Toradora!

Name: Toradora!
Type: Television Show
Episodes: 25, 1 Short
Rating: TV-14
Runtime Per Episode: 24 min
Director: Nagai Tatsuyuki
Produced By GENCO and J.C. Staff
Year Produced: 2008

In modern-day Japan, there is a young man attending high school.  His name is Ryuuji, and he's got more than his fare share of problems.

The first is that his father was a gangster... or Yakuza, if there's a difference.  I kind of get the idea that Yakuza is an organization like the Mafia rather than a group of unorganized thugs... but I can't really say.

Thanks to his fathers... "profession", Ryuuji has been cursed with an unshakable genetic inheritance!

His eyes, man.

This kind of eye is a common delinquent trait... that and the coat over the shoulders, the scars, the cigarette, and the bokken.  And the hairdoo is usually key.

Because of this unfortunate trait, Ryuuji is doomed to spend the rest of his school life being viewed as a delinquent, even though he is actually a calm, nice man... who can cook!  That's like... 3 out of 4 (or whatever).

God dang it.

Living in a small(ish) house in the shadow of a huge, mysterious apartment complex, Ryuuji's clean-freak tendencies shine at home, but when he gets to school, he never really has the opportunity to prove that he's actually a decent person.  All that happens is he says something and...

Doesn't sound too bad, yeah?  Well it does to him, and I suppose if your moral character were being questioned to the point where everybody thought you were a total thug, then you'd lose patience too.

... But the way I see it, if they're not going to listen to you, keep the wallet!

Living with his working mother...

Absolutely!

... and an awesome one at that... not exactly text-book mother, but funny, Ryuuji is the man of the house since his father passed away.  As such, he's learned how to cook (as previously stated), not to mention clean, sew, and generally take care of the house.  Outside of the house, Ryuuji has a severe lack of friends... save one.

Kitamura

The only person who's had the courage to stay with him long enough to learn his "secret" (oh my God, he's nice!), Kitamura is also the only person that Ryuuji can comfortably talk to in school.  Good thing he's in Ryuuji's class.

Ryuuji has a secret beyond his actual nature secret.  He (like all teenage boys in anime), has a crush that he can't speak normally to.  You might think that anime guys are lucky as hell for all the play that they get, but personally, I think that anyone who can't even chat normally with the person they like is kind of pathetic.  Actually, they're probably worse than that.

... well I wouldn't go that far.

I can understand having a problem confessing, I've had some severe fails, but the best thing about it is that if you keep trying, someone'll say "yes"!  Sounds like a pie in the sky thing, well, that's just because you haven't practiced enough.  Love (although that's a pretty heavy word for asking someone out on a date) is a difficult thing to handle.

Anyway, it's the start of a new year at high school, and Ryuuji isn't looking forward to having to explain to a whole new class about his... not being a delinquent.  On the way down the hall, he meets his crush... well, not meets, but sees again.

Her name is Minori, and she's... energetic to say the least.  As my friend would describe it; "She's a freaking light particle!".  She's also in his class (of 2-C).  After having a brief encounter with her, during which the only thing he could manage to say was her name, Ryuuji turns away to catch his breath... and bumps into...

... Aisaka Taiga, apparently... who's not having a good day.  While listening to the whispers around him, Ryuuji manages to remember where he's heard the name Aisaka Taiga before.
P... Palm... Palm...tree?  No.  Palm... top... Palmtop... Tiger... Taiga... Palmtop Taiga!

Cute nickname.

After putting all of the pieces together, Ryuuji gets... punched for his troubles.  She must not like her nickname very much... either that or she doesn't like bumping into people.

Owned.

... she's in his class too... and she's friends with Minori!  Suddenly thing's aren't looking as grand as they first seemed.

When the day is over, Ryuuji is called into the teacher's lounge and asked to fill out the career-choice form thing.  I get the idea behind this, but I've never actually done one of these.  I kind of want to, but I prefer those tests that tell you what you're best suited to become.

Jesus, even the teacher's fear him.

When he gets back to the classroom, there are chairs and desks flying everywhere.

... Huh?

As Ryuuji looks around, he notices the broom cabinet... tottering, and then falling.  When it opens, a curled up Taiga rolls out, surprisingly managing to retain her original position.

Roll roll roll...

Choosing (wisely) to ignore her beyond the "Are you alright?" (a stupid reflex question, obviously not), Ryuuji goes and picks up his bag to leave.  There's a stuttering from the corner, and Taiga starts asking him what he's doing.

When Ryuuji tells her that he's just picking up the bag, Taiga has some kind of attack.

Okay, so maybe she's not having an attack per say, rather, she's going to attack someone.  Namely Ryuuji.

Guayahhhhh!!!

(I've got to have at least one per post)

After struggling over the bag, Taiga leaves the room, calling Ryuuji an idiot for protecting his personal property.

Later that night, Ryuuji remembers the career form that he has to fill out, and as he's searching through his bag, he finds a letter addressed to Kitamura from Taiga.  A love letter... that comes open when Ryuuji is being an idiot.

 Crap.

Well, not that it's open, I should... no, actually, in the interest of surviving, I shouldn't read it.
As he's trying to reseal it, Ryuuji discovers that it's actually... empty.
I've done bad, but this is an epic fail (as my friend would say).

Ryuuji goes to bed.  After sleeping for several hours, Ryuuji's is woken by the sound of something in the house being opened.  Since his mother's not supposed to be home yet, Ryuuji goes out to see what's going on.

As he ventures into the living room, he sees that the window is open.  As he's wondering how it got so, he figures out.  Something... small comes out of a room behind him and attacks with a bokken.

After evading being bludgeoned to death for a while, Ryuuji manages to turn on the light.

AISAKA!!

She's found Ryuuji and has come to cleanse the shame of the... thing that she put in his bag.  And she needs him to die to do that, especially since he already knows what it was.

 He he...

Now that someone knows what was in the bag, there is only one choice... well, two I suppose.

There's logic for you.

 Taiga finally stops attacking after Ryuuji yells at her the fact that the envelope was actually empty... and then she passes out for lack of food.

During Taiga's dinner at Ryuuji's place, she yells at him that confessing is embarrassing.  After she's finished yelling at him for being an idiot... she insults him for being a lower-class citizen.  When he tries to yell at her for insulting him, Ryuuji is caught off guard by her expression and decides to show her his box of shame.

It's a box filled with a bunch of stuff that he intended to give/do with his beloved.

 Um... no...?

But since he's never had the courage to tell her how he feels... none of it has, or probably ever will happen.
Ryuuji suddenly realizes that his mother's going to be home soon, so he frantically tells Taiga that he'll keep her secret, but Taiga doesn't exactly trust him.

Backed into a corner, Ryuuji tells her that he'll help her.

Ryuuji agrees... and then she says this.

I dunno about dog...

But Ryuuji agrees anyway and finally gets her to go home.

The next morning, Ryuuji gets a phone call.

Taiga demands that Ryuuji come over to where she is, and when he asks where Taiga, he is led out onto the veranda, and discovers that she's living in the huge apartment complex that's standing next to his house.
Ryuuji asks for some more time to finish the food.

When Ryuuji arrives at the complex, he discovers that there's only two floors.  He goes and finds Aisaka's door and presses the buzzer.

And here I was wondering who "Ai Saka" was!  Ha ha!

... I'm such an idiot.

Ryuuji discovers that the door is open, and when he lets himself in, he discovers a horrific smell.  Upon further investigation, he finds the source of the smell.

A scene so horrific or pornographic that it was mosaic-ed out.  That's bad.

Filled with the spirit of a true Filth-Fighter, Ryuuji is spurred into anger.

Ryuuji tears all around the house looking for Taiga, and when he finds her, she's sleeping again.
As Ryuuji looks around the house, he sees that it looks like nobody else is living there, which is true.
And so Ryuuji begins to clean.

After about 15 minutes, Taiga wakes up again, and when she goes to the kitchen, she finds the house is... actually clean.  When she figures out it's Ryuuji (her dog) who did it, she yells at him.
Now, I don't know if "Forced Cleaning" is a crime, but maybe it is in Japan.  Doesn't sound that bad to me.

And so they being their exciting school life together.  Taiga has agreed to help Ryuuji get a date with Minori if he'll help her get a date with Kitamura.


Let me just start off by saying that when I was going into this project, I had decided that I'd review things in kind or a random order.
I knew that there would be a Miyazaki Marathon somewhere in there, and I knew that I wanted to do a couple of other things, those namely being Mugen no Juunin, Ookami to Koushinryou, and Gankutsuou (out of the ones that I've already done).
There was also this, and the upcoming four reviews, but I had arranged them in a kind of order that I like them in (except for the third one, which I just figured I needed a break from movies).

I have to admit that I have seen this anime before, and I have just realized that it is among my favorite five (if were talking series here).  The other ones that I can tell you now because it won't spoil the surprise are Ookami to Koushinryou (as you have probably already figured out if you read my review), KissxSis, Zero no Tsukaima, and both To Aru Majutsu no Index and To Aru no Choudenjibou (for which this blog is named, and I just realized that I have not made plans to review it... shamed).

I haven't decided to review these in the near future.  KissxSis because this is partly a school engagement, Zero no Tsukaima because I just discovered it, and To Aru Majutsu no Index and To Aru no Choudenjibou... I don't know why.  There are also two others that I am reviewing in the future, but if I tell you now, it'll ruin the surprise.

That being said, I might be kind of biased here, but at least it's a positive bias.  I know I hate negative biases.

In case you couldn't see it coming, I think this anime is awesome.
It's funny and I lose it for tsundere, height-sensitive girls, especially ones played by Kugimiya Rie.  Taiga is one of my all-time favorite characters.

Close to being a typical school life anime, this was saved by the preferences and just the fact that the story (to me) was different than those typical high school love stories, and that made it cool.  Actually, this anime has received the tag of "Love Rectangle" from several people.  I didn't even know that was a thing.  Damn.

Like I said before, Kugimiya Rie (Taiga) is one of my favorite Japanese voice actresses, and she's been in a lot of other stuff.  She was the main character in the Zero no Tsukaima series, as well as the Shakugan no Shana series.  She also got the Kouta part in Midori no Hibi, which I reviewed a while back (it's not hard to find, just look for the boobs).

I loved how Taiga and Ryuuji's relationship developed, and how their friendship affected Minori and Kitamura, not to mention the others in the class.

The drawing style was a bit more anime than the manga, but I still liked it because I read the manga, got interested, then got cut off because they haven't finished translating it yet.  This is actually one of the few animes that I have actively looked for to find out what happens.

They didn't make an English version (thank God), but they did make a Tagalog version, so thank the Lord for that.
... Where is Tagalog?  I don't know, but it's apparently a country of some sort.  Either way, stick with the Japanese version.

The music was awesome.  At least the opening song was, and that's good enough for me.  Pre-Parade is a lot of fun to listen to, and even if you don't watch the anime, you should check out the song.  Kugimiya Rie leads because she can sing, and has apparently done so for several other opening songs for the animes she's worked on.

The most important thing that I can say for this anime is to be sure to watch at least the last episode to the end.  If you don't, you'll have an aneurysm.

Toradora! Minitheatre

Coming up Next!

K-ON!!

Miyazaki Marathon Day 9: Howl's Moving Castle

Name: Howl's Moving Castle
Type: Movie
Rating: Any Age
Runtime: 118 min
Directed By Miyazaki Hayao
Produced By Studio Ghibli
Year Produced: 2004

The To Aru Kagaku no Home Theater Miyazaki Marathon... and then some... continues, despite public protest!

This is a "festival" where I sit down at spend about a week and a half watching all of the Miyazaki movies that I want to.  I didn't mention this last time, but I don't have any particular interest in Ponyo.

I've already reviewed Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, and Whisper of the Heart, so if you're interested in that, then check it out... back there.

Today is the last day of this marathon (and thank God, since I was having trouble keeping up).  After this, I'm back to regular animes for about... a half a week, then I'm going to do another movie.  Not a Miyazaki, this is the last one for now, but a movie nonetheless.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed this marathon, and I hope that you'll watch all of these wonderful movies and make your own decisions about them.  Don't you get aggravated when some stranger tells you what to like?!  Why are you even reading this?!
... for the download link?  Yeah, I guess so.


Based on the book of the same name by Diana Wyne Jones, this movie is set in the fantastic world of... you know, it gets really hard to review something when they won't even tell you where it's set.  Fictional, I don't care, just fucking tell me!
This world is filled with mystery, magic, and strange, mobile castles that probably get about a foot to the gallon.

Worse than a Humvee.

The story is about Sophie, a eldest daughter to a hat maker who died a while ago.  Believing herself to be plain, Sophie has taken over general management of the hat store, leaving her younger sister to work at a apparently more glamorous life at a bakery, and her mother to roam the country, buying as much useless garbage as she can, like this.

Are those cannons on the top?

You see?  Who in their right mind would buy that kind of thing?!
Okay, the Queen of England's appeared in some whoppers, just like Prince Charles and... okay, so the entire English Royal Family... every Royal Family since the beginning of time, probably (I type as the S.A.S. busts in and drags me off to the Tower of London, and the guillotine.  Save me, my loyal fans!!  ...).

The entire town's having a royal military parade in anticipation of an expected war with some other country.

Goose Stepping.  Not a good sign.

This country appears to be in the middle of a steam revolution, but since military technology is about ten years ahead of conventional technology, they are probably in the middle of an arms revolution, resulting in both air and naval battleships galore.

I'm just this side of positive that those wing's wouldn't support that.

The rest of the girls at the hat shop decide to head out to try and pick up soldiers (I presume), and Sophie decides to stay behind... but gets bored quickly, and leaves on her own to visit her younger sister Letty.
There have been rumors of a mysterious magician named Howl circling around, rumors like this one.

On the way there, Sophie bumps into a couple of overly affectionate soldiers, and is about to be... accosted by them when a young man wearing a very pink coat over his shoulders appears.

The man flips his finger around a bit and the soldiers are carried away against their will by their own legs.  The man is obviously a magician who then offers to be Sophie's escort.

Along the way to the bakery, they are picked up and followed by a... bunch of blogs of slime in straw hats.

The young man apologizes to Sophie for having gotten her mixed up in his business (they're after him), and then takes a wrong turn.  Boxed in!  Gayahh!  Good thing he can fly.
... What?

Yes!  The dude with the effeminate pink overcoat (for lack of a better term right now) can fly!

Okay, Air Walk, not technically fly.

The man manages to escort Sophie onto the second floor of her sister's bakery without dropping her, and then leaps off the railing onto a safety net that is immediately pulled back and hidden for the wide shot (I'm onto their little tricks).

Inside, Sophie and Letty talk for a while about Sophie's experience, and then Sophie leaves when she realizes how much work Lettie has to do.
I personally don't really understand where Sophie gets the idea that she's not pretty.  I think she's cuter than Lettie... and every other female character in the movie.

Don't you think?  Well, it doesn't matter, since it's not you who's writing this.

When Sophie arrives back at the hat shop/home, the door is opened by a regular tub of lard in fur and a floppy hat (have these people had their fashion sense glands removed?).

See?  No contest.

The woman acts a total bitch to Sophie and when Sophie asks her to leave, the woman reveals herself to the the Witch of the Wastes (the Wastes is a place in this world), and then owns Sophie, since I don't know how else to explain it.

The spell which she's placed Sophie under is one that has made her suddenly... old.  Very old.

Now when I was talking about Sophie, I didn't exactly mean... this.  The young one is cute.  I don't know what best describes "Granny Sophie"... granny...

The Witch of the Wastes (henceforward referred to as WoW (no, not World of Warcraft)), departs, telling Sophie that the best part about the curse she's now under is that she can't tell anyone about it.  The WoW then sends her regards to Howl and leaves.

Sophie has a panic attack and goes to bed in hopes that the spell will break, or this will all be a bad dream.  Too bad it isn't.

The next morning, Sophie's mother bursts in (wearing the obscene hat), and when she goes to see Sophie, is surprised when she discovers that her daughter's now about six times older than she.  Not.  Sophie concocts some lie about a cold, and her mother stays out of her room.

A die-hard optimist, Sophie decides that she needs to strike out on her own to find the WoW and make her break the spell on her, and with that, Sophie sets out.

After going as far as she can to with the help of others, Sophie goes out into the mountains that presumably surround the Wastes (though the mountains could be part of/the entire Wastes right there).

During her hike, Sophie is suddenly struck by how much old age sucks.  When she spots a branch sticking out of a bush, she decides that it'd make a good cane, and so hauls it up, only to discover that...

... it's a scarecrow... that can stand on it's own... and can follow her, how creepy is that?  I'd probably burn it, wear the coat and hat and eat the turnip.  I dunno what I'd do with the pipe though.

Well some good did come of being kind and non-violent, and the scarecrow (now affectionately dubbed "Turnip Head") brings Sophie a cane... and then this.

Howl's Moving Castle... dun dun dun.  Despite the fact that it's allegedly the home of the most notorious killer in all of the world, Sophie still decides to hop on.  What's waiting for Sophie as she sets off on this new quest?


The last of the Miyazaki Hayao movies that have (to this point) attracted my interest, this movie was more than I was expecting.  Sure, it was a little melodramatic (or at least the English version was), but it was still epic, and a lot of fun.
I noticed that the vibrant colors appeared everywhere in this show.  A lot of blue and red, and not the kind that you usually see, but the vibrant shades that make up a beam of light, cool.

I liked the music to this one a lot.  No I don't know why, but I can tell you that I liked the song those star things were singing... or at least the first part.  I'm not sure what happened to it after that, but it was still fun to listen to.

I again liked the English version better, and after I got finished looking at the credits, I realized that they've had a person from the most recent Terminators in it.  Claire Danes was Katherine Brooster from Terminator 3 was San in Princess Mononoke, and Christian Bale; John Connor out of T4 was Howl in this one.  Kind of weird.  I'm not thrilled about the way he talks (no offense, but the kind of whisper thing distracts me or something), but it made sense for Howl.

I wouldn't discount the Japanese version.  I thought that they did better, but since the term "Quiet only when absolutely necessarily" pretty much describes me, I liked the more loud, cluttered English versions better.  And if you have trouble believing me (which a staggering amount of people do) you should know that I'm terrible.  Even when it is absolutely necessary, I end up drawing with my friend or recite Eddie Izzard routines in my head and start laughing.  Really pisses my more strict teachers off).

This movie backs Miyazaki's more humanitarian perspective, or maybe it's backing up Diana Wyne Jones' perspective.  Since I haven't (or probably ever will) read the book, I couldn't tell you.  If I had the... want, I could look it up on Cliff Notes or Wikipedia but... nah.

And thus, my dear reader(s), we are at the end of the Miyazaki Marathon.

Ghibli 13 Movie Collection (Dual Audio) Nihonomaru

Howl's Moving Castle Minitheatre

Coming up next!

Toradora!!

Miyazaki Marathon Day 8: Spirited Away

Name: Spirited Away
Type: Movie
Rating: Any Age
Runtime: 125 min
Directed By Miyazaki Hayao
Produced By Studio Ghibli
Year Produced: 2001

The To Aru Kagaku no Home Theater Miyazaki Marathon... and then some... continues, despite public protest!

This is a "festival" where I sit down at spend about a week and a half watching all of the Miyazaki movies that I want to.  I didn't mention this last time, but I don't have any particular interest in Ponyo.

What's still to come are:

Tuesday - Howl's Moving Castle (2004)


I've already reviewed Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Whisper of the Heart, and Princess Mononoke, so if you're interested in that, then check it out... back there.


Chihiro is moving.  Or more accurately, she's being forced to move.  Her parents have bundled her and all of her stuff into their car and set out for their new home.  The only thing that she has a reminder of her old life is a bouquet of flowers and a farewell card.

On the way to their new house, Chihiro's father takes a wrong turn, but, being a man (We big and strong.  Don't need directions or manuals, just meat and salt), he follows the path that he's taken... until he almost rams into a tunnel.

Chihiro's parents get out of the car and investigate the tunnel, finding that it is made of plaster.  They decide to delve further into the area, but Chihiro isn't as enthralled with the idea, and tries to get them to get back in the car and go, but they decide to explore anyway.  Chihiro, with her only company being the creepy statuette, decides that anythings better than staying in the car alone, and follows them.

On the other side, Chihiro's dad points out that the area probably used to be an amusement park, one of the many that were built all around Japan during the early 90's but all of which eventually went under.  With that being said, the parents continue on, with Chihiro still trying to get them to go back, but eventually following.

Chihiro's dad, who's got a nose like a hound, smells something delicious on the air and eventually leads the family to an outdoor restaurant that's loaded with food convieniantly laid out in huge bowls.  The parents dig in, the dad saying one of my all-time favorite lines;
"Don't worry, you've got Daddy here!  He's got credit cards and cash!"

I like the English version of this line better, though.

Chihiro goes exploring around the area, and eventually finds a mammoth Bath House that also seems to be running.

Note the chimney.

Underneath her, Chihiro hears the sound of a train, and watches as it comes out of a tunnel.  She runs over to the other side of a bridge to see where it's going, but notices somethings different about her surroundings.

Uh, hello?

The young man freaks out, telling Chihiro to leave immediatly, and when lamps suddenly start to turn on randomly, he pushes her away, shouting at her to go right now.

You can probably find this image just about anywhere, so I decided to conform.  It's also an awesome picture, just a little overused.

As Chihiro is running, a bunch of... weird shadow sludge things start to open the doors of the shops and come out of the cracks, intent on buying things.
Sure now that thing's aren't exactly going great, Chihiro searches for and finds her parents.  Or...

Oink?

Two pigs wearing human clothes.

Chihiro runs back towards the stairs that she and her parents had come from, but when she gets to the bottom, she ends up waist-deep in water.  Chihiro clambers back to shore and looks out over the instant ocean.

I'm pretty sure that's where she came from.

Convinced that she's experiencing some kind of dream, Chihiro tries to wake herself up, but to no avail.  Actually, it works to her detriment, and she starts to fade away.

Chihiro dashes away from a boat-full (literally) of spirits and runs to hide in a quiet place.

After a while, the young man who helped her back on the bridge comes and finds her, telling Chihiro that she needs to eat something from this world in order to remain in it, so he gives her a mint or a jellybean or something, and Chihiro gets better.

With no other choice but to stay in this new world until she can find her parents and arrange a way for them all to get out, Chihiro asks the young man what she needs to do.


In this film, Miyazaki's more whimsical.  As far as I can tell, this movie wasn't made so the viewers would have psychologically taxing questions about the planet or human nature, but rather for them to just enjoy.  It is pretty surreal, and my dad's only recollection of it was that it was creepy, but that's okay because I liked it.

Oh, and do you remember the soot gremlins from My Neighbor Totoro?
Well they've found a new home.  Kamaji says that they're from the soot in his "office", but I'm not fooled.

 Leaving...

 In search of their new home.

... and then they have a party.

... and unless you've watched the movie already, you're totally lost right now.  "Kamaji?"

The music was kind of like Princess Mononoke, though I didn't find myself humming it later.  It was nice and kind of catchy, and it flowed well.  Actually, if you were looking (and if I had mentioned it earlier), you might notice that Miyazaki's been working with the same guy on music for... ever.  Hisaishi Joe and Miyazaki have worked together on every movie that I've reviewed, and even on Howl's Moving Castle, which is tomorrow.

I also listened to this anime in English first.  I watched the Japanese versions, and I wasn't totally won over by it.
A general rule of thumb is that the Japanese is good, and the English version is lucky to reach the quality of Japanese voice acting.  What I'm talking about here isn't so much the quality of the acting, both sides did well, but more my own preferences, which would have made for a strange mixture.

I liked the Japanese Chihiro way better than the English one (Daveigh Chase), but I liked most of the other English actors (especially the father as I already stated).
The weirdest thing about it was that I think that the English dialog/script was better (although Haku's spell sounded kind of corny.  It didn't sound corny in the Japanese version because... I don't speak Japanese too well, so I can't compare it).

With more physical gags than his other works, Spirited Away is still considered one of the best movies today... I know, right?  It's aways gratifying to see a relatively lesser-known form of art gain such recognition.

Think of it...
Citizen Kane
Gone with the Wind
A Streetcar Named Desire
Princess Mononoke
and...
Spirited Away

Bitchin.

Ghibli 13 Movie Collection (Dual Audio) Nihonomaru

Spirited Away Minitheatre

Coming up next (and last)!

Day 9: Howl's Moving Castle!