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Why I love Toradora so

After marathoning Toradora over the weekend, I finally understood what the fuss/buzz was all about. It is indeed a superb series - one of the best anime romances I have seen. Melding great writing, intriguing characters and focused storytelling, Toradora has been a truly memorable.

In fact it was so affecting, I lay in bed for the last couple of nights recalling/sharing with my wife, the sweet/'evil'/silly things that I did/happened to me in the name of love back in high school.

My corresponding near-experiences with Toradora events belongs to another post. This entry aims to share the reasons why Toradora has been such a tremendous show for the Tanuki.

1. Holistic growth

Toradora is one of the few series where the supporting cast grew as much as the leads. And the most impressive aspect of it was how their growth was so intimately tied to each other's strengths, weakness, successes and most importantly failures. I thought Ami was central in bringing the growth matrix into the clear. Besides articulating with great perception the various issues of the characters, Ami herself is a curious bundle irony embodying Minori and Taiga struggles - Minori's facade and Taiga's dishonesty with herself. It's also absolutely wonderful to see how the characters come through to become stronger and more mature persons, acquiring great humility through the journey.

2. Sacrificial and well supported basis of love

Much of secular love is founded on a hierarchy where self is higher than the better half. Which is why it's typically counter-intuitive in love to bless rather than possess. But in Toradora, it's simply amazing to see the 3 girls go against their natural instincts and work for the bliss of their love against their own romantic fates. Denying your love is a theme I enjoy greatly in stories and the reason why I love Da Capo, Kagihime Monogatari (ie siscon shows). Of course the underlying reasons for doing so are different for the 3 girls. Still it's excellent writing and strong characterisation that drew our utmost admiration of the girls from such unenviable positions. Plus, I love romances where there are changes of heart. Such scenarios almost always guarantee well supported basis of love which draws viewers deep into the characters' psyche which was the case for Toradora.

3. Positive feedback

Most series are forward looking and uses the immutability of the past as an anchor for the present plot development. There are the customary backstories to explain how the characters arrive at the current situations and proceed to show their growth along or out of these circumstances/issues. Toradora takes the interesting path of literally a positive feedback. Tiger meets Dragon. They click because of somewhat cruel circumstances inflicted upon then, grew to become stronger/better persons through that friendship/love and GOES BACK to rectifying the issues that that granted them such chemistry in the first place. Kitamura, Minori, Yasuko are some of the beneficiaries of that ToraDora Love.

I could go on but that would be tedious. There's much more to be said about the characters, especially the 3 female leads, on their growth, struggles which are great insight and a source of much reminiscing for me. Be seeing more Toradora love in this space!

Related posts:

1. On Toradora and siscon shows – Denying your love
2. Minori sees like Yuuko Ishihara
3. Minori sees like Francois de La Rochefoucauld