Toradora! Anime Review: Just Another Angry, Small Schoolgirl RomCom

I decided to bite the bullet and start on a new anime series (despite not finishing Free! Season 2 yet). I needed something to fill the trash void in my heart, so I picked a mushy, syrupy-sweet anime, Toradora! This is a 25-episode slice of life/high school romance series from studio J.C. Staff which has given us Revolutionary Girl Utena (GOD BLESS THEM), Honey and Clover, and Excel Saga. Toradora! follows second-year high school students Ryuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka as they scheme together to get with each other’s best friends, with disastrous results. Right off the bat, Taiga pissed me all the way off. I personally despise the “cute little anime girl that looks like a doll but is lethal” trope, but here we are with another 20+ episode adventure with this same old bullshit in it. Her short stature, punchey fists, and fiery temper are constants throughout the rom-com, which juxtaposes Ryuji’s tender nature. But GOD DAMN TAIGA IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE. You guys, I tried. I did. But the shit she kept pulling throughout was just not cute. I dunno if this is how business is done in the romance genre of anime these days, but it was infuriating to watch. Taiga was incompetent, petulant, and rude as fuck.

Of course, this was all a “cover” because inside she was truly a “caring” friend, but friends don’t call you shitty nicknames, physically harm you, and demand absolute obedience from you. Now, I can hear the fanboys come a-crying, and okay, okay, I get it — IT’S AN ANIME. That doesn’t…