Toradora! |Romance Comedy|

[Isteb]

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Isteb’s Fall 2008 Anime Season Reviews (Oh I am so full of it)
Title: Toradora!
Genre: Slice of life/Romance/Comedy



NOTE: In Kadokawa Shoten's first Light Novel Award contest held in 2007, Toradora! won an award in the romantic comedy category.

The fall 2008 season has brought us fans a huge load of anime with “dork loser boy meets hot powerful girl” plotlines. There’s so much material around centering on this theme that it can be a separate genre.

Toradora follows the story of Ryuji Takasu. Although kind and gentle, everyone at school fears him for his yakuza appearance that he inherited from his deceased father, ruining his chances at winning the heart of his classmate Minori. One day, he literally collides with another feared student, Taiga Aisaka (who also happens to be Minori’s best friend).

Due to a blunder on Taiga’s part, Ryuji discovers two things: Taiga has a huge crush on his best friend Kitamura, and that she is one huge klutz beneath that tough exterior. Frustrated, Taiga attacks Ryuji in his sleep later that night, “to send the memories flying from his head”.

In an effort to calm her down, Ryuji shows Taiga his secret stash; one that contains various items that help him get over his inability to express to Minori how he really feels. Now that they both know each other’s secret, they decide to help each other out.

To anyone who has seen or read a fair amount of romance stories, this premise would be a familiar one, and you could probably guess that while they are acting as bridges for each other for now, they will eventually wind up together.

That’s not the only familiar element; they happen to live next to each other and as a result, (surprise!) Taiga hangs out often at Ryuji’s place so much so that Ryuji’s mother comes to think of her as a member of the family. This causes everyone at school to think of them as an item; including Minori (Her being a natural airhead doesn’t help either).

So while there are a lot of clichés here and there, it’s presented rather well that I myself got hooked. The writers were reasonable enough to give Ryuji a normal personality, and it’s a breath of fresh air in a season full of firebrands, spoiled brats and loser dorks. His deadpan delivery of insightful one-liners also reminds me of Kyon, minus all the self-denial. Taiga appears to be a tsundere character at first glance, but unlike most tsunderes, her character doesn’t try to hide or deny her mushy, clumsy side. At least not to Ryuji.

The show doesn’t fail to draw a few good laughs from me here and there, it tries to avoid being too cliché, and it doesn’t rely on stereotypes and instead try to make the characters human. For example, Kitamura has the appearance of a straight-A student, and you’d think it’s natural to pair up the nice guy with the misunderstood kid. But Kitamura’s rejection of Taiga’s confession was so mature, it impressed me. It felt so realistic that I had to give the writers credit for the good work. “its fine, I think you delivered your point well”, says Kitamura calmly and comfortingly to a stuttering Taiga. “I really think we’re going to enjoy our time here as friends”, he adds while urging her to hurry back to the classroom.

Wow, that line would’ve been really handy back then; I wish I could’ve thought of something as smooth.

The OP is nice, although you won’t get to see it until episode 2. Now I’m waiting for episode 3. an 8.5 out of 10 overall.

And in case you’re wondering what the title stands for, it’s “Tiger Dragon”. Tora for Taiga who has been nicknamed as “Palmtop Tiger” (because of her small frame and her tendency to flare up), Dora for doragon or dragon, as Ryuji offered to become a dragon for her. In ancient Japan it is said that only the dragon can equal the tiger and vice-versa. (In RK, Kenshin was the dragon while Enishi was the tiger.)

For those interested in the light novel, PM me for the link as I’m not sure about Istorya’s rules on posting links to sites that offer soft copies of novels.



@bliss-chan
I have a feeling that you might like this one.

[P-Chan]

looks promising...

[hatahari]

wow nice review... got me looking for it! thanks! ^__^

[blissfullynaive]

@isteb-san: I did~! ^___^ Even before this was out, the synopsis was funny and great! xD
Kugimiya Rei sure is good at Tsundere characters~! xD *spots a 'urusai' line from taiga
Ryuuji really has a mean/scary look on his face.. xD Kawaisou, Ryuuji-san..
/wil talk more later.. xD
*dashes out of the house for school practice..

ps: is there a Clannad or After Story thread? Hmm.. I might make one later.

edit: i still haven't seen episode 2. But here are my thoughts of episode 1:

I love how they made cliche' characters shine out with their uniqueness and originality. Tsundere Taiga is not like other tsunderes. i like how she had those puppy eyes when Ryuuji offered her help. She's blunt with her dere dere side, not even hesitating to show it to Ryuuji. xD
I also liked how different Kugimiya Rei sounded as Taiga, different than her Louise, Nagi, and Shana voices.. ^^
I'll be following this series, that's for sure. ^^b
Go, Tenori Taiga~!!!! >xD

[Isteb]

Hey guys!
Nice to see other geeks like me around here. Fortunately for me, the start of the fall 2008 season also marked the end of the school semester for me. So as you can imagine, I have a lot of time on my hands.

@Bliss-chan
Nope, I haven't seen a Clannad thread anywhere, and I have no plans of watching the AFTER STORY before I watch my copy of Tomoyo After. I think it'd be nice if you'd start one. From what I've read so far, episode 1 was nothing special while episode 2 was a barrel of laughs.

Going back on topic, the more I listen to the OP, the more I like it. It's upbeat, and it's pop with techno and electronic influences. It's probably the only recent Anime OP cool enough to be added to my playlist at work. (The other songs in my playlist are either Led Zeppelin or Bob Marley; perhaps that will give you an idea of how much I like the song.) And it reminds me of Take it! Sailor Uniform.

Regarding character development, it seems I failed to comment about the characters not being genre blind. Like how Kitamura knew that when Taiga brought him somewhere secluded, she was going for a confession.

@hatahari
Glad you liked it! I'm in the planning stages of reviews for Kuroshitsuji and Shikabane Hime: Aka.
Once my legion of anime fans is large enough, I will try to take over the world and fight things like boredom, stupid YouTube comments and virginity due to being an Otaku.

[blissfullynaive]

^ Ahahaha!!!! Last line was funny!!!
I lol'ed, srsly lol'ed!!!

But then again, i'm not one to laugh.. ;_;
(I srsly should go out more or something..
Or or.. spend my money on clothes than figures and anime stuff.
.....
...

Naahh! iya iya nai nai nai.. )


Woo~ episode 2 done downloading~!!

Maybe i'll start a thread for Clannad or something..

[Isteb]

oh you should!!! go go, you can do it!!!

let us know what you think about the EP soon, ayt?

[Isteb]

oh you should!!! go go, you can do it!!!

let us know what you think about the EP soon, ayt?

[blissfullynaive]

Woo~ episode 2 done!!!
Aww.. i shed a tear or two for Taiga and Ryuuji. ;_; It's so hard being misunderstood ne~?
Woah.. Kitamura rejected Taiga's confession smoothly. @__@ Not the usual "I like someone else" line usually heard in most series. Heh. Friends. When Taiga realized that, mao pa sad ko naka realize sa 'friends' na iya gipasabot. Kitamura seems like a nice, cool guy. No wait.. *remembers that rooftop scene* =__=' He's also weird.
Aww.. Ryuuji's such a nice guy. It's a crime to misunderstand him.
The P.E. scene was reeaallly funny. It's fun watching Taiga all hyped up and enthusiastic. Hmm.. Tsundere + a bit of dojikko? Nice combo.. xD
I really like Minori~! ^___^ I tend to like characters with that personality. xD
Satoru ball Satoru ball Saturo ball.. xD
I lol'ed at that blue-haired boy during p.e. class.. xD

Oh, the parrot is disturbing, btw. Creepily disturbing.. e__e

[eirawn]

lingaw ko ani nga series