Slice-of-life/romance high-school anime are kind of common... it feels like a few dozen are made each year. "Toradora" stands out among them as a fan-and-club-favorite, a true poster child for the genre. And only very recently (2014, despite being originally broadcast in 2008) did it receive an English dub, which I only very recently watched.The two main characters immediately make the show unique based on how stand-offish they look, despite being very decent people. Tiaga is a poster child for the term tsundere, which is a term in anime used for characters that tend to hate the main character, despite either secretly having or developing feelings for them. She's spoiled, short with big hair and a bigger temper, and known to get in fights with anyone who looks at her funny, referred to by the nickname of "Tiger." Ryuji lives more modestly, but his narrow beady eyes and tall build give him the appearance of someone who wants to kill you, despite being a good cook and clean-a-holic, and is so called the "Dragon." And the "Tiger" and "Dragon" realize they are neighbours for the first time, when Ryuji accidently sees Tiaga's confession of love to another classmate.The show follows their budding friendship as they help each other find love in high school. Simple at first, the show gets confusing when every character admits to having a crush, and no couple seems to match up. Of course, Tiaga and Ryuji become quick friends, and it's easy to see how their relationship will end by the end of the series (although the ending is a little iffy, it works out). Aside from the romantic drama, the show is also funnier than most slice-of-life shows. Other shows in memory in this genre rely on mostly light and quirky, but SAFE, humor, more meant to make you love the characters rather than laugh. Here, I can say at least 25% of the jokes made me roll over, adding to the charm.So overall, the characters, humor and drama are better here than average. But one thing that did bug me was how dramatic the high school characters took everything. This isn't uncommon in anime, but from the way characters cry and scream, I waited for one of them to drop the reason as horrific rape, relationship violence, or murder. Instead, most of it is around high school crushes (and also family issues around Taiga, but most of it still tamer than even most of today's family shows). It feels immature and overblown, and while it works in some parts, more often it feels frustrating. On the other hand, if you watch this show waiting for a romance to come to a conclusion, you might be familiar with how most anime leave such love as open-ended, letting you ponder on your own (or else read an on-going manga) whether the main characters will ever confess their love, let alone kiss. At least with Toradora, you do get a much more satisfying conclusion on that front.
The visuals are fine as far as production goes: the background art for example looks about on-par to other anime from around this time. The character designs are a bit more unique, using more angular or wild line work while not going overboard, overall still looking attractive to look at. But it's clear the animation studio is good at what they do (by which I mean animation and movement), when they flex their muscles during a handful of intense scenes. Throw in a catchy opening and ending (the first ones anyway), a great English dub, and you're set.Overall, a great example of the genre at its best, consistently well-rounded in almost every aspect. Whether or not you like this sort of thing, "Toradora" might be that gateway show to turn you onto this type of anime.