Comments on: Toradora 19-20: Sacrifice

By: Anime Diet » The Zen of Eureka Seven

Anime Diet » The Zen of Eureka Seven — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:01:12 +0000

[...] separation of thought and action. There is, tellingly, no self, just as Eureka’s continuous, selfless behavior leaves little room for personal [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:15:40 +0000

ghostlightning: I remembered, too. It still hurts.

By: ghostlightning

ghostlightning — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:57:30 +0000

Good job referencing that bit on Honey & Clover. Ripped my heart out, that voice-over.

I remembered love (lost).

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:40:28 +0000

Critical Design: it's true, though in many cases, the absence or near-absence of parents is part of the escapist aspects of the show, not the painful undercurrent. That's true for most TV shows and movies that are aimed at adolescents, which is the majority audience for anime (teens to early 20s). The first paragraph of this article about the acclaimed American show Friday Night Lights gets it square on the head. I think you have an excellent point about responsible parents limiting the course of action that teenage characters would have. Imagine if the majority of teen anime characters were depicted as most kids that age have to act--go to cram school, go home, do homework, eat dinner, and maybe only go out occasionally on weekends. Booooooring. Querty: It ain't School Days till the knives come out!

By: Qwerty

Qwerty — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:33:26 +0000

*Writhing in School Days Emotional Trauma*

By: CriticalDesign

CriticalDesign — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 12:51:57 +0000

Although it’s an interesting theme, broken families are seen in many, many animes. I suppose ToraDora does explore it more often – however what I find is that “responsible” parents limit the freedom of the character, and aren’t a writer’s priority.

Sometimes, parents are just left out altogether, perhaps only referred to in flashbacks or casual speech. It’s odd, but it happens very often.

Mind you, Death Note had an interesting twist on this, being a broken family which seemed to be very strong, to other characters at least.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:33:14 +0000

Critical Design: here’s the funny thing–I’m one of those for whom on first viewing, episode 16, one of the most highly praised episodes, felt a bit overdramatic. I felt 19 was fine for the most part, but yes, I agree that 19 and 20 really go together. It was the same with 17-18; 17 felt woefully incomplete without 18. I’m beginning to think reviewing dual episodes like this is the best for this show.

I completely agree that Sumire and Ami look far too alike. When I first saw her pic there I thought it was Ami.

Peter S: you make a strong point there. The missing or broken family is a huge subtext in this show and I’ve said earlier that the friendship and potential romances are in the end failed substitutes for the family.

The complexity of the emotions in this show is one of the things that makes it so great.

By: Peter S

Peter S — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:48:56 +0000

I don’t agree with people who say Taiga and Ryuuji should get together. I don’t think that’s what she needs.

More than anything, she needs a family. Ryuuji and her mom figured this out and brought her into theirs. Taiga is grateful for this, and it’s caused the softness for Ryuuji, but it’s not a romantic love. Being young, I don’t think she’s quite able to sort this out. But Ami has, since she’s hinted at it to Ryuuji a couple times.

That’s my theory, anyway. Maybe I just want Ryuuji and Minorin to hook up …

By: CriticalDesign

CriticalDesign — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:17:58 +0000

This recent episode (20) paid off for the more melodramatic, overdone episode 19. It was much more entertaining, and the characters acted a bit more realistically than usual. Minorin still had her weird side, but not as annoyingly weird as usual. All in all, together, these episode worked with each other pretty well.

Aside that, the art was wonderful as usual. Or perhaps it’s just the lighting.

Sumire Kano looks TOO similar to Ami Kawashima, it’s getting on my nerves.