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This page is about the anime episode Toradora!. If you are looking for the anime series with the same name, go here.
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This article contains HEAVY spoilers. Please view at your own risk.
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"Toradora!" is the 25th and final episode of Toradora! and was first aired on March 26, 2009. The screenwriter for the episode was Mari Okada.
Short Summary[]
After hearing Taiga's fake voicemail message, Yasuko arrives at Ryuuji's grandparent's house where Ryuuji is waiting. Yasuko makes up with her parents and tells Ryuuji that his father ran off while she was still pregnant, and she gave birth to him. Ryuuji decides that he and Taiga should not run away, and instead get married with everyone's approval. They have a rehearsed wedding at night in their room where they share their first kiss. They all go home, but Taiga, after listening to her mother’s exasperated voicemails, decides to go back to her because she does not want to run away from her problems. Minori is not happy that Ryuuji lets her leave, but he has come to terms with everything. Taiga sends everyone a text with a picture of the night sky and a single star, and Minori feels that this is supposed to encourage them to do their best. Everyone gets together to send a group picture to Taiga. Over a year later during their high school graduation ceremony, Taiga comes back and Ryuuji finds her in a locker in the classroom. When he finally confesses to her, she becomes flustered and headbutts him.
Episode Summary[]
Yasuko rushes to her parents’ house under the impression that Ryuuji was involved in an accident that put his life in danger, but she finds him perfectly healthy and waiting for her. Realizing that she’s been tricked into coming, Yasuko starts to cry when her mother comments on how well she raised Ryuuji. She gets lectured by her father afterward, and as they watch secretly, Ryuuji and Taiga notice how Yasuko is like a little girl, but she seems happy to be back with her family. That night, Ryuuji talks to his mother about how he heard that she never married his father, and so she tells him about his father running away with some other woman while she was still pregnant with him. Everyone told her to get an abortion, but she wanted to keep him. Yasuko feels bad about how she wasn’t able to hold onto Ryuuji after all and ruined a lot of things, but Ryuuji reminds her of how her own mother had complimented her on raising him to be so big. This leads to Yasuko revealing that she noticed how big his back was when he was running away from her, and she had been scared because he hadn’t seemed like the Ryuuji that she knew. In light of this, Ryuuji tells his mother that running away won’t lead to anything, and he’s decided to grow up into an adult in front of her where she can see him. This causes Yasuko to cry even more.
Later that night, as Ryuuji and Taiga – who are going to be sleeping in the same room – look out the window at the star-filled night sky, Taiga admits that she had been worried about eloping and marriage. Ryuuji feels that they only have to start from here, and he thinks that it’d be best if everyone could give their blessing, including Taiga’s family. Taiga knows that this will probably take time, but Ryuuji doesn’t mind if it means that everyone will be happy instead of just the two of them. For the time being though, Taiga uses the bedsheets as a veil, and after Ryuuji has trouble figuring out what to say, Taiga reminds him of how he had once said that they were the tiger and dragon that have stood together for a long time, so they’ll be beside each other even if they don’t have vows. When Ryuuji then gets closer to her, Taiga comments on how a kiss would be painful, so he gives her a quick kiss. She complains, but she also notes that it was very hot, and since she’s cold, she asks him to do it again. Taiga barely is able to get this out before Ryuuji kisses her again, and since she keeps whispering to him for more kisses, he keeps kissing her.
Yasuko, Ryuuji, and Taiga head home the next day, and Taiga decides to go over to her own apartment first. She expects her mother to be there, but there’s actually no one around. Checking her voice mail, Taiga finds numerous messages from her mother that get increasingly exasperated until finally her mother angrily declares that she’s going home and that Taiga can do what she wants. Laughing at how childish her mother was, Taiga ultimately decides to write a letter to Ryuuji and leaves her apartment after taking a picture of the night sky. In the letter, she talks about how she had once felt that she wouldn’t be loved by anyone and how he had loved her as she was. Because of that, she has decided not to run away anymore and to change. Ryuuji recounts that Taiga never showed up for dinner that night, and his teacher informs the class sometime later that Taiga has quit their school and gone to her mother’s place. She uses this as an example to tell the class that they’ll encounter various crossroads from now on, and they’ll have to choose a path. Minori catches up with Ryuuji afterward and slaps him, since she doesn’t understand what’s going on, blaming him for letting Taiga go, until she is stopped by Yusaku, and Ami arrives as well. They listen as Ryuuji explains that he didn't want to let Taiga leave. He’s frustrated that she decided things on her own, but because she believes in him, he feels that he has to accept all this for now.
Going through Taiga’s apartment later, Ryuuji finds a bag that has a lot of things, including Taiga’s passport and student handbook. Inside the handbook, behind the picture of her and Yusaku during the cultural festival, is a picture of Taiga with Ryuuji. In the locker room. Minori apologizes for slapping him, stating she's "sorry not sorry". Ryuuji asks why she's apologizing if she doesn't mean it. She explains that she finally understands what he said about Taiga leaving and what she is doing. Ryuuji’s cell phone then vibrates with a new text from Taiga, and she reminds him that he technically never said that he loved her. She then sends him another text with which she attaches a certain image. Taiga sends this image to everyone in their class, and it’s what everyone is talking about the next day because they can’t figure out what it is.
Minori knows that it’s a picture of the night sky with a single star, and she thinks that it’s Taiga trying to tell them that she’ll do her best. Minori explains that the star is in the dark sky somewhere, and if that star shines more brightly, then they’ll be able to see it. In that same way, if they can each shine brightly, then no matter how far away they are, they’ll be able to see each other doing their best. The class likes this, and on Ami's suggestion, they decide to reply to Taiga with a picture of the Christmas tree star. While looking for it, Ami tells Ryuuji that she had been envious of how it seemed like Taiga was able to be herself and still be loved. She knows that this wasn’t really the case and that Taiga had actually not wanted to show her true face, and she realizes that she was the same way. Ami admits that she hated the part of herself that pretended to be an adult, but when she saw Taiga, she realized that if there is even one person who understands you, then things will be okay, even if it’s not love.
Ultimately, it’s Minori who finds the crystal star, and everyone in the class gets in on a photo around Ryuuji holding it. As the seasons pass without Taiga, Ryuuji thinks about how he’s the dragon and she’s the tiger that stand together. Even if she’s not there now, Ryuuji is firm in his feelings that he’ll be beside her no matter the distance or time. It soon becomes graduation time, and everyone is ready to move on, including Yusaku who is set to go to America to study. On the day of the ceremony, Ryuuji notices someone who resembles Taiga by the window of their old classroom, so he runs all the way up. Both he and Taiga know that there’s something in this world that no one has seen, something that’s gentle and sweet. Everyone would want it if they could see it, and for that reason, it’s not easily obtainable. However, in time someone will find it, and the person who should obtain it will find it. Ryuuji arrives at the classroom to find no one there, but he knows enough to check the locker in the corner, and indeed, Taiga is inside. Since he hadn’t before, he finally confesses that he loves her, and this gets her flustered enough to knock her head into his chin, yelling at him for not picking a better mood and place to say I love you.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
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