Anime Review: Toradora

Anime: Toradora

Genre: Shoujo, Drama, Romance, Comedy

Rating: 3.5 out of five stars

General Setup: Ryuji Takasu looks like a juvenile delinquent, but he is really a nice guy. On the first day of school he accidentally bumps into Aisaka Taiga, who looks cute, but has earned the name ‘Palm-top Tiger’ for her hot temper. Ryuji finds out that Taiga has a crush on his best friend, Kitamura Yusaku. When he admits to her that he likes her friend Kushieda Minori the two agree to team up and help each other to win over their crushes.

Characters: I liked how Takasu Ryuji broke the mold of male-character stereotypes. He enjoys traditional housemaking chores, such as cooking and cleaning. He is also kind and gentle. Taiga puts on an intimidating front, but underneath she is just a scared little girl. It took a little bit for me to get used to her character design - she is very short. Kitamura wasn’t what I expected him to be. At first I expected him to be the calm and act as the voice of reason, but sometimes he is immature. I’m not sure what to think about him, now that I have finished the anime. I liked Kusheida’s character. She is eccentric, but pulls it off without being too strange. She sometimes acts happy to hide her sorrow.

Plot: The plot for Toradora isn’t anything super special, but it stays strong throughout and brings up some interesting plot events.

Ending: I personally did not like the ending. It felt like the producers were trying to avoid the cliched ending and ended up with something that was completely unexpected. However, aside from the last few episodes, I really liked this anime.

Things to Watch For: Ryuji’s family isn’t the best off financially, so his mom works as an entertainer at a bar. All most all of her outfits have low-cut necklines. Also, there is more fan-service scattered throughout the show.

Humor: A lot of the humor is derived from the strange things Kushieda says or the situations the characters find themselves in. I liked how Taiga and Ryuji are constantly having to verbally shove each other to interact with their crush. They have a good ‘wing-man’ dynamic. Some of the humor comes from Ryuji’s pet parakeet, Inko-chan. To be honest, I thought Inko-chan was creepy and didn’t really fit with the feel of the show.

Moral Lessons: Be true to yourself. You can’t run away from your problems.

Sights and Sounds: I really liked the style used for this anime. Originally, I didn’t think I would like this show, but the style was one of the things that kept me watching. Also, the animation and music for the openings and endings are phenomenal!

Other media: The anime is based off of a light novel series. There is also a manga adaptation, an internet radio show, and a video game.

Fillers: Toradora has no fillers.

Length: Toradora has one season that is 25 episodes long.

Where to Watch: You can watch Toradora on Hulu and Crunchyroll, but Crunchyroll only has the first six episodes available to non-premium members.