Plot Summary: Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryūji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent, so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryūji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and a girl he has a crush on, Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Taiga Aisaka—who just happens to also be in his class, and is a good friend of Minori.



(高須 竜児 Takasu Ryūji)

Voiced by: Junji Majima

Ryūji is a sixteen-year-old high school student in his second year, class C. Due to biological inheritance, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent and causes many misunderstandings in his life. He lives in a fatherless family with just his mother, and due to this, Ryūji has learned to be self-sufficient. He is good at cooking and keeping everything in his house clean (nearly to the point of obsession), and also excels at sewing. He holds a crush on Minori Kushieda, a girl his age in his class as he appears to have a weakness for the airhead type. He has a pet parakeet named "Inko-chan" (inko literally means parakeet in Japanese). Ryūji often helps Taiga with domestic chores which she is otherwise unable to perform. At school, he is known as "the only person able to stop the palmtop tiger", referring to Taiga's nickname. Ryūji and Taiga become rumored as a couple since they spend so much time together, though this rumor stopped when Taiga viciously destroyed her classroom trying to make everyone see that it was a misunderstanding. As the story continues, he starts to develop feelings for Taiga.

(逢坂 大河 Aisaka Taiga)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

Taiga is a girl in Ryūji's class. She has a well-regulated and beautiful appearance though is unable to stomach company from others. Due to her often snapping at others in brutal ways and her short stature at 143.6 cm (4' 8.5"), she is given the nickname "Palmtop Tiger" (手乗りタイガー Te Nori Taigā). Her under-developed body and the added nickname has given her a complex which in turn serves to give her a negative attitude and facial expression. Essentially, Taiga gets upset easily and is considerably clumsy. Due to her cute looks (described as a doll by Ryūji), she often gets confessions by boys her age, but she turns down every one of them. She comes from a rich family but due to bad family relations, she has taken to living on her own. However, since she came from a privileged household, she does not know how to do any domestic chores. When she meets Ryūji and learns of his domestic talents, she ends up relying on Ryūji to clean up after her. Aside from sleeping in her own house, and going to school, she spends most of her time at Ryūji's house; so much so that she is almost considered a member of his family. At the beginning of the story, she is infatuated with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura to the point that she drools at her picture collection of him and gets nervous every time he appears. Due to this, Taiga and Ryūji team up to help each other get into a relationship with each other's best friend. However, as the story goes on, she too develops feelings for Ryūji, commenting once how even though they are in a big room, they still sit so close together like at his cramped apartment.

(櫛枝 実乃梨 Kushieda Minori)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Minori is a girl in Ryūji's class, and is a close friend to Taiga. She is also known by the pet name "Minorin". In contrast to the negative Taiga, Minori is always smiling and cheerful, but is also a natural airhead. She is very athletic and is the captain of the girl's softball club at school, though at the same time she holds many part time jobs. She is a glutton when it comes to food, but is also constantly combating with dieting, calling herself a Diet Warrior. She has a habit of singing cheerfully off key and tends to walk with more energy than needed (such as kicking up her legs with each step). She seems to get a thrill out of being scared: she pretends to be terrified of supernatural things in hopes that others will take advantage of this statement and try to frighten her. Despite her air-headed tendencies, she is very perceptive to other people's characters, and is one of the few people to see Ryūji for the gentle person he is, and is also not fooled by Ami's act of innocence.

(北村 祐作 Kitamura Yūsaku)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima

Yūsaku is a male student in Ryūji's class, and is his best friend. He is the vice-president of the student council, the class representative, and captain of the boy's softball club at school. Yūsaku wears glasses, and has a diligent personality. He thinks he is poor at talking to girls, though Ryūji observes otherwise; Yūsaku likes the student council president Sumire Kanō. Despite being on the student council, he is in violation of riding a motorcycle to school. A running gag is that he will appear out of nowhere behind Taiga and Ryūji when they are discussing a "plan of attack" to get their crushes.

(川嶋 亜美 Kawashima Ami)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura

Ami is Yūsaku's childhood friend who transfers into his class midway through their second year of high school. She is very beautiful and even works as a model, though after she transfers school, she temporarily stops modeling. However, she still continues to go to the gym readily and maintains a slim figure. She is always kind and generous towards others, though this is merely a deception. In truth, she is arrogant and will not hesitate to use abusive language towards others. During her first meeting with Taiga, Ami shows her true colors, but the tables are turned when Taiga throws a counterattack back at her. Since then, Ami and Taiga have been enemies, though Ami still sometimes envies Taiga since she can always be honest. Ami has a love interest in Ryūji, asking him if he would love her real self, going as far as to bet Taiga to a swim race for the chance of having Ryūji all to herself at her villa. She has recently shown a deeper affection for Ryūji when she states that Minori will not be good for him, comparing the two to her being the sun and him the moon, and if he is with her he would burn out. Then states that a person more suited for him, would be her.




Pre-Parade (プレパレード) by Rie Kugimiya, Eri Kitamura, and Yui Horie





Episode 1 - 12