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is a Japanese
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
series by
Yuyuko Takemiya is a Japanese writer of light novels, novels and manga. Biography Takemiya debuted in September 2004 with her light novel series '' Watashitachi no Tamura-kun (Our Tamura-kun)'' which first appeared in the autumn 2004 issue of ''Dengeki hp Sp ...
, with illustrations by Yasu. The series includes ten novels released between March 10, 2006 and March 10, 2009, published by
ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
under their
Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...
imprint. Three volumes of a spin-off light novel series were also created, aptly titled ''Toradora Spin-off!''. A
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
adaptation by Zekkyō started serialization in the September 2007 issue of the
shōnen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent boys. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adult women), ...
magazine ''
Dengeki Comic Gao! , also known as ''Dengeki Gao!'' was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine that primarily contained manga and information about series featuring bishōjo characters. It was published from December 1992 to February 2008 by MediaWorks (publisher), Medi ...
'', published by MediaWorks. The manga ended serialization in ''Dengeki Comic Gao!'' with the March 2008 issue, but continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine ''
Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Co ...
'' with the May 2008 issue. The title ''Toradora!'' is derived from the names of the two main characters Taiga Aisaka and Ryūji Takasu. Taiga's name is almost homophonic with from English ''tiger'' (the final ''a'' is more lengthened in the English loanword), which is synonymous with the native Japanese word . Inversely, means dragon, and is synonymous with , the English word ''dragon'' transcribed into Japanese. An
Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
show was broadcast between September 2008 and May 2009 hosted by
Animate TV Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
. A 25-episode
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
adaptation produced by
J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...
aired in Japan on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
between October 2008 and March 2009. A Blu-ray Disc (BD) box set containing an
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
episode was released on December 21, 2011.
NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...
licensed the anime and released it in North America in two half-season DVD collections in July and August 2010, with an English dubbed BD collection released in July 2014. A
visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
based on the series was released in April 2009 by
Bandai Namco Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are resp ...
for the
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
.


Plot

Ryuji Takasu is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes give him the appearance of an intimidating delinquent. He is happy to be classmates with his best friend Yusaku Kitamura, as well as the girl he has a crush on, Minori Kushieda. However, he unexpectedly runs into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Taiga Aisaka—who just happens to be Minori's best friend. Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and has a habit of snapping violently at people. She takes an instant dislike to Ryuji, and it turns out she is living in an apartment facing Ryuji's house. When Ryuji discovers that Taiga has a crush on Yusaku, and Taiga finds out about Ryuji's affections towards Minori, they make an arrangement to help set each other up with their crushes. Over the course of the series, Ryuji and Taiga try to set up romantic situations to help each other get to know their friends, but many of the situations backfire. Their classmates observe that they are spending a lot of time with each other, leading to rumors that they might be a couple. Although Ryuji and Taiga try to dispel the rumors, they find that they do enjoy each other's company, with Taiga visiting Ryuji's house to share meals, and Ryuji checking up on Taiga to get her to school, and cleaning for her. They meet Yusaku's childhood friend Ami Kawashima, a popular teen model who transfers into their school. She appears to be friendly and is a self-proclaimed ditz, but beneath her facade is a rather mean and spoiled brat, and she quickly finds herself at odds with Taiga. In spite of this, Taiga tries to put up with her antics as Yusaku wants them to all get along, and Ami begins to grow feelings for Ryuji. The series follows the lives of these friends and how love blossoms among them.


Characters


Main characters

; : :The viewpoint character of the light novels, Ryuji is introduced as a second-year high school student with a mistaken reputation of being a delinquent because of his ''
sanpaku or is a Japanese term meaning "three whites". It was introduced into English by George Ohsawa in the mid-1960s. It is generally referred to in English as "sanpaku eyes" and refers to eyes in which either the white space above or below the iris ...
'' (glaring) eyes which resemble his father's. He lives with his single mother, his father having left before he was born. Because of this, Ryuji has learned to be self-sufficient: he cooks and cleans, the latter to the point of compulsively cleaning up any messes he can find. While he looks intimidating, he is actually a very kind and selfless guy, and takes care of his mother and his friends. He has a pet
parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple Genus, genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflec ...
named He has a longstanding crush on the cheerful and pretty classmate Minori Kushieda. After Ryuji meets Taiga Aisaka, he often helps her with domestic chores, and develops a new reputation as the "only person able to stop the Palmtop Tiger" as well as having to fend off rumors that the two might be a couple. Although he does not have a romantic interest in Taiga, he determines he wants to look after her, help her out as much as possible, and to be friends with her. :Due to the misunderstandings caused by his appearance, as well as his family situation, he tends to have low self-esteem. In spite of this, he is rather calm in most situations and is responsible, smart, and has great grades, even compared to Yusaku Kitamura, his best friend. In seeming contrast to his intimidating looks, Ryuji actually prefers avoiding serious conflicts and tends to put others first, to the point of losing sight of what he really wants in life. :In the light novels, he sees a tender side of Taiga that she hides from everyone. In the anime, he is dense when it comes to girls' feelings, especially when it comes to Taiga, Minori, and Ami. While initially seen as intimidating by most, he still manages to make good friends. His relationship with Taiga begins to change as he spends more time with her throughout the series, although he is oblivious to Taiga's feelings for him at first. Eventually, he reciprocates Taiga's feelings and they become a couple at the end of the series. ; : :The other title character of the series, Taiga is a girl in Ryuji's class, and sometimes acts like a
tsundere is a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a character with a personality who is initially very harsh before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time. The word is derived from the terms ('to turn away in d ...
when talking to him. She has a beautiful appearance, but dislikes the company of others, with the exception of her best friend Minori Kushieda. Because of her tendency to snap fiercely at others, and because of her diminutive stature (), Taiga's nickname is . She often receives confessions of love from boys due to her cute, or as Ryuji puts it, "doll-like" appearance, but she turns down every single one. Despite her reputation, she is actually a clumsy girl who is very shy and awkward around her crush Kitamura. Despite coming from a well-to-do family, her life with them was very difficult because of various problems. She lived with her father and step-mother and constantly fought with them, eventually moving out and living on her own. Having come from a privileged household, she does not know how to do any domestic chores. Upon meeting Ryuji and learning of his domestic talents, she relies on him to cook for her. Aside from sleeping in her own apartment and going to school, she spends most of her time at Ryuji's house, so much so that his mother considers her a member of the family. Eventually she falls in love with Ryuji and they become a couple at the end of the series. ; : :Minori is a cheerful classmate who is Ryuji's crush and Taiga's best friend. She is captain of the girls' softball club. She tends to be air-headed at times, although it is later revealed that she is very perceptive and hardworking, being one of the few people to see Ryuji for the gentle person he is, and is also not fooled by Ami's facade. When she hears rumors that Ryuji and Taiga are a couple, she pulls both of them aside and begs Ryuji to take good care of Taiga. She works many part-time jobs preferring to keep herself busy. She enjoys food, having once made a whole tub of pudding, and teaming up with Taiga as a struggling "diet soldier". She is capable in cooking and cleaning as a result of her part-time jobs as well as taking care of her little brother while both her parents work. She is fascinated by ghosts and hopes to meet one someday, and one time, she opens up with her feelings about love to Ryuji. ; : :Yusaku is Ryuji's classmate and initially his only friend. He is the vice-president of the student council, the class representative, and captain of the boys' softball club. Yusaku wears glasses, and has a diligent personality. Although he thinks he is poor at talking to girls, Ryuji observes that Yusaku is actually quite popular with them. When Taiga confesses to him, he reveals that he had actually confessed to Taiga a year prior because she was so beautiful, but was rejected. While not buried in student council activities, Yusaku exhibits an eccentric personality as demonstrated in a bonus chapter where he plays the President card game without any clue of the rules, and a summer trip story where he wears just a towel around and randomly flashes the girls. In a later storyline, it is revealed he had a crush on the student council president Sumire Kanō, but got so depressed over her departure that he bleached his hair. His nickname is "Maruo". ; : :Ami is Yusaku's childhood friend who transfers into his class midway through their second year of high school. She has been working as a fashion model, and is very popular with the guys and girls. However, behind the facade is a spoiled brat who looks down on everyone that she isn't trying to impress. Yusaku hopes that Ami will be honest with her true character, and not have such a dual nature. She develops a fierce rivalry with Taiga, and flirts with Ryuji to demonstrate how she can easily manipulate him to take him away. However, Ryuji and the other main characters are all aware of her true nature. In the storyline where she is trying to evade a stalker, she ends up depending on Ryuji and Taiga, although the latter blackmails her using footage of Ami's singing and reciting a list of
Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...
. After seeing Taiga standing up to the stalker, she drops her sweet facade in front of Ryuji to chew out the stalker, and later asks Ryuji if he would come to love her real self. Taiga calls her a dumb chihuahua, even though Ami has no idea how such a description applies. She comes from a rich background; her family has a lavish vacation home that she takes Ryuji (and the gang) over the summer. She often understands the feelings of others easily, hence constantly teasing everyone for being naive. Over the course of the series, she becomes attracted to Ryuji despite regularly teasing him.


Supporting characters

; : :Ryuuji's parakeet. Her name is the Japanese word for parakeet. Though apparently healthy, she sometimes looks sickly. Despite struggling to say her simple name (a running gag throughout the series), she has a good understanding of human speech and can interact with her owners and pronounce words much more difficult than her name. She seems to be mentally inept. ; : :Ryuji's mother who works nights at a
hostess bar A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan. They employ primarily female staff and cater to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. The modern host club is a similar type of establishment where primarily male staff atte ...
. She acts childish and like an airhead, depending on Ryuji to cook and clean for her. She is often seen getting in trouble with the landlady for whatever shenanigans go on in their apartment. She is proud that Ryuji is able to go to high school, something she was not able to complete. She initially claims that her husband died before he was born, but it is later revealed that he left her instead. She instantly takes a liking to Taiga and treats her like a family member. ; : :Yuri is Ryuji's homeroom teacher. She has a reputation of telling long stories that class representative Kitamura stops immediately to dismiss the class. She likes to do things at her own pace and is timid towards Taiga's way of speaking out. In the fifth volume of the light novel, she becomes concerned about getting into a relationship leading to marriage before she turns 30, but when that birthday comes, she develops a twisted and depressed personality, which is further aggravated whenever Taiga mentions that she is single. ; : :Kōji is Ryuji's classmate who has long hair. He is regarded as the class 'idiot' and that opinion is deepened by his poor school marks and overly energetic behavior. His childish pranks often target Taiga and as a result he has been the victim of her violent outbursts. Despite his overly energetic behavior, later in the series he is revealed to have a girlfriend. ; : :Hisamitsu is a male student in Ryuji's class who wears glasses. He was also in Ryuji's class the previous year and is on good terms with him. He is first seen during the basketball warmup scenario where he pairs up with Minori. Noto begins to develop feelings for Maya Kihara following an argument they had during the class winter ski trip. ; : :Maya is Ryuji's attractive classmate who often hangs out with Nanako. She is a ''
kogal is a Japanese fashion culture that involves schoolgirls wearing an outfit based on Japanese school uniforms (or their actual uniforms) but with very short skirts. The short skirts are worn irrespective of the season. The girls may also wear l ...
'' and the center of the 'stand out group' of girls of class 2-C. She ends up pairing with Yusaku in basketball warmups. She has a crush on Yusaku, and she circuitously opposes the idea of Taiga and Yusaku being a couple, and wants Taiga and Ryuji to be together. ; : :Nanako is a female student in Ryuji's class who often hangs out with Maya and Ami. ; : :Sumire is the student council president. She has a strong-minded personality and inspires fellow students to follow her. Her parents own a supermarket. Because she always gets the top marks for her class each year, her notes become one of the sought-after prizes in the school festival event. When she tells the council she plans to leave school early to study in the United States to become an astronaut, Yusaku is so heartbroken that he dyes his hair and quits the council.. When he later confesses his love for her in front of the whole school, she pushes him away. After fighting with Taiga, she reveals that she does love Kitamura, but doesn't tell him fearing that he'll chase after her to America. ; : :Kōta is a first-year student who is the main character in ''Toradora Spin-off!''. He is generally unhappy about his life. He works on the student council in general affairs, and gets good grades. When first seen, he has a completely mistaken idea what the term "Palmtop Tiger" refers to, and develops an insane crush on Taiga. He later develops a crush on Sakura, and eventually succeeds in starting a romantic relationship with her.


Media


Light novels

{{See also, List of Toradora! volumes ''Toradora!'' began as a series of
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
s written by
Yuyuko Takemiya is a Japanese writer of light novels, novels and manga. Biography Takemiya debuted in September 2004 with her light novel series '' Watashitachi no Tamura-kun (Our Tamura-kun)'' which first appeared in the autumn 2004 issue of ''Dengeki hp Sp ...
and drawn by Yasu. Ten novels were published by
ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
under their
Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...
imprint between March 10, 2006 and March 10, 2009. There are four additional chapters not collected into volumes; three of which appeared in three separate light novel
anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...
released by MediaWorks in November 2006, March 2007, and November 2007, and the last chapter entitled ''Toradora!'' came with a
plush Plush (from French language, French ) is a textile having a cut nap (textile), nap or pile (textile), pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was e ...
tiger
stuffed animal A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...
first released in April 2007.
Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...
licensed series in North America, releasing the first volume in 2018 and the last in 2020. Three volumes of a spin-off of the regular series under the title {{Nihongo, ''Toradora Spin-off!'', とらドラ・スピンオフ! were 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 '' Dengeki hp'' 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 hps successor ''
Dengeki Bunko Magazine was a Japanese light novel magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). The magazine succeeded the light novel magazine '' Dengeki hp'', and originally was published as a special edition issue of '' Dengeki Daioh'' for the fir ...
'' 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 followed by the third volume on April 10, 2010. The third volume was released to commemorate the
Year of the Tiger The Tiger ( 虎) is the third of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Tiger is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 寅. Years and the Five Elements People born ...
(2010).


Manga

{{See also, List of Toradora! chapters A
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
adaptation illustrated by Zekkyō started serialization in the September 2007 issue of MediaWorks'
shōnen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent boys. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adult women), ...
magazine ''
Dengeki Comic Gao! , also known as ''Dengeki Gao!'' was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine that primarily contained manga and information about series featuring bishōjo characters. It was published from December 1992 to February 2008 by MediaWorks (publisher), Medi ...
''. The manga ended its run in ''Dengeki Comic Gao!'' in the March 2008 issue, but continued serialization in
ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
' manga magazine ''
Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Co ...
'' from the May 2008 issue.{{cite web, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630231131/http://www.mediaworks.co.jp/magazine/backno/dai_200805.php, url=http://www.mediaworks.co.jp/magazine/backno/dai_200805.php, archive-date=June 30, 2008, title=''Dengeki Daioh'' May 2008 issue, publisher=
ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
, access-date=January 28, 2015, language=ja
The first ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volume was released on February 27, 2008 under ASCII Media Works'
Dengeki Comics is a manga publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and is aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics label, there is the related Dengeki Comics EX label, which ...
imprint; as of November 26, 2021, ten volumes have been released.{{cite book, title=Toradora! 10 (Dengeki Comics), id={{ASIN, 4049140837, country=jp, language=ja North American publisher
Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...
began publishing the series in English on March 1, 2011.


Internet radio show

An
Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
show to promote the
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series and other ''Toradora!'' media titled {{Nihongo, ''ToradoRadio!'', とらドラジオ!, Toradorajio! aired 38 episodes between September 4, 2008 and May 28, 2009 on
Animate TV Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
. The show was streamed online every Thursday, and was hosted by
Junji Majima is a Japanese voice actor who is contracted to I'm Enterprise. He was born in Nagoya, Aichi. Filmography Anime ;2002 *'' Midnight Horror School'' – Borocca *''Princess Tutu'' – Funeral Attendee (ep 4), Townsperson B (ep 6) ;2003 *'' BAST ...
and
Eri Kitamura is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She was previously affiliated with Early Wing, but is now a freelancer. She is known for voicing prominent roles in anime such as and Sayaka Miki in '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', Saya Otonashi in ''Bloo ...
who voiced Ryūji Takasu and Ami Kawashima from the anime, respectively. The show featured additional
voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
from the anime as guests.


Anime

{{See also, List of Toradora! episodes A ''Toradora!''
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
was first announced on a promotional advertisement for light novels being released under
ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
'
Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...
imprint for April 2008.{{cite web, url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-04-02/award-winning-toradora-light-novels-to-be-animated, title=Award-winning ''Toradora!'' Light Novels to be Animated, publisher=
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
, date=April 2, 2008, access-date=April 2, 2008
The anime is directed by
Tatsuyuki Nagai is a Japanese anime storyboard artist and director. He made his full directorial debut in 2006 with '' Honey and Clover II'', after which he had directed 2007's '' Idolmaster: Xenoglossia'', 2008's ''Toradora!'', 2009's ''A Certain Scientific Rai ...
and produced by the animation studio
J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...
. ''Toradora!'' contains 25 episodes, which aired between October 2, 2008 and March 26, 2009 on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
in Japan.{{cite web, url= http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/contents/toradora/episodes/episodes1/index.html, title=''Toradora'' episode title listing, publisher=
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
, access-date=December 1, 2008, language=ja
The episodes aired at later dates on AT-X,
TV Aichi JOCI-DTV, branded as , is a television station in Nagoya, Japan operated by the Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ja, テレビ愛知株式会社, Terebi Aichi kabushiki gaisha) and is an affiliate of the TX Network. Broadcasti ...
,
TV Hokkaido is a TV station headquartered in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan, and is affiliated with the TX Network. Transmitters JOHI-TV has a total of 77 transmitters, including the following: TVh did not possess analog transmitters at Kushiro, Obihiro an ...
,
TV Osaka is a television station affiliated with the TX Network in Osaka, Japan. The mascot character is "Takoru-kun" (たこるくん). History Television Osaka, Inc. was founded in 1981 as part of the reorganization of Tokyo Channel 12 Ltd (now TV To ...
,
TV Setouchi (TSC) is a TV station in Japan. It is one of the TX Network (TXN) stations, broadcasting in Okayama Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture, and it is the only TXN TV station in the Chugoku-Shikoku region. Anime produced TV Setouchi produced a few a ...
, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting. The anime premiered in the Philippines through TV5 on May 18, 2009, one of the first to air it outside Japan. The first volume DVD compilation, which contains the first four episodes was released in Japan on January 21, 2009 by King Records in limited and regular editions.{{cite web, url= http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/toradora/release_dvd.html, title=DVD section at the anime's official website, publisher= StarChild, access-date=January 31, 2009, language=ja Seven more DVD compilations, each containing three episodes, were released between February 25 and August 26, 2009 also in limited and regular editions. Starting from the second DVD, there were extra animated shorts included in the DVD volumes, ''Toradora SOS!'', which features the cast as chibis trying out various foods. The ''Toradora!'' anime was licensed by
NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...
as its first anime. The series was released in two half-season DVD compilation volumes in early July and late August 2010. A six-disc Blu-ray Disc box set, released in Japan on December 21, 2011, contains an
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(OVA) episode. It was broadcast in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
on
Rai 4 Rai 4 (pronounced ''Rai Quattro'') is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. Launched on 14 July 2008 with the film ''Elephant'', Rai 4 targets youths with ...
between April 28 and October 13, 2011. NIS America re-released the series on Blu-ray on July 1, 2014, including the unreleased OVA and featuring an English dub.{{cite web, url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-03-12/nis-america-offers-toradora-blu-rays-with-english-dub, title=NIS America Offers Toradora! Blu-rays With English Dub, publisher=
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
, date=March 12, 2014, access-date=March 12, 2014
MVM Films MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Vision, ...
have licensed the Blu-ray collection in the United Kingdom. The anime series was streamed on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
on August 1, 2020. The anime series makes use of four pieces of
theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
: two opening and two ending themes. The first opening theme is {{Nihongo, "Pre-Parade", プレパレード, Pureparēdo by
Rie Kugimiya is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kiana in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Kagura in ''Gin Tama'', and Happy in ''Fairy Tail ...
,
Eri Kitamura is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She was previously affiliated with Early Wing, but is now a freelancer. She is known for voicing prominent roles in anime such as and Sayaka Miki in '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', Saya Otonashi in ''Bloo ...
, and
Yui Horie is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with VIMS and Starchild. She has been affectionately nicknamed by her Japanese fans. She debuted as a voice actress in 1997, releasing her debut single "''My best friend''" on . Since then, sh ...
. The first ending theme is {{Nihongo, "Vanilla Salt", バニラソルト, Banira Soruto by Horie. The second opening is "Silky Heart" by Horie,{{cite episode, title=Under the Fir Tree (もみの木の下で), series=Toradora!, credits=
Tatsuyuki Nagai is a Japanese anime storyboard artist and director. He made his full directorial debut in 2006 with '' Honey and Clover II'', after which he had directed 2007's '' Idolmaster: Xenoglossia'', 2008's ''Toradora!'', 2009's ''A Certain Scientific Rai ...
, network=
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
, number=18, airdate=February 5, 2009, minutes=2:58
and the second ending is {{Nihongo, "Orange", オレンジ, Orenji by Kugimiya, Kitamura, and Horie. The insert theme for episode nineteen is {{Nihongo, "Holy Night", ホーリーナイト, Hōrī Naito performed by Kugimiya and Kitamura. The anime's original soundtrack was released on January 7, 2009.


Video games

A
visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
developed by Guyzware and published by
Bandai Namco Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are resp ...
based on ''Toradora!'' is playable on the
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
, and was released on April 30, 2009.{{cite web, url=http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/111/111104/, title=Super Grade School Romantic Comedy ''Toradora!'' Get a PSP Game to be Sold in 2009!!, publisher=
ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
, date=October 11, 2008, access-date=October 11, 2008, language=ja
The player assumes the role of Ryuji 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. Taiga is a playable character in the RPG, '' Dengeki Gakuen RPG: Cross of Venus'' for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
, released on March 19, 2009 in Japan. She also appears as a cameo character and optional costume for the main character in
Nippon Ichi Software is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...
's ''
Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman ''Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman'' is a tactical role-playing roguelite video game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software. It was first released for PlayStation Portable on March 11, 2010 in Japan, October 26, 2010 in North ...
'' for the PlayStation Portable. Taiga is also a playable character in the
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
'' Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax'', with Ryuji as an assist character. She also appears in '' Twinkle Crusaders Starlit Brave'' which was released on September 30, 2010.


Reception

The ''
Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...
'' reported in April 2009 that over 3 million copies of the light novel series have been sold in Japan. The light novel series has ranked four times in
Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...
's light novel guide book ''
Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! is an annual light novel guide book published by Takarajimasha. The guide book publishes a list of the top ten most popular light novels according to readers polled on the Internet and votes from "collaborators" (critics, influencers, and other p ...
'' published yearly: sixth in 2007, fourth in 2008 and 2010, and second in 2009.{{citation needed, date=July 2014 In
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...
's first Light Novel Award contest held in 2007, ''Toradora!'' won an award in the
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
category. The seventh volume of the ''Toradora!'' light novels was ranked tenth best selling between December 2007 and November 2008 by Amazon.co.jp. The second volume of the ''Toradora!'' manga was ranked 28th on the Tohan charts between March 3–9, 2009. Taiga Aisaka became the champion of the eighth
Anime Saimoe Tournament , sometimes romanized as ''moé'', is a Japanese word that refers to feelings of strong affection mainly towards characters in anime, manga, video games, and other media directed at the ''otaku'' market. ''Moe'', however, has also gained usage ...
in 2009. The ''Toradora!'' anime was selected as a recommended work by the awards jury of the thirteenth
Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...
in 2009. In 2009, Rie Kugimiya won the Best Actress in the third
Seiyu Awards The are award ceremonies for the recognition of voice acting talent for outstanding performance in anime and other media in Japan. The first Seiyu Awards were held on March 3, 2007 at the 3D Theatre of the Tokyo Anime Center in Akihabara. Award ...
partly for voicing Taiga Aisaka. The first ''Toradora!'' DVD was ranked 13th on the
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...
DVD chart between January 20–26, 2009. The second DVD was ranked 15th between February 24 and March 2, 2009. The third DVD was ranked 27th between March 24–30, 2009. The fourth DVD was ranked 17th between April 21–28, 2009. The fifth DVD was ranked 7th between May 25–31, 2009. The sixth DVD was ranked 11th between June 22–28, 2009. The seventh DVD was ranked 19th between July 20–26, 2009. The eighth DVD was ranked 13th between August 24–30, 2009.{{cite web, url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-09-02/japanese-animation-dvd-ranking-august-24-30, title=Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, August 24–30, date=September 2, 2009, publisher=
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
, access-date=November 14, 2009
THEM Anime Review's Stig Høgset commends the anime for how it "actually resolves the relationship issue it set out to do instead of wimping out like so many romantic shows with several girls tends to do in an attempt to not make people angry or disappointed."{{cite web, url=http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1118, title=ToraDora, last=Høgset, first=Stig, publisher=THEM Anime Reviews, access-date=November 14, 2009 He also comments Taiga as the "genetical marriage" of Shana from ''
Shakugan no Shana , also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 to November 2012 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The ...
'' and Louise from ''
Zero no Tsukaima is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Noboru Yamaguchi, with illustrations by Eiji Usatsuka. Media Factory published 20 volumes between June 2004 and February 2011. The series was left unfinished due to the author's ...
''. However, he also criticized "Taiga's continuous behavior, particularly towards Ryuji" and the introduction of Taiga's father in which Høgset "felt that the whole story arc jerked me around".


Notes

*{{note, LN} "LN" is shortened form for light novel and refers to a volume number of the ''Toradora!'' light novels. *{{note, Chapter} "Ch." and "Vol." are shortened form for chapter and volume, referring to the ''Toradora!'' manga *{{note, Episode} "Ep." is shortened form for episode of the ''Toradora!'' anime *{{note, a} Taiga's height is listed differently depending on the media and translation: In the light novel volume 2 profiles, she self-declares her height as {{convert, 145, cm, ftin, abbr=on but her actual is {{convert, 143.6, cm, ftin, abbr=on.{{Ref, LN, LN 2 In the TV Tokyo anime profile, she is listed as {{convert, 143.6, cm, ftin, abbr=on{{cite web , url=https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/contents/toradora/chara/index.html , title=あにてれ:とらドラ! In the
NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...
anime profile she is listed as 4 feet 7 inches.{{cite web , url=http://nisamerica.com/index.php?nav=ap&aid=toradora&pfile=chars.php , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216075431/http://nisamerica.com/index.php?nav=ap&aid=toradora&pfile=chars.php , archive-date=2015-02-16 , title=NIS America, Inc. - Anime


References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://gph.sakura.ne.jp/va_memo/system/vadb.cgi?action=view_ind&value=00518&namecode=1 , title=声優さん出演リスト 個別表示:釘宮理恵(Rie Kugimiya) , trans-title=Voice actor's appearance list individual display: Rie Kugimiya , work=Voice Artist Database , publisher=GamePlaza-HARUKA- , access-date=December 16, 2022 , date=April 6, 2016 , language=ja , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023535/http://gph.sakura.ne.jp/va_memo/system/vadb.cgi?action=view_ind&value=00518&namecode=1 , archive-date=March 4, 2016 {{cite web , url=http://www.usagi.org/doi/seiyuu/kugimiya-rie/roles.html , title=Kugimiya Rie roles , work=Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database , access-date=June 12, 2016 , date=June 8, 2016 , last=Doi , first=Hitoshi , author-link=Hitoshi Doi


External links

{{wikiquote {{Commons category, Toradora!
''Toradora!''
at
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
{{in lang, ja
Visual novel official website
{{in lang, ja
''Toradora!'' anime
at
NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...
(archive)
''Toradora!'' manga
at
Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...
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