I first discovered Toradora! through a forum post and thought I 'd give it a try. To be perfectly honest I wasn't expecting much. Seeing the words "high school, romance, and comedy" all together makes me think that it will just be something that takes things too seriously when it doesn't need to and takes things too lightly when it shouldn't. Toradora! however, does the exact opposite.
I won't go into the story for the sake of not giving anything away, however, if you've ever seen a romantic comedy, you can see the ending coming from a mile away. But trust me when I say that this doesn't subtract from the enjoyment of the show at all.
The art of the show is very high quality. It doesn't deviate too far from the traditional anime art style, but at the same time the show manages to have something unique about it. It is very colorful in all aspects, from backgrounds to the characters themselves, even the title card shows this trend. However, nothing ever blends together, which is essential for this type of art style to work. I can't complain about anything in relation to art really.
For sound, I will assume this category refers to soundtrack and voice acting, both of which Toradora! excels in. Both opening and ending themes are very pop-like (for lack of a better term) which I didn't like at first, but they grew on me to the point of them becoming some of my favorite openings in any anime. As for the voice acting, personally I watched the show in English (I know I'm not a real Otaku and Senpai will never notice me) and I absolutely loved the voice acting. None of the characters had an unfitting and/or annoying voice, which usually tends to happen in English dubs unfortunately. The entire cast performs excellently. No complaints in this department what so ever.
Now on to my favorite part of the show, the characters. By far, at least in my opinion, the characters are the absolute best part of Toradora! None of the characters are boring at any point of the show. They aren't one dimensional or dull in the slightest and don't just fall into typical character stereotypes, except for perhaps Taiga who is pretty much just a tsundere character but even then there seems to be an extra dimension to her character that is difficult to explain without spoilers so I'll let you find out for yourself. Even the characters I dislike, I do not dislike them because they are boring or not fun to watch, I dislike them as if they were a real person, for who they are. Not to give anything away but Ami is an example of this. I dislike her most of the time, but the extra dimension she has makes her motivations clear and she ends being entirely different than originally portrayed. I apologize for the vague and all over the place description, but I don't want to give anything away. You should truly experience the characters yourself.
Overall, I enjoyed Toradora! enough for it to become my favorite anime, which says a lot considering I wasn't expecting anything from it. I was honestly disappointed when the show ended, not because I disliked the ending but because I didn't know what I could possibly watch that I would enjoy as much as my first watch through of Toradora! The rewatch value on the show though is incredible, and I never get bored of it.
I would highly recommend you watch Toradora! if you haven't already. I can almost guarantee you will not regret it.
