Short Story: Great slice of life/romance anime with a very satisfying ending. Lots of comedy, common storyline but done in a unique way, believable characters, better than average music and art. Get past the first few episodes where it seems a little run of the mill and I guarantee you'll have a great time watching this show.
Long Story:You know there are tons of slice of life/romance animes out there, and while there are some really good ones (clannad, true tears, etc..), a lot of them aren't that great, and rely on silly gimmicks, anime cliches, or ecchi. Toradora is right up there with the best. The story isn't unheard of but is done in a unique way, and you're not sitting predicting every move they make like a lot of other shows.
Story: 9/10
A tall boy and a short girl are in love with each other's best friends, and they agree to help each other confess their love. Pretty straight up story, excellent implementation. I really liked the pace that this show took, I think any shorter than 25 episodes would have left characters undeveloped, and any longer would have drawn it all out too much. The creators did a fantastic job telling the story and keeping you interested with not too many cliff hangers, but there were a few good ones.
Art: 8/10
The art was pretty good, not the best by any means, but for slice of life shows it was great. All the characters were well drawn out, and while the scenery was nothing special, it didn't need to be. Unlike Sola, which is a slice of life that relies a lot on scenery and the sky, Toradora is more character based. That being said, it wouldn't have hurt if it was a little more polished.
Sound: 8/10
Normally I find the intro/outro for animes pretty annoying. For almost every anime I've seen, I watch the beginning and ending song maybe twice, and every other time I just skip the intro and go straight to the show. Not the case for Toradora. I watched the intro and ending every time. The intro song for the first 3/4 of the anime was extremely catchy, and I liked it so much I downloaded it and listen to it pretty regularly. The second opening wasn't as great, but I liked both the ending songs. While music wasn't the key focus like in Nodame Cantabile, the background tracks were very well placed and never drew attention away from the story. However, they were rather unimpressive in score, but I understand that's not really what this anime is about.
Character: 10/10
Fantastic. For the first few episodes I found a few of the characters annoying in their attitude (Taiga, Kawashima), and I thought I knew who I wanted each character to end up with, but that quickly fell away as the show develops and explains why they act like they do. It was hard for me to pick couples out because all of the characters worked well together, if in different aspects, and I don't think any of the characters really fell by the wayside. A lot of romance/slice of life/harem animes just throw characters in because of their looks or a gimmick, even if they add nothing to the story line. Every main character and every side character in this show I felt had a real concrete purpose, and that's rare. I can't think of a single character I disliked by the first quarter of the anime, and only a few I didn't love by the end. The last scene in episode 23 was one of the best scenes in this kind of anime in that I've ever scene. The amount of emotional investment that's built up until this point all breaks down and really is heartwrenching, because you love all the characters. I watched this part over like 5 times. Toradora did it right.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Once I started watching this show I couldn't stop. I loved the character development and the storyline, and I really believed in both Taiga and Ryuuji. This show is really funny at times, such as Ryuuji taking any uncleanliness (like mold in the bathroom or unmatched socks) as a personal affront, or Minorin's kind of airheaded songs she sings aloud just for fun. Seriously watch this anime, you'll really like it.
Overrall: 9/10
The only reason I didn't give this a perfect ten is because of just a few small details added up, and because I also really like more complex animes involving intelligent characters battling it out. However, this is probably my second favorite slice of life anime next to Clannad After Story, and I think I like it more than Angel Beats, which is saying something because both those animes pretty much brought me to tears. However, Toradora, while heartwrenching at times because of the romance, isn't nearly as sad as Clannad After Story, or as nostalgic as Angel Beats. It deals almost entirely with romance, while the others focus on romance and life, which is Toradoras only downfall. If they could have stressed that a bit more, it would have been perfect.
Watch this anime, you won't regret it, it's just great.
