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Toradora is a romantic high-school comedy series of light novels, animated by studio J.C.Staff in 2008.
Ryuuji Takasu is a busybody high-schooler with a somewhat romantic nature and a low tolerance for uncleanliness, mainly just a nice — if somewhat introverted — guy all around. Unfortunately he inherited the evil-looking eyes and facial structure of his Yakuza father — which makes people think he's a delinquent, or at least someone you don't want to mess with. People who bump into him on the streets offer him their wallets, and when he grins everyone in the vicinity retreats to eight feet away.
As a new school year begins, Ryuuji transfers into a new class together with his prior classmate and friend Yuusaku Kitamura and his crush Minori Kushieda (who he is too bashful to approach) — as well as the infamous Taiga Aisaka, a.k.a the "Palmtop Tiger", Minori's best friend and the pint-sized terror of the school with a fuse even shorter than her stature. After an unfortunate first encounter that ends with Taiga one-hit KOing him for bumping into her, Ryuuji finds out at the end of the school day that Taiga has put a love letter to Kitamura (who she has a crush on but is too bashful to approach) in his bag by accident — which leads to Taiga breaking into his house that night to retrieve her letter (well, the envelope, she forgot to put the actual letter in it).
After much ado and a few sword-blows, Ryuuji ends up swearing to help Taiga in whatever way he can as she pursues Kitamura, just to get his overaggressive classmate out of his house. Abuse, an Odd Couple and much hilarity ensue.
It's truly toradorable.
Tropes in Toradora include:
- Adult Child — Ryuuji's mother Yasuko refers to herself as "Yacchan", and makes childish requests like wanting her name written in ketchup on her omelettes.
- Badass Adorable — Taiga. She floors Ryuuji with a single punch in their first encounter, she can handle a bokken, and she does good (diminutive stature notwithstanding) in a brawl with Sumire (and is completely unrepentant after being suspended from school for it). The palmtop tiger demands your respect.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished — Subverted in the fight between Taiga and the student council president in episode 16, both girls get graphically dirty, bloody and brusied all over their faces.
- Played a little bit straighter with Ami and Minorin. They fight nowhere near as violently as Taiga or Sumire.
- Berserk Button — Either calling Taiga small or by her nickname is something she hates with a passion.
- Beware The Nice Ones — Don't make Minori angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.
- Bitch In Sheeps Clothing — Ami, though she's portrayed more sympathetically than most of the examples of the trope.
- Bi The Way — Minori, very probably.
- Bland Name Product — Sudohbucks Coffee is Starbucks Coffee. Even Ryuuji lampshades "How come this place has yet to be sued?" There's also Jonny's (Denny's), and knockoffs of Pocari Sweat and Asahi beer.
- Also in the most recent novel, Taiga buys a donut from a shady van called "Krispy Kreamy".
- Oddly enough, one scene of the anime contains a store named Kmart in the background. This was likely a failed attempt at being generic.
- Bottle Fairy — Yasuko. Justified by her job working at a hostess bar, which requires her to drink copious amounts.
- Briar Patching — Minorin, of all people, pulls this off by pretending she is scared senseless by all things Horror, when in fact she loves horror stories and intentionally invites others to try scaring her in this manner.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer — Minori. Her oddness certainly doesn't seem to stop her from being captain of the softball team and having a relatively normal school- and social life, with most characters seeming to take her slight eccentricity in good stride.
- Can Not Spit It Out — Subverted; Taiga does spit it out, in the second episode no less, but Yuusaku misinterprets it (possibly intentionally) as a declaration of friendship. Ami suffers from this trope towards Ryuuji, and Yuusaku towards the Student Council President.
- Christmas Cake — The characters' homeroom teacher. Lampshaded without mercy.
- Christmas Episode — Of the wham episode variety.
- Cloudcuckoolander — Minori, whose behavior is notably strange even amongst this band of oddballs. Her antics have been noted to generally steal scenes.
- Contrived Coincidence — Minori walks past by Taiga's apartment, right after Taiga ran out crying, saying Ryuuji's name.
- Justified. According to the novel Minori went to Taiga apartment to confront her about her feelings toward Ryuuji and was standing on the street hesitating to enter. Which makes it much less of coincidence.
- In addition, the preceding scene featured Minori listening to a message on her voice mail, which was made at the beginning of the episode. The message consisted of Ryuuji inviting her to the Christmas party, with Taiga's shouting for Ryuuji's attention being heard very clearly in the background. This could have prompted Minori to head to Taiga's house to find out the latter's feelings.
- Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming — Toradora is basically all Crowning Moments separated by resolutions and buildups.
- Cupid Hates Odd Couples — So much. Overlaps a lot with I Want My Beloved To Be Happy.
- The Cyrano
- Delinquents — Subverted by Ryuuji: he's one of the most patient and nicest guys you'll run into, but his eyes are permanently fixed into a death glare (which he apparently inherited from his late Yakuza father), causing people (even adults!) to be deathly afraid of him.
- Disappeared Dad — Ryuuji's father is missing from the start of the series, possibly dead. At the end of the series his mother admits they were never married and he ran off with another woman while she was pregnant.
- Dojikko — Taiga, especially around Kitamura, when she is reduced to a quivering wreck. Ami fakes being one; it's all part of her manipulative bitchiness.
- Drama Bomb — Impacts around half-way through.
- Face Of A Thug — Ryuuji. It's apparently genetic.
- Fanservice — Comparatively mild in the series proper, although Taiga's appearance in the anime's opening makes up for that quite a bit—and then of course there's Ryuuji's mother.
- A bit for the girls. Kitamura once appears on the scene buck naked, casually holding a towel in front of his naughty bits in a manner that doesn't look like he's even trying to keep himself covered. Taiga is floored almost immediately, while Minorin enthusiastically photographs it with her pretend camera. The guy proceeds to drop the towel all by himself but Ryuuji dives to catch it and hold it up before anything inappropriate is shown onscreen.
- Although something is still seen on the display.
- Feed Me — Minori has the ability to single-handedly gobble up whole episodes.
- Foregone Conclusion — How many really thought that it was going to end any other way?
- Quite a few of the shippers, apparently.
- Foreshadowing — Despite the above trope, it's still there. How anvilicious does it get? Well, in the first few minutes of the first episode, we see clips of Taiga and Ryuuji in their respective homes and then a shot of two shoes (which, of course, belong to Yasuko and Ryuuji).
- Fridge Logic — Taiga's low self-esteem because of her small frame and chest is a bit odd, since those features are actually considered very attractive in Japanese culture.
- Genki Girl — Minori, a sometimes Malaproper and blissful ball of energy. Also has moments of really incredible sense of drama.
- Gonna Fly Now Montage — Ryuuji teaches Taiga how to swim. Comes complete with a Chariots of Fire sound-alike and a balancing exercise on a pole against a sunset!
- Groin Attack — Taiga delivers this to her own father.
- Who was actually a complete and utter bastard who deserved every bone in his body broken beyond repair for continuously playing with his daughter's feelings and breaking her heart.
- Honorifics — Ryuuji uses the more intimate yobisute version of Taiga's name (using no honorific at all) at the end of the second episode, leaving her quite pleased. You know, after she beats him down again.
- Hot Blooded — Minori can get quite like this.
- Hot Mom — Yasuko.
- Idiot Ball — Painfully so. A lot of drama could have been avoided if Ryuuji had asked some very simple and basic questions during the Drama Bomb.
- Or during the time with Taiga's father. Almost all of the awkwardness and silence between Ryuuji and Minori probably could have been averted if he just asked, "Wait, why do you hate Taiga's father so much? What has he done?" when Minori found out, instead of exploding at Minori that she didn't know anything. Because, y'know, Taiga's oldest friend might have an idea what's up.
- Indirect Kiss - when Minorin enjoyed an indirect kiss with Takasu off her fist, after sending him out after Taiga.
- When Yuusaku suddenly takes a bite of something Taiga is eating, she gets flustered and impulsively shoves it into Ryuuji's mouth, saying "you have some too!" Afterwards, she complains that Ryuuji stole her indirect kiss with Yuusaku.
- Internet Backdraft — Post anything about Toradora in /a/ and watch the RAGE flow freely. Bonus points if you use a tripcode.
- Not helped by the fact that a tripcode user named Taiga has been running amuck in /a/ as of late.
- This picture
 ◊ sums it up really well.
- The discussion page for this article seems to be feeling the love as well.
- Unless it's about Ami (most of the time), she's a true bro.
- For another example on this wiki, go to the Dethroning Moment Of Suck page. Or don't, if you like the series and don't want to be pissed off for the rest of the day.
- I Want My Beloved To Be Happy — Extremely pervasive, to the degree that the Love Dodecahedron keeps on going because half its contenders don't try to resolve it to their advantage out of fear of denying someone else their happiness. Try to control yourself at this point in the plot: None of the characters can hear you and beating on the screen isn't good for it. Also, you're disturbing the neighbors with your screaming.
- Jerk With A Heart Of Gold — Ami, after a bit of Character Development. Ryuuji is also one of these for the rest of the school once they learn that he's not as fearsome as he looks, although being the viewpoint character the viewers know this from the get-go.
- Les Yay — Minori seems awfully close to Taiga at times.
- The Libby — Ami. She's smarter than most of them, though—she's all sweetness and smiles and "Ami-chan is so airheaded!" most of the time, and only reveals the Libbiness within when she thinks she can get away with it. Of course, being one of the main characters, she's played a bit more sympathetically than most Libbys.
- Locked In A Room
- Love Dodecahedron — Ami likes Ryuuji, who is in love with Minori, who thinks that he likes Taiga (and likely has some feelings for Taiga herself), while Taiga really likes Yuusaku.
- And later in the series, we find out that Yusaku once thought Taiga attractive, but now likes Sumire Kanou, who in turn apparently likes him back but can't because of high school graduation...
- Overturned again towards the end, when is revealed that Taiga has fallen in love with Ryuuji. And her love is fully reciprocated by Ryuuji. Thankfully, that puts an end to the mess.
- By the end of the series it's so all-pervasive that the revelation that Minori was in love with Ryuuji too comes as something of a Wall Banger, especially since viewers were wondering if her issues weren't something deeper than just another I Want My Beloved To Be Happy. They weren't.
- Love Letter Lunacy: Taiga attempts to give Yuusaku a love note, but ends up just giving Ryuuji an empty envelope instead, which kicks off the plot.
- Lying On A Hillside
- Marshmallow Hell — Ya-chan to Taiga, in a warm and fuzzy manner.
- Matchmaker Crush
- Meaningful Name — Ryuuji (Dragon) and Taiga (Tiger), explicitly called attention to in episode 2.
- Ms Fanservice — Ya-chan.
- Narm — These high-school kids take their Love Dodecahedron way too seriously.
- This troper actually found Narm Charm out of it, as high school kids really can be that nuts over things like that.
- Nightmare Fuel — I can't be the only one who finds Inko-chan really creepy. He manages to be both more and less creepy in the manga version, as well. Or just disturbing in different ways.
- Obfuscating Stupidity — Ami. She puts on an innocent airhead persona, except to her true friends who knows how she's really like but accept her anyway.
- In the summer vacation episodes, Minori gives hints to the viewer - a secret smile here, a cryptic comment there - that she knows precisely what's being planned, as well as knowing how Ryuuji feels about her. Her uniqueness means she can dismiss whatever she says as either more inane babbling or refine it into an honest statement.
- Official Couple — Taiga x Ryuuji. For Pete's sake, it's one of the show's alternate titles.
- The Ojou — Taiga. Really.
- Parental Abandonment — Taiga apparently lives separate from her parents, who bought her an apartment all for herself just to get her off their backs. Later on her father asks for her to come back and one actually sees what kind of father figure he is.
- It quickly becomes apparent he is not much of a parent at all.
- A bit of that abandonment was provoked by Taiga herself. Her resentment and shyness makes her reject other's love very easily... that is, until Ryuuji appeared.
- Turns out that Ryuuji's missing father isn't dead- he's just a deadbeat. He didn't even stick around until Ryuuji was born.
- Pettanko — Taiga, who is so flat that even the smallest-sized swimsuit is loose on her chest.
- Pet The Dog — Ami gets a few, like bringing out Yuri-sensei out of her depression.
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor — Rie Kugimiya as Taiga, a role some people might think was practically made for her.
- Pose Of Supplication — Ryuuji and Yasuko do this to beg forgiveness from Inko-chan.
- Real Men Wear Pink — Ryuuji looks scary, but he cooks, cleans, sews dresses (Taiga's outfit at the beauty contest), and makes breast pads for Taiga.
- Don't forget his pink boxers!
- Red String Of Fate — Class 2-C's legendary secret treasure!
- Refuge In Audacity — After his public confession to Sumire backfires epically, Yuusaku starts cashing in on the reputation he gains from the event as 'the most pitiful guy in school' by running a relationship problems show on the school radio.
- And then, the outfit he wore to the Christmas party. By the gods.
- Relationship Voice Actor: Imagine a younger Ami chasing after an older Ryuji, minus the Cannot Spit It Out. You have Rin and Aoki.
- Romantic Two Girl Friendship — Minori and Taiga's relationship has some elements of this, especially from Minori's side.
- In episode 24, Minori confesses to Ami that she doesn't know whether she's sad because she's lost Ryuuji to Taiga or Taiga to Ryuuji.
- Running Gag: One word. Inko-chan.
- Scary Shiny Glasses — Kitamura does Gendou glasses when luring the others into scare "traps" he laid in a cave during a Beach Episode.
- School Festival
- The Scrappy — Minori dangerously skirts the line of becoming one, since a big part of the fandom finds she chews way too much scenery.
- Kitamura, specially after his "oops, am I naked?" scene. But he got better.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend
- Ship Tease — So much that some fans want an "After Story" featuring either Ami or Minorin with Ryuuji. Although on another note, one wonders if many did forget that the series started from both Taiga's and Ryuuji's narrative - which implies that the other ships are already destroyed before they can be built...
- Subverted, in the Visual novel video game where you play as Ryuuji, thanks to the games multiple endings, you can either end the game with Taiga, Minorin or Ami, so there still hope for fans!
- Since Minori at one point states to have feelings for Taiga as well, even a Taiga x Minori route would be thinkable.
- Shout Out — Minorin makes a duel about looking at School Festival pictures.
- This is just the tip of the iceberg; Minorin is a veritable fount of bizarrely out of place refrences: "Sigh GET!" and a Yu-Gi-Oh version of her pudding bucket; "ORA ORA ORA" when choosing which pictures to buy; pretending she's Golgo13; Nozumo Itoshiki's lectures being the inspiration for her multiple jobs, etc.
- Kana and Touma from Minami-ke are shortly seen walking by in one scene.
- Slasher Smile — Ryuuji does this whenever he's cleaning.
- Slow Clap
- Spoiler Opening — Ami Kawashima appears in the opening from the first episode on, even though she appears first in the fifth episode.
- The Straight Will And Grace — Ryuuji and Taiga pre-Relationship Upgrade
- Student Council President — Sumire, who acts very close to a Drill Sergeant Nasty by bellowing out orders to the students with a megaphone.
- Super Deformed — The second DVD was released with a short clip of the main characters as Chibi-fied versions of themselves, called Toradora SOS. Cuteness ensues.
- Super Drowning Skills — Taiga has this, though she can kick really well.
- Tall Dark And Bishoujo — Ami and also Sumire.
- Tearjerker — Quite a few, but especially when Taiga finally realizes her feelings for Ryuuji at the end of episode 19 and tries to run after him, only to find him gone. This is especially tearjerking considering that it directly follows from a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming.
- Who DIDN'T tear up when they heard: "RYUJI IS MINE!"?!
- "If it's possible, may Aisaka's father please come up and say something?" *sob*
- "I also want to be an idiot who only knows how to dash forward!"
- The show is just chock full of these..
- Tsundere — Taiga, who calls up strong comparisons to Shana ("Urusai! Urusai!") and Louise ("So you'll lick me like a dog?"). She is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, which only furthers the comparisons..
- Though possibly subverted in that Taiga's suppression of her feelings are for reasons other than her own pride, and in earlier episodes, when she seems to more clearly fit the tsundere trope, it should be noted that Ryuuji holds no particular feelings for her, and neither she for him.
- Those Two Guys - Noto and Haruta.
- Also Those Two Girls - Kihara and Kashii.
- Through Her Stomach — main method of taming Taiga is feeding her.
- Three Faces Of Eve - Think of the three female leads. Interestingly, Yasuko has all traits of being a "child", mother and seductress.
- Trash Of The Titans — Taiga's apartment when Ryuuji visits her the first time.
- Two Teacher School — Yuri-sensei and the Phys Ed teacher "Muscle" Kuro.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo — This series is rather fond of this trope. Taiga falls for Kitamura after rejecting his initial confession; too bad by this point he's moved on to pine after Sumire. Towards the end of the series, Minori finally admits that she returns Ryuuji's feelings for her - right after he's realized that he's moved on and is in love with Taiga instead.
- Vitriolic Best Buds — Ami and Taiga and Ami and Minori appear to have this kind of relationship by the end of the series.
- Waif Fu — Despite her frail, doll-like appearance, Taiga manages to put up quite a fight against strong adversaries.
- Wall Banger — A sizeable part of the fanbase was stunted when, after displaying obvious feelings for Taiga throughout the series, Minorin claims to also have feelings for Ryuuji in the end.
- Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs — Minori. She practically rivals Touya Kinomoto for all the part-time jobs she's taking. In a variation, she keeps all these jobs because of something she heard from one of Nozomu Itoshiki's lectures.
- Will They Or Wont They — Taiga and Ryuuji.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair — Everyone.
- Your Mileage May Vary — Opinions go both ways on the anime.
- Zettai Ryouiki — Taiga, most obvious in the first opening. If this wasn't your interest before, it will be now.
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