Toradora!

Ryuuji Takasu is a gentle high school student with a love for housework; but in contrast to his kind nature, he has an intimidating face that often gets him labeled as a delinquent. On the other hand is Taiga Aisaka, a small, doll-like student, who is anything but a cute and fragile girl. Equipped with a wooden katana and feisty personality, Taiga is known throughout the school as the "Palmtop Tiger."

One day, an embarrassing mistake causes the two students to cross paths. Ryuuji discovers that Taiga actually has a sweet side: she has a crush on the popular vice president, Yuusaku Kitamura, who happens to be his best friend. But things only get crazier when Ryuuji reveals that he has a crush on Minori Kushieda—Taiga's best friend!

Toradora! is a romantic comedy that follows this odd duo as they embark on a quest to help each other with their respective crushes, forming an unlikely alliance in the process.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Aisaka, Taiga Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Takasu, Ryuuji Main

Majima, Junji Japanese

Kushieda, Minori Main

Horie, Yui Japanese

Kawashima, Ami Main

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Kitamura, Yuusaku Main

Nojima, Hirofumi Japanese

Inko ing

Gotou, Saori Japanese

Takasu, Yasuko ing

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Kanou, Sumire ing

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Haruta, Kouji ing

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Koigakubo, Yuri ing

Tanaka, Rie Japanese

Yamanaka, Takahiro Producer

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Oohashi, Masao Producer

Ikeda, Shinichi Producer

Reviews

Apr 20, 2025

Sakura131

Recommended

Toradora is a very quintessential romantic comedy that is the type of anime that just gets people into anime. Not only is this romantic comedy fun to watch, the addition of classic tropes, archetypes, and cultural references make it a paradigm of Japanese school romance anime. In addition, its characters depict an emotional realism that many adolescents confront when growing up. Some of our most formative moments were when we young and in love.

The anime centers upon the social-emotional development of teenagers enveloped in a love triangle… which itself develops into a love polygon-of-many-sides. It focuses on loniness, abandonment, and the love of being ... loved with the main character saying “having someone saying you're okay and being needed by that person...It was nice to have someone like that." Sometimes people are in love, sometimes people love the thought of being loved, and sometimes people experience both at the same time.

The anime also delves into dreams vs. reality - that sometimes we overly idolize and fall for someone that isn’t honestly a best match while at the same time failing to spot true love in front of our faces. The plot shows what it means to let go of expectations and desires to come to with what is best, natural, and true. Sometimes we learn this the hard way as another main character said “if you trip while running down a hallway, you'll get a nosebleed. If you trip in life, you cry."

Toradora was such an introduction to tropes, archetypes, love-triangles, and school romance for so many nascent anime fans that it became influential for getting people into anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 20, 2025

Enigma2025

Mixed Feelings

Story: Not bad, but nothing special either. It started off fine, became really good in the middle, but the last three episodes kind of ruined it. The two main characters suddenly start making irrational decisions, and the dialogue gets pretty cringe-worthy. The story would have been much better if it had ended with a simple high school romance plotline.

Characters: The main guy is good-hearted and very mature for his age, but he’s a complete airhead when it comes to romance. Taiga, on the other hand, is straight-up a devil. The only reason people like her is, I guess, they think she’s cute? If you ever ... encountered someone with her personality in real life, you’d stay 100 feet away. She’s just a spoiled brat who bullies the MC from start to finish. Sure, she tones it down a bit after the first few episodes, but it never really goes away. The other characters are pretty forgettable and bland. Ami is the only likable one.

Music: Really good—I like the openings and endings.
Comedy: Non-existent.
Art Style: Mid. doesn't affect my score, the story is much more important anyway.

- Overall: 6/10
- Ami is the best girl.
- Go watch Golden Time by the same author; it’s much better than this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 31, 2024

LevixAckerman

Not Recommended

Title: Toradora!

Story

I got up to the 10th episode before I had to drop the anime. Up to that point, nothing relevant or exciting happened. There were no cliffhangers, no developments, and it was so boring that I almost fell asleep multiple times. With Taiga, we have a psychopath as the main character, and Ryuuji, also a main character, who is not interesting at all and lets everything slide. Why he helps someone who constantly treats him so miserably is beyond words. The ing characters were also boring, monotonous, and devoid of any empathy.

Characters

I don't want to write about each one. But I found the characters ... boring, one-dimensional, superficial, or even catastrophic.

Music

I only liked the ending.

Animation and Character Design

It was okay but nothing special.

Conclusion

Please don't put yourself through this. The story and the characters are pure torture. It has so many logic problems and is unsured in its boredom.

Rating: 2/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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