Toradora is an interesting anime. It’s fun, serious, passionate, and dramatic without going overboard on anything. There were many times where I cried during the more dramatic, sad parts, and I laughed very hard during the fun parts. The beginning of the series caught my attention and kept it throughout the rest of the series. The characters had wonderful development from beginning to end, really good acting, and the music was gorgeous. It all flowed together. The setting of the series is a high school setting. It’s a romance of sorts. It is also a show of friends sticking together and growing as a group and individually from childish teenagers to adults who understand themselves a lot better than before.Here is the Heroine, Aisaka Taiga (AKA The Palmtop Tiger): She’s petite, has beautiful blonde hair, a strong attitude that covers her fragility and is very much like myself. Seriously. I will actually be cosplaying as her next MetroCon. She and I are very much alike. Otaku Dan was the one who made the suggestion that I should cosplay as her. Taiga has a serious crush on Kitamura.Here is the Hero, Takasu Ryuuji: He has a pretty neutral attitude, but he’s able to stand up to Taiga with no problems (unlike almost everyone else in the series). And what’s ironic is that he is very much like Otaku Dan. Both are clean freaks. Both are able to stand up to a very violent girl who most people are scared of when she’s angry but is truly a fragile girl underneath all of that attitude. Yes, Taiga and I are one in the same. And Ryuuji and Otaku Dan are one in the same. The funny thing is that Dan looks nothing like Ryuuji while I look so much like Taiga. Ryuuji has a serious crush on Kushieda.Here is Ryuuji’s bestfriend, Yūsaku Kitamura: Kitamura is truly a mystery in many ways when it comes to who he is really interested in. He is the assistant to the Student Council President. (A side note: Taiga hates the Student Council President.) He does a lot of his own growing up in the background of the story, but it gets shown more often as the series gets closer to the end.Here is Kushieda Minori: Apart from being the only one Taiga trusts and being her bestfriend, Kushieda has a little too much happiness going on in the beginning of the show. It seriously creeped me out. As the series progresses, we learn that there is another side to Kushieda and that all that happiness isn’t real. Most of it is, but there is some that is just there to keep people from learning the truth.Here is Kawashima Ami: She’s a model. She knew Kitamura when she was younger and is introduced in the series a few episodes into it. She is “two-faced” but she has her reasons that don’t get figured out until the last few episodes where we really see how much she has grown and how much of it was really an act to fit in. Taiga truly loathes her. She gave Ami the nickname: Stupid Chihuahua. One really huge factor that I feel makes this series so great is the character development. At first everyone is childish like any normal group of teenagers, but as the series goes on, you see a lot of growing up happening. They all have to transition into adults as they are seniors. Taiga, I feel, did the most growing up. She was always alone until she met Ryuuji, literally. As her feelings become more complex with her love for Kitamura and not knowing who she really is in her heart, she’s the one who truly had the most growing up to do. Ami was always called mature, until she met Ryuuji who saw she was quite childish sometimes. They came to know each other as equals. Kitamura and Minori are the real mysterious characters. It’s really hard to read them and see what they will turn out to be, though all they needed to do was just come to terms with their feelings. Ryuuji did a lot of growing up, though he was always the one that everyone seemed to rely on. It was truly Taiga, in my eyes, who did the most growing up. What also is wonderful about this series is the acting and artwork. Not only was the artwork breath taking, but it was filled with the same passion that the actors showed in their voices. It was so believable to me that I felt like I was watching something in real life and not an anime. It’s pretty dramatic, more so in the last 7-10 episodes, especially in the last 4-5, it wasn’t overdone and there was plenty of comedy relief that made this series so enjoyable. Something else that made me happy was the opening and ending theme songs. The first opening theme song made me dance every time I heard it, literally. The first ending theme song was pretty and made me smile gleefully. The second opening and ending theme songs made me want to cry. They are such beautiful theme songs. I want the OST. I don’t really see any cons. I’m sure others might, but for me, I saw none. My rating is a 5!Sincerely,Kararu-chan
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