I'm here to tell you that, after viewing Toradora!, I instantly placed it as one of my favorite anime of any genre.
One of the things that really perturbs me is when someone states an anime like Toradora! is bad simply because they dislike romance, as I used to do. It's unfair to discredit it as a whole just because the genre isn't to your liking. So, before you click "not helpful" on my review just because you think romantic storytelling is "stupid", please give this a read and reconsider your opinion.
STORY:
Toradora! is a well-crafted plot that, aside from a few minor issues, makes a lot of sense. It's important to keep in mind the age of the characters here: high school kids. Thus, a lot of erroneous decisions with poor logic will be made, and it reflects on the realism of the story because it's not unintentional, either; most poor decisions are reciprocated with backlash of some kind that spurs character development, so it's not by any laziness on the author's part.
The pacing of the narrative is a double-edged sword. For one, it's a perfect length for character development and gives plenty attention to the development of actual relationships between characters rather than forcing anything. And I'm not talking about romantic relationships only; development between friendships is given a lot of thought and attention as well. On the other hand, though, the story suffers from a delay of the inevitable. From the beginning it's not hard to tell the gist of the end result, and the whole story continues to make it somewhat obvious. However, in my opinion that's not really a large issue; just because you know what happens doesn't mean you know HOW it happens, and the journey is the most fun and entertaining part.
Sometimes I hear people saying that Takemiya should have expanded upon the world a little bit, but it wasn't really necessary seeing that it was set in a world that's exactly the same as ours. She gave insight into the important things, such as Taiga's family and the school, and that's all that I could ask for as a viewer.
One of my main issues with the plot was that the narrative wasn't very conceptually creative. There weren't an abundance of cliches by any means, and while there were some surprises, overall it maintained a fairly generic structure. If not for the fantastic characterization, it would have been rather bland in my opinion. However, that only knocks it down a notch or two because it was overall an entertaining storyline regardless.
Thematically, Toradora! isn't very deep or profound. Some of the main concepts explored are the obvious in a romance, but the ones that were more interesting to me were the ones relating to beating the preconceptions people set for you in order to achieve something great, e.g. love. This will be explored more in the character section.
CHARACTERS:
I'll just say it now: the characters in Toradora! are absolutely phenomenal.
Takemiya does a fantastic job by creating misconceptions that are removed with depth to each character. Every character of the main cast begins as an archetype/cliche, but quickly she creates explainable layers to all of them, making them well-rounded and complex. It serves the theme of being able to get past surface-feature qualities very well. Creating conflict between the outer appearances and inner characterizations of the characters makes them very interesting and likable as well.
Throughout the story, meaningful development is given to all of the main cast. This story is character-driven, and it is reflected beautifully in the writer's progression of the tale. Taiga, Ryuuji, Ami, and Minori are all very, very well-written and complex characters, and that alone is worth the price of admission. (In your case, probably free, but... shut up! It's a phrase!)
Hell, even the minor characters are entertaining and fun to watch. They aren't the most detailed characters in the world, but they serve their purpose well. Not every character has to be dynamic and complex; if they make the story better, then that's all there is to it, and the minor characters keep a lighthearted mood and aid in the development of characterization and plot.
The character relationships are also very well-written. They are paced well and develop slowly and meaningfully while maintaining some idealism with realistic outcomes. They lead to great characterization and development and are perfect examples of relationships in the anime medium in my opinion.
ANIMATION:
Overall, the animation is very solid. The characters look fantastic, and the backgrounds are well-drawn. The definition is also very clean, although that's more of a benefit of the time this was made rather than anything special on the animators' parts.
I will say that there are several scenes that look very... meh. Particularly the scene in which there is a fist-fight. The movements look very choppy and all the high-definition is replaced with very average looking animation. This could be due to a budget change or something, but the episode following this looks back to normal, so I'm not quite sure.
While the character design is usually good, not much thought was put into some of the minor characters. For example, there is a somewhat important character who looks almost exactly the same as one of the main characters, and a very minor character who looks nearly identical to a different main character. While the mains look very unique and well-fashioned, the minor characters don't have that benefit.
SOUND:
The soundtrack in Toradora! is absolutely fantastic. For all types of moods there are great tracks that are used in very fitting spots and that aid in the emotional aspect of the show. I was a big fan of the first opening for whatever reason, and the second opening was okay, while I thought the endings were just average, but the soundtrack absolutely makes up for that.
The voice acting in both the sub and the dub is phenomenal. I slightly prefer the dub but I will say that you can't go wrong either way. Taiga and Ami really stood out to me in the dub, and I also liked Ryuuji's voice actor a lot, which is a bit of a controversial opinion, so prepare for maybe some dissent in what you think versus what I do.
OVERALL:
Toradora! is a truly great anime. If you like the romance genre, then you will love this anime. If you don't, I think you will see that it is written well enough where you will appreciate it, but maybe not think it's for you. If you haven't given romance a try, this is a great first step. I recommend it to everyone.
