Toradora’s ending explained

The role of Ami in Toradora’s characters development.

When Amy show off for the first time in Toradora she plays the perfectly behaved princess type exploiting her attractiveness to reach popularity. However, Ami Kawashima undercover a deep sense of loneliness originated from the fear that the other people reaction if only they knew her true personality.

When her mask falls apart, Ami reveals herself to be cynical and sarcastic. She’s  an exceptional observer of others and can be bluntly honest to the point of rudeness. Ami Kawashima, in Toradora covers the role of narrator from inside (like in G. Verga novel’s Rosso Malpelo); she’s the eye of the audience from inside the story.

By sharply commenting Minori and Ryuuji’s actions she acts like an external point of view over the storyplot.

Ami Kawashima in Toradora

Ami’s sacrifice in Toradora ending.

Ami, together with Minori, undergoes an important effort at the end of Toradora. She has made a notable transformation from the selfish girl who was happy just to bask in the entire school’s adoration. In faxct,  it may not be in a kindhearted, compassionate manner, but Ami watches over the others and repeatedly does what she feels is best for them, even pushing Ryuuji to grow comfortable with saying he’s in love with Taiga.

Is Ami an unfulfilled character in Toradora?

One may have the sensation that Ami Kawashima is a character that does not complete her maturation process. While Minori declares her intention to become a star athlete, Kitamura plans to study abroad in the United States and Taiga goes away for a year to mend the broken relationships with her family, Ami’s plans are not revealed at the end of the anime series.

Minori, Ami and Taiga in Toradora.

Ami and Minori relationship on Toradora.

Ami dislikes Minori for much of the series for putting on an always-happy act and not being honest with herself or others. Like Minori, Ami also makes sacrifices for her friends and lets go of her romantic feelings. Unlike Minori, Ami isn’t able to voice her feelings until the very end with the last talk with Ryuuji.

Ami and Ryujii, a deep love never told.

Ryuuji doesn’t worship her or give her any special treatment; instead, treating Ami like he would any other classmate, which makes her feel more comfortable opening up to him. Ami herself is well aware of and annoyed by Ryuuji’s denseness, but even so, she only ever drops hints about liking him rather than telling him in a straightforward manner.

Taiga Aisaka (left) and Minori Kushieda (right)

The apparent strength and happiness of Minori Kishieda in Toradora.

Minori, in many times during the show decides to go back to the status quo and put on her “genki” personality. She doesn’t want anything to change. She refuses to accept that things DO have to change. So she doesn’t want to get together with Ryuuji because it’ll risk their friendship with Taiga and she doesn’t want to let Taiga get with Ryuuji because, as it clearly shows at the end, she thinks that they’ll be taken away from her.

Ami Kishieda is dishonest and hypocritical with herself. She doesn’t want anyone to help her but she goes out of her way and puts in so much extra effort to help other people. The Christmas’ arch highlights these aspects of Minori. She blames herself for everything and refuses almost any help until Ryuuji fixes the star with her and tells her it’s “not for her sake”.

The apparent happiness of Minori Kushieda.

Minori’s false strength and ‘ghosts’.

At the end, Minori is able to defeat her deep weakenss. Her whole speech while she’s running through the hallway confirms that. She’s not running away anymore, she’s trying to run towards her problems to confront them and she straight up finally tells Taiga that she doesn’t need anyone’s help to make her own happiness; she’s confident she can do it herself.

She calls out Ryuuji when he tries to maintain the status quo; she gets really angry and flips out on him for lying to Taiga yet again. In order to move forward you have to accept that things are going to change whether you like it or not.

And obviously Minori isn’t nearly happy enough with herself to think she deserves to be in a relationship with Ryuuji. The constant references to the “ghost story” makes that clear. At first she says she doesn’t know if she wants to see them then she says that she shouldn’t see them then she admits that she’s seen one but it wasn’t the right time for her to. She has the talk with Ami while shouting down the hallway that she’s changed.