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Minami-ke Okaeri 5 – Fujioka cops a feel!

It’s summer, it’s hot, it’s time for the pool episode! Chiaki’s class is tasked with cleaning the pool, and she will do anything to slow it down. Makoto sees more than he bargained for when the girls get their shirts wet from playing in the hose. He is promptly dealt with! Kana takes her classmates to the pool and gets mad at Fujioka for not playing tag with her. He’s just a bit too shy to touch a girl in the pool, what’s wrong with you man? Later at the Minami household, Fujioka tries to explain the ways of manhood to Touma, who he still thinks is a guy, while they play a game of tag around the table. Tagging Touma in places that would not be questioned had she been a guy, but seeing as she is not, she does exclaim that it is dangerous what Fujioka is doing… Oh, and we also finally get a little bit  of Mako-chan in this episode! I must say this one has picked up quite considerably over the previous episodes, what do you think?

Fujioka really needs to help Makota be more like a man… His eyes are looking far too high!

Toradora! 17 – Everybody Loves Kitamura

Taiga is back in shcool and everyone cheers for her as the victor of the great fight! Minori is shown to be breaking down in all the guilt she has. She plays it off as punishing herself for causing the team to lose the game, but in reality something is eating at her. Everyone meets at the family restaurant and it is revealed that Kihara, another classmate, is also in love with Kitamura. He sure has all the ladies after him. So far it seems that Taiga is after him, Minori is in love with him, causing her guilt, and now Kihara! Kihara is cute in her own right. Ami-chan seems to be the only one who is trying for Ryuji and even that, I can’t be too sure. What a weird and wonderful kind of inside-out harem thing we have going here. Ryuji , who is a real good guy, has all the girls flock around him but they are all interested in another guy who is quite strange in some ways. I don’t know what to make of everything but sure am enjoying it all the way. The animation is stunning, the story amazing and the characters absolutely great. I’m starting to feel sorry for Ryuji here, he works hard and is genuinely wanting others to be happy and everyone wants someone other than him… If Ami-chan really does want him then it’s time to start rooting for her!

Episode Grade: 9/10

Minami-ke Okaeri 4 – Touma becomes a man!

Not really, but everyone seems to be concerned that Touma is becoming more tomboyish. She’s was quite scrappy in this episode! She headbutts both Kana and Natsuki. It was effective on Kana, but she meets her match with Natsuki’s hard head. She also tries to punch him to no avails also. This was a Natsuki related episode all together, he was focal in both halves of the episode. We also get a little bit of Hosaka at the end also to brighten up the show. Four episodes in and still no Maka-chan, but it does look like Makoto will be in the next episode! This one was better than the previous episodes, hopefully it will continue to grow.

P.S. Be careful of Haruka’s Iron Claw. She wields it with wreckless abandon!

Episode Grade: 7/10

Toradora! 16 – All Heck Breaks Loose!

Wow what an episode! Ryuji and Taiga continue their plan to get Taiga elected as class president, in order to get Kitamura to realize his discision is wrong and should be the next president. The first casualty is Kitamura, apparently his dad let him have it. Punched him! It is revealed to Ryuji that Kitamura likes the current president, Kanou. He finally accepts his fate and goes up to accept the nomination for president, instead he screams he loves Kanou. She plays it off and encourages everyone to vote for him. Ryuji confronts Kanou and says she is running away. Taiga stops him and tells him to go comfort Kitamura. Taiga challenges Kanou to a fight right in the middle of class, she accepts and all heck breaks loose. This isn’t a verbal assault, it’s an all out brawl. They beat the mess out of each other. In the process Taiga gets Kanou to break down and confess she does like Kitamura but doesn’t want to ruin his life by having him follow her to America.We are left with everyone pretty much heart broken as Taiga is suspended for 2 weeks, Kitamura is sad and alone in his new role as president. As a side note, Minori has a sad/guilty reaction when she sees Taiga’s picture of her and Kitamura holding hands. Ami passes her asking her if she’s over her guilt, surprising her. Ami walks off looking furious! A whole lot of emotions in this episodes and they let them all out. Good stuff, good stuff.

P.S. For someone so small, Taiga kicks arse!

Episode Grade: 10/10

Minami-ke Okaeri 3

Natsuki steals Touma’s pudding. Touma spends more time with the Minami sisters thanks to a fight with her brother. Pudding is apparently a sticky subject when it comes to anyone with Minami as a last name. We get to see the Minami brothers debate the simplest things again, but not as much seriousness as in previous seasons, a certain tone was missing from the conversation that left it flat. It’s one of those things that you would have to see in previous seasons to understand that something is missing. We do get to see more Uchida, which is always a plus! She brings the sisters some apples, apparently a lot of people have. They are sick to death of apples and drag Uchida and Touma in on it. Again the quality of animation and the sense of humor that was present in the previous two seasons seem to be lacking in this season. I hope they hit their stride soon because so far, it has been a pale copy of what came before.

Episode Grade: 5/10

Toradora! 15

A Kitamura filled episode. It starts with him being down in homeroom, refusing to become the next student council president. He goes all delinquent on us and dyes his hair blonde. The first half is spent searching him down, with most people suspecting the current student council president as the reason behind Kitamura’s change. He happens to show up at Ryuji’s house after everyone has given up finding him. He just wants to relax and spends time with Ryuji and Taiga playing games and going to the batting cages. Taiga suprises everyone when she turns out to be good at batting! In the end Kitamura is on the run again when Ryuji’s mom tries to dye his hair black again. We are left pretty much where we started in that we don’t know what really set Kitamura off and don’t know where he is. We did have a few touching moments between Ryuji and Minori and also between Ryuji and Taiga. Ami kinda of turned a cold shoulder to the whole thing and thus played a little role in all of it. Though not as good as last episode , it was still fun to watch and still leaves me unclear as to who likes who going forward. I believe that is the whole point though!

Episode Grade: 8/10

Minami-ke Okaeri 2

Touma stops by with a gift. The causes Kana to tempt Chiaki to eat it before Haruka gets home… we get a classic good angel verses bad devil battle of Chiaki’s inner struggle. Fujioka also gets in on the act when he notices Touma is awful friendly with both Chiaki and Kana (he still doesn’t know Touma is a girl). The rest of the episode deal with Hosaka trying to befriend Haruka’s friends in order to get closer to her. He some how ends up as the Curry Fairy in it all. Another solid episode of Minami-ke, yet is still is nothing as funny as the last two seasons. Hopefully this will change sooner rather then later. Still no Mako-chan, what’s up with that?

Episode Grade: 6.5/10

Toradora! 14

Taiga is the Lucky Palm Top Tiger of Happiness! There is a rumor going around school that if you are hit by Taiga, you will have good luck. Everyone in the school is looking to be hit by her because of this. For an episode where not too much happens, a whole lot of feeling is put in to developing the characters emotions and desires in this one. Taiga is pretty much back to her normal self but realizes a little in the end what Ryuji and his mom mean to her and her happiness. Ami throughout the episode is called mature by everyone, herself included, but it is not until Ryuji calls her such a kid that her heart melts and we see what she truly desires. The class president reveals something to Kitamira that floors him but is not revealed. Minori also has flashes of the heart when she sees that the picture Ryuji wants is the two of them holding hands in the race for Taiga. I am truly amazed how much was said with so little actually being said or done in this episode. Really amazing!

Episode Grade: 9/10

Minami-ke Okaeri 1

The gang is back together for another season of sisterly fun. We start off with a New Years festival visit for the sisters. They meet Uchida there, who has already spent most of her money before the rest arrive. The rest of the day is spent inside the Minami household where we are re-introduced to most of the major characters in this episode, with the exception of Mako-chan. This first episode was typical Minami-ke, nothing extrodinary but still a lot of fun. The animation is still not up to first season’s standard, we’ll see how it holds up through out the season. I’m excited to see the sisters are back and look forward to more fun along the way.

Episode Grade: 7/10