Toradora!

Toradora!
Toradora! light novel volume 1 cover.
Genre	Romantic comedy
Manga
Written by	Yuyuko Takemiya
Published by	MediaWorks Kadokawa Media
Manga
Toradora Spin-off!
Written by	Yuyuko Takemiya
Published by	MediaWorks
Manga
Written by	Yuyuko Takemiya (story), Zekkyō (art)
Published by	MediaWorks

Toradora! (とらドラ！) is a Japanese light novel series by Yuyuko Takemiya, with illustrations by Yasu. The first novel was released on March 10 2006, and as of December 10 2007, six volumes have been published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Bunko label. A spin-off light novel series was also created aptly titled Toradora Spin-off!; the first novel in the spin-off series was released on May 10 2007. A manga adaptation by Zekkyō started serialization in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! on July 27 2007, also published by MediaWorks. The manga ended serialization in Dengeki Comic Gao! on January 27 2008, but will continue serialization in MediaWorks' seinen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 21 2008. The title Toradora! is derived from the names of the two main characters Taiga Aisaka and Ryūji Takasu. Taiga's name can be transliterated into the English equivalent tiger, and tiger in Japanese is tora (虎). The first part of Ryūji's name, ryū (竜), means dragon in Japanese, and a transliteration of dragon into Japanese is doragon (ドラゴン).

Plot

Story

Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryūji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, he has a natural outer-appearance which makes him look like an intimidating delinquent so he is utterly hopless 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 hat he gets to be in the same class as his best friend Yūsuke Kitamura and crush Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectadly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level" — Taiga Aisaka — who just happens to also be in his class.

Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate to snap at people. After meeting Ryūji, she takes an instant dilike for him. After a series of misunderstandings between Ryūji and Taiga, Ryūji is taken in by Taiga as her personal servant. Taiga comes from a rich family, though she moved out to live on her own due to family issues. Soon after Taiga learns of Ryūji's talent at domestic chores, she moves into the house next to his and gets him to do her housekeeping. Taiga spends a lot of her time over at his house, so much so that she could almost be considered a member of his family. Since Ryūji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he is opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not see. The two also attempt to help each other in order to improve how people view them. Unknown to them, however, people they know from school start to become curious about their strange relationship together and rumors begin to spread about them.

Characters

Ryūji Takasu (高須 竜児, Takasu Ryūji)

Ryūji is a sixteen-year-old high school student in his second year, class C. Due to biological inheritance, he has a natural outer-appearance which him look like an intimidating delinquent and causes many misunderstandings in his life. He lives in a fatherless family with just his mother, and due to this, Ryūji has learned to be self-sufficient. He is good at cooking and keeping everything in his house clean, and also excels at sewing. He holds a crush on Minori Kushieda, a girl his age in his class. He has a pet parakeet named "Inko-chan" (inko literally means parakeet in Japanese). Ryūji often helps Taiga with domestic chores which she is otherwise unable to perform. At school, he is known as "the only person able to stop the palm-sized tiger", referring to Taiga's nickname.

Taiga Aisaka (逢坂 大河, Aisaka Taiga)

Taiga is a girl in Ryūji's class. She has a well-regulated and beautiful appearance though is unable to stomach company from others. Due to her often snapping at others in brutal ways and her short stature at 143.6 cm (4' 8.5"), she is given the nickname "Palm-sized Tiger" (手乗りタイガー, Te Nori Taigaa). Her under-developed body and the added nickname has given her a complex which in turn serves to give her a negative attitude and facial expression. Essentially, Taiga gets upset easily and is considerably clumsy. Due to her cute looks, she often gets confessions by boys her age, but she turns down every one of them. She comes from a rich family but due to bad family relations, she has taken to living on her own. However, since she came from a privileged household, she does not know how to do any domestic chores. When she meets Ryūji and learns of his domestic talents, she moves into the house next to his and depends on Ryūji for his talents. Aside from sleeping in her own house, and going to school, she spends most of her time at Ryūji's house; so much so that she is almost considered a member of his family. She slowly starts to have feelings toward Ryūji.

Minori Kushieda (櫛枝 実乃梨, Kushieda Minori)

Minori is a girl in Ryūji's class, and is a close friend to Taiga. She is also known by the pet name "Minorin". In contrast to the negative Taiga, Minori is always smiling and cheerful, but is also a natural airhead. She is very athletic and is the captain of the girl's softball club at school, though at the same time she holds many part time jobs. She is a glutton when it comes to food, but is also constantly combating with dieting.

Yūsuke Kitamura (北村 祐作, Kitamura Yūsuke)

Yūsuke is a male student in Ryūji's class, and is his best friend. He is the vice-president of the student council, the class representative, and captain of the boy's softball club at school. Yūsuke wears glasses, and has a diligent personality. He is poor at talking to girls, though he does like the student council president Sumire Kanō. Despite being on the student council, he is in violation of riding a motorcycle to school.

Yasuko Takasu (高須 泰子, Takasu Yasuko)

Yasuko is Ryūji's thirty-three-year-old mother, though she refers to herself as eternally twenty-three; she has large, F-cup-sized breasts. Soon after Ryūji was born, her husband died which left her to raise her son by herself. She works at a hostess bar named Bishamonten Kuni where she goes by the name "Mirano" (魅羅乃), and single-handedly supports her two-member family financially. However, she has a childish personality and since she works, she entrusts the household chores to Ryūji. She instantly takes a liking to Taiga and already regards her as a member of her family.

Ami Kawashima (川嶋 亜美, Kawashima Ami)

Ami is Yūsuke's childhood friend who transfers into his class midway through their second year of high school. She is very beautiful and even works as a model, though after she transfers school, she temporarily stops modeling. However, she still continues to go to the gym readily and maintains a slim figure. She is always kind and generous towards others, though this is merely a deception. In truth, she is arrogant and will not hesitate to use abusive language towards others. During her first meeting with Taiga, Ami showed her true colors, but the tables were turned when Taiga threw a counterattack back at her. Since then, Ami and Taiga have been enemies, though Ami still sometimes envies Taiga since she can always be honest.

Yuri Koigakubo (恋ヶ窪 ゆり, Koigakubo Yuri)

Yuri is the twenty-nine-year-old homeroom teacher of Ryūji's class, though she turns thirty in the fifth volume of the light novels. She likes to do things at her own pace and is timid towards Taiga's way of speaking out. Since her twenties are almost over, Yuri is in a hurry to get married soon and she even tries to dress well so as to be able to get into a relationship quicker.

Sumire Kanō (狩野 すみれ, Kanō Sumire)

Sumire is the student council president and always manages to get the top grades in school; she is in fact a scholarship student and has horrible eyesight. She has a strong-minded personality which she depends on to be a figure those will follow. Her younger sister is Sakura and her parents own a supermarket. Sumire likes Yūsuke and carries a one-sided hostility towards Taiga.

Sakura Kanō (狩野 さくら, Kanō Sakura)

Sakura is Sumire's younger sister who attends the same high school as Sumire though her grades are horrible. She can unconsciously flirt with people, and like her sister, she hates snakes.

Kōta Tomiie (富家 幸太, Tomiie Kōta)

Kōta is a first-year student who is the main character to Toradora Spin-off!. He is generally unhappy about his life. He works on the student council in general affairs, and gets good grades.

Hisamitsu Noto (能登 久光, Noto Hisamitsu)

Hisamitsu is a male student in Ryūji's class who wears black-rimmed glasses. He was also in Ryūji's class the previous year and is on good terms with him.

Kōji Haruta (春田 浩次, Haruta Kōji)

Kōji is a male student in Ryūji's class who has long hair and is on good terms with him.

Maya Kihara (木原 麻耶, Kihara Maya)

Maya is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Nanako. She is a kogal.

Nanako Kashii (香椎 奈々子, Kashii Nanako)

Nanako is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Maya and Ami.

Kuruma (黒間)

Kuruma is the thirty-four-year-old unmarried gym teacher at Ryūji's school. He enjoys strength training and improving his muscle mass.

Media

Light novels

Toradora! began as a series of light novels written by Yuyuko Takemiya and drawn by Yasu. The novels are published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Bunko publishing label. The first novel was released on March 10 2006, and as of December 10 2007, six volumes have been published. The light novel series was ranked sixth in 2007 in Takarajimasha's light novel guidebook Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi published yearly. In Kadokawa Shoten's first Light Novel Award contest held in 2007, Toradora! won an award in the romantic comedy category.

A spin-off of the regular series was also created under the tile Toradora Spin-off! (とらドラ・スピンオフ！); the first novel of the spin-off series was released on May 10 2007 and compiled four chapters serialized in MediaWorks' now-defunct light novel magazine Dengeki hp along with an additional bonus chapter. More chapters started serialization in Dengeki hp's successor Dengeki Bunko Magazine on December 10 2007.

Manga

A manga adaptation started serialization in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! on July 27 2007, published by MediaWorks. The manga takes its story from the light novels that preceded it, and is illustrated by Zekkyō. The manga ended its run in Dengeki Comic Gao! on January 27 2008, but will still continue serialization in MediaWorks' seinen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 21 2008. The first bound volume will be released on February 27 2008 under MediaWorks' Dengeki Comics label.

External links

• Dengeki Bunko's official website Template:Jp icon