Toradora! - Review

Aisaka Taiga and Takasu Ryuuji (Image taken from: anime-planet.com)

Alright, so, finally getting around to one of my absolute tops (though I don't really number them off...). Toradora is a school romance-comedy series following Ryuuji and Taiga as the main two with Ryuuji's friend, Kitamura Yuusaku, and Taiga's friend, Kushieda Minori as the two main-minor characters. A couple episodes in, another main-minor character comes in the form of Kawashima Ami. Anyways, when the series starts Ryuuji likes Minori and Taiga likes Yuusaku, so after Ryuuji accidently takes Taiga's bag home instead of his own, he finds out about Taiga's feelings, which he tries to even the ground by showing Taiga that he feels the same about a girl as she did for Kitamura, which Taiga finds out his feelings are for Minori. From there the two become friends primarily to help each other in getting closer to who they had had feelings for, but as most humans know, feelings can change over time. Naturally, drama ensues as Ryuuji doesn't know what to do, Taiga doesn't know what to do, and neither does Ami or Minori, so it just ends up being a confusing cluster for a bit that eventually works out by the end of the anime.

Aisaka Taiga (Image taken from: konachan.com)

I'm sure just by the length of my summary, most, if not all readers could figure out I'm a bit more passionate about this series than others. Honestly, I would agree fully. Toradora really caught my attention because of just how awkward the relationships seemed to be for a while as nobody really had a clue of exactly how to go about dealing with their ever-changing emotions. Me, being an eternally single guy, can relate (weakly) in the sense that I have absolutely no idea what to do. In terms of the characters, Taiga was absolutely adorable. Before you ask, yes, she's a tsundere as some of you who have read my prior posts may know. I also really liked Ryuuji's character. He looked like a delinquent to most people on the surface, but underneath he was a really nice guy who cared deeply for his friends and family, even if he did have an outburst or two, but he is only human. Speaking of which, that adds another element, the fact that the characters were all very human in their emotions and reactions to events occurring around them. Anyhow, Toradora is an amazing series I'd recommend it to any anime fan any day.

Scene from early in the series. (Image screencapped/shopped myself)

Ruri's Rating: 9.75/10

Suggestions: Angel Beats, Shakugan no Shana, Clannad/Clannad After Story, Kokoro Connect, AnoHana, Ano Natsu de Matteru