Minnie: It’s perfectly fine that I didn’t jerk a single tear for this but I still find the episode as a whole very powerful. I love Toradora for this. It’s not some silly stereotypical anime. It starts off with such but grows so much more from there.
the monster: Maybe I’m just naive, but I sided with Ryuuji when he convinced Taiga to (re-)build her relationship with her father. …Then in the [13th?] episode, when Ryuuji tries to make up for his mistakes, is when I almost cried a little.
Cawalain: Overly dramatic music, an extremely cheesy plot, and overflowing emoness…this was somewhat painful to watch at times. I’ve seen worse though, at least I actually watched the whole sequence this time. One hopes they get back to the funny next episode because I could do without this.
Shawn: Well I didn’t think that this was a fantastic episode, it was simply moderately good. …Unfortunately things became awkward closing to the end of the race where Minori attacks several race participants. …Nevertheless, the conclusion was sound, the music was great, Minori and Ryuuji are on good terms again and all is right.
OGT: If there is a man, woman, or androgynous non-gendered person amongst you who was not moved in the slightest by [ep. 13] , let ye be cast out of Canann and turned into a pillar of salt and plagued by frogs and all that other Biblical stuff.
A Day Without Me: Halfway through, I love this thing – I haven’t enjoyed a romcom this much since Lovely Complex. …Toradora! thus far wins on its ability to actually hold up both genres it aspires to, bringing the humor to keep the comedy going full-speed, and the heart to maintain a romance storyline.
Kurogane: Mostly a Ryuuji-centered episode actually. God he was really manly during the race, winning it for the sake of Taiga. The last spurt with Minorin joining in for the race was really pretty epic. …Toradora is getting more and more like Honey and Clover each episode. It’s just so hard to talk about the feelings it evokes in me.
Aroduc: [A]bsolutely sublime episode, helped mostly there by outstanding use of music. I take issue with some of the writing being a bit clunky and overdramatic at points. …[Despite CHEESE, it] just goes to show that with proper direction, scoring, and strong characters, the overall writing becomes sort of meaningless compared to the moment.
totali: Holy crap, I’m crying. No, I really have tears in my eyes. Am I really allowed to believe that a lovcom can have such spectacular storytelling? Direction-wise, I can only recall that JCStaff is the studio that handled Honey and Clover, which was, and still is, the most influential anime I have ever watched.
Pfft the music (14:00) wasn’t “overly dramatic” in the slightest, not like Tanaka Kouhei’s epic pieces. The insert piece in 13 was pretty simplistic. If it wasn’t a IV-VI-V-I (or combination thereof), then I heard a I-IV vamp, and we all know what those sound like. IMO the music itself wasn’t spectacular but its utilization was fantastic; it’s hard to separate the scene and the sound. Many moons ago, someone spoke up – “plot originality is overrated” – and I think this applies here as well as other cases this season. Elsewhere people have disfunctional families and fathers and while the setting is cliche it’s all about the characters – above people can attest. Also, setting up Ryuuji’s self-correction is probably about the viewer as well, it clearly establishes development, self-reflection (when we side with Ryuuji and wince when we see he’s ‘”wrong”), it’s basically a roadmap. Reminds me of H&C…
Edit: I don’t like how the representation “lovecom” seems to burden anime. It’s as if all things that constitute the genre are intrinsically bad and that a few anime are surprisingly an exception; then, in our mindset, “genre-fied” anime are inherently trying to prove us wrong, instead of just trying to be? Not really into that…