Toradora

Toradora (トラドラ) is a 25 episode romantic comedy based on the light novel series of the same name.  The series is written by Takemiya Yuyuko and illustrated by Yasu.  The anime originally aired on TV in Japan in 2008.

    Takasu Ryuji has the face only his mother could love.  His deceased father was purportedly a low ranking yakuza and Ryuji unfortunately looks like one himself.  He lives with his aloof hostess mother in a ramshackle house stuck next to a high end apartment building.  Looks deceive personality though as Ryuji is dedicated and responsible.  He's a clean freak to the point of it being a fetish.  Unfortunately his looks precede his personality and everyone in school avoids him as if he were a delinquent.  His second year of high school leads to him getting mixed up with one of the schools true delinquents, the Palmtop Tiger, Aisaka Taiga.  After an eventful run in with her they end up being assigned the same class.  In a mix up at the end of the day Taiga slips a confession note into Ryuji's bag instead of the class rep, who she has a crush on.  Ryuji finds it later that night.  Initially thinking it was a challenge letter from her, he discovers the truth when he reads it.  When Taiga finds out she breaks into his house to attack him and retrieve the embarrassing evidence only to succumb to hunger.  Being the softie he is Ryuji cooks a midnight snack for his pathetic assailant.  Taiga strikes a deal with him to keep her secret.  She knows Ryuji has a crush on her best friend Kushieda Minori and they pair agree to help the other achieve their unrequited love.  In order to keep his secret he agrees to become Taiga's man servant.  This ends up meaning more work than he anticipated as Taiga lives by herself in the apartment next to his house.

    I was really glad I picked this series back up.  When it was originally airing I watched the first few episodes but it didn't grab me enough to keep from being pulled away by other things.  Through the first 7 or so episodes it still wasn't grabbing me too much; nothing seemed to make it special.  It was good but nothing that good.  Around the half way point that all changed as all of the characters ceased to be one dimensional gags.  Initially it doesn't seem to have much traction or forward progression beyond the inevitable conclusion.  The five main characters have their set, easily identifiable personalities.  The stoic and dependable straight man, Ryuji.  Fiery hotheaded, Taiga.  Oblivious weird Kushieda.  The voice of reason and compassion in the class rep Kitamura Yusaku. And the self loathing and spoiled Kawashima Ami.  But something changes as the characters and the viewers get to know the deeper personalities of these characters, especially the three secondary members of the group.  You begin to learn about their fears, ambitions and dreams and you start to realize that everyone is tied up in a complicated mess of emotions and desires.  In the beginning the series is light and comical but near the end there are long drawn out segments of moderate drama.  It’s actually a bit of an emotional roller coaster and is probably one of the more mature and realistic high school romances in anime.

    What made me want to go back to the show was an anime from early 2014 based on another light novel series by the same author, Golden Time.  I really enjoyed the dimension and emotional range in Golden Time and was pleased to see the same thing in Toradora.  I will have to see if there is anything else by the same author, but I don't think there is.  Either way this is an enjoyable romance.  For the first time I’m a while I was pretty disappointed to say goodbye to a shows characters.  I would love to see more but I don't think there will be any more.  Along with the light novels there was also a manga adaptation but I don’t think either has expanded the story beyond the point where the anime ends...but I may be wrong.  This is a great show for someone looking for a more mature romance that is still light and fun.  Something not as heavy as Kare Kano but still driven by character depth more than story alone.

    The series is available via disc and streaming in North America.  The manga is as well but like almost everything else the light novels are not.  I wonder when we will start to see a greater influx of light novels...