Toradora! 01 – Rie Kugimiya plays a violent tsundere loli? What a twist!
Posted by: Noirsword in Anime, Toradora!
Another season, another light novel gets adapted into an anime. This time around, school love comedy Toradora gets the anime treatment. Though I don’t sound too enthusiastic, the first episode of Toradora was pretty enjoyable if somewhat formulaic, as is the standard for this kind of show.
Odd pair of girls talking about odd pair of boys.
Insert “Oni-san, I’m legal! Really!” quote here. Except she is.
You just know some bad mojo is about to go down here…
Where can I buy a palm tiger? It’s so cute!
Rock, paper, scissors for your palm tiger?
Uguu~ I should’ve gone with scissors…
O_O
¬_¬
YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
a/s/l?
loli/female/japanese u?
My pompadour is awesome. Admit it! Or I’ll charge my laser!
YEAH! EYE OF THE TIGER! HE ONLY LOOKS TOUGH ‘CAUSE HIS MOM’S AN UGLY BI-
You get points for effort, but not enough to avoid the Demerit Punch.
Urusai! (x3)
Can you hear me now?
My phone bill’s gonna rack up, you stupid bint.
Too horrible even for Japanese TV.
A victim of cause-and-effect. This is a bad effect.
Reminds me of Nunally. Wait what
Ryuji Takasu is a misunderstood, kind hearted guy with a mean looking face. As such he has an undue reputation as a delinquent, and almost everyone at school is afraid of him save for his best friend, Yusaku Kitamura, and secret crush, Minori Kushieda. Wait a second. Delinquent that looks mean but has a heart of gold? This sounds incredibly familiar… Kenji Harima (School Rumble) and Seiji Sawamura (Midori no Hibi) would like to have a word with you…
The first day of the new semester seems like any other until Ryuji has a fateful encounter (aren’t they always?) with the feared Taiga Aisaka, known as Tiger Palm, in the hallway. He encounters her again after class and has a struggle with her over his schoolbag. He arrives home and realizes that Taiga had mistakenly slipped an empty love letter intended for Yusaku into his bag.
Taiga slips into Ryuji’s house later that night and attempts to whack him on the head with a bokken to make him forget the love letter. Ryuji tells her that love letters are nothing to be ashamed of and shows her his collection of unsent love letters. Taiga inadvertently discovers that Ryuji has a crush on her own friend, Minori. Ryuji agrees to help Taiga with her love problem and unwittingly agrees to be her servant before she leaves.
The next morning he gets a surprise call from Taiga only to discover that she lives right next door to him in the giant apartment complex. Bringing breakfast to her room, he is horrified the second he steps into her filthy apartment. He takes it upon himself to clean her entire apartment. Taiga finally reawakens in tsun-tsun mode and chows down on breakfast. So begins the love-hate relationship between Ryuji and Taiga…
Toradora is an entertaining if not particularly original anime. Light novels tend to be formulaic and Toradora is no exception to the rule. Ryuji looks like a delinquent but is actually a nice, responsible guy that has no luck with girls. His mom is a drunk that stays out late every night. Taiga is a mean bitch that will eventually turn around and grow to like Ryuji. Yusaku is the smart, levelheaded friend. And since this is a love comedy there will be love triangles. The first one will be the painfully obvious Ryuji/Taiga/Minori. Yay love triangles and the inevitable misunderstandings they cause.
Taiga is standard Rie Kugimiya fare. If you’re familiar with her Shana, Louise and Nagi then this tsundere loli should be nothing new. There are even a couple obligatory “Urusai!” thrown in for good measure. It’s a role she does well though and I always enjoy her performances. I’m not too familiar with the other cast members with the exception of Yui Horie, but all the voices seemed to fit their characters.
It’s entertaining enough so I’ll keep up with this show. Sure the premise has been receycled to hell but it’s just something fun to watch.
Gami on 
satchikoma on 
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“Wait a second. Delinquent that looks mean but has a heart of gold? This sounds incredibly familiar… Kenji Harima (School Rumble) and Seiji Sawamura (Midori no Hibi) would like to have a word with you…”
Charas who are both stolen from “Angel Densetsu” 10 years prior…
@Karry: Thanks for that insight. I’ll have to check out this manga.
I love Angel Densetsu, great manga.
I don’t think I’ve seen any of the other characters you’ve mentioned – the names are not jumping out at me. Are they worth watching? I’d actually like to watch more tsundere characters, just to see what they’re turning into. I think the majority of my references come from late 80s/early 90s shows.
@Caitlin: Shana is from Shakugan no Shana, Louise is from Zero no Tsukaima and Nagi is from Hayate no Gotoku. Those are the pinnacle of Rie Kugimiya tsundere. She’s done lots of other stuff too but those roles are the most prominent to me. Hayate is worth a watch while Shana and ZnT are decent stuff.
Suzuka (Suzuka), Eri (School Rumble), Kyou (Clannad) and Nemu (Da Capo) are a couple more off the top of my head. These days we’re pretty much tripping over tsunderes because they’re everywhere.
Holy shit, Taiga is Nunally! How did I miss that?
A Day Without Mes last blog post…Christian Symbolism and Fullmetal Alchemist
Looking at Ryuji is like staring back at myself, only difference is I’m better looking, and not as lucky with women orz
Shins last blog post…Other Stuff I Watched In Autumn So Far – Part II
@Day Without Me: Gasp! Get thee to a Nunnally, right?
@Shin: So in other words you two are nothing alike. You only wish you could be a tsundere loli’s love slave.