Toradora

This show is great -- it has a sufficiently unenthused protagonist, a zany cast, and a few crazy love interests. Bet you've never heard of that formula before!

Well, it is formulaic, and it's pretty obvious how things are going to end, but I enjoyed the ride. There is at least one seriously weird fanservice thing that happens in the show, but other than that it's great fun all around.

For another truly great romcom, check out Lovely Complex or My Little Monster (my favorites)

Short Synopsis:

This show revolves around the high-school years, struggles, and love life of Aisaka Taiga and Ryuji Takasu. There really isn't much else to it.



Characters:

There are five major characters in this show. They are as follows:

Taiga: A chibi tsundere, that sums her up very well.
Ryuji: He is constantly mistaken for a delinquent because of his appearance, but really he's just a clean freak.
Kitamaru: Ryuji's best friend, on the student council, and also a bit insane.
Minori: Taiga's best friend who is always happy and is on the softball team.
Kawashima: Kitamaru's childhood friend, and a model.

The characters all have their own personal feeling for one another, loving each other and not wanting to admit it, secretly hating each other at times, loving each other and not knowing it. The overall chemistry between the characters was very good, and I enjoyed it. There is a decent character development over the course of the show, all the characters changed for the better, in my opinion, by the end from how they were when they were first introduced.



Story/Plot:

We all know how these shows go, obvious couple ends up together by the end and this is no exception. The story wasn't actually bad though, it had it's sad moments, funny moments, and very memorable moments.

The story revolves around the school life of Taiga and Ryuji, their love lives and finally them ending up together. It's decently done and I wasn't really let down. Toradora did a better job than most for it's genre in terms of it's story-line albeit predictable.



Music:

The BGM didn't really stick with me at all, I doubt I'd ever recognize it. The OP/ED weren't bad but not really memorable to me. Overall the music wasn't bad, but it doesn't really stand out either, it's just average.



Artwork/Art-style:

The artwork wasn't bad at all, I wasn't really disappointed by it and I doubt others would be. It wasn't the greatest, again it was just average.



Enjoyment:

This is what's most important, is it enjoyable? Yes, Toradora is something I really did enjoy. I kept wanting to watch some more after each sitting. There's definitely better out there, but this is something worth taking the time to watch. It had it's good share of comedy and sadness to make it into a very enjoyable and memorable show that I would recommend to others.



Pros/Cons:

+ Better story than most in it's genre
+ Nice set of characters and their development
+Some very memorable moments

- Predictable ending
- A few annoying side characters



Final Score: 4.4/5 stars


Reviewed by RAZ. Revised and edited by HG

I can honestly say that Toradora is, by far, one of my all time favorite anime. It is a great story about unintentional love. The story is a little obvious as to who will be together in the end, but half way through I found myself second guessing where it would end up. It also has a very good mix of comedy and drama, there will be times when you find yourself laughing with tears in your eyes.

All in all, I highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys a good comedy with some great romance.