Toradora News

BAM! As many of you know, Borders is going out of business. Also, some of you may remember that I said I was going to make manga my priority this year. The above picture further proves I'm doing what I said. I got 8 of the above manga at 30% off and 1 at 25% off (because I bought it last week and RightStuf didn't have it). In fact, 30% off makes the manga cheaper than RightStuf before tax and only a couple cents more afterwards. So if y'all are a bit like me and really want the stuff in your hands instead of waiting a couple days I suggest going to your nearest Borders store and picking up what you want/can before they run out!

On to the good stuff now. My manga collection after this purchase totals 58 volumes. 4 of the volumes in the picture complete 2 series, which brings me to a total of 4 complete manga series (all of which don't have an anime) that tally to 23 volumes. All right, all right, all right! I'll tell you what I exactly got.

In the front row are Vol. 2-4 of B.Ichi (complete). In the top-left corner are Vol. 6 of BioMega (complete), Vol. 2 of Toradora, and Vol. 5 of Ultimo. Aaand in the top-right corner are Vol. 5-6 of Bakuman and Vol. 3 of Fairy Tail. That about does it for me. Look forward to me talking about these and other great manga and anime in upcoming Dunce Cap episodes. I can't wait to read Bakuman because it will be the first time I've read a manga further than its anime (that is ongoing).

-Will McQuigg ( sotyfan16) is your everyday anime/manga enthusiast. You can also find him on Twitter ( bildo_88).

Helloooo Anime Vice! It's been 2 weeks since the last Dunce Cap episode and for those who have been waiting for a new one, I'm sorry it's taken this long. I've been traveling just about every other week for my job so my time has been limited in even keeping up with the goings on here. Enough of the dull stuff though. In today's episode I review 5 volume 1s! Those titles are: Butterfly by Yu Aikawa ( Tokyopop), Dorohedoro by Q Hayashida ( Viz Media), Maximum Ride by James Patterson ( Yen Press), Red Hot Chili Samurai by Yoshitsugu Katagiri (Tokyopop), and Toradora by Yuyuko Takemiya ( Seven Seas)!!

WARNING! This video contains explicit language. Also, this video is not edited in any way.

     

Please feel free to provide suggestions for an anime or manga for me to talk about and I will do my best to oblige. Also, if you are curious about anything discussed in this-or previous-episode(s) don't hesitate to ask me for more information/opinions.

Last episode: 2.22 x the Fun is an Understatement

-Will McQuigg ( sotyfan16) is your everyday anime/manga enthusiast. You can also find him on Twitter ( bildo_88). 

For a long time I had a bias against Tsunderes, because most of them, honestly, are annoying. Plus, you had to add the moe factor. Most anime/manga nowadays have moe tsundere characters, which make us swirl in a huge downward spiral to moeblobland, a place where there are no original stories, plotlines are linear and characters have to be pigtailed tsunderes/ meganekkos/ over or underdeveloped lolis. But thank God there are always exceptions.
 
Good stories and well written charactes always shine in a world in which uniformity reigns supreme. Tora Dora! is a good example.
 
I was quite reluctant to watch the series, so I tried with the manga first (which are based in a series of light novels). The story is very common indeed: the petite uber bad-tempered Taiga delivers a love letter to the wrong person, Ryuuji, which due to his facial features looks like a yakuza. Both find out they have crushes on their respective BFF's, Minori (a really hyperactive wackjob) and  Yuusaku (the perfect, too-good-to-be-true boy), and they decide to become allies to win the hearts of their respective love interests. We can guess how everything will end. Same goes with the anime, with slight differences.
 
But what is most attractive are the characters. Taiga is not a tsundere just because she likes it. She knows her flaws and weaknesses. She has a horrible, almost non-existent relationship with their parents (partly due to her temper), and hates being mocked for her size (I totally understand that; I'm barely 5ft. high) but stil, she tries to get along with people. She tries to go against her nature; same with Ryuuji, that all his life has struggled to be the opposite of what people may think he is: he is neat, responsible for himself and his super wacky mom, and a good student too. The entire cast fight against their flaws, imperfections and quirks in order to be better people.  These characters progressively evolve in surprising ways along the way, and dare to show their soft spots, not being afraid of wat people will say. Because it's good to let people see you just as you are. Even if you reveal yourself as a tender tsundere.
 
Why do I think it's so good? Because it's real.

After all these years Toradora is coming state side but by a NIS America which are new to anime (They do video games which are anime influence). They also got Persona -Trinity Soul- and Wagaya no Oinarisama which are two other animes I liked in the past.
 
Article found on AnimeNewsNetwork: link