AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Toradora! - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

typhonsentra · 2009-04-02, 15:09

I think everyone can guess how I feel about this show.

I might write more about it later but here are my general thoughts:

I was originally very harsh on this show because of the compression but by the end it became clear to me that many of the changes had a method to the madness: Their interpretations of the characters in other words were sometimes slightly different from their novel counterparts. This irked me at first since I was a fan of the books but once I accepted it I saw that the changes weren't necessarily all for the worst, just different. The ending in particular apparently had a ton of changes but it left me satisfied.

The show was solid looking but not spectacularly animated, with a few small slips into ugly designs and sloppy animation here and there. It had what I felt was a superb soundtrack, each musical cue was flawlessly executed (Taiga's breakdown comes to mind first and foremost) and I loved all of the opening and closing themes too. Voice acting too, it was a real group of professionals. Kugimiya has some people polarized as she always does but I felt like she grasped the role and what was needed of her. Some will be distracted by the recognizable voice but she carried the important, emotional scenes as well as one could hope for.

The direction in this show (Unlike some of the arguments we might have over the editing choices) really impressed me in this show. There's a lot of subtle symbolism we discuss regularly in the individual episode threads, but there's also the animation direction. Each and every gesture in this show during conversation reveals some hidden meaning as to what the characters are thinking. I can't think of another cartoon comparable that went through this level of planning, the director was obviously very dedicated and diligent in bringing his vision to the screen.

So yeah, it was my favorite show from the past year. Probably my favorite show in a long, long time (Maybe for a long time coming too). This was a hell of a journey and I'm sad to see it go. 10/10

As for individual scores:

Animation Quality: 7

Nothing wrong with it but nothing impressive either. They clearly were working with a limited budget. Or the director had a fiendish coke habit, who knows.

Voice Actors: 9

Superb acting on everyone's part.

Script: 9.5

I knocked off half a point because of the lack of many of the inner monologues which would've fleshed out the story better, but they did a great job with making up for that with the body language.

Soundtrack: 10

I can't say enough good things about this, say I won't say anymore.

Editing: 8.5

Yeah yeah, I missed some of the things they took out too. I can understand why they did it for both time and artistic license but I still missed some of them.

Enjoyment: 10

Loved it.

Emotional Involvement: 10

I don't know what I'll watch next. I feel like the president after the BSG finale.

2009-04-02, 15:09	Link #2
typhonsentra Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA	I think everyone can guess how I feel about this show. I might write more about it later but here are my general thoughts: I was originally very harsh on this show because of the compression but by the end it became clear to me that many of the changes had a method to the madness: Their interpretations of the characters in other words were sometimes slightly different from their novel counterparts. This irked me at first since I was a fan of the books but once I accepted it I saw that the changes weren't necessarily all for the worst, just different. The ending in particular apparently had a ton of changes but it left me satisfied. The show was solid looking but not spectacularly animated, with a few small slips into ugly designs and sloppy animation here and there. It had what I felt was a superb soundtrack, each musical cue was flawlessly executed (Taiga's breakdown comes to mind first and foremost) and I loved all of the opening and closing themes too. Voice acting too, it was a real group of professionals. Kugimiya has some people polarized as she always does but I felt like she grasped the role and what was needed of her. Some will be distracted by the recognizable voice but she carried the important, emotional scenes as well as one could hope for. The direction in this show (Unlike some of the arguments we might have over the editing choices) really impressed me in this show. There's a lot of subtle symbolism we discuss regularly in the individual episode threads, but there's also the animation direction. Each and every gesture in this show during conversation reveals some hidden meaning as to what the characters are thinking. I can't think of another cartoon comparable that went through this level of planning, the director was obviously very dedicated and diligent in bringing his vision to the screen. So yeah, it was my favorite show from the past year. Probably my favorite show in a long, long time (Maybe for a long time coming too). This was a hell of a journey and I'm sad to see it go. 10/10 As for individual scores: Animation Quality: 7 Nothing wrong with it but nothing impressive either. They clearly were working with a limited budget. Or the director had a fiendish coke habit, who knows. Voice Actors: 9 Superb acting on everyone's part. Script: 9.5 I knocked off half a point because of the lack of many of the inner monologues which would've fleshed out the story better, but they did a great job with making up for that with the body language. Soundtrack: 10 I can't say enough good things about this, say I won't say anymore. Editing: 8.5 Yeah yeah, I missed some of the things they took out too. I can understand why they did it for both time and artistic license but I still missed some of them. Enjoyment: 10 Loved it. Emotional Involvement: 10 I don't know what I'll watch next. I feel like the president after the BSG finale.