Toradora! by ASCII Media Works is flawed, but still a blast.
Toradora! takes place in a modern day Japanese High School. Our main protagonist, Ryuuji Takasu is struggling in his life. He's been known to his school as a delinquent, due to his menacing appearance and he is desperately trying to get a girlfriend. He only has two friends, that being Kitamura and Kikushidea Minorin, whom he has a crush on. One day, he bumps into what has to be the most untidy, unorganized and most feared "woman" in existence: Aisaka Taiga. Taiga is feared throughout the school for being extremely short tempered and very, VERY volotile. She is also so untidy and has a tendency to get caught in trouble the whole time. Taiga however, has a crush on Kitamura, and is also the best friend of Minorin. This leads Ryuuji and Taiga to strike a deal with each other: hooking each other up. While not entirely original, Toradora!'s plot is serviceable, although it's ending may lead some to confusion. There are some really good twists, but not a lo of moments really stuck out to me as "WOW" or "OMG" moments, they're just there either for the sake of comedy or confusion, and that's where the plot falls short. Don't get me wrong, it's very entertaining, but I wish it had more structure to it. Another problem I have is the fact that the whole thing with Ryuuji's eye's get forgotten around a third of the way through. By then, everyone acts normally around him and it's just lazy direction from the writers.
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| YOU GOT KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT! |
The characters are certainly....interesting to say the least. For once, I will break my rule on talking about characters, and instead I will talk about the main character and Taiga, since she really does steal the show a lot of the time. For the sake of it, My favourite character is either Kawashima Ami or Minorin, since I find their personalities to be very well done and Minorin is just so fucking awesome.
Ryuuji Takasu
One of the better male leads in anime, Ryuuji is a delinquent who is sort of distant from his family....seems familiar, doesn't it? Well, unlike Tomoya, Ryuuji is in a constant struggle trying to keep his house "free from scum and mold"....basically, a more wacked out version of Levi when he starts to clean shit up. He loves cleaning and puts it as his favourite hobby. And he wonder's why women are not attracted to him....anyways, Ryuuji is actually a very caring man. He looks out for others very well and takes care of people in such a way that he's almost the most caring anime character (for those of you who bothered to click the link above, you know who the best is) around. He's pretty smart and is willing to go pretty far for his closest friends. He's not too complex, but not too shallow either.
Aisaka Taiga
Hmmm, a Tsundere.....that's actually (gasp shock horror) TOLERABLE? Well, to quote Bill Murray in Ghostbusters "CATS AND DOGS LIVING TOGETHER MASS HYSTERIA". Taiga is not only a very good Tsundere, but a good character in general. She has a somewhat murky past with her family and is also the complete opposite of Ryuuji when it comes to home hygiene. When they strike their deal with each other, Taiga practically lives on Ryuuji's skills as a cleaner to keep her home clean and make all of his meals for her (since she makes too much of a mess). She's overly violent, and it's in these situations when she can be absolutely hilarious (kinda like another character from Clannad. ) I really like Taiga's cuteness, violence and her development over the 24 episodes. Can't say much more really, apart from the fact that her flat chest is a plot point.....WHO THE HELL COMES UP WITH THIS STUFF?
Animation wise, I'm actually not sure on this one. Toradora! looks stunning some times and really bad at others, making the show very inconsistent, which can be a downfall for some. The framerate is solid, however, and the backgrounds are normally on the mark...but there's just something wrong with the way characters move sometimes that really get on my nerves, especially in intense action scenes. The bits that look good do look great, but the same can also be said about the bad parts: they look pretty bad.
Musically, Toradora! is probably the only anime where I like all the openings and endings. The first opening, Pre-Parade is really damn catchy, same with the first ending Vanilla. The second opening, My Silky Love goes well with the shows second half, and the second ending is okay in it's own right. The background music is pretty catchy and I like a lot of the tracks, so no complaints here.
Overall, I recommend Toradora! to those who aren't picky about animation and to those who don't mind a shallow plot. It's flawed sure but I laughed my ass off most of the time through it. It's something that you should check out if you're a fan of high school comedies.
Story: 5.5
Characters: 9
Animation: 7
Music: 9.5
Personal Enjoyment: 8
FINAL SCORE FOR TORADORA!: 7.8/10
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