If you’re reading this in a feed reader and it has no images, it’s because I hit publish before I had any in. OTL
Masks. Disguises. Hidden identities and covered up sentiments. They’re everywhere in anime. Geass, Darker than Black, ef-melodies — all of these and plenty more have made use of the mask in varying degrees of stupidity and obviousness. Of all anime’s tropes and clichés, this has to be one of the themes that bothers me the most. Why? Why not catching colds in the rain, little sisters, onsen episodes, sad girl in snow, pantyshots, or the lack of people over thirty? I think it’s because the “mask” idea lets writers get lazy without paying the price for it. It’s a faux-deep concept that, when done right, can transcend and cross over to True Depth, but when just kind of barely done, lets an otherwise weak anime slide by. And when, by the end, a character “becomes the mask,” how often is it really a surprise? Oh, joy. Lelouch became the mask. (or did he, etc)
Toradora is sitting pretty in plenty of fans’ best-of-’09 lists already, even though the new-car smell hasn’t worn off said lists. But it happens to be one of those series that uses the theme all over the place. It’s not broadcast, with half-baked Shinbo-isms hanging on the wall, but it’s there in spades. More junk after the jump.
What are they hiding?
Everyone in Toradora has something they’re hiding, some form of mask they’re wearing. From early on in the series, Minori was the obvious one. She was cute, she was comic, and she was easy to believe as the target of Ryuuji’s awkward love. But no one’s that genki. Lately her facade — which hides feelings for Ryuuji, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of betraying Taiga, feelings of envy, god knows what else — has become so multi-layered that it’s no wonder Ami was able to find a gap in her armor.
Kitamura, too, put on a multi-faceted front for a long time at the expense of his own sanity. It was memorable when he cracked, dyed his hair, and ran away from home, but have you noticed that he hasn’t quite been the same since? It’s been healthy for him to let some of his true personality hang out, just as it’s been refreshing to see Ami do the same.
“Bitch masquerading as cutey-pie” is obvious as all hell, and it’s where a lot of anime storytelling would stop. But what about her reasons for acting the bitch? Now that’s a truly intriguing question that we haven’t really gotten an answer to yet, even if the hints are there. For my money, Ami is one of the best characters in a lovecom/drama such is this I’ve ever seen.
Of course, the really interesting facades belong to Taiga and Ryuuji. And it’s surprising, but somehow Ryuuji ended up being the one who is hiding his feelings even from himself. He should be used to the concept, having had to put up with people misjudging him for his looks. But on the inside, this “best male lead in for fucking ever” (my words) is as mixed up and confused as any typical anime character.
It’s the culture?
I’m no sociologist, and I’m hardly an expert on Japanese culture, but from what I understand there are pressures from all sides for the Japanese to conform, be an effective cog, and not make waves. I’m sure this explains why the subject of putting on a front (especially the Minorin style) resonate so strongly with anime viewers, who probably already feel pretty different from the norm.
What’s the difference
If so many anime roll out the mask trope on a regular basis, what makes Toradora special in this respect? There are two main reasons in my mind.
First, In Toradora, we (the viewers) don’t get to see past the masks, either. We can suspect what the truth is — that Ryuuji has more of a harem than he thought — but keeping a little knowledge from us (the Eureka effect) just adds to our “must watch next week” zombification.
Secondly (and more importantly), the facades have created an intricate web of carefully plotted deceits and strained interactions that color the entire plot of the story. These characters are for real, and the world isn’t just black and white. So what if Ryuuji has finally realized that he might have feelings for Taiga? In a lesser story, Minorin would suddenly disappear from his mind. But that’s not how it works in real life, and thankfully that’s not how it works in Toradora either.
When I first started writing this post, I was going to say “I can’t wait to see what happens when we start to see the masks crumble,” as is inevitable, but I think episode 21 gives a pretty good partial answer to that question. The Dark Side of the Minorin, Sad Ami in the Snow — Toradora uses these twisted up tropes to further assert its superiority over its genre.
In short, let me be the billionth person to say: awesome show.
Faux-depth, as you call it is I think more a problem of the viewer who labels the persona behind a social mask who immediately concludes it as deep.
Were we given enough insight to Michel Blanc’s character as to why he’s a playboy? Why does he really keep Klan Klan away? We know that there’s a sensitive person beneath the callow exterior due to what happened to his sister, but the correlations are sketchy at best.
What I’m concerned about is that we have been strung along enjoyably, and now that there’s only a few episodes left – there may not be enough breathing room for proper resolutions, unless there is some kind of cliffhanger for some characters.
Will Ami be as interesting or remarkable for you if her behavior isn’t explained or resolved this season? I’ve no idea if there will be sequels, though I do know that the narrative is extended in the light novels.
Given that you mentioned that Toradora doesn’t let us past the masks, what if it never did? Would it be as satisfying?
Ghostlightning’s comment gives me an interesting thought on how exactly Toradora is going to end. Normally with shows such as this we end up with most if not all the characters pairing off, some giving up on their feelings, but in the show most of the cast (die, Kitamura) just don’t give off the sort of aura that would mean they’d take it lying down. The tension during some episodes is palpable, and I doubt that that’d just disappear after a few quick resolutions.
ghostlightning:
I don’t want to get back into the “intention means nothing, there is only interpretation” argument (it’s hard to win that one with you
), but some blame must be put on writers who use that as a crutch. As for Michel, he was the victim of another anime writing crutch: Vaguely Tragic Backstory.
I think in light of episode 21′s events, there’s plenty of time. The alternative would be going on for another 25 (or even just these 5) episodes without any suitable resolution, whatever that may happen to be.
I don’t know. But I think so. There is no reason we should ever have to know everything, and there’s nothing that keeps people talking long after a show’s aired than continued mystery. It mirrors that “what if” that we feel about our own lives sometimes. As for the story, I’ve heard that the novels have ended and most speculation has leaned toward a (probably faithful) ending for the anime as well.
Omisyth:
Let’s hope not. I can think of few worse disservices to a quality show than to have it ruined by a typical ending. Satisfaction for shippers or neatly tying up all the ends is rarely the right way to resolve things.
@ otou-san
“Tragic Backstory” is probably a trope, that may not be bad in itself, but if indeed ‘used as a crutch’ – a way too easy path to suggesting ‘depth’ it wouldn’t be as good.
But how do we know if it’s a crutch? When can we tell if it’s propping up weakness in character presentation? I’m neither being sarcastic or rhetorical here. I would really like to know – especially in the case of Toradora!