トラドラ！ - Toradora!

Well, ok. This is going to be a difficult review of my own...as frankly I cannot possibly express how superb the entire series was. As someone said in the top review on MAL, "Sure, the content isn't the most original, but it took a very different route to get there."

A brief introduction: Takasu Ryuuji is an ordinary high school boy who is unfortunate enough to have the eyes of a delinquent despite being beyond one. On arrival to school, he bumps into Aisaka Taiga (known as the Palmtop Tiger for her small size and violent temper) who gives him her wrath. However one event leads to another and they soon make a pact to help each other get closer to their unrequited loves.


In my view, a lot of romance animes follow a standard formula; you have the festivals, the valentines, the hot springs, the beach, the falling ill and getting cared for, the awkward sleepover...name anything quite cliche and you might be completely right. Now it isn't like Toradora fails to include a couple of these but the situations have no trace of bandying about; there is no obvious fanservice (if Ami ever gets out her bikini it was her own intentions, not the director's) and there is no forced story or character development. These characters merely seem to develop on their own and like most dramas, things aren't always obvious to the viewer what the characters are thinking. This reinforces the realism in their behaviour which never fails to be more human than that of regurgitated characters. Their problems are very real, deeper than the shallow waters of the majority of the romance genre. I should really get to the point: this series turns into a drama.

Animation is another point I must reflect on. It was consistently clean and well executed throughout the series, apparently something that the studio (J.C. Staff) is quite devoted to. But I still haven't mentioned the very gem of the animation: the emotional expression of the face and the movement of the expression over a second or two was beautifully and deeply portrayed. You only get these moments maybe three times at most but when they come, you are blown off your seat. You can really connect with the emotional side of the character.

Such an intense yet sweet series. It was a fantastic watch.