Toradora!/WMG

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Minori is bisexual

Let's look at the facts.

  • She has "radar for finding cute girls" (Episode 5)
  • She cares about Taiga. A lot. Enough to dump Ryuuji before he has the chance to confess to her to let Taiga have a shot at him and slap him when she thinks he's broken up with Taiga in episode 25.
  • By her own admission, she likes Ryuuji.
  • In episode 24 she cries when Ryuuji and Taiga leave together. The following conversation ensues:

Ami: And why are you crying? Is it because Taiga took Ryuuji away from you? Or --
Minori: I'm not even sure myself...

...I rest my case.

  • You forgot in episode thirteen, where she's the only girl to run the race for a chance to crown Taiga and ask her to dance.
  • Didn't she think out loud that she might be a lesbian during the summer villa episode?
  • At the very least, it's a case of If It's You It's Okay regarding Taiga.
  • That's not a very "wild" guess really is it?
    • It's been a slow day.
  • I had Minori pegged as a lesbian from the beginning; when she wasn't too busy devouring the scenery and acting Hot-Blooded, it was pretty easy to pick up on how much she loved Taiga. I never once felt that she had any sort of feelings for Ryuuji at all, and was somewhat exasperated when she admits to this in episode 24.
    • This is how I think of it: Minori was still struggling with her feelings. She knew for sure she was jealous of the idea of Taiga and Ryuuji pairing up, but (as she admitted to Ami) she wasn't exactly sure why. When you're a teenager and you think you might be gay, unless you come from an extremely open-minded background, it's going to be something that's hard to come to terms with. I almost thought her "admission" bordered on Sure, Let's Go with That: it was easier for her to explain away her behavior as being the result of unresolved feelings for Ryuuji rather than Taiga. The end result remains "you're both my friends, and maybe I do like one of you 'in that way,' but it doesn't matter, because I want you to be happy with each other." The closet may be transparent, but it still exists. That's my tin-hatted theory to keep away the Wall Bangers anyway.
    • My interpretation is Minori is lesbian with a case If Its You Okay regarding Ryuuji. Which still leaves her a semi closeted lesbian.

Minori ends up with Ami

The last three episodes in my opinion dance around this. Besides, now that Ryuuji and Taiga are out of the picture who does she turn to, why the person she has Foe Yay with. Things do seem to settle down rather quickly between the two of them after Ryuuji and Taiga hook up (finally!). Also Minori wouldn't even cry in front of Taiga but she'll cry in front of Ami. In the final episode they seem really at ease with each other too, there is a moment between the two of them right before they force Ryuuji to smile.

    • Which goes to show that the Les shippers will snap at anything. You know, there's this thing called friendship, and it's not sexual.

When Ryuuji crashed into Taiga at the beginning, Taiga was also not paying attention

Taiga has a long pause before she reacts to the crash, so she was probably thinking about something. After all, Kitamura just went into the room, so she was probably in her absentminded phase. I can even imagine what went on with Taiga. She was probably talking to Minori in the hall, and then when she saw Kitamura she stopped in her tracks, being to nervous to walk passed him. After he went into the room, she started walking again, and since Ryuuji and Taiga were both thinking about their crushes, they crashed into each other.

Minori is either a well known lesbian or Hollywood Homely.

I'm not quite sure which it is, but I've noticed that while most every other named female character has one or more people lusting after them, male or female, Minori seems to only have Ryuuji thinking about her in that way. In the books, while Ami and Taiga usually get blurbs about how beautiful or cute they are, Minori's only ever described in terms that indicate energy/GenkiGirl-ness than physical attractiveness. Incidentally, her personality seems to be what Ryuuji found attractive about her (he never thought too much about her beauty per se, but rather her personality and how her energy made him happy). Considering that less...virtuous thoughts come up in his thoughts about both Taiga and Ami, at least in the books, it's a bit conspicuous. Also, note how the guys react when Ryuuji finally comes out with his crush in the ski resort episode. It could be that they were really expecting it to be Taiga, but when I first saw it I got a vibe of "really? you like Minori of all people?" Of course, Minori looks quite cute to us, but that's through the filter of Hollywood Homely, so who knows what she "really" looks like compared to the others. Alternatively, it could be more of a "wow, Ryuuji is really barking up the wrong tree" kind of thought. Considering how violent fans of this show are (getting mad because Minori liked Ryuuji back seems a bit too much into the Die for Our Ship category) I may regret posting this, but it's been on my brain since I first watched the show.

  • Meh, If you compare Minori to the other girls of the series, she's actually the most average (Average build, average bust size, average height). Her face is also a bit less defined than Taiga's and Ami's, who have more delicate faces. Minori is homely by comparison and is pretty much average in every way. She's a Plain Jane compared to the Supermodel's daughter Ami or Rapunzel Hair, doll-faced Taiga.
  • Attractiveness is not determined by appearance alone, aside from the fact that it's very subjective. Bubbly, cheerful girls like Minori tend to be rather popular in real life, even if they're not that pretty. That said, Minori may not be model material, but at least she's depicted as having the same bodily proportions as Ami, which isn't bad at all.
  • The conversation in which Ryuuji admits his crush on Minori to his friends spells it out: Minori is the weird girl. Capital S-T-R-A-N-G-E. She's plenty attractive, but her personality fluctuates so much that she makes guys look at other girls.

Minorin, Yusaku, and Ami are reincarnations of several characters from Angel Beats!

  • Most obvious would be Yusaku, who'd, in his occasionally-inappropriately-shirtless glory, be a reincarnation of Takamatsu, who decided to study harder.
  • Aside from the similarity (kinda) in hair color, Minorin, being such a Genki Girl, could be a reincarnation of Yui. Bonus points for her also being on the softball team.
  • What with all the Les Yay Ami shares with Minorin, she could be a reincarnation of Hinata, who was a source of Ho Yay on Angel Beats!. Additionally:
    • Following the logic of what I just said, one might ask why Ami isn't part of the softball team, while her previous incarnation, Hinata, lived as a baseball player. ...I wouldn't know why either.
    • Note one of the aforementioned theories saying Minorin and Ami ending up together. With Angel Beats!, there's a theory that says the montage of Fond Memories That Could Have Been between Hinata and Yui wasn't a Distant Finale, but a depressing and desparate Imagine Spot on Hinata's part. I'm bringing up that part as possibly canon, at least in this theory, so this next bit wouldn't be contradictory: While Toradora is about how Taiga and Ryuuji got together, Ami and Minorin could be Heroes of Another Story, detailing particularly how Hinata and Yui meet after being reincarnated.