For me, you see, it's all about Ami
I'm guessing that I managed to stick with ToraDora! because, unlike Author, I latched onto a character who could carry me through the ups and downs of the series. All hail Kawashima Ami!! [via ani-nouto]
I've never been a fan of KugiRie tsundere loli roles and Ami's appearance immediately shifted the focus off the bits of the Ryuuji-Taiga relationship that caused my face to scrunch up like a shrivelled prune. Ami has given Taiga another, probably more deserving, target for her outbursts. And, given the response to Ep 16, oh how we fanboys love catfights nya.
I'm just such a slut for Slut Type right now. And I'm not using the S word pejoratively WRT to Ami. More in the sense of someone who knows that they're good looking and isn't the least inhibited in flaunting it or using it to get what they want. Just love how she has the whole audience twisted around her little finger, responding right on cue to all her manipulations. And also the brief flash of her loose droolly smile of private pleasure at all that.
Even her homeroom teacher was vulnerable, praising her for being really mature for her age. Something that Minorin noted about her too. More than that, the little episode on the staircase between Ami and Yuri-chan-sensei was a great showcase about how her two-faced nature is more complex than the outer good masking the inner bad. Rather she tries to be kind to others. But in her own oblique sort of way.
This cruelty for the sake of kindness was also evident in the Yuusaku arc. She was the most clued-in that Kanou was the cause but also savvy enough to know that she wasn't the best one to take direct action. And I so do enjoy her playfully evil tone. Kitamura Eri, good job!
A critical intervention when she takes back Taiga's ID before the underlying photo could be revealed. Followed by right another one when she cut right to Minorin's core with her rhetorical question. If this was a basketball match, she'd be MVP for this episode. Well, she's always my MVP. Even if she doesn't always get as much screentime as I'd like, I've still managed to savour all of it. *slurp slurp SLUUUUURRRRRRP*
I do believe the above screencap says it all. 
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January 31st, 2009 - 21:34
Agreed….but yet another forsaken “side character”
Our demands for justice falls often on deaf ears.
January 31st, 2009 - 21:57
It’s really sad that Ami has been in third place all season long, but she’s one of my favorite characters in the show as well. I am just hoping for an Ami-Minori showdown before Taiga comes in and beats them all by virtue of being a “KugiRie tsundere loli” I am not a fan of this archetype either, but Taiga barely treads just around the acceptable mark for me (like Shana and unlike Louise).
January 31st, 2009 - 22:30
The_Observer, it’s a tad ironic that Ami is very much a main character from the point of view of the class. But the series *is* named after Taiga and Ryuuji. And in that order.
Kabitzin, Shana was fine for too. But I think mainly because of Shana-tan. LOL And I was definitely too loose with the use of the S word. Wish I could think of something better. But I also keep thinking of that comment for the CoalGuys Ep 11 fansub on TT. LOLOLOL
WRT Yasuko, oh that’s easy – MILF.
February 1st, 2009 - 02:58
It seems to me like the non-Japanese fanbase, or at least the English-speaking section, exhibits a strong preference for Ami, especially compared with Kugimiya Flat-Chested Loli Bitch # XA67HG3C (although they do seem to have refined the formula, thankfully). I wonder how that plays out in the original audience, though. Is Ami just inadvertently better-suited for gaijin audiences?
But ARGH, banging my head against the wall at the now-more-blatant inevitability of Taiga-Ryuuji in 17. I could probably count on one hand the number of romantic/harem comedy series where the guy makes a choice I didn’t think was a huge mistake. True Tears, Honey & Clover (stretching the definition of romantic comedy, but he really did make the right choice), Tokimeki Memorial -Only Love-, and SHUFFLE! are the only ones I can think of right now. There’s always hope for Hayate, too.
February 1st, 2009 - 06:17
I don’t mind Ryuuji x Taiga since they’ve been hinting at it since the beginning of the series and they don’t make a bad couple to me – but Ami’s definitely my favorite side character, even if she probably doesn’t have much chance of winning she’s a lot of fun to watch. Since the light novels are still going, I’m guessing we won’t get anything resolved for sure, although they’ll probably end it on some kind of positive note in Ryuuji and Taiga’s relationship.
February 1st, 2009 - 08:38
Ransom, I’m not entirely surprised that Taiga would be the most popular chara among Japanese fandom (though I am slightly surprised that the fad for the type in general has lasted so long) but I am surprised at how popular Ami is among English-speaking fandom. After all, when she first appeared, she was seen as a vain, manipulative bitch. Is the cultural difference in allegiance just down to DFC vs. DD fandom!? LOLOLOL (more on pairing in my response to Suguru)
Suguru, I’ve got nothing against Ryuuji x Taiga pairing and I think the light novel ending that you speculated about would be a very appropriate one – it’s hard for a guy and a girl who have settled into a platonic SOP to get that kind of romantic spark from an initial non-platonic setup. Unless one believes that there is no such thing as a platonic relationship between a guy and a girl.
WRT to Ami, I’d be most happy if she *doesn’t* so-called ‘win’ Ryuuji. She talked about equality but she’s way above him IMHO.
Given the eroge origins of many harem series, I tend to think of endings as X ‘winning’ Y. But sometimes the harem lead is such an arse and the winning haremette is so unlikeable that they so totally deserve each other (Evirus would probably say: Go Junichi x Nemu! in that vein LOL). In other cases, when a perfectly nice girl wants to pair up with an arse, it gives me pause about her sanity, intelligence, why did I like/support this chara in the first place!? (Stripey wrote a post about this IIRC)
February 2nd, 2009 - 13:12
Ami is definitely my favorite character of the entire show. I’ve always been impartial to girls like her though. She really does make the show a ton lot better than it was before she was around.
February 2nd, 2009 - 14:26
I’m more a Minorin guy. Ami never really managed to redeem herself in my eyes from her actions when she was introduced. It’s not outright hatred of the character, but just an uncomfortable non-like.
Taiga, by comparison, is completely uninteresting.
February 3rd, 2009 - 10:41
Sometimes a lost cause is the one worth fighting for.
I think it speaks volumes about how great Ami’s character when we all know she’s going to get shafted, but we’re going down swinging with her anyway.
February 4th, 2009 - 02:58
Ami, heh? Fine character indeed. Though I can’t really say that anyone in ToraDora is my favourite. I like them all the same (except Taiga. Kugumia-powered tsunderes being my first animated love and all that).
Many people label this show as “harem”. But it’s not. Sure, Ryuuji has his share of attention, but nakama-like dynamics is what powers it. Whatever romantic output it will have (if any), is not that important in my eyes.
P.S. Yes, I’m unobjective. In fact, I’m doing my fanboy dance right now.