It feels much more dire, and much more permanent, imo. The novel pulls this off much better, making it clear that TaigaР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s mom intends to take her away immediately and forever, intends to force Taiga to change her name and whisk her off to who-knows-where, telling Ryuuji right then and there to forget that he ever knew Taiga. They also didnР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›t build up the threat enough in the anime for it to make sense that theyР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›d even feel the need to elope. The animeР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s ending Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†Р вЂљРЎС™ Taiga choosing to run off in the night, bailing on Ryuuji and Yasuko out of nowhere Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†Р вЂљРЎС™ is so incredibly gutting precisely because of the unforeseen nature of it all - it is so shocking and unexpected that youР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›re just sort of reeling from it all and going Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎв„ўwhat? what? WHAT? why?Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎС™ And it feels like a betrayal - to Ryuuji, to Yasuko, to the audienceР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р вЂ™Р’В¦ And then itР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s all just so heartbreaking to learn that a whole goddamn year passes before she comes back, and that Taiga doesnР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›t get to spend her last year of high school with her friends - her last possible chance to be with all of them. Taiga leaving was just terribly executed. Taiga, as we know her, and as sheР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s been developed in the anime, wouldnР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›t abandon Yasuko and Ryuuji (without a word!) to go and live with her horrible mother, for the flimsiest of reasons (itР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р вЂ™Р’В¦ will help her grow up? or something? How does going to live with an abusive and neglectful family help you grow up? What had she been supposedly running from, exactly? Fails all around, tbh). Because, in-universe, TaigaР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s actions genuinely make no sense. One of the most common criticisms of Toradora is that the ending of the anime just seems like drama for the sake of drama, sacrificing characterization for the sake of hitting you in the feels out of nowhere. sigh).Р В РІР‚СњР вЂ™Р’В«ut even with all the animeР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s strengths, the novelР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s ending blows the animeР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s ending out of the water. Though in the novel we get two separate kissing scenes, which is never a bad thing! Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р вЂ™Р’В¦.though neither of their kisses in the novel compare to the sheer perfection of their anime kiss. And many (MANY) of the animeР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s most iconic scenes never actually even happen in the novel (the most obvious being their gd swoon-worthy Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎв„ў mou ichidoР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р вЂ™Р’В¦Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎС™ wedding vow kiss scene. And the anime cut a lot of the extraneous stuff - it definitely focused more on Taiga/Ryuuji and less on Minori/Ryuuji (a lot of his scenes with her dragged on waaaay too long in the novel, dude). Their anime characterizations were just more adorable, more squee-worthy, and more shippable. To tell the truth, I actually preferred the anime over the novel 99.9% of the time. In other words, this post may be spoiling the eventual ending of the manga too. Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р вЂ™Р’В¦Also, as a double-warning, even to those who donР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›t intend to ever read the novel: if youР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›re a fan of the Toradora manga adaptation (and are continuing to follow it, even with its excruciatingly slow release schedule), you may want to note that the manga seems to be sticking to the novelР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s version of things (though there are exceptions there too) rather than the anime. There are spoilers in here for both the novel and the anime, obviously! So hereР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s an actual rundown of some of the differences between ToradoraР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s novel and anime, for anyone whoР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s interested.

Maybe someday IР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›ll do a whole big summary of the novel (or at least the scenes where I think the differences b/t the two are significant), but mainly, I want to tackle the biggest difference of all: that goddamn ending. (Throw in the adorable manga-only plot points too, while weР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›re at it!) but also for the sake of maybe getting more fanfics set in the novel-verse rather than the anime-verse? Maybe? Or, better yet, it would be great if fandom would just collectively combine the best aspects of both into one super-world where everything is awesome and nothing hurts. I wanted to do a write-up for the sake of quashing this bizarre fandom notion that the novel is exactly the same as the animeР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р вЂ™Р’В¦. I have this itching desire to make, like, a whole Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎв„ўnovel primerР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎС™ post for fans who havenР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›t read / arenР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›t interested in reading ToradoraР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s light novel but are at least curious about it. Apparently I have lots of opinions on it, lmao.Р В РІР‚СњР вЂ™Р’В®veryone keeps saying that the light novel ending to Toradora is identical to the anime adaptation - to which I say, what in the actual fresh hell? These people are either insane or just not very discerning, lol.Р В РІР‚СњР вЂ™Р’В«ecause yeah, holy shit, the two endings RADICALLY DIFFER in several, several important ways. So I finally got around to reading the Toradora light novel in its entirety.

Toradora light novel ending