RRV: Toradora 5-8

Ami Kawashima has arrived, and with her comes the inevitable beginnings of the Ryuuji mini-harem and the rivalry between her and Taiga.

I don't particularly like Ami (Eri Kitamura), nor that fact that she rounds out the harem of girls Ryuuji may or may not end up with, but as with Toradora in general, she does have her purpose, other than being an insufferable bitch (yes, I really do think she is). If there's anything about her presence I do like, it's that she drives Taiga and Ryuuji closer together. Her methods, however, are still rather infuriating, and I wish her attitude would be a little more subdued. Whether she's being "cutesy and likeable Ami-tan" or her own brand of selfishness and cruelty, I can't see why anyone would want to hang out with her, osananajimi or not. She does make a rather good foil for Taiga, though: Ami is the pinnacle of shallowness and obsessed with conforming to society, whereas Taiga, for the most part, doesn't give a damn what people think about her (unless it's Kitamura, which is one of the reasons for why they're a bad match). Even Ami recognizes and admires this trait in the Palmtop Tiger after she beats up a stalker that Ami herself was terrified of, and it's what allows her to open up a little more and be less pretentious (though she's still a royal bitch, which I suppose is better than her pretending she isn't).

The fact that I do dislike her as much as I do means that the author did a good job in writing her character, however; after all, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. Ami doesn't have to be a likable character to fulfill her role, and hers isn't a particularly favorable role to start with. She's the rival for Ryuuji's affections (the active one; Minori is more of an object for his affections), and she likes messing with Taiga because she can. She's also a fanservice draw, something that Taiga and Minori aren't very good at (Taiga is pretty, but too violent, and Minori is too bizarre), and her attempts to get closer to Ryuuji are what cause Taiga to cling more tightly to him. That saying about not knowing what you have until it's gone rings very true for Taiga; even though Ryuuji isn't really hers, her bond with him is something she's never known before, and she feels that Ami is a threat in taking that bond from her. For all intents and purposes, Ami intensifies Taiga's tsundere nature, and Taiga works backward to annoy Ami with her obliviousness toward her own growing feelings for Ryuuji, which fuels the cycle and causes Ami to tease Taiga again.

Thus, when Ami challenges Taiga to a swimming contest with Ryuuji's summer vacation on the line, everyone (except Ryuuji, who assumes she's doing it to impress Kitamura) realizes that Taiga is doing it to prevent the "baka chihuahua" from taking Ryuuji away to her summer house. She, of course, denies it to everyone but Ryuuji, whom she gets angry at for not getting it. However, when Ryuuji almost drowns in the middle of the competition, Taiga forfeits in order to help him, and she openly declares that he belongs to her, abandoning her pride in the aftermath of the accident. It's a result of what Ami does best; she forces Taiga to drop her excuses and to take a look at what she already has, even if that isn't exactly her intention most of the time.

Quick Thoughts:

-Even if you're stressed out because of a stalker, that doesn't mean you have the right to be a total bitch to a girl you just met and then to pretend it was her fault when she slaps you out of anger.

-Also, why would anyone be friends with someone who acts that cutesy all the time?

-Referring to yourself in third person is nauseating.

-"Stop sexually harrassing my mother!"

-The tiger has marked her territory. Good luck getting Minori now, Ryuuji.