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Toradora!
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Animation - 8.4 |
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Sound - 8.3 |
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Story - 8.4 |
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Character - 9.0 |
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Value - 8.1 |
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Enjoyment - 8.8 |
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Average - 8.5 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| We've all seen these stories enough, boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they fall in love, but they never gather enough courage to tell each other how they truly feel.
To be honest, it was difficult continuing to watch Toradora because the series does not really bring anything new for the first few episodes. However, Toradora treading on such over-stepped bounds managed to keep my interest going long enough for me to get past the initial episodes, where it got interesting, thinking back, it definitely became a choice I did not regret.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is the story about a mild mannered young man in high school, who is eventually given the choice of confessing his love to one of 3 young women. Although this stories plot holds no secrets to the ending, what really captures the audience is the character progression. Following Ryuuji and his 3 suitors draws you in with every episode. This anime doesn't have any tentacles springing from strange places, sudden levitation, or lightning bolts shooting from finger tips and eyeballs, and the fact that this story can intrigue without Duex ex Machina is a good sign of well written work.
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Dathu |
2009-05-15 02:27:06 |
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is one of the few anime that I can say came across as truly genuine. The story is well structured and, although light, gives some heartfelt drama, while avoiding melodramatics. Needless to say I was not surprised to discover that is was an adaption of a light novel series, as I feel it explains the well rounded characters and interesting plot developments. This was the first anime to leave me emotionally raw.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Toradora is a romance/comedy/drama series with believable, complex characters and a number of scenes that will really touch you. However, I found the overall story a bit lacking.
What this anime does best is without a doubt the characters. Unlike the standard romance comedy that relies on plain jealousy the resulting character conflicts to get its point across, Toradora's character each have their own *internal* conflicts--decisions that they must make, or past decisions that they aren't sure about, or thoughts that they're hiding. I found that the writer did an amazing job at keeping track of the details of the personalities and using them to come up complex and interesting scenes. I really felt like I could examine the characters actions deeply, and still feel like the decisions made sense.
However, I felt the story was a bit of a let-down. Much of it just seems to wander aimlessly through their lives--there are a number of dramatic moments, but it could probably have been more intense.
One thing that shaped my opinions for this series had to do with Minorin's character. She seems like a goofy air-head on the surface. However, the anime occasionally hints that she has some very complicated thoughts in her head...as if she was trying desperately to hide some painful secret by putting up this somewhat embarrassing facade. Later in the series, all the signs kept pointing in the same direction, to the point that I felt sympathy for her even though I didn't know why. The suspense built and built until episode 23, when I was absolutely dying to find out what was going on inside Minorin's head. Then episodes 24 and 25 were about something completely different. The reason for Minorin's actions that I think I was supposed to get out of the anime were far from satisfying. I left the series feeling like it could have been much more powerful than it was, if only they had made a real attempt to turn Minorin into a sympathetic character. I was very let-down.
Animation and sound were good, but nothing spectacular. I actually thought the animation was at times a bit more cartoony than it should have been, but it wasn't a big deal.
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Summoner |
(2009-05-02 02:37:59) 2009-05-01 09:42:13 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Note: This review is based on CoalGuys and AniYoshi fansubs both of which are of adequate quality and though you can find some minor errors in translation from time to time it's satisfactory for the most part.
Quote:
Since ancient times, the Dragon has been the only beast to equal the Tiger.
Originally created by Takemiya Yuyuko and directed by Nagai Tatsuyuki (Honey & Clover II) Toradora! is by far the best romantic comedy with harem archetypes I have ever seen. It tells a story about the relationship of two people, Takasu Ryuuji and Aisaka Taiga, and their, sometimes hilarious, attempts at helping each other seduce their crushes. It doesn't sound that great on paper, nor does it sound overly original when you have harems where women sprout from soda cans, but nevertheless, Toradora! is not only the best show of the genre, it's an example of how harem is done right. What makes it stand so far above the usual stereotypes is its complex and deep characters, complete lack of fillers or fanservice and finally a realistic romantic relationship which actually moves forward. The funny thing is that it is hard to commend Toradora! for originality since it adapts one of the most used setups around. Despite that it still appears fresh due to the fact that no show before has ever managed to move such setup as far as this anime did. Toradora! single-handedly managed to revive my hope in harem and romantic comedy genre. It appears that it is not the genre to blame for there being thousands of crappy harems in anime industry, it is lazy directors and their lack of fantasy what is at fault here. I must thank Nagai Tatsuyuki, who did wonders in Honey & Clover before, for finally adding a truly great show to this rotten genre. Now all I need is hentai teach me existentialism philosophy and I will have seen everything.
Conclusion: Watchable by anyone above 13 years old, Toradora! is an example of how good romantic comedies can become. If you are a fan of the genre or just have it for tsunderes - this show is a must-watch. Hell, I recommend watching it even if you don't like the genre, whenever you are in the mood, it might as well change your perception of it, since it did change mine. Other shows with equally intense quality romance: Seikai no Monshou, Rose of Versailles, Kodomo no Omocha. Another anime I relatively enjoyed starring a tsundere was Shakugan no Shana, don't expect much from it though, it hasn't even ended... yet.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Truly a masterpiece. It's lighthearted, well animated, great storyline, ends with 25 or 26 episodes so there is no excess or too much of it. Everything is straight to the point and it's very cute. The comedy aspect of this anime is fantastic: very original and raw. All of teh characters are beautifully defined with a lot of depth, everyone has their quirks like I've never seen before in any anime before - the originality aspect is astounding and unique. Definitely worth a view.
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0 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| man i love this anime, the animation is rather ok i gues.. but then the sound... me just loves the seiyuu that makes taiga, the story.l.. you get lost in it, the characters are amazing, just a great anime. great finish, the openings and endings were ok to i guess...everything a good anime has..
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| well, as a romantic comedy, this is something that i couldn't afford to miss. at first, i was quite amazed by the clear distinction of characters, and then followed by the storyline. i just got captivated and soon, you find yourself finishing the 25 episodes, wanting for more. its interesting plot, coupled with the believable yet funny characters, has relit the flame in me for watching anime once more!
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Initially, i thought this anime would turn out to be like other school-love animes that are very run-of-the-mill: boring. But Toradora really proved me wrong.
It got off at a slow start, but as the show proceeded, i could not help but get drawn in and completely engrossed with the lives of each and every character. Everyone was unique, and everyone had a different side to them that always had me sniffing away and smiling at the end of each (maybe after the first 5) episode .
It's funny, touching and entertaining. In addition, the songs are very addictive haha :)
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I was very happy with the series - this genre gets hit up so often that there are plenty of shows similar to it to compare to. I found myself caring more about the characters here than in the rest of the high-school-love-geometic-shapes shows. Few of those shows have put me in such a panic after I thought I had the entire 24 episode series and was confused by the ending (um, there are 25 episodes, of course, I'm just half-retarded).
Fairly strong characters(if some generic, but who cares if you like them in the end anyway), good production, and very enjoyable. Recommended!
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| If only our romantic lives could be this realistically romantic, we would have no need for media portrayals of love because we would be perfectly satisfied with what we have. Also, if only our high school lives (or would-be, for the younger audience) could be restructured to our liking, may we experience the entertainment of being/giving love, happiness, friends, betrayal, running away, and jealousy, all for the sake of the melodrama we so happen to like to watch on television.
Toradora is an anime that epitomizes the high school love life, or as us fresh-out-of's would call it, near hell. I don't know whether to like or hate Toradora: on one hand, it is a well-told romanctic comedy where the two lead players deal with difficult situations and eventually come together; on the other, I feel that I should not be watching this because I don't need to.
At this point, the reviewer ran out of things to say because everything has already been said before and I don't want to bore you with my bad writing. This is a review for the sake of reviewing everything I watch. Frankly, I feel indifferent to Toradora; I enjoyed watching and discussing it, but I felt bored at times, asking "Why am I watching this?" I will now comment category-wise.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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brynolf |
(2009-04-13 07:43:13) 2009-04-06 17:23:12 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Yet another high school love-triangle. Wait, make that a pentagon... It's pretty cute, pretty funny, pretty heartwarming and pretty believable. Note the "pretty", not "very".
I had a good time watching it, but I think the ending was a let-down, much because it was based on very illogical and non-understandable behaviour.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Avalanche |
(2009-04-06 03:37:46) 2009-04-06 02:40:51 |
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| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Toradora is one of those anime that caused a flurry of interest when they started airing. It tells the story of an unlikely duo: Ryuji – whose eyes are of extremely scary (hence everyone is terrified of him) and Taiga – a small girl who looks cute but has a violent temper (hence everyone is scared of her as well). Together they team up and are called Tora(tiger)-Dora(dragon).
I’ll be very honest: the anime reeks of redundancy that I was really tempted in dropping it within the viewing of the first two episodes. However at the advice of a few fellow friends (and the blogosphere who were “oooh-ahhing” in their praise of the show), I decided to give it a chance. Surprisingly, I finished the entire anime in just four days! But did I really enjoy it? And more importantly, would I recommend it? Read on…
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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andy |
(2009-04-04 11:34:39) 2009-04-03 01:15:32 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Quick Synopsis:
Ryuji and Taiga find out through an amusing accident that each of them has a crush on the others best friend. They form a loose agreement to play the other’s cupid, but because taiga lives alone and also right next door, they end up eating together, waking each other up in the mornings and going to school together. Both of them turn to mush around their heart throbs, so they spend much more time with each other, plotting the next hookup or going through various trials in their friendship and only wind up with a few severely awkward moments with their targets.
It’s easy to pass off Toradora as just another tsundere romantic comedy with the same gags, character archetypes and pathologies, and sitcom-esque setups that put the characters in awkwardly romantic situations. Indeed the characters start out lifeless and generic. The “dere” part of Taiga’s tsundere personality is cloyingly sweet, as if she is a maiden who hasn’t so much as had her skin defiled by the touch of a boy. The “tsun” part is unreasonably disagreeable, violent, and straight up mean. Ryuji always gets this end of her moody personality, and it’s difficult to see any human being with a semblance of pride and self respect standing the insult and humiliation he receives from Taiga, but he actually begs for more. Only a diagnosis of a severe masochistic disorder along with horrible self esteem could explain that. Suffice it to say the two main characters have an unnatural and off putting relationship at first. As the series moves on, it switches gears completely, but gradually, to a high school drama. The objects of the two main characters’ affections, a hyperactive girl, Minori, and an overly enthusiastic brown noser, Yuusaku, who were nothing more than gag fodder, as most side characters in tsundere/harem romantic comedies are, become fully fleshed out, though not particularly nuanced characters. In fact, the gags all but disappear after the halfway mark. Taiga, though still easily categorized as “tsundere,” becomes almost unrecognizable from what she was early on in the series. Her character mellows out a lot; she gets to be more apologetic, and because of this, her relationship with Ryuji, though still on the sadist-masochist side, at least resembles a healthy friendship.
The series then goes all out Asian Soap Opera, pulling out love geometry complex enough to stump a math major, family dysfunction, and the ubiquitous trials that friendships are put through due to crushes and the resulting jealousy; basically every trick a typical Asian TV drama has for dragging the tears out. Toradora is indulgent with the melodrama, and it’s hit or miss. It’s usually quite deft when it comes to the central romance and family problems. The situations and the ways the characters face them feel genuine, enough so that most people probably can find some common denominators in their personal experiences. The love and affection is surprisingly down to earth given the tsundere premise. No tearful kisses, thank god. The same amount of melodrama is applied to the characters’ friendships, but not to the same effect. Jealousy is the culprit of nearly every friend-friend conflict in the series, but melodrama is something that inherently does not suit that emotion. Envy is brooding and dark, not loud and whiny. There is but one character that comes close to expressing jealousy believably, but in the end, she, like all the other side characters are simply “dealt” with, unnaturally resolving complex issues in simple ways so that the final BFF ending can happen. When melodrama goes wrong, it really goes wrong, and there may be scenes that are corny enough to make you want to plug your ears, close your eyes, and god forbid if you’re watching with a friend, laugh awkwardly to hide the embarrassment from the fact that you actually agreed to watch something so darned cheesy. I can easily see how one might feel differently, but if you ask me, the payoff tear jerkers are worth the occasional bits of torture.
Toradora is definitively superior to any other Anime drama I’ve seen in terms of animation. The character designs and vibrant color schemes in clothes and hair are reminiscent of fanservice-y harem gag comedies (which Toradora is quite far from), that is to say, they’re not particularly inspired or impressive, but the characters are consistently well animated, with absolutely no use of motion tweens or excessively stiff motions that most high school dramas, especially of the shoujo/josei variety, seem to get away with. Then you have those few sequences with animation beautiful enough to make nearly every action series green. It’s rare enough to see such liberal use of high frame sequences with impressive key animation in any TV series, let a lone a drama. There is one real fight scene, and the rest of these sequences are used on climactic chasing, fleeing, or falling. The fight scene aside, good animation may seem wasted on a drama, but it actually provides a much needed element that Anime sorely misses over its live action counter parts in the same genre: physical expression. The physical expression in Anime melodrama is way too basic. We’ve all seen chase scenes before: the characters run with stiff arm and leg motions, and the only form of physical expression is scrunched eyebrows indicating concern or worry for whoever is being pursued. The same scene in Toradora would have fully animated the pursuer’s body motions, it would have shown slight random stumbles and slips while turning corners, all of this serves to highlight desperation that when expressed physically adds a layer of emotional depth over some generic verbalized thought like “please be okay…”
You would think that the production value would also apply to music, but it’s sadly absent, or so passive and muted that it might as well have been absent at the most crucial, climactic moments of the story.
Toradora is well paced in that it weans the viewer from comedy to drama gradually, but it never successfully integrates the two. In the latter half of the series a few old gags pop up very rarely, but they feel forced and unnecessary. Despite the ambiguity as to which moment actually separates the two very different halves of the series, the beginning and end still feel very distinct, so most people will probably have different opinions on each half of the story. To me, Toradora is generic and uninteresting as a Tsundere comedy. It doesn’t have a knack for laugh out loud humor, and Anime is saturated enough as it is with Tsundere gags. As an angsty, melodramatic high school drama, it’s painful to watch at times, but the frequent tear jerkers and occasional poignancy make the series a worthwhile watch.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| While not reaching the same heights as JC Staff's other projects, the characters are still warm and entertaining. The story, however, drags down towards an inevitable conclusion that destroys any tension or excitement. So goes the humor as well, where Taiga's tsundere act becomes the sole joke. Not incredibly funny or romantic, Toradora does just enough to limp to the finish line.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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|
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Toradora! is a 25 episode romantic comedy anime released in 2008. Toradora's impressive storyline progression, which is especially apparent in later episodes, has made it one of the most popular and widely followed anime of 2008 and 2009.
The character designs in Toradora are unique and very pleasant to look at, right from the very first episode. Its animation is very good, and the same is true for the level of detail in its scenes. The graphics and animation of Toradora manages to successfully complement the storyline of the anime, which is the most important factor for a romantic anime.
Toradora features a number of very good theme songs, which might initially seem unsuitable for the anime. However, storyline development is one of the key strengths of the anime, and will eventually make every song in Toradora very pleasant to listen to. The background music of Toradora are repeated quite often in the series, but it never feels overused. Accompanied by a high profile cast of voice actors, Toradora definitely does not disappoint in its audio.
Toradora starts off slowly, and will appear to be just like any other mainstream comedy anime revolving around high school romance. In fact, some viewers might become weary of the story half way through the anime, where Toradora appears to be chaining filler episodes, something quite common in mainstream romantic comedies. However, Toradora eventually picks up pace, and transforms from a romantic comedy into an impressive romantic drama, with elements of humour. The final episode of Toradora might appear to be confusing to some viewers, but it ends with a very strong and enjoyable conclusion. In summary, despite its initial shortcomings, Toradora more than redeems itself in its later episodes, and finishes brilliantly.
Toradora has a cast which is entirely introduced in its first few episodes. Very few new characters are added during the anime, allowing Toradora to focus on the development of its existing characters. The main characters in the anime have very amusing personalities, delivering most of the humour in Toradora. Complemented by some top quality voice acting, Toradora features a cast which is very entertaining to watch, and provides the means for its excellent storyline development.
Toradora is one of the few romantic comedies that has a well developed and conclusive ending. This does mean that a direct sequel to the storyline is very unlikely, which might be a disappointment to viewers who have taken a real shine to the anime. I would recommend Toradora to viewers who enjoy romantic comedies, as well as romantic anime. But, do remember that it takes some time before the story picks up pace.
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WiL |
(2009-03-28 04:34:49) 2009-03-27 03:30:06 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Toradora was one of the many animes that kept me entertained on the start of the year. The animation is done amazingly, the story is interesting, and the conclusion wasn't that bad.
The animation was one of the things that attracted me to this anime. Although Taiga may look and act a little like Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, she has her own personality which makes her a great character. I loved anything from movements to expression throughout the whole anime. (Taiga is sooo cute.)
Some of the music in the anime is quiet catchy. My silky love being one of them! I'm not sure if that's the name of the song though. The japanese voice actrors did a good job on all the characters. Taiga's voice actor is also the same one from Zero no Tsukaima which makes her sound like Louise. I think they got the personality down on every character which made it look a lot more convincing than other animes.
The story is about young love. You will see a bunch of weird love triangles, and even more geometric shapes in this series, but the main focus is on Ryuuji and Taiga. It takes a while for developments and feelings to kick in, so this is where the support characters kick in. Ami, Minori, and Kitamura play a huge role in getting this silki love into play, and it takes them almost the whole entire series too.
It was truly a fun and dramatic anime. I repeated a lot of episodes just to see some scenes where everything got intense, romantic, or touching. I think the ending could have been executed a little bit better, but it does have a nice ending. This anime is one of the best romance anime that I've seen so far. Toradora happens to be one of the best animes for this year.
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3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I wrote an extensive positive review, but login issues deleted it. Since I don't have the time to rewrite it i'll summarize:
-Consistently Impressive.
-Intelligent Writing.
-Characters are utter highlight of the series.
-Certainly among the best romantic/comedy/dramas (dethrones Kare Kano for me).
-Several episodes/scenes were done so well I watched them repeatedly.
-Very well done ending.
I could say so much more in praise. Such quality in execution is so rare, and SO appreciated. Well worth watching.
Also, Ami>Minori... Though much love to Minori, that crazy Mr. Lady...
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
lord0din69 |
(2008-12-18 08:34:59) 2008-12-18 08:25:57 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Review w/Spoilers: This series starts out defining the key characters quite well. Ryuuji being the misunderstood classmate which seems like delinquent but is actually a hard worker. Taiga being an aggressive person who likes to speak her mind, but is extremely shy expressing her feelings. These two hit it off to cause some interesting ruckus through out the series. However, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The "small tiger in a palm" (Aisaka Taiga) and her personality makes this anime pretty enjoyable and fun!
Have fun ^^!
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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