If you’re looking for a new romance Anime to watch, Toradora! might be the one.
Adapted from the novel written by Yuyuko Takemiya and illustrated by Yasu, its Anime version has been around since October 2, 2008, and still holds up as one of the most memorable romantic comedies ever made.
With only 25 episodes, this coming-of-age teen drama has all the classic tropes and cliches pulled off effortlessly. Even though this story features the most stereotyped characters, the plot develops naturally into a wonderful rom-com series.
Here are the reasons why you should watch Toradora.
What’s Toradora about?
Toradora is a romance Anime that follows the story of two high school students, Taiga Aisaka and Ryuji Takasu.
Ryuji is the male protagonist of Toradora who is a kind and gentle person but gets avoided by people for his intimidating looks. One day Ryuji gets into an argument with Taiga, the female lead in this series, and she’s known for her fiery temper despite her small, petite appearance.
However, things change when both discover that they both have a crush on each other’s best friends. They team up to play each other’s cupid and win over their respective romantic interests.
But little do they know that this unlikely friendship is the first step to a whirlwind romance.
How many hours is Toradora?
Toradora is a series that’s been around for a while, so it’s no surprise that many people have watched it multiple times.
In fact, the average episode length of Toradora is 24 minutes long—so you can watch one or two episodes in one sitting if you’re in a rush or just want to catch up on things quickly.
If you’re like me and don’t like breaking the momentum at all, then I recommend watching all 24 episodes over the course of three days—it’ll take over 10 hours but then again it all depends on how you want to enjoy this series.
Is Toradora the best Romance Anime?
Toradora is not the best romance Anime, though—it’s one of the most memorable Shoujo series ever made!
The characters are memorable, and their interactions with each other are so sweet they’ll make your heart skip a beat.
Toradora if best explained is a weird whirlwind romance. The guy is a hardworking selfless person but he is poor whereas the girl is a spoiled rich girl with family drama.
They are polar opposites in terms of background and personalities yet they find solace and happiness in each other. Their problems disappear when they are with each other. Then their marriage at such a young age was unexpected for most fans and a pleasant thing too.
Unlike most romance Anime, Toradora portrays a realistic take on love, like getting into a tussle over a guy or eloping with your man (sorry for the spoilers). There are also a few rare moments where something incredibly harsh yet honest and realistic is said.
There are a few sad and comic moments in there too. But, most of the time, things get serious, especially when it comes to love. It becomes fairly dramatic as you get deeper into this Anime and you would find it difficult to stop in the middle once you start watching it.
Is Toradora an Ecchi Anime?
Yes and no, Toradora can be considered an Ecchi Anime based on the character settings but there is nothing Ecchi in the story.
The main lead Taiga & Ryuji share a relationship like one of a master & her dog. That symbolizes most Ecchi Anime where a fearsome chibi girl rules over or dominates the boy.
However, it’s not a typical Ecchi genre Anime. It is a romantic slice-of-life drama filled with funny scenes. The show has some suggestive scenes in it, but they’re used to help develop its characters’ relationships rather than being there just for the sake of sex appeal.
In fact, if you’re looking for something that’s purely focused on fanservice and nudity, you will probably be disappointed by this show—it’s definitely not that kind of show!
Is Toradora worth the watch?
Yes absolutely!
Toradora has many quirky moments to lift up your day, the characters and the chemistry make it worth the watch.
Here are some reasons why you should watch Toradora:
Main characters
The writer did a great job in creating this series’ main characters since each one of their emotions makes you feel nostalgic, or just makes you think of your high school sweetheart or crush.
This table gives you a background of all the main characters in this series:
| Character names | Background |
| Ryuji Takasu | The male Protagonist. A 17-year-old selfless and diligent high schooler. |
| Taiga Aisaka | The female Protagonist. A dominant hot-headed character. |
| Yusaku Kitamura | The only friend of Ryuji at the beginning of the series. He is a smart, popular, and driven support character. |
| Kawashima Ami | Kawashima is a Magazine model and Yusaku’s childhood buddy. A typical pretty girl character, evolving with the plot. |
| Minori Kushieda | A happy-go-lucky character that helps bring the main couple together but her personality deviates from this later in the series. |
Yasuko Takasu
I would want to take a moment to appreciate a character: Yasuko “Yasu” Takasu, the mother of our angry-looking main man, Ryuuji. Yasuko is a hilarious character who contributes to many of the show’s most amusing situations.
Despite having a cheerful personality, she has a sad story. She became pregnant at a young age and was later abandoned by her boyfriend, causing her to raise Ryuuji on her own while working as a hostess to cover the bills. And she does that so joyfully.
It was incredibly encouraging to witness someone in such a difficult situation remain cheerful and optimistic and this makes Yasu a pleasant character to watch.
Theme songs
The opening and ending themes of the series give you an insight into the story in the most pleasant way.
Toradora has one opening theme and an ending theme describing different stages of the relationship between Taiga and Ryuji.
- The first OP is “Pre-parade” Pureparēdo by Rie Kugimiya, Yui Horie, and Eri Kitamura. This song shows the cat and mouse relationship of the protagonists in the starting few episodes.
- Horie’s “Vanilla Salt” (Banira Soruto) is the first concluding theme. This ending theme’s concept accurately represents a Tsundere’s emotional evolution (a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a person who is initially cold before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time).
Conclusion
- Toradora is a fun Anime that has a lot of heart. If you are into watching romance and comedy then you would definitely enjoy this show.
- The theme songs, characters, and plot make it an entertaining Anime.
- Though the show contains some suggestive scenes, it can’t be categorized as an Ecchi Anime.
- It is more of a romance Anime rather than a slice-of-life genre since most of the scenes are adorable and quirky.
- Yasu’s character in the show just makes it more worthwhile to watch.