Taiga and Ryuji are the only characters in Toradora that have experienced any “growth” throughout the series. I say that very sparingly because it wasn’t as if their character changed as much as it was that they were shown to have been accepted by those around them.  The key point here is that they were always the way they have been portrayed in recent episodes. For instance, Taiga has always supposedly been hyperactive and cheerful. Albeit, the presumed history would say it was only around her best friend Minori. This is shown in both the opening credits of the show (both versions) and in her interaction with Minori during each episode.

Taiga and Ryuji share the same distinction in that they were “misunderstood.”  The other characters have diverged from their set personalities at times or we were given some small glimpse into their inner thoughts, but for the most part all the characters are the same as when we were first introduced to them in the beginning. It is that we know more about them now, in particular, Taiga and Ryuji.

From my last Toradora post:

If there is one common vein in the connections between characters in Toradora, it is that the characters were fixed in a direction and they continue in that direction no matter the results.

I think this is what people have been seeing in the story that has kept them watching. Toradora’s story is about people being people. We’ve all grown accustom to characters having some type of revolutionary change.  There is always some event that forever alters the landscape of the plot and the characters themselves. Whether it be the average school boy who turns out to be the only one who can pilot a giant robot to save the Earth, or the Magical Girl who turns out to be the only one who can control the legendary power that can save the world. Most of all, we are conditioned to look for an antagonist, or something approaching that of an evil opponent that the hero/heroine must face in order to save that which need saving.  That conveniently distressed something-or-other.

It isn’t that Toradora is without these antagonist who are the enemies of our beloved characters. No, this is very much not the case. As a matter of fact, it would seem that there are an equal number of opponents, one for each of our cast. Each one has somebody to face off against in the final battle for all our salvation.  Of course, they may be a bit hard to find if you aren’t looking for them. Because, like you or I, the opponents that are most challeging to the characters in Toradora are they themselves. With each character, the one who is constantly tripping, stifling, and getting in the way of their wants is nonother than the same person who wants.