almost cry - not with tears of sympathy or sadness or humor, but just plain BORING.

Story: 7/10

Presumedly taking place a couple weeks after Toradora! ended, it started off logically but fell flat on its face in the first 5 minutes. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but the fact that I knew this was going to be "one of those specials." Moe-blob, circular plot sort of thing, where the storyline isn't advanced and everyone remains static. Poo. I was really expecting some sort of plot twist or SOMETHING to keep me glued to the screen, but it just wasn't good storytelling. I think they went sort of over the top with comedy as well; the producers seemed to focus mainly on the natural humor and personalities of the characters to create simply a side episode. This was accomplished - halfway. I laughed, oh yes I laughed, but the slap-stick humor really confused me: was this the Toradora! that I had loved only one episode ago?

The background is simple: a couple days (maybe a couple weeks) after Toradora! ended, Ryujji Takasu and Tenori Taiga are back again with Kitamaru, Ami, Minorin, and the rest of class 2-C. The whole episode focuses on one thing (the title of the episode): lunch. Bento boxes, to be precise. The lesson at the end made sense, but this was pretty much lame. Compared to the rugged sort of interactions the characters had in the original anime, this specials really let me down in terms of things like a deeper meaning, or worse: no storyline.

Art: 9/10

I'll stand my ground on the art; like I said with the original Toradora!, the wonderful facial expressions are back! I love their realistic portrayal of anger or sorrow and especially embarrassment. The art was what made this so good in the first place: Takasu's scary face along with Taiga's small stature really made such a great juxtaposition, and continued while viewing this episode. The environment was crisp and clean, the colors bright and cheerful, never skipping a beat on the animation. So yes, the art deserved this great score.

Sound: 8/10

I rated the sound decently high because I always loved the OP and ED; both are on my Ipod and have at least 10 plays already. Great songs; but, again, what irked me a little was the fact that there was almost no background music. I love, even a little, background sound to let the story flow better and to sort of pave the way for the next scene. Again, like the anime, it lacked background sound; but no matter, because what made up for it was, again, the voice acting. I love me some good actors; especially when they make the characters sound so real. You could tell their feelings just by listening to the tone of the voice; no small feat. If you don't believe me, try saying something happy followed by something depressingly sad; can't do it with emotion, can you? Exactly.

Character: 7/10

Why so low of a character score? BECAUSE THERE WAS NO DEVELOPMENT. Static characters always incite my deepest anger; what makes a story good are the CHARACTERS. You can have the CRAPPIEST animation ever with the worse music in the history of nails-on-chalkboard, but if the characters are half-decent, so is the overall show! The only reason we know the characters is from the original anime; if this was a whole OVA or something on its own, I'd give it a 4. There's no development, no internal conflict, just silly moe-blob the entire time. Takasu stays almost exactly the same (though they do show a personality quirk of his the entire time). Taiga acts a little less tsundere, though not by much. Ami hardly appears, Minorin is there for very little time, and Kitamaru says barely anything. Then again, this is simply a "special" and I shouldn't berate it so hard, especially since this isn't part of the main series; however, I was more than disappointed with the work they put into this...

Overall, I WAS entertained; though I may have said some harsh insults, overall it wasn't that bad. It just needs some polish (and a whole plot-rewrite) to be better. The only reason I didn't give this below a 6 was because I knew the background from the original series; if it wasn't for that, like I said, I wouldn't even be writing this review. I loved the comedy; the producers worked so hard on it, I thought I would at least acknowledge it. Wonderful laughs all around. However, I was also disappointed, so don't expect too much. Whatever; a good bento is a good bento.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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