User Reviews

This is going to be a relatively short review, mainly because I don't have much to say. As youtuber Glass Reflection says often, "The ending is paramount," something that applies wholeheartedly to this series. This anime has an amazing cast of characters, mostly 2 dimensional, that develop very nicely, but the ending SPOILERS!!! mashes it completely. The anime should be watched through, and if you want closure further than the series goes, then look up the Toradora video game ending. If your still not satisfied, make up a realistic ending, like I did. The shows OPs are both great songs, but OP 1 is better in my opinion. OVERALL: Great story that leads to a lackluster ending where the mine cart of buildup falls down a pit.

Told you it would be a short one.

When I first heard of this anime, I was given a link to the site with episodes and a series summary. I didn't watch it then because even though my friend told me it was the best anime he had seen, I didn't see a potential for greatness. It looked decent. He had mentioned it other times since then but didn't push me into it. I think it was mostly a "why not, I'm curious" attitude that got me to see this show. I watched the first four episodes, not long after I was tempted to see more, and then only stopped because I required sleep. Then I got up early, started again, stopped only because a friend wanted to see me, then finished the show. In short, I was hooked and by the end as close to crying as any anime got me.

The story is about an odd boy named Ryuji and a delinquent girl named Taiga, the palm top tiger. Their first meeting doesn't go well. Then Taiga accidentally leaves a confession letter meant for someone else in Ryuji's bag, then goes to his house to make sure he can't use it against her. Instead he calms her down and agrees to help this unruly girl get together with Ryuji's eccentric best friend Kentemura. Their first attempt fails and Ryuji is free to not help Taiga but he decides to continue helping her, and soon enough Taiga becomes an honorary member of Ryuji's family.

First off, we must mention the ungodly pacing. The amount of content packed into a single 25 minute episode without having to rush it is mind boggling. A typical Toradora episode has the content of two to three episodes of another anime yet flows naturally. This also ensures there aren't any pointless filler with every episode contributing. This is the only series I can think of where there isn't a single bad or lack luster episode. Every episode is high quality, and you'd be surprised how hard that is even for a twenty five episode show. This pacing also gives immense room for characterization and development, where the show shines most. The five main characters all get a good chunk of development, with the main two getting the most of course, and they all get it every episode in some form or other. This results in the anime becoming a home away from home, with a sense of familiarity and adventure in even their most common activities. The humor, while involving some slapstick, is mostly from the character's personalities, be it Taiga's spiteful snarkyness, or Kentmura's zannyness or Ryuji's habits.

This series also boasts amazing drama, and it does so without gimmicks that other highschool romance shows use. We don't see Taiga or Minori getting kidnapped by some biker gang with Ryuji needing to come to the rescue. We don't see attempted rapes or psychotic people trying to murder one of the love interests so they can move in like many highschool romances(and I honestly expected at least one of those to pop up in this show at some point) Now there's not necessarely anything wrong with those plot events, but it says a lot that Toradora can create much more powerful drama with events on a much smaller scale, and don't think this show can't produce some intense moments despite it's light hearted tone.

There are still some highschool romance conventions here but they're all played well. Toradora is up there as an all time favorite of mine, with only two anime I can think of that can compete with it. If you've never seen a romance anime before, I'd start with this one.

I didn't know this series existed until it was on its 15th episode, indeed i only thought i should watch it because a couple of my college mates where watching its opening on youtube and i felt curious to see what it was like.

I started watching it, at nine o'clock a Saturday morning. I didn't get up again until after midnight as i couldn't stop watching episode after episode of this beautifully animated series.

The characters, and there relationships with all the others as well as the situations they end up in, feel completely natural and not forced. The series albeit short was breathtaking at every point with its humour and drama shone through every minute of the day and always left me hungry for more after every arc.

If you asked me, back in January, that i would finally find an anime that hooked me again, i would have shrugged it off as i had started to feel like the genre was just loosing its touch, then i watched this series, and my faith was restored to full, as well as made me check out others once more of my love of the style.

the story, i will keep to a minimum as this series needs to be seen to be enjoyed.

Ryuuji Takasu had lost all faith in ever finding love, when his path crossed with that of Taiga Aisaka, a young girl in his class who was good friends with the girl he had a crush on. she had written a love letter and instead put it in his bag instead of his best friends. as she was trying to kill him to keep her feelings a secret he makes a deal with her, to help her get with him.

thats a very summarized version of the pilot, i am sorry but i refuse to tell you more after that, if your interested, check it out as this series is fantastic and worth every point i gave it. In my eyes, if you disagree then fair enough, its your opinion and as such doesn't diminish it in anyway.

I must say I liked it better the first time I saw it,but I guess that's because I was younger then.

We have a story about normal kids and their everyday lives.They are around 17 years old.The protagonists are a male character living with his mother and a small female one,with broken family,living alone next-doors.

They meet and start taking care of each other.At first they constantly fight and mock each other but as time goes by they grow into each other.Their friendship began with a deal.That deal dictated that one should help the other with their love life,since they could not confess their feelings to the people they liked.Of course they always fail miserably,getting into all kinds of trouble,creating funny scenes.There are also some scenes that can get you nervous,thriller and warmed up....

The design is beautiful.Characters are portrayed quite good.Even those who are introduced later in the series.

I liked Ryou but I would like him to be a bit more steadfast at certain points.His "holding back" thing gave room for many misunderstandings,bad behavior towards him and dragged things along.I also liked the Ami character quite a bit.I would like to see some more development there though....I would maybe even like her better than Taiga as Ryou's partner.Minori was really annoying.The later council president proved nice,I did not like him in the beginning.He seemed soulless,always fine with everything.I also liked their single female teacher and Haruka(something like that),their classmate that was always creating laughter for everybody.Taiga's design is a bit weird for a 17 year old girl,I think I would like something closer to a real woman,like some of her classmates and I am not saying she should be like the hottest ones,just a bit more developed.I also did not like the fact they would leave many lines from the dialogues half way through and let you assume and struggle to understand the characters' true emotions.Sometimes that is necessary in a story,but here I believe they used it a tad too much.

Towards the end,it gets pretty moving.Ryou's family scenes are really something.Their school friends and their inner wishes and dreams about staying together forever,like that,having fun and talking,being a part of each other's life even as adults,was really sweet....It was so sweet and innocent....It was maybe the most touching concept of the series for me.It made me think about my old life,friends and classmates,how we were always together,never thinking those years would be ever over,playing,running around,fighting,falling in love and experience the sweet anxiety of these emotions while you are still discovering even the most basic parts of yourself....That was beautiful...

It's definitely worth a watch,especially if you are a romantic,under 23 person.If you are older you may still like it,but could also strike as a bit light or simple.I has been more than 5 years since I first saw it.Then it made quite an impression on me.Now I liked it pretty much but was able to notice many things that would push me out of it,ideas or scenes I could not relate too anymore.Still,a very decent,beautiful and touching light story.

I may have to rewatch it to catch some things but after letting my initial viewing soak in it seems like characters "developed" way too late in the series. First 20 episodes we basically get a bit of a comedy/drama with some shallow characters and then last few episodes everyone just suddenly gets developed especially Minori. She's pretty goofy for most of the show and then suddenly we get this development and drama from her. Wish we could've seen it sooner. The show just thinks that because a character is one dimensional that all of sudden adding a conflict for them develops them. This is the case for Kitamura. He's somewhat treated as a side character if I'm being honest and then he suddenly has drama and reveals his crush on the president. The character doesn't grow or evolve go through an arc they just have a conflict that resolves itself. Ami was also a bit of a wasted character, for someone that could've been a breath of fresh air for the goofy/violent characters her character isn't really as deep as presented. She's just there to be condescending to everyone and then stroke her own ego and I was glad that Ryuuji put her in her place towards the end of the show. Taiga is one of the better developed characters in the show. She goes from someone who's just "violent and angry" to someone who can be mature. Ryuuji is someone that I don't think is that flawed of a person to where he needs some arc. But his development leaves a lot to be desired.

Overall a good show even after I said all of this but it could've been so much more.

"Since the ancient times, it has been decided that only dragons are worthy of standing next to tigers." The relationship between the two main character is almost identical to "Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi". Aisaka Taiga (AKA "Tiny Tiger") basically abuses and bosses around Takasu Ryuuji ("Ryuu" is dragon). And just as Haruhi series, she eventually falls for the guy.

I really enjoyed the Haruhi series, but this series was even better. The characters were very interesting and developed extremely well. Even the supporting characters had great depth.

I've always found it difficult to cry in anime compared to live-action because let's face it, they're just drawings. But I really connected with the main characters in this series and the scenarios really touched me. This is probably the first TV anime series where I actually cried.

Unlike the pure conclusion-per-episode format of Haruhi series, "Toradora!" had somewhat more continuity between episodes and therefore characters developed much better. Music was exceptionally well-made and touching, and although the quality of animation was average, the character design was really well done and memorable.

Although "Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi" was more of a fantasy and "Toradora!" being coming-of-age school romance, I thought they were very similar and "Toradora!" was superior in every way. The previous reviewer says this is "The greatest anime i have ever seen", it is for me as well, and I have enjoyed every moment of it. Highly recommended.

So I must admit Toradora is a good anime, and the characters were well developed but ultimately the romance between Ryuji and Taiga takes too long and is too short lived and is too complicated with all the other budding romances peppered throughout the series. If this had a 2nd season and developed their relationship further, I would have definitely given this a 10/10, but because of the last 4 episodes I have this a generous 6/10. They should have started developing their feelings for each other around episode 15 or so, and had 10 episodes where they if they/won't they and then end the last 2 episodes together and happy. But 22 episodes for them to kinda realize their feelings towards each other, and the heart break of Minori, whom should have had her moment early on and not still in the mix in episode 24 ffs, she should have been long gone and in friend mode by then.

And then at the end they have Taiga leave the way she did for an entire school year and crush Ryuji's heart like that, and then when they meet in the locker in the classroom at the end and he says I love you and she hits him and that was it? Like c'mon. They should have embraced with a passionate kiss for not seeing each other for so long a she says I love you back, THEN maybe hit him after for some reason, but not that way they did. So disappointed with that ending. Like even if they tacked on another 10 mins in the episode of them together after the classroom scene and elaborated more on their affections and companionship and then ended, I might have given this an 8/9 out of 10. That stupid ending really ruined it.

I came across this anime series while searching for some good slice of life anime, and to be honest now i'm completely sold out to this anime.

The story is about 2 high school students Ryuji Takasu who is misunderstood as a delinquent because of his looks and an actual delinquent girl named Taiga Aisaka popularly known as Palmtop Tiger because of her small size but she is one fierce being. Ryuji and Taiga come across each other in the school hallway but their meeting goes awry when Taga Punches Ryuji in the face later on it is found out that they are in the same class. Despite of her demeanour Taiga is has a crush on Ryuji's friend Yusuke Kitamura, Taiga accidentally leaves a love letter meant for Kitamura in Ryuji's bag and later on in the night invades Ryuji's home in the night to retrieve the letter and after much commotion Ryuji is able to communicate with Taiga and tells her that its all right, he will keep the letter a secret and even help Taiga win over Kitamura and so an intriguing comic, topsy-turvy story begins.

The story is really strong and realistic the characters really stand out, nothing seems out of place or superficial. The amount of content in a single episode and the speed at which the story progresses are simply amazing.

Go ahead and watch it, you won't be disappointed.

Usually I don't go for romance anime, let alone school life ones. But this one was interestingly good. The main positive of this one was the two main characters. These two were so different and yet they had great dynamics that made the anime entertaining and produced some funny moments. The romance story, however, was a little weak, though I personally didn't mind that much. But, because the last episodes were dedicated to the love story and they were kind of tiring, it has to be mentioned. Moreover, the art was okay, could have been better though. Finally, the soundtrack was nice and cute enough for the concept of the anime. So, 7 out of 10.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I watched the entire series in less than 24 hours, so I did enjoy it very much. I might be in the minority here, but I was actually hoping that the main characters would end up with different people. They definitely loved each other, but it always felt more like a brotherly/sisterly kind of love. Plus, Taiga was too mean and ungrateful to Ryuuji. She never apologized for yelling at him or hitting him or thanked him for cooking all of her meals, cleaning her apartment, doing her laundry, and all of the other thoughtful things he did for her. He was just way too nice to her and I wish he would have stood up to her crap more. Even so, I don't mind that they ended up together because I knew it would happen from the moment they bumped into each other in the hall in the first five minutes of the first episode, but it was still a little weird to me when they finally did. It would have been very interesting if they had done something a little different and surprised everyone.

I would have liked to see a little bit more of the fate of the other students and a more satisfying ending, but overall, I enjoyed it.

There was a lot of "fan service" in this (giant boobs, cleavage, almost naked buff guys, etc.), which is was unnecessary and distracting.

Overall, worth the watch. It's light hearted and fun.