“It doesn't matter if you grew up without parents, and it doesn't matter if you don't believe in god. There's someone out there watching over you." probably the greatest show about maturity; obviously the characters and their arcs are all remarkably written, but the most flooring aspect of toradora is its slow, nearly imperceptible tonal shift from carefreeness into something a lot more earnest. its ending is obvious from the moment that taiga and ryuji first meet, so it takes advantage of the audience’s expectations as to what tropes will be at play to continuously build up a subterranean layer of sincerity that swells so much that, incident by incident, the lighthearted skin starts to crack and reveal its hand. it never overdoes either of those things, though, or really anything else for that matter. maybe all of these words are in vain, for i can’t help but get lost in the wistfully, hopelessly romantic nature of this show. its bleeding heart is bittersweet, comical, comforting, and overwhelmingly sentimental all at once. i probably could list some meaningless nitpicks, but i’d be lying if i said this wasn’t one of my favorite anime. i just can’t wait to watch this again. MASTERPIECE