とらドラ！ 弁当の極意
Toradora!: The Essential Parts of a Bentou
Toradora!: Bentou no Gokui OVA

At school during lunch, Yuusaku brings in a massive, elaborate bentou that was made by his grandmother, which he then shares with his friends. Ryuuji finds himself challenged by how good it is and so the following day, brings in a pork cutlet bentou. However, “Mio-chan” has made an onigiri lunch for Yuusaku, complete with remarkable fillings. Taiga is now hungry for onigiri and so when they go to the store, she wants to buy the stuff for making onigiri, though Ryuuji is caught up in his imaginary battle with Yuusaku’s grandmother.

The following day, Ryuuji has Cup Ramen, complete with a hot water thermos, but he’s stunned when Yuusaku’s grandmother has a Cup Soup for him as well as a sandwich, something Taiga now fancies. That evening, Taiga stops by the family restaurant where Minori works to get a sandwich and extra fries. Meanwhile, Ryuuji frets over how to top “Mio-chan” and his solution is to sneak in a rice cooker into class in order to have a perfect lunch. Yuri-sensei smells the cooking rice and finds the device, confiscating it and making Ryuuji a laughing stock.

Later, on the roof of the school, Ryuuji is depressed over his “loss” and Taiga has a bentou for him — onigiri. However, the onigiri are too salty, so when they go home, Ryuuji turns them into another dish to lessen the salt. It is then that he begins to understand the essential parts of a bentou — making the stuff the person eating the bentou likes AND is most conducive for the situation they are in (simple for needing to eat in a hurry, elaborate for sharing with everyone). Lesson learned, Ryuuji joins some of the others for an ohanami under the cherry trees when Taiga, Ami, and Minori come up, Taiga having made a bentou.

It is nice returning to the Toradora! anime realm, though this episode really had nothing in it of substance.

All of the characters got some lines, which was a nice touch. Taiga and Ryuuji were at the center of things (understandable), but somehow, there was just something lacking. I guess it was the elements of Taiga and Ryuuji with their intendeds (since I think the episode takes place prior to Ryuuji and Taiga coming to terms with each other).

Still, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the episode. Even though it felt contrived at times, it still had moments that made me smile and even laugh a bit. Mostly, it was just good seeing the characters back and it made me want to rewatch the anime on DVD.

There wasn’t quite enough Ami though. ^_~

Anyway, as I said, while nothing of substance, it was still nice seeing the Toradora! crew. ^_^