[*Whatever By The Books*]

Oho. Much as the preview from ep 4 promises, ep 5 brings the arrival of Ami, a pretty (though she looks normal to me) but supposedly-ditzy girl who is…-dundundun- Kitamura’s osanananajimi. Osananajimi! The power of this word! Thankfully, she’s quite a bitch, and proves to be one as soon as the guys turn away.

Honestly, though, while I can see the allure of osananajimi (I’m jealous of people who have had these, too -wry-); do they truly work out in real life? Wouldn’t it be a classic case of Westermarck Syndrome; in which children raised together feel less romantically attracted to each other? What do you think? Osananajimi as partners in real life: yea or nay?

It also seems Taiga goes into scary mode at least once every ep. Curious to see whether it’ll continue to be like this. XD

Also, anyone wonders why Minorin, of all people, would have a cute-girl-detecting radar? Then again I suppose no other character would do that..XD But she’s adorable, as always! (Look at that letter from her. -chuckles-) Last note: Ryuuji’s mom rests her boobs on the table. -wry-

Slideshow of screenshots below, visit the gallery to see them all at once. And yes…gonna solidly blog Toradora this week, so I can catch up with latest episode by next week. ^^ Refer to next post. XD

Overall, this was a nice episode with good pacing; rather touching too.

Taiga is so cute. ‘Rice is dripping out of Ryuuji’s ears’?! And Ryuuji is a real homebody; beautiful breakfasts, helping to clean up…oho, even if he does find Taiga’s photo album featuring shaky stalker pics of Kitamura. XD He even makes cute bento. Though the mold-exterminating tendencies are a bit..uhh. “Takasu Mold-killing Buster!”

Also, English in Toradora…”It has been stopped in the airport though he tried to take the unusual one home from the foreign country. The unusual one was called in the world that meant t tiger in the country. After all, the wish did not have to be fulfilled…” etc etc.

At this point I’m still a bit puzzled. I keep wondering whether Taiga and Ryuuji will end up together even though they like other people, since they -are- the main characters. XD Maybe I’m just trying to put too much of a romance spin on it. ^^ Have you ever been in a situation like Taiga’s, where someone confessed to you and was rejected, but you found you liked that person afterwards?

Slideshow below, enter the gallery if you can’t see the slideshow flashness.

On the way to school, Taiga and Ryuuji hear this strange homerun song coming from a court. They investigate, to find it’s Minori playing ball — Ryuuji rhapsodises over her. (Zomg even her sweat sparkles!) Aside from being a softball player, we find out Kushieda is truly multitalented, working as a cellphone decorator, waitress, and @ convenience stores, karaoke clubs, and shabu-shabu places! What casual jobs have you worked?

Aside from the arubaito revelation, we wonder whether Kushieda really is that happy all the time. Later in the ep, Ryuuji drags Taiga along to work at one of Kushieda’s jobs — predictably, he gets locked up with Kushieda in a cellar just as soon as she cheerfully remarks it would be troublesome if that happened. Watch it to see what happens. :P

On a sidenote, I bought a set of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum, and ate three while I watched this episode…-_-

Screenshot slideshow below, or visit the gallery.