It’s pictures like this that can hold the viewer back from seeing what the series really is.
In case you haven’t caught wind of the hype yet, I’ll start with this: Toradora is definitely among the more unique romantic comedies that’s aired in recent time, and it does an excellent job at playing with stereotypes. Like with everything else, there are probably a few naysayers in the audience, but by and large the show has gained its fair share of respect. With charaters that look shallow on the outside but contain much depth on the inside, skillful writing that’s both believable and entertaining, and an all-around solid presentation that accomplishes everything that one would expect from the genre and then some, it’s a show that I would recommend to most anyone.
However, something dawned on me while watching the fifteenth episode the other day. It’s a little something that’s been in front of me all along, yet took me this long to notice: a little something involving Vanilla Salt and a neatly-woven tale of preconceptions.
(translation courtesy of Words of Songs.)
If it’s just sweet
Then let’s put salt on
Because I want you to know more about me
More than anyone else, I want to bare myself
But I can’t do it, I’ve got Nothing for experience
It’s too frustrating
The more I try to show my weakness
The more I act tough in vain and everything goes the other way
I’m actually a crybaby
Though I’ve been mum about that
Taken from the rather catchy ED, Vanilla Salt, these lyrics describe Taiga – or really, most any tsundere – quite well. The almost childish frustration at wanting to convey one’s true feelings yet being unable to, which results in acting opposite to how you feel; a behaviour that requires the target of your affection to read your mind, which he or she obviously can’t. It isn’t an uncommon behaviour at all, especially in anime, and upon hearing about this story for the first time, I figured that the heroine would react like this to the male lead until the 26th episode, where we would be teased with a confession or a kiss and promised a second season.
But Taiga isn’t the only seemingly cliche character in the show: after all, doesn’t the entire cast seem perfectly ordinary at first? You have the typical male lead with not much of a social or love life, the ever-genki classmate that’s always doing crazy things, the calm, collected glasses guy that always says the right thing at the right time, and the fanboy-pandering Ami that derives pleasure from teasing guys.
However, the reality of the matter is entirely different.
“Kitamura-kun says that he doesn’t want to become the student council president…I wonder if he means the opposite…” (CoalGuys sub)
Let’s try looking at it this way for a moment: Toradora is a story of contradictions. Ryuuji looks like a fearsome yakuza boss when he can cook and knit better than the average girl at school; Taiga is bad at expressing her feelings without sounding aggressive, when all she really wants to do is get closer to her crush; Minorin looks as air-headed as can be, but she’s shown signs of depth behind her genki-ness; Ami acts like the perfect girl because of her job, but she actually just enjoys messing with people (and even beyond that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of her true self that’s neither perfect nor cruel). Even Kitamura seems to have some sort of inner self that he’s hidden from the world until this episode.
And just as the characters learn to see past these contradictions, these preconceived stereotypes, the audience must also challenge themselves to see past what they think they’re seeing. Just because the female lead is a loli tsundere voiced by Rie Kugimiya doesn’t make this another Zero no Tsukaima. Just because Ryuuji looks, for lack of a better word, ugly, doesn’t mean that the character designer was lazy. There’s a sublime balance going on somewhere in the background, where the characters teeter from stereotypical to the exact opposite of their stereotype, and I believe that the secret to Toradora’s success lies in this balance.
If I’m told it’s white
I’d say it’s black
I can’t be honest
I say one thing but do another
If I’m told, “I love you”
I’d say, “I hate you”
I’m happy, but what am I saying?
Like putting salt
Into sweet vanilla…
Used as the ED for a show like ZnT, lyrics like this would be near meaningless – I’d probably dismiss them as another method of emphasizing the cliche tsundere behaviour. But placed in a show like Toradora, if you strip the romantic implications for a moment, it takes on an entirely different meaning.
Aisaka Taiga: not exactly the picture of feminine. You’d never tell at first glance that even approaching her crush could turn that cold face beet-red.
Ultimately, I believe that Toradora is a story of contradictions. You look at a guy like Ryuji and think he’s going to stab you, but he’s more likely to knit you a sweater and cook you lunch. Ami would fit in perfectly in most any visual novel, but the revelation of her crudely playful self proves that perfection is impossible.
Wherever you look, contradictions lie at every turn: people are not always what they appear to be. Sometimes, you can’t help but act against your feelings; sometimes, you can’t help it if you look like you’re something you’re not. People aren’t born with personalities flawlessly programmed into them – we all have different sides of ourselves, sides that we show to different people in different scenarios. We weren’t written into the world by some sort of screen writer, so one could even say that it’s human nature to be different, to contradict the world’s preconceived expectations of you. It’s like saying the opposite of what you feel, either because you can or because you have to. It’s kinda like doing your best to show people that you’re not who they think you are.
Kinda like pouring salt on vanilla.
~ ETERNAL
つづく
Toradora: A Story of Contradictions
It’s pictures like this that can hold the viewer back from seeing what the series really is.
In case you haven’t caught wind of the hype yet, I’ll start with this: Toradora is definitely among the more unique romantic comedies that’s aired in recent time, and it does an excellent job at playing with stereotypes. Like with everything else, there are probably a few naysayers in the audience, but by and large the show has gained its fair share of respect. With charaters that look shallow on the outside but contain much depth on the inside, skillful writing that’s both believable and entertaining, and an all-around solid presentation that accomplishes everything that one would expect from the genre and then some, it’s a show that I would recommend to most anyone.
However, something dawned on me while watching the fifteenth episode the other day. It’s a little something that’s been in front of me all along, yet took me this long to notice: a little something involving Vanilla Salt and a neatly-woven tale of preconceptions.
(translation courtesy of Words of Songs.)
If it’s just sweet
Then let’s put salt on
Because I want you to know more about me
More than anyone else, I want to bare myself
But I can’t do it, I’ve got Nothing for experience
It’s too frustrating
The more I try to show my weakness
The more I act tough in vain and everything goes the other way
I’m actually a crybaby
Though I’ve been mum about that
Taken from the rather catchy ED, Vanilla Salt, these lyrics describe Taiga – or really, most any tsundere – quite well. The almost childish frustration at wanting to convey one’s true feelings yet being unable to, which results in acting opposite to how you feel; a behaviour that requires the target of your affection to read your mind, which he or she obviously can’t. It isn’t an uncommon behaviour at all, especially in anime, and upon hearing about this story for the first time, I figured that the heroine would react like this to the male lead until the 26th episode, where we would be teased with a confession or a kiss and promised a second season.
But Taiga isn’t the only seemingly cliche character in the show: after all, doesn’t the entire cast seem perfectly ordinary at first? You have the typical male lead with not much of a social or love life, the ever-genki classmate that’s always doing crazy things, the calm, collected glasses guy that always says the right thing at the right time, and the fanboy-pandering Ami that derives pleasure from teasing guys.
However, the reality of the matter is entirely different.
“Kitamura-kun says that he doesn’t want to become the student council president…I wonder if he means the opposite…” (CoalGuys sub)
Let’s try looking at it this way for a moment: Toradora is a story of contradictions. Ryuuji looks like a fearsome yakuza boss when he can cook and knit better than the average girl at school; Taiga is bad at expressing her feelings without sounding aggressive, when all she really wants to do is get closer to her crush; Minorin looks as air-headed as can be, but she’s shown signs of depth behind her genki-ness; Ami acts like the perfect girl because of her job, but she actually just enjoys messing with people (and even beyond that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of her true self that’s neither perfect nor cruel). Even Kitamura seems to have some sort of inner self that he’s hidden from the world until this episode.
And just as the characters learn to see past these contradictions, these preconceived stereotypes, the audience must also challenge themselves to see past what they think they’re seeing. Just because the female lead is a loli tsundere voiced by Rie Kugimiya doesn’t make this another Zero no Tsukaima. Just because Ryuuji looks, for lack of a better word, ugly, doesn’t mean that the character designer was lazy. There’s a sublime balance going on somewhere in the background, where the characters teeter from stereotypical to the exact opposite of their stereotype, and I believe that the secret to Toradora’s success lies in this balance.
If I’m told it’s white
I’d say it’s black
I can’t be honest
I say one thing but do another
If I’m told, “I love you”
I’d say, “I hate you”
I’m happy, but what am I saying?
Like putting salt
Into sweet vanilla…
Used as the ED for a show like ZnT, lyrics like this would be near meaningless – I’d probably dismiss them as another method of emphasizing the cliche tsundere behaviour. But placed in a show like Toradora, if you strip the romantic implications for a moment, it takes on an entirely different meaning.
Aisaka Taiga: not exactly the picture of feminine. You’d never tell at first glance that even approaching her crush could turn that cold face beet-red.
Ultimately, I believe that Toradora is a story of contradictions. You look at a guy like Ryuji and think he’s going to stab you, but he’s more likely to knit you a sweater and cook you lunch. Ami would fit in perfectly in most any visual novel, but the revelation of her crudely playful self proves that perfection is impossible.
Wherever you look, contradictions lie at every turn: people are not always what they appear to be. Sometimes, you can’t help but act against your feelings; sometimes, you can’t help it if you look like you’re something you’re not. People aren’t born with personalities flawlessly programmed into them – we all have different sides of ourselves, sides that we show to different people in different scenarios. We weren’t written into the world by some sort of screen writer, so one could even say that it’s human nature to be different, to contradict the world’s preconceived expectations of you. It’s like saying the opposite of what you feel, either because you can or because you have to. It’s kinda like doing your best to show people that you’re not who they think you are.
Kinda like pouring salt on vanilla.
~ ETERNAL
つづく