Impressions of ToraDora!

I'm lucky that I see a dentist these days (after a five year hiatus), because this series had enough sugar to rot out my entire mouth. ToraDora was sappy, melodramatic, and predictable, but it was an unabashedly, energetic romance. It was also the highlight of many of my weeks.

I read a movie review in the local paper praising the show the Mentalist. I've never seen the show myself, but the series was not as well reviewed as some of its competitors, because it was not shocking or surprising enough. The reviewer pointed out that most critics are looking to be wowed or blown away. Instead, the Mentalist tries to delight the audience, which the director said was the goal.

I've used the word "entertainment" as a disparagement. More precisely, it was "just entertainment". While ToraDora certainly wasn't deep, there was a color and vibrancy that helped me unwind at the end of the week. Maybe there was more to it for me than another drama. Or maybe in my narrow worldview, I need a bit of "just entertainment".

As for the show itself, it starts out with a klutzy and violent Taiga (tiger or tora) putting a love letter in the bag belonging to Takasu Ryugi. The homebody Ryugi is often misunderstood, because of his gangster like looks. When Taiga breaks into Ryugi's home to burgle back the letter, their bizarre relationship begins.

The show featured several good voice talents including one of my recent favorites Kugimiya Rie who also played Shana in Shakugan no Shana, though fans will probably know her more as Eric Alphonse in [1]. She filled out Taiga's eccentric character to the T. Her Taiga interplayed well with a well played Ryugi.

Hori Yui plays a bizarre softball player Minori, who is Taiga's best friend. Her strangeness is complemented by the equally bizarre Kitamura, who is Takasu's friend. Most of the comic relief comes from the eternally single homeroom teacher. The cast is joined by a two-faced beauty Kawashima Ami, who helps to exemplify (the cliched) theme of honesty. They are all ably voice casted.

Despite the cliches in the plot, the pacing is energetic and quick. The early episodes feel rushed, but are functional. The haste makes sense, because the nuances are fully fleshed out in the novels. At first, I was a bit putoff, until I watched the first episodes of the Hajime no Ippo anime, where the frames were directly ripped from the pages of the manga. I swore that I could have seen the scotch tape protruding from the ends of my TV screen.

While the art was good and the animation was saved for the right spots. The voice talents are really what make the series work. They convey the exuberance of first love and youth with just the right touch of sarcasm and humor that works if you're in to soak in a light story of pure romance.

[1] You can look it up in animenewsnetwork.