Toradora! (とらドラ!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) is a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] series by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], with illustrations by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The series includes ten novels released between March 10, 2006 and March 10, 2009, published by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] under their
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] label.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] A
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] light novel series was also created, aptly titled
Toradora Spin-off!; the first volume was released on May 10, 2007. A
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] adaptation by Zekkyō started serialization in the
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on July 27, 2007, formally published by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The manga ended serialization in
Dengeki Comic Gao! on January 27, 2008, but continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on March 21, 2008.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]An
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] show started in September 2008 hosted by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. An
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] adaptation produced by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] aired in Japan on
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] between October 2008 and March 2009.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] licensed the anime and will be releasing it in North America. A
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] based on the series will be produced by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] playable on the
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and will be released in April 2009.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The title
Toradora! is derived from the names of the two main characters Taiga Aisaka and Ryūji Takasu. "Taiga" sounds like "
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]" in
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and tiger in Japanese is
tora (とら
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]). "Ryūji" literally means "son of
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]" in
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of dragon into Japanese is
doragon (ドラゴン
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]).
PlotToradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryūji
Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his
second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes
make him look like an intimidating delinquent, so he is utterly
hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and
does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]mother in the morning, Ryūji goes to school and is happy to find that
he gets to be in the same class with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura
and a girl he has a crush on, Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that
he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the
highest risk level"—Taiga Aisaka—who just happens to also be in his
class, and is a good friend of Minori.
Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate
to snap at people. After meeting Ryūji, she takes an instant dislike of
him. Taiga comes from a rich family, but she has moved out to live on
her own due to family issues. She is coincidentally living in an
apartment next to Ryūji's. When Ryūji discovers that Taiga has a crush
on Yūsaku, and Taiga finds out about Ryūji's affections towards Minori,
Ryūji suggests that they cooperate to win the objects of their
affections. Taiga exploits the fact that Ryūji will do anything to get
closer to Minori. She makes him her personal servant, getting him to do
all her household chores (cooking and cleaning). Taiga spends a lot of
her time over at his house, so much that she could almost be considered
a member of his family. Since Ryūji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he
has opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not
see. The two also try to help each other improve the way people view
them. However people they know from school start to become curious
about their strange relationship and rumors begin to spread about them
behind their backs. Ryūji and Taiga start getting along more and
eventually become a couple.
Characters[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The main characters of
Toradora! (from left to right): Ryūji, Yūsaku, Taiga, Minori, and Ami.
Ryūji Takasu (高須 竜児,
Takasu Ryūji[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The series' main protagonist, Ryūji is a seventeen-year-old high school student in his second year, class 2-C. Due to
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], his
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent and causes many
misunderstandings. He lives in a fatherless family with just his
mother, and due to this, Ryūji has learned to be self-sufficient. He is
good at cooking and keeping everything in his house clean (to the point
of obsession), and also excels at sewing. He holds a crush on Minori
Kushieda, a girl his age in his class. He has a pet
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] named "Inko-chan" ("inko" literally means "parakeet" in
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]).
Ryūji often helps Taiga with domestic chores which she is otherwise
unable to perform. At school, he is known as "the only person able to
stop the palmtop tiger", referring to Taiga's nickname. Due to the
misunderstandings due to his looks, as well as how he grew up, he tends
to look down on himself and lacks confidence in himself. Despite this,
he is rather calm in most situations and is responsible, smart and has
great grades, even when compared to Yūsaku Kitamura, his best friend.
He is dense when it comes to girls' feelings, especially about things
between him, Taiga, Minori and Ami. While initially seen as
intimidating by most others, he makes more friends. His feelings and
relationship to Taiga begin to change as he spends more time with her
throughout the series
Taiga Aisaka (逢坂 大河,
Aisaka Taiga[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Taiga is a girl in Ryūji's class. She has a well-regulated and
beautiful appearance though is unable to stomach company from others.
Due to her often snapping at others in brutal ways and her short
stature, she is given the nickname "Palmtop Tiger" (手乗りタイガー,
Te Nori Taigā[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]). Her under-developed body and the added nickname has given her a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]which in turn serves to give her a negative attitude and facial
expression. Essentially, Taiga gets upset easily and is considerably
clumsy. Due to her cute looks (described as a doll by Ryūji), she often
gets confessions of love by boys, but she turns down every one of them,
including Yūsaku Kitamura (which she later regrets).
Despite coming from a well-to-do family, her life with them is very
difficult because of various problems. Her father's business went
bankrupt and he ran away, leaving Taiga in the care of her mother who
was already remarried and had a new family of her own. Taiga has
difficulty getting along with her step-father and half-sibling and
since then, she has taken to living on her own. Since she came from a
privileged household, she does not know how to do any domestic chores.
When she meets Ryūji and learns of his domestic talents, she ends up
relying on Ryūji to clean up after her. Aside from sleeping in her own
house, and going to school, she spends most of her time at Ryūji's
house; so much so that she is almost considered a member of his family.
At the beginning of the story, she is infatuated with his best friend
Yūsaku Kitamura and gets nervous every time he appears around her. Due
to this, Taiga and Ryūji team up to help each other get into a
relationship with each other's best friend. Though she treats Ryūji
badly at first, her feelings begin to change as she spends more time
with him.
Minori Kushieda (櫛枝 実乃梨,
Kushieda Minori[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Minori is a girl in Ryūji's class, and is a close friend to Taiga.
She is also known by the pet name "Minorin" (as a form of friendly
affection). In contrast to the violent nature of Taiga, Minori is
always smiling and cheerful. She is very athletic and is the captain of
the girl's softball club at school, though at the same time she holds
many
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]jobs. She is a glutton when it comes to food, but is also constantly
combating with dieting, calling herself a 'diet warrior'. She gets a
thrill out of being scared. Despite her air-headed tendencies, she is
very perceptive, and is one of the few people to see Ryūji for the
gentle person he is, and is also not fooled by Ami's acts of innocence.
It is implied that her air-headed tendencies may be a facade, and later
revealed that she too loves Ryūji.
Yūsaku Kitamura (北村 祐作,
Kitamura Yūsaku[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Yūsaku is a male student in Ryūji's class, and is his best friend.
He is the vice-president of the student council, the class
representative, and captain of the boy's softball club at school.
Yūsaku wears glasses, and has a diligent personality. He thinks he is
poor at talking to girls, though Ryūji observes otherwise. During his
time as the vice-president of the student council, he eventually falls
in love with the student council president, Sumire Kanō. A running gag
is that he will appear out of nowhere behind Taiga and Ryūji when they
are discussing a "plan of attack" to get their crushes. Like Minori, he
has an unusual personality, but oftentimes it is an expression of his
friendship and appreciation. After his graduation, he goes to study
abroad in America, chasing after Sumire Kanō.
Ami Kawashima (川嶋 亜美,
Kawashima Ami[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Ami is Yūsaku's childhood friend who transfers into his class
midway through their second year of high school. She is very beautiful
and even works as a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]and is seen as the mature one of the group. Though after she transfers
school, she temporarily stops modeling. However, she still continues to
go to the gym readily and maintains a slim figure. She is always kind
and generous towards others, though this is merely a deception. In
truth, she is arrogant and will not hesitate to use abusive language
towards others. During her first meeting with Taiga, Ami shows her true
colors, but the tables are turned when Taiga counterattacks by slapping
her. Since then, Ami and Taiga have been enemies, with Ami becoming one
of a few who can tease Taiga at will; and Taiga referring to Ami as
Baka-chi (Stupid
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]).
Despite all this, Ami still sometimes envies Taiga since she can always
be honest. Ami has a love interest in Ryūji, asking him if he would
love her real self and give her a second chance. She has a deep
understanding of the relationship situation going on between Minori,
Ryūji, Taiga, and herself.
Yasuko Takasu (高須 泰子,
Takasu Yasuko[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Yasuko is Ryūji's thirty-three-year-old mother, though she refers
to herself as eternally twenty-three; she has large, F-cup-sized
breasts. Though she tells Ryūji his father died before he was born, the
truth is they were never married; he left her before Ryūji was born,
and she raised her son by herself. She works at a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] named Bishamontengoku where she goes by the name "Mirano" (魅羅乃
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]),
and singlehandedly supports her two-member family financially. However,
she has a childish personality and since she works, she entrusts the
household chores to Ryūji. She instantly takes a liking to Taiga and
already regards her as a member of her family, getting depressed when
Taiga will not appear for dinner. However, she does get angry when
woken up early. Despite the childish, air-headed behavior, Yasuko
proves to have a rather good insight of other people.
Yuri Koigakubo (恋ヶ窪 ゆり,
Koigakubo Yuri[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Yuri is the twenty-nine-year-old homeroom teacher of Ryūji's class,
though she turns thirty in the fifth volume of the light novels. She
likes to do things at her own pace and is timid towards Taiga's way of
speaking out. Since her twenties are almost over, Yuri is in a hurry to
get married soon and she even tries to dress well so as to be able to
get into a relationship quicker. After she becomes thirty without
getting married, she develops a twisted and depressed personality,
which does not help that when Taiga talks about her, she emphases her
single status. She has an interest in real estate.
Sumire Kanō (狩野 すみれ,
Kanō Sumire[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Sumire is the student council president and always manages to get
the top grades in school; she is in fact a scholarship student and has
horrible eyesight. She has a strong-minded personality which she
depends on to be a figure those will follow. Her younger sister is
Sakura and her parents own a supermarket. Sumire loves Yūsaku and as a
result is the object of a one-sided hostility from Taiga, which led to
a massive fight in her classroom. She later studies abroad in America
as she wants to become an astronaut, and because of this, she rejects
Yūsaku's confession of his feelings, so that he will become a stronger
person without having to lean on her.
Sakura Kanō (狩野 さくら,
Kanō Sakura[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Sakura is Sumire's younger sister who attends the same high school
as Sumire though her grades are horrible. She can unconsciously flirt
with people, and like her sister, she hates snakes.
Kōta Tomiie (富家 幸太,
Tomiie Kōta[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Kōta is a first-year student who is the main character to
Toradora Spin-off!. He is generally unhappy about his life. He works on the student council in general affairs, and gets good grades.
Hisamitsu Noto (能登 久光,
Noto Hisamitsu[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Hisamitsu is a male student in Ryūji's class who wears glasses. He
was also in Ryūji's class the previous year and is on good terms with
him. Noto begins to develop feelings for Maya Kihara following an
argument they had during the class winter ski trip.
Kōji Haruta (春田 浩次,
Haruta Kōji[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Kōji is a male student in Ryūji's class who has long hair and is on
good terms with him. He is regarded as a class 'idiot' and that opinion
is deepened by his poor school marks and overly energetic behavior. His
childish pranks often target Taiga and he has been the victim of her
violent outbursts.
Maya Kihara (木原 麻耶,
Kihara Maya[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Maya is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Nanako. She is a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
She has a crush on Yūsaku, and she circuitously opposes the idea of
Taiga and Yūsaku being a couple, although she wants Taiga and Ryūji to
be together.
Nanako Kashii (香椎 奈々子,
Kashii Nanako[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
Voiced by: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Nanako is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Maya and Ami.
Kuroma (黒間
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])Kuroma is the thirty-four-year-old unmarried gym teacher at Ryūji's school. He enjoys
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and improving his muscle mass.
Light novelsToradora! began as a series of
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] written by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and drawn by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Ten novels were published by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] under their
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] imprint between March 10, 2006 and March 10, 2009.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] There are four additional chapters not collected into volumes; three of which appeared in three separate light novel
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] released by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in November 2006, March 2007, and November 2007, and the last chapter entitled
Toratora! came with a
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] tiger
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] first released in April 2007.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]A
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of the regular series under the title
Toradora Spin-off! (とらドラ・スピンオフ!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.])
was also created. The first volume of the spin-off series was released
on May 10, 2007 and compiled four chapters, three of which had been
serialized in MediaWorks' now-defunct light novel magazine
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]between June 10, 2006 and February 10, 2007, and the last chapter was
written especially for the volume release. A single chapter of the
spin-off series, originally published in February 2006 in
Dengeki hp was included in the second volume of the regular novel series. More chapters started serialization in
Dengeki hp's successor
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]on December 10, 2007. Additional chapters of the main series started
serialization in the same magazine on April 10, 2008. The second volume
of
Toradora Spin-off! was released on January 10, 2009.
Manga[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Toradora! manga volume 1 cover.
A
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] adaptation started serialization in the Japanese
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on July 27, 2007, formally published by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The manga takes its story from the light novels that preceded it, and is illustrated by Zekkyō. The manga ended its run in
Dengeki Comic Gao! on January 27, 2008, but still continued serialization in
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]' manga magazine
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] from March 21, 2008.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The first
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] was released on February 27, 2008 under ASCII Media Works'
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] label; the second followed on January 27, 2009.
Internet radio showAn
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] show to promote the
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] series and other
Toradora! media called
ToradoRadio! (とらドラジオ!,
Toradorajio![You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) aired 38 episodes between September 4, 2008 and May 28, 2009 hosted by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The show was streamed online every Thursday, and was hosted by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] who voice Ryūji Takasu and Ami Kawashima from the anime, respectively. The show featured additional
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] from the anime as guests.
AnimeSee also:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The anime was first announced on a promotional advertisement for light novels being released under
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]'
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] label for April 2008.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The anime is directed by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and produced by the animation studio
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Toradora! began airing on October 2, 2008 on
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in Japan,
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and contains twenty-five episodes which concluded on March 26, 2009.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The episodes started airing at later dates on
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The anime premiered in the Philippines through
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on May 18, 2009, one of the first to air it outside of Japan.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The first volume DVD compilation, which contains the first four episodes was released on January 21, 2009 by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in limited and regular editions.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Seven more DVD compilations, each containing three episodes, were
released between February 25 and August 26, 2009 also in limited and
regular editions.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Starting from the second DVD, there were extra animated shorts included in the DVD volumes,
Toradora SOS!, which features the cast as
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] trying out various foods. The
Toradora! anime was licensed by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] as its first anime, and NIS will begin shipping the series in April 2010.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The anime series makes use of four pieces of
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: two opening and two ending themes. The first opening theme is "Pre-Parade" (プレパレード,
Pureparēdo[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.],
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The first ending theme is "Vanilla Salt" (バニラソルト,
Banira Soruto[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) by Horie.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The second opening is "Silky Heart" by Horie,
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and the second ending is "Orange" (オレンジ,
Orenji[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) by Kugimiya, Kitamura, and Horie.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The insert theme for episode nineteen is "Holy Night" (ホーリーナイト,
Hōrī Naito[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) performed by Kugimiya and Kitamura.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The anime's original soundtrack was released on January 7, 2009.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Visual novelA
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] developed by Guyzware and published by
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] based on
Toradora! is playable on the
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and was released on April 30, 2009.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The player assumes the role of Ryūji Takasu where he moves around
school and town, conversing with characters and working towards
multiple endings as part of an original storyline. The game also
features a minigame where players play as Taiga, fending off lovesick
guys.
Appearances in other mediaTaiga is a playable character in the RPG game,
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for the
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], released on March 19, 2009 in Japan.
Subject: Tora Dora : the palm puff tiger 
2010-02-18, 02:59
