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Jan 26, 2011
Toradora's not necessarily an oldie, but it is definitely a classic. If you like slice-of-life/school/romance animes with a hint of harem, then you MUST have this as a staple.
The story is great - the two reasons I can think of to complain is perhaps the beginning, where the railroad into the awkward relationship seemed a bit too weird, and the resolution, which seemed to be slightly too abrupt and then open-ended. Otherwise, never really breaks the suspension of disbelief at any time - one of the most natural animes I have seen in quite a long time. The producers managed to weave everything in quite
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smoothly and develop things at just the pace so that it drags on enough to make you want more rather than hitting you in the face with 1501816 things. Quite deserving score of 9.
Art is very good. Cute things are cute, ecchi things are ecchi, pleasing and again, smooth to the eye and fits the anime well. But from now on I'll try to reserve 10s for masterpieces that I pause for 30 seconds to gape at, so this gets a very, very high 9.
Sound pretty much the same as above. OP 1 VERY nicely done, OP 2 not bad at all. ED 1 was great, not as good as OP 1, but better than ED 2. Again, high score of 9.
Slight, gentle humor was there, but you don't need the humor so much in the anime to enjoy it. Emotional enjoyment was over the top and depth was very very good for a mundane (that is, no "beam of friendship" or "power of heart" fantasy ending kind of thing) school anime. Toradora really knows how to get subtle messages and tensions across, as well as to showcase the abruptness and muddled nature of people. Half the talk/exposition of, say, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (both seasons), ten times the impact. Definitely a 10 for enjoyment.
The characters of Toradora by themselves would redeem the anime if nothing else was satisfactory - ridiculous cast of characters and depth, up to the point where I didn't know who I wanted to ship as couples and how until a month after I saw it. It's one of the few harems that are not only ridiculously good but also wielded EXCELLENTLY by the story. The protagonist acts pretty well - he's not so much STUPID (unlike many other characters) as much as he is in denial of a lot of things (or sometimes he denies himself...) The other characters are also very heartwarming, especially when their mini-mini-stories get unfolded. Finally, the harem itself is ridiculous - there's a reason why Toradora couple shippings are very even relative to other animes (e.g. Rosario+Vampire is mainly taken over by Inner Moka and Mizore fans). Taiga is self-explanatory as a Tsundere Wonder, but Minorin, as the genki-but-not-so-shallow-selfless-girl, and Ami, as the deep, plot-moving girl that so many people (including myself) want to ship with the main character, don't give any ground in the story. In fact, Toradora ep. 14 is an episode that by itself, boots the anime into a whole new level just by developing the relationships as they would work out in real life. This is how nicely the characters are set up. As much as we'll rage on not getting our pairing because of the stupid canon, nobody can deny the quality of any of the characters. Gets an easy 10.
It was very moving - hardships without undergoing something ridiculous like a car accident, love tensions you would have a hard time cutting with a knife WITHOUT an entire episode of something stupid like the main character being witnessed holding hands, and a warmth that comes not from some fake cheery high-five ambiguous harem good ending, but because of the nature of how the characters are and how they're brought together. Definitely a 10 in my book, and it should definitely be watched at least once through.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 18, 2011
I don't care how well a formula works, when it's repeated three times with no changes, it screws over suspension of disbelief. Although enjoyable with some fist-pumping moments, the third season is definitely a letdown from the previous seasons and I hope they make a fourth season just to repent for the mess they created here. I will start out with the small stuff because I want to save the story until the end.
Art is the same as the last two seasons, it's nicely rounded out, and for being a cute/ecchi anime, the fighting scenes are better than expected, giving it a score of 7.
I've
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always really liked the Zero no Tsukaima soundtrack and music cues, so although nothing but the OP/ED changes, I will give it a 9.
Story was weird - I mean, it's built around the characters' backgrounds, sure, and then we have the interesting development midway, but nothing is really fleshed out and the end of the season feels more like facing just another Robotnik boss after shoving Sonic through a million winding tubes in Hydrocity Zone. I wish the general war/story/etc could focus almost entirely on how it affects the characters because that's what ZnT is based around. This random plot in the third season doesn't really excite me at all and I'd rather endure the agonizing fanservice. This gets a 3.
Characters, right. So the main reason I did this review was the rant about the characters, so get ready.
I seriously don't get why the makers of ZnT think it's all right to pull the same old romantic comedy junk without trying to develop the MAIN CHARACTERS one single bit. Yes, you can list all the things they've 'been through', but in the end, they're in the SAME GODDAMN PHASE that they were in at the end of Season 1. It's like they're daring each other - "are you willing to go this far for me?" or "you don't like me that much do you?" I mean...really? Being a Tsundere is one thing, but having chronic amnesia every episode is another. I thought I could endure it for season 3, but the first ten minutes of the very first episode almost literally made me spit out what I was drinking at that time because the fight that Louise and Saito had would be LUDICROUS to anybody else that had gone through what they had at the end of the second season. How does a life-changing event NOT lead to character development? ZnT is like the opposite of Clannad in the fact that almost all of the characters are completely inelastic except for maybe Agnes/Henrietta/Tabitha.
In summary, I hated the fact that after three seasons, the ZnT crew were still not up to the task of plotting out a realistic relationship of any degree. The only thing that keeps me from dropping the character score down to a 3 is the Henrietta/Tabitha development, which could go so many ways, so good for us, and the Colbert coolness factor, kicking the character score up to a 7.
Overall, I still did enjoy it - ZnT is mainly the anime where you get some smiles from the awkward moments and "aww"s from the cute moments and perhaps little else. I say perhaps because Saito's harem has ridiculous potential to not only enhance the viewer's experience but even the plot, both relationship and general, which gave me motivation to keep watching this thing. But anyways, watch this if you're a fan of ZnT, pray for a 4th season, and keep that suspension of disbelief locked in that cupboard.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 30, 2010
Obviously this will be reviewed in the same viewpoint of someone talking about Kimikiss rather than Clannad/Gurren Lagann. Anyways, let's see...
The general structure is pretty interesting, as well as an excuse to squeeze two nosebleed-causing mechanisms next to each other - namely, a shy high-school girl being cajoled into being sensual (the whole trance thing is an added bonus to the select demographics) and the workings of an eroge/other sexually explicit things that people just HAVE to do...for the sake of the company/family, of course. There's nothing especially special about it, it may develop, etc etc, but right now it's nothing especially cool, it's just
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a comfy setting. This leads to a nice 7.
Nothing that will lead to catharsis or enlightenment in terms of the artwork here, but it's not old-fashioned and it's cute enough, which means - in the biased way that I am - it gets a 6.
The characters I am very split on. Yayoi and that other guy that's running the whole childhood friend biz (Nagatoshi or whatever) ends up just being a running commentary for the most part, the professional seiyuu pair is a very nice side character development that I would like to see go further, and the artists are there to make the place not feel lonely but are otherwise superfluous, as are the female friends of Kanna - except they provide more fanservice/tension/plot railroading by harem-ing the place up later on, which I guess is fine.
Motoki, on the other hand, can pretty much just suck it. Quite honestly, as necessary as the whole 'reluctant blushing high school boy who got landed into a ridiculously strange/cool situation' may be, they don't give enough either coolness or some other redeeming personality to the guy to make up for being next to/inevitably stealing away the heroine. This is not the Misaki x Usui Maid-Sama shoujo pairing where you're just like "can't blame the girl for being into that guy" - namely, because he's just too quirky/nice/funny/honest/awesome. This is just like watching your best friend get the girl you liked. In front of your face. Several times. Without even trying. It's just my opinion, but I don't like being stuck in that situation, because I can neither imagine myself to be Motoki nor can I sympathize.
As for Kanna, she's a nice enough character, a bit more realistic than the rest, though the transition she makes from "omgwtfbbq eroge" to "oh yeah gimme that" is a bit too fast and choo-choo railroad for my tastes. I guess the fanservice requires it though, and she does pull out at the standard stops - namely, when new vocabulary comes around. There's certainly nothing to really dislike, but for right now, she's little more than the core of the fanservice/fetish machine that is part of this manga.
Because of the 'horsedick' guy/the big-chested girl combo + Kanna fanservice, I give the character rating a 7, slightly edging out the Motoki difference.
Enjoyment is a 7 - quite honestly, even with the viewpoints of more ecchi/romance/slice-of-life mangas I can't put this on the same level of enjoyment as, say, watching Amagami SS, where the changes happened rapidly but it was fun just to watch the regular interactions, the inner voices, and the blushing happening. The sporadic gobs of risque incidences and the general unfolding of the various character biographies make me feel comfortable, but it's not a series where I was/am raring to get to the next chapter. Sure, I'll keep up to keep that high from reading ecchi manga in my veins, but it's not addicting enough. Thanks for the fanservice, but you're no Yosuga no Sora.
Overall 7. Enjoy it, hide it under your bed, take it out at times of scarcity. It will serve you well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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