Toradora!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
I'm no avid anime watcher or anything. Through the course of 1 year, watching just one or two series is enough. So yeah, you people out there who assume I watch anime like everyday, go home and drink milk from the fridge or something.
That being said, I can discern a good storyline from those that are rough and unpolished. And, with me being such an impatient guy, I don't really like those shows where the storyline goes all draggy and roundabout and stuff. Neither do I like shows which keeps jumping from scene to scene every other 5 minutes, where's the fun in the show when 5 minutes ago, you were watching a cheerleader fall down from 25 metres high and then regenerates, and now the scene changes to a mother who goes crazy half the time because she has an inner self, to a psychic painter who has a problem with his life. And then you have to tune in to the next episode to find out more about them for 5 minutes each. That's just boring.
Now, on to the main point of the anime I'm about to introduce:
Toradora!
Now here's the excerpt of the plot from Wikipedia:
Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Takasu Ryūji 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 hungover 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 Kitamura Yūsaku and a girl he has a crush on, Kushieda Minori. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Aisaka Taiga—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.
Genre: Love comedy
Love comedies are surprisingly simple in plot, I mean, it's all about relationships ain't it? What's great though, is that relationships are always something close to our heart. For we interact with other people daily, and by their appearance, actions and behaviour, we form relationships with them.
The story starts off simple and straightforward, but eventually as you start to learn more about the characters and identify with them, the story starts to get deeper and more complicated. This is all well as the pace of the story is just nice and the progression can be seen gradually but surely. And of course, once you reach the point where you are close enough to feel for the characters, the plot twists, and you feel that heart-wrenching dilemma situation, or you go "aww, so sweet" as the events unfold.
Perhaps I'm exaggerating, as I'm probably a sucker for love comedies. But the anime, coming from an actual Japanese novel, can't be too shabby anyway. Well, this makes the entire series well worth watching, it's on Okto on Thursdays at 11 pm, but I suggest you watch it from the start because it's goood.
Can't wait for the next episode to come out, I'd love to see how the story progesses from here. And I definitely would love watching it if the novel was remade into a JDrama love comedy series.
That being said, I can discern a good storyline from those that are rough and unpolished. And, with me being such an impatient guy, I don't really like those shows where the storyline goes all draggy and roundabout and stuff. Neither do I like shows which keeps jumping from scene to scene every other 5 minutes, where's the fun in the show when 5 minutes ago, you were watching a cheerleader fall down from 25 metres high and then regenerates, and now the scene changes to a mother who goes crazy half the time because she has an inner self, to a psychic painter who has a problem with his life. And then you have to tune in to the next episode to find out more about them for 5 minutes each. That's just boring.
Now, on to the main point of the anime I'm about to introduce:
Toradora!
Now here's the excerpt of the plot from Wikipedia:
Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Takasu Ryūji 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 hungover 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 Kitamura Yūsaku and a girl he has a crush on, Kushieda Minori. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Aisaka Taiga—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.
Genre: Love comedy
Love comedies are surprisingly simple in plot, I mean, it's all about relationships ain't it? What's great though, is that relationships are always something close to our heart. For we interact with other people daily, and by their appearance, actions and behaviour, we form relationships with them.
The story starts off simple and straightforward, but eventually as you start to learn more about the characters and identify with them, the story starts to get deeper and more complicated. This is all well as the pace of the story is just nice and the progression can be seen gradually but surely. And of course, once you reach the point where you are close enough to feel for the characters, the plot twists, and you feel that heart-wrenching dilemma situation, or you go "aww, so sweet" as the events unfold.
Perhaps I'm exaggerating, as I'm probably a sucker for love comedies. But the anime, coming from an actual Japanese novel, can't be too shabby anyway. Well, this makes the entire series well worth watching, it's on Okto on Thursdays at 11 pm, but I suggest you watch it from the start because it's goood.
Can't wait for the next episode to come out, I'd love to see how the story progesses from here. And I definitely would love watching it if the novel was remade into a JDrama love comedy series.
Labels: Fun
|| posted by Kuan Hui[top]