LXVII: "Toradora!"

Another series I grew to like over time, Toradora! is a romantic comedy that has a bit of drama to it. It deals with initially mismatched people that tries to go after who they love, only to fail, even with each other's help.

Toradora! deals with Ryuji Takasu, a kind student with a rather distasteful expression (sanpaku eyes) inherited from his father. Because of this, seeing him strikes fear into most students, save for a few like his friend Yusaku Kitamura. Generally misunderstood, he is rather kind, but definitely a neat freak, cleaning anything and everything before him should he finds distaste. While he fears about his chances being low to find a girlfriend (due to the aforementioned problem), he does have his eyes set on Minori Kushieda. It's to his delight that when the school year begins, he gets to be in the same class as Yusaku and Minori... but didn't count on this other person showing up as well. Enter Taiga Aisaka, called the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level, to be more specific, the Palmtop Tiger. From the jump, she harbors contempt towards Ryuji. Soon, it's revealed that she's not only a personal friend of Minori, but also has a crush on Ryuji's friend, Yusaku.

Following a mishap cause by Aisaka's "Love Letter" (or lack thereof), it soon becomes a unique predicament, with Ryuji and the "Palmtop Tiger" Aisaka each having a friend that the other one wants to be with. To make ends meet, they work together to make sure that Ryuji is paired with Minori, and Taiga pairs with Yusaku. Despite how rocky it was in the beginning, the two develop a respectable relationship between them as they help each other out, even though the outcomes can be comical, at times. Of course, there's also Ami Kawashima who tends to spice things up (or complicate them) every now and then, much to the chagrin of Taiga. Their goals are similar, but in the end, who will end up with whom?

Toradora! ties to the names of Taiga and Ryuji. In Taiga's case, her name sounds like "tiger", which in Japanese is "tora". Ryuji's name means "son of dragon", and when said in Japanese, "dragon" becomes "doragon". This series has been licensed for US by NIS America, but still is only Japanese audio. In addition, it was made in the J.C.Staff studio, with 25 episodes made and a single OVA special.

Toradora! is a trip, but well worth my time watching and reviewing. I score it a 7.8 of 10, and would definitely watch it again if I wanted to.