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Toradora is widely acclaimed as one of, if not the best, light novel rom-com, and there’s little question as to why. The characters are instantly memorable and only grow more endearing as the series goes on. The plot of each individual volume is complex enough to stave off boredom but also simple enough to allow the overarching plotlines to progress steadily throughout the series. This allows the series to reach an ending that, though melancholy, fits it.

The characters are the story’s strongest element. The goals of our central duo, Ryuuji and Tagi, are to form romantic relationships with their respective best friends and to ... create a natural resonance that keeps them together despite their often-clashing personalities. The clashes create natural fuel for conflict, and the goal of pursuing romantic relationships with their respective best friends creates a natural incentive to overcome these challenges and move forward. The natural interplay of said best friends, Minori and Yuusaku, between each other, the individual protagonists, and the group as a whole further endears us to the cast. The addition of Ami is the cherry on top, adding a piece we didn’t even realize was missing.

The plotlines in each volume vary in quality, but all entertain throughout their runtimes and advance the series’ overarching plot. Each volume presents a new challenge or situation for the cast to manage and maneuver through. Some standout examples are in volumes 6 and 7, where the character conflict reaches a fever pitch. Different readers will naturally have different opinions on which volume is the best, but the variety gives everyone something to love and enjoy.

The only area that could fail to meet the reader’s expectations is the ending. Readers expecting a purely happy ending where the romantic couples get together cleanly and live happily ever after will be sadly disappointed. The ending is neither clean nor precise, but it does end on a hopeful note. Some will find the ending of volume 10 underwhelming after the highly dramatic cliffhanger endings of volumes 6 through 9. Still, the ending ties up all the plotlines seeded throughout in a neat, if not flashy, bow.

All in all, Toradora is well deserving of its claim. The characters and plotlines are engaging throughout despite the lackluster ending, but the simple destination does nothing to mitigate the ups and downs found along the journey.

When I first read the title, I thought the series would go in two ways. Either in the beginning, he'd exorcise a succubus that'd keep bugging him and try to get him to fall to lust by smooshing his face in her cleavage and other such anime hygienics on the low end or the high end; he'd struggle to truly fulfill Jesus' command to love thy neighbor as yourself because he didn't know what love was. He'd meet someone to teach him through their time together. To my surprise, it was neither. This series is not for everyone; most would be horrified by what the ... demons do to their primary and side characters. However, that's what I love because it lets the demon kings be irredeemable bastards that the audience is supposed to hate. Father-kun himself is also the most true-to-life teenage Christian I've ever seen in anime/manga. He's well versed in the scriptures, he sees others perform miracles and perform them himself, he KNOWs God is accurate, and even if he's not 100% sure what he should do, he knows what he shouldn't do. And yet he still sins; CH 55 perfectly embodies what St. Paul meant when he wrote, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." (Romans 7:19 New King James Version). For these reasons, I recommend the series to anyone interested in Christian theology who can stomach the explicit content. I cannot wait to see what happens next as our heroes prepare for the coming fight against Sloth, and I can confidently say the only thing that could make it better is if we can see a true-to-faith appearance of Jesus.