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Burned through an old 25 episode (well there is a series of them, but the first 25 establish the story) from mid 2000's called Toradora or Tiger X Dragon; とらドラ！!

I was hesitant at first as I really don't go for 'slice of life' or 'school days' type anime... but I am a sucker for a good drama with a strong female protagonist... and Toradora! fits the bill. I watched the English dub on http://www.kissanime.com and the dub was VERY well done. The actor voices for Aisaka Taiga and Takasu Ryūji are well done and Aisaka voice is PPUURRRFFFEEECCCTTTT for the role. Like Kyon in The Hurrahi anime (fuck, did I just make an anime reference in an anime review... shits going down hill for here).

Typical drama anime with the typical issues... but the real gem is that Aisaka's temper has earned her the nickname "Palmtop Tiger" and her abuse of Takasu is hilarious. The katana fight she has with Kanō Sumire is epic and well done. As usual everyone has a pretty messed up past and while this does affect how the characters see the world around them the characters develop and for the most part overcome the issues of their past. The back stories are not horrendously bad.. typical broken home/lost/unrequited love stuff... everyone is pretty normal.

The plot is basically a love triangle between Aisaka,her friend Kushieda Minori , and Takasu so whaa whaa things go bad for Takasu until he nuts up and picks one... which is (spoiler alert) Aisaka. Its a well done story and other than the voices of Minori and Kitamura Yūsaku being just a little out of place the sound and animation are good.

Its a good solid anime... a little long, but is had a very good ending (JUST REMEMBER TO WATCH THE ENTIRE 25th EPISODE.. AFTER THE CREDITS... I hate when shows do shit like that).

Time to play fuck marry kill.

Left to right:
Kawashima Ami: kill. Bitch is full of herself.
Aisaka Taiga: marry. Just don't piss her off.
Kushieda Minori: fuck: redheads are great in bed, but just annoying levels of energy. So, so tiring.

So I watched this review of Toradora on youtube:

[youtube]-fEkFtmIRU0[/youtube]

And this guy has put a lot of work in making an EXCELLENT review of the series. So much that after I watched his review I watched the last 5 episodes of Toradora again just to relive how epic the series is.

I can agree that Toradora is probably some of the best romance/drama anime that Japan has put out... and like most reviews of Anime have noted... Toradora is well written and had an ending that while it seems bleak in episode 25, the post credit reunion of Ryūji and Taiga is just the cherry on the top of an excellent series.

I can't recommend this series highly enough. Its probably not a series you want to bust your Anime cherry with, but after you watch a few other series then Toradora its apparent how good this series really is.