Toradora!

Yes, it's another teen coming of age / "slice of life" anime, it has many of the classic character stereotypes represented, and yes many of the classic tropes are represented, but unlike so many others it's well done.

What surprised me is how naturally the series develops.

The characters are simple but not one dimensional, depth is obtained through flawed but very human choices and the consequences of them. Tropes are present but instead of being shoehorned in they exist as integral parts of the story, often noticed after the fact instead of standing out like the "fan-service" we've come to expect (and often dread). Episodes flow well, without the gaps and jumps I've grown to expect and when the end is reached it felt natural.

It would be easy to go on, but in the end it's an enjoyable series that makes me interested in taking a second look at the "Slice of Life" genre.

Pro's:

• Quality story telling.
• Fairly consistent animation.
• Characters that feel natural.
• A compete story arc.
• Good depth and growth.

Con's:

• Some animation inconsistencies at the end.
• Ending arc could have used another episode.
• Some over the top silliness.
• Fairly predictable (still very enjoyable).

Me: an occasional anime watcher. Very lazy, so dubs for me.

This is a real gem. It's a story of 5 friends as they come of age, grow together, and the overzealous love of teenagers.

What sells this is that the two primary characters are both quite believable. You have Ryuuji, who is a deeply caring guy, and Taiga, who is aggressive, cocky, and also vulnerable. While the story is told from Ryuuji's perspective, the most interesting character throughout is Taiga as she handles the trials of growing up. Fundamentally, she is not a cookie-cutter "cute girl" to stick in the centre of what is essentially a romantic series; she is needy and often unpleasant, while also caring for her friends deeply.

A lot of anime have craaazy hijinks and characters who are incredibly dense at reading others. The joy of this series is that for the most part, these guys are limited by their own inhibitions in a relatable way and often guess what each other is feeling. It's rare that you want to punch characters for being stupid, at least. Although they may punch each other.

Voice acting in English is pretty solid, certainly above average for anime dubs.

I think this show is incredible and would give it a 10/10 if the ending was better, but it wasn't as bad as a lot of people I talked to said it was. I completely recommend it!

Toradora is an enigma to me as I do not usually like romantic comedies, or even anime in general. And this anime does a lot of things that make me dislike anime: it pulls characters from tropes, however this show made me realize maybe that in itself is not a bad thing, because this show did that but did it so well that that didn't matter to me. The main love interest IS a tsundere but there was so much more to her than that, unlike many shows where the trope defines them, where it IS their character; Tiaga is herself first and tsundere second. This can really be said for all of the characters in this show, many of them seem at first very two dimensional, but in reality as you watch the show you realize they each have their own personality and Toradora shows that, it makes you care for them. You feel these characters struggle and succeed on a personal level until the very end. This show is, for the moment, my favorite anime, and I would say almost perfect if it weren't for the lack-luster ending.

Last episode almost made me cry too, one of my most favourite romantic animes 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭👏😢