Ranked #59

Toradora!

"There are things in this world that no one has seen.
It is gentle and sweet.
If everyone could see it they would probably fight for it.
Thats why no one has seen it...
The world hid it so that no one can get their hands on it easily...
However, someday, someone will find it."

This a story school life story about a boy meet girl only with a twist. the boy has a friend which the girl likes and the girl has a friend which the boy likes, thus beginning a heartwarming epic about the lives of the boy and girl and everyone around them.

Often times people are misunderstood and get bad first impressions but for those who are willing to see through those misunderstandings await rewards that may be incomparable to anything else in the world. This is a main driving point for the story which will tie into the very first and last lines of this anime and after watching will leave u touched in ways your average animes cannot.

Ryuuji Takasu, an intimidating looking boy in love with Minori and whose best friend is Aisaka Taiga a short but vicious girl finds out that Taiga likes his best friend Kitamura and after a midnight assassination attempt by Taiga, works together so that their loves can be fulfilled. As the story progresses not only do they not get any progress, but they begin to realize their feelings for each other as they spent most of their time together.

Plot development and character development is ongoing and through the course of these 25 seemingly short episodes, you will find that there is absolutely no fillers and that the characters are unique, funny, and heartwarming to watch. Everyone in a sense will get their mini arcs which consist of an episode or two but the main focus as you will notice is how the feelings for Taiga change over the course of the anime. As the story progresses, you will become attached to all the characters with feelings for everyone of them for all these characters are far from being recycled material.

Plots and characters aside, Toradora also has a very catchy and addictive opening and ending tracks which are inserted perfectly to provide transitions into the start of an episode as well as transitioning into the end. Because of this, episode intros and endings are not abrupt which contributes into the overall enjoyment as well as leaving you wanting more (especially if you were watching it when it was being released weekly).

If you managed to read this far and asked yourself, "do i want to watch this?" my reply is that you most likely do. This story is not all about romance since it deals with family situations and that not everyone is content in life. To be more in depth, this is a more realistic romance story even if its superficial at some points, but overall is an anime you cannot put down once you start.
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Toradora! is a wonderfully fresh comedy-romance about two unique people finding an unlikely relationship with one another.

There's a simple storyline: I like your best friend, you like my best friend--hey, why don't we work together and help one another out?? Takasu Ryuuji has a crush on the best friend of Aisaka Taiga. Coincidentally, Taiga has a crush on Ryuuji's best friend. Being two of the most misunderstood people on campus, and having certain related romantic goals, they decide to help one another out.

So the story turns into what is one of the most hilarious, interesting, and involving tales of matchmaking by two of the most unqualified people in anime. Sure, the content for the story is not the most original. Even in Shakespearean times, stories of matchmakers end rather predictably. The difference with Toradora! is that perhaps the destination is known but it took a very different route to get there. And as the story continues to play out, it actually manages to surprise us by ending up somewhere that we did not plan for, but is infinitely so much better.

Each action in this anime is handled well; significant things happen during the most inane of moments only to come back a few episodes later to surprise us. The plotting of Toradora! is linear, but it dishes out details so carefully that by the end of an episode, you're left wondering what has just happened and what it means for the next episode, the next few episodes and for the anime in its entirety. The only downfall is again, the mentioned predictability. If you can come up with at least three different scenarios while watching this anime, there's a chance that at least one of those will actually happen. For purely enjoyment's sake, the storyline is actually rather amazing.

Toradora! has a simple art style. The clean character art lacks detail. The use of colour is actually rather commendable, as it has a robust colouring. The character design is very good, although perhaps at points, some characters' eyes may be too large for them for their own good. The animated sequences however are rather excellent. There is great use of the animation for the intense facial features the characters express during emotional scenes; it shows us best that when we're angry or sad, we don't exactly look the prettiest.

Sound for the anime is not exactly the most memorable aspect. The background music suited the energy of the anime. There are some poppy, catchy OP and ED theme songs, sung by the seiyuu themselves. The voice acting for this anime is pretty tight, and each character certainly gives their seiyuu a run for their money, evoking almost every sort of emotion imaginable without once sounding contrived, forced or uninvolved in their roles.

This was what interested me the most about this anime--the characters. Certainly the protagonist Ryuuji is one of the more unusual I have ever met. Unusual in the sense that he's really just a nice guy. Unfortunately, despite being a gentle, caring and easy-going person, everyone around Takasu thinks he's a ruffian bad boy because of his appearance. He has his quirks that make him endearing, such as his penchant to be a neat freak and his ability to manage a home like a housewife could. Ryuuji's one downfall seems to be his inability to take action in his life, to take charge of anything, though throughout the course of the anime, he very slowly learns that despite thinking he's a grown up (living with an excitable, slightly immature, very young mother made him assume the role of the "adult" in the house), he still needs to grow up.

Then there's Taiga, the series' second protagonist, a pint-sized tsundere with a mouth and mind that's as devious as her punch (and trust me... it's pretty devious). Taiga spends most of the anime being an irrational hothead, getting into scrapes and fights to stand up for her beliefs. On the flip side, she is rather incompetent when it comes to her emotions, becoming an insecure mess whenever she realises that she cannot solve a problem by pushing it away from her.

Alongside two interesting protagonists, Toradora! has an amazing supporting cast.

Kushieda Minori or Minorin, is Taiga's best friend and Ryuuji's love interest for the most part. While she comes across initially as a cheerful, carefree airhead, Kushieda manages to surprise both the audience and other characters by being a lot deeper emotionally than her eccentric behaviour allows us to think. Like most of the characters, who are young, confused and are bursting with feeling, Kushieda surprisingly is the type of person who withdraws within herself, keeping a distance from her problems. Though, as she learns throughout the anime, running away and stepping back might actually be more of a selfish thing to do than selfless. And selfless she is, as everything she does is to make other people, especially Taiga, happy. Minori is possibly the most complicated character out of the lot and is the toughest one to understand; you are left at points wondering exactly WHO her affections are directed at, and who it is motivates her and stirs the cockles of her heart. You are left to wonder if perhaps Taiga means something else to her.

Ami provides some rival-based humour to the anime, being a contending force against Taiga's sovereignty in the school. But she's not just the snarky, bitchy antagonist; Ami is probably the smartest, most perceptive character in the entire cast. Not simply because she's sly that allows Ami to be so adept to people's behaviour or feelings, but because of her cleverness and level of maturity, she has a deep understanding everyone's motives before they even have a clue about it themselves.

And then there's Kitamura, who is Taiga's love interest for the most part, as well as Ryuuji's best friend. Kitamura is rather zany, but is probably the most dependable character of the anime. His reliability makes him a source of emotional and logical strength for the other characters, however, as any teenager may be, he is just as flawed and has his weaknesses as anyone else.

Toradora! has numerous strengths, which makes its weaknesses all the more noticeable, however, the magnificent aspects of this anime overshadow any of its flaws. In the end, it remains simply as one of the most enjoyable, fun, emotionally involving stories about the lives of these high schooled kids on their way to being adults. And that way is certainly laden with confusion, humour and bittersweet pain. But that's how it is to be a teenager. The anime does not play out the way we think it will, and when it does, it still manages to add a twist here and there to keep a viewer on their toes.

With a twist on an old story, amazingly absorbing characters, and lots of humour, drama and romance thrown in, Toradora! manages to be a great addition to the anime world, having one of the most different conclusions than other anime of its type would ever have.

Toradora! is a great anime that should not be passed up. Taiga and Ryuuji are two people you will definitely become attached to. And who doesn't want to see the only two beasts who can compare to one another, a tiger and a dragon, try to figure out their lives? read more