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REVIEW: Toradora! GN 1




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RoverTX



Joined: 17 Dec 2008
Posts: 424
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:16 pm Reply with quote
While Ryuuji's mother in the anime was the main focus of the fanservers, the level they brought it up to in the manga was pretty far out there..... The manga writer even felt the need to keep having Ryuuji mention "SHE'S MY MOM THIS ISN'T RIGHT" or something along those lines as if it keeps the manga writer from feeling too dirty about it.....
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:29 pm Reply with quote
Oy vey, the manga pales so much in comparison with the anime. Wish they'd licensed the original light novels instead... Confused
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:34 am Reply with quote
I swear this reviewer seems to be writing this as if we all didn't know how the story goes. Some people may not have seen the anime, I guess, but are they likely to be interested in the GN at this point?

The chapters that I have seen of the manga apear pretty similar to the anime. I too wish the light novels were available.

Why is everyone so hung up about cliches in anime and manga stories anyway? Websites like TVTropes exist because they are there, they are used, and they are not necessariely a bad thing. When you have good characters and use the cliches to tell a heartwarming story, who cares if you don't come up with everything brand new and shiny? (Especially considering some of the twisting of cliches that Toradora! the anime does, especially in the Cultural Festival arc.) Cliches can be very effective, especially when the author knows when to twist one or bend it in a way that makes you bust a seam.
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:30 am Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
Why is everyone so hung up about cliches in anime and manga stories anyway?


I agree it's impossible to avoid cliches sometimes. I believe that in the end, whatever amount of cliches a title has, it needs to have its own soul and charm. If it lacks both, then it feels like an empty repeat of everything I checked out before, so why spend my money and time on said title?

Not having read the manga or the light novels, I felt that the anime of Toradora definitely had its own charm at the start, and as it progressed made it easy to see it had its own soul. And until I hear what direction the story goes in the manga, I think I'll be satisfied with NIS America's premium sets on my shelf.


Last edited by pachy_boy on Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:48 am; edited 1 time in total
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sonickid101



Joined: 24 Apr 2009
Posts: 132
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:09 am Reply with quote
why do manga adaptations of anime and novels ALWAYS suck? its like video game anime
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Gasero



Joined: 24 Jul 2009
Posts: 939
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:33 am Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
Why is everyone so hung up about cliches in anime and manga stories anyway? Websites like TVTropes exist because they are there, they are used, and they are not necessariely a bad thing. When you have good characters and use the cliches to tell a heartwarming story, who cares if you don't come up with everything brand new and shiny? (Especially considering some of the twisting of cliches that Toradora! the anime does, especially in the Cultural Festival arc.) Cliches can be very effective, especially when the author knows when to twist one or bend it in a way that makes you bust a seam.


You just answered your own question. I get hung up on cliche's because so many authors adopt them and then don't even try to do anything interesting. These days it seems like 90% of the anime I attempt to watch pick cliches out of a hat and make something out of them rather thinking of a story and trying to do something interesting with the cliches that are bound to come up. Most people tolerate heavy cliche if the anime/manga has other things they are looking for such as action scenes or fanservice.
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Northlander



Joined: 10 Feb 2009
Posts: 900
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 11:03 am Reply with quote
I don't know what she does in the manga, but in the anime, Ryuji's mom demands two things from her son: that he makes the meals and that he stays in school. (His obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to cleaning is probably something he indulges with little prodding.) If anything, I'd say Taiga is far more demanding than Yasuko.

Of course, I thought she was a useless layabout too, until I realized a couple of things: She is the one who provides the income of the household -- all by herself -- which is something to think about, even if their living conditions are hardly stellar. And her work; I imagine entertaining drunken Japanese businessmen can't be a whole lot of fun all the time. It's kind of sad that it's also possibly her best option for the highest possible income. ("best" being a very relative term in this case.)
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Swissman



Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 766
Location: Switzerland
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:51 pm Reply with quote
sonickid101 wrote:
why do manga adaptations of anime and novels ALWAYS suck? its like video game anime


For truly awful manga adaptions of good anime, look no further than those of Cowboy Bebop and Rahxephon. Zekkyos adaption of Toradora isn`t anywhere near that level of abomination. In fact, Toradora is one of the few manga adaptions which are quite as good as it`s animated source. The plot follows closely the individual tv episodes and great care was given to all the characters` quirk personalities and insecurities. Not only that, the art is also polished, cute and quite similar like the tv series. I`d say, give it a shot!
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 10:51 pm Reply with quote
sonickid101 wrote:
why do manga adaptations of anime and novels ALWAYS suck? its like video game anime

Because adaptations are, by nature, filtered through the perception of a creator who is not the original writer/artist who adjusts and reinterprets the story, characters, and various other elements to how they think is best suited.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:58 pm Reply with quote
I think one of the biggest faults of the manga is the pacing, it seems to take a very long time for it to get anywhere. The first 3 volumes (30-something chapters) only cover something like the first 8 or 9 episodes of the anime. Plus with only 15 or so pages to a chapter the constant starts and stops are a bit exhausting. There's very deliberate pacing in each episode of the anime (and I suppose by default the light novels) with little twists at the end of each, but the manga seems to break it. Can't imagine the Japanese are enjoying the release schedule, only four volumes have been released since it was first serialized in 2007. Hopefully it isn't canceled before it can finish.

Oh well, even knowing this I still went ahead and bought volume 1.

Emerje
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5821
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:47 pm Reply with quote
After watching the greatness that is Toradora!, it is kinda hard to read a black an white manga, that tells basically the same thing. Perhaps if it was in full color.
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:31 am Reply with quote
Emerje wrote:
I think one of the biggest faults of the manga is the pacing, it seems to take a very long time for it to get anywhere. The first 3 volumes (30-something chapters) only cover something like the first 8 or 9 episodes of the anime. Plus with only 15 or so pages to a chapter the constant starts and stops are a bit exhausting. There's very deliberate pacing in each episode of the anime (and I suppose by default the light novels) with little twists at the end of each, but the manga seems to break it. Can't imagine the Japanese are enjoying the release schedule, only four volumes have been released since it was first serialized in 2007. Hopefully it isn't canceled before it can finish.

Oh well, even knowing this I still went ahead and bought volume 1.

Emerje

There are 10 light novels. In the anime, the first novel is covered in the first two episodes. The manga covers the same material in just under two volumes. Given that the filler material in the anime will probably be skipped, I would say that the manga is moving at the expected pace.

The biggest thing missing in the manga, in my opinion, is the opening lines from both the anime and the light novels ("There exists in this world something no one has ever seen..."). It is too bad, as that is a fantastic piece of single-effect prose and really sets the tone for the entire story.
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