- She has "radar for finding cute girls" (Episode 5)
- This is enough proof in of itself; straight people don't have gaydar!
- This totally straight female troper and her mother beg to differ.
- 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... - In episode 14 one of the culture festival photographs she's buying portrays a girl in a maid outfit (proof can be seen here).
- 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.
- My interpretation is Minori is lesbian with a case If Its You Okay regarding Ryuuji. Which still leaves her a semi closeted lesbian.
- This all suggests that a neater solution may have been possible... Ah well.
- 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 long-haired, 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 manga, being told from Ryuuji's POV with thought bubbles, calls more attention to how cute he finds her. It's not just her personality. In Ryuuji's eyes, she's the whole package: pretty, shapely, and fun to be around. As with any measure of attractiveness, YMMV.
- 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.
- 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.
- Ryuji is Kyon.
- Kitamura is Koizumi.
- Kushieda is Asahina, completely inverted.
- Ami is Nagato, with more wisdom, bitterness, and free will.
- It was purchased in Hawaii, and presumably not readily available in Japan or at least not in the small town where they live.
- Taiga intended to take it on the trip to Okinawa.
- It is rather small, fitting in a pouch about the size of a pencil bag.
- It costs a moderate amount of money, enough to warrant paying back Ami, but not so much that Ami would ask for the money in advance.
- A bikini. Taiga expresses dissatisfaction with the local bathing suit selection and refuses to wear a children's suit. She may have asked Ami to look for a stylish and mature suit (possibly with built in padding) for her in Hawaii that she could wear on the Okinawa trip. And there is semi-official artwork showing Taiga in a bikini.
We know he's going to America and it seems highly unlikely that he's going for any reason other than chasing after Sumire, just like she said he would if he knew she loves him (which he does after her and Taiga's fight). But he didn't throw away everything like she feared, waiting until he graduated to go after her. Sounds like just the sort of deal she might have insisted on: "You can come join me but not until you graduate."
Taiga’s small size, childlike appearance and flat chest at age 17 are probably from a medical condition known as hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, most likely Kallmann Syndrome. Patients with this condition have delayed or absent puberty and as a result don’t get their growth spurts. Women with the condition often don’t develop breasts or get their period.
- Highly unlikely. Kallmann Syndrome comes with a host of other developmental issues. Almost all sufferers have little to no sense of smell, and many others have little to no sense of hearing, a cleft lip, one kidney not developing, abnormalities with the teeth and eyes, scoliosis (twisted spine), poor balance and synkesis of the hands (one hand mirroring the movement of the other). All of these are issues with bodily development. Taiga, by contrast, has an exceptional sense of smell and perfectly normal hearing, with none of the associated abnormalities. Taiga is simply short with little breast development.