Nov 9, 2015
I went into this expecting the average romance set-up or perhaps some slight deviation from it. In the end though Toradora blew that idea out of the water. It did nothing of the sort, at least not in my eyes. There are so many aspects of this show that I feel were done fantastically, especially in terms of character development, foreshadowing, and pacing. The whole cast is developed well, and I genuinely found myself attached to almost all of them by the end. I really hate black and white characters and I didn't find that many in Toradora, which I can really appreciate. An
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example of this would be Tiaga, who, despite looking like your average Tsundere on the surface, isn't like most other Tsunderes. She's not aggrsssive for the sake of being aggressive, and she's given actual reason to act the way she does. Toradora does rely on some cliffhangers, but considering all the episodes have been long-aired already this isn't a problem. The dubbed version to be found on crunchyroll is fantastic as well in my opinion, one of the better dubs. I ended up watching both, though I liked the original voice actors better because primarily they were closer to what was intended by the creators.
[Some spoilers ahead]
In all these regards alone this show impressed, but I feel like the underlying message is what I find to be the hi-light of the entire show. Both characters start out with their own crushes and repeatedly try and fail to confess to them, even when they basically manage it.. things just don't go to plan. They both don't quite understand these feelings they're having. They try and act as they believe they should according to these feelings.. but they aren't really sure how. They're naive. Right from the start it's immediately obvious that Taiga and Ryuuji are perfect for each-other, but they're so caught up in everything else and helping each-other pursue their crushes that they don't realize that the whole time their best friend was the perfect person for them, yet there the entire time. Everybody else sees this, the audience, their classmates, even their own crushes, but Taiga and Ryuuji don't realize their own affection until the very end. Their bodies know how they really feel before they even do. They feel conflicted and confused and Taiga even goes out of her way to try to hide these feelings. There's this disconnect between head and heart, something felt all too often in reality but seldom shown in anime romance, and the way the show handles this I absolutely beautiful. Most people generally hear or think of love as something destined, that you have a 'soul-mate' or somebody that you're meant to be with. Toradora just understands what love really is. A confusing mashup of feelings, both confusing and wonderful at the same time. That's why this is why Toradora absolutely has to be my favourite anime in terms of story and pacing so far (as of the 9th of November 2015). Yes, as a friend pointed out, it seems like any other rom-com on paper. What it's able to do, though, using proper pacing, character development, and writing is the closest thing to perfection I've seen, both in and out of anime. I can't recommend it enough if you're into romantic comedy animes and haven't finished this yet.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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