とらドラ！
Toradora! Vol. 02 (manga)

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*SPOILERS!*

Taiga and Ryuuji are depressed when their intendeds, Yuusaka and Minori respectively, think that Taiga and Ryuuji are a couple. After recovering and talking a bit at a restaurant, they walk home where Taiga injures herself in frustration and ends up being carried home by Ryuuji. At school, Taiga destroys the classroom in order to quell the rumor that she and Ryuuji are dating. She then later manages to confess to Yuusaka under the boy’s bathroom window, thus Ryuuji is able to eavesdrop. Yuusaka turns her down, wanting to be friends, and reminds Taiga that she turned him down first, news which startles Ryuuji. Ryuuji lets her know what he heard and eventually, the two re-establish their relationship and goals of hooking up with their intendeds.

To that end, Ryuuji and Taiga begin visiting a family restaurant that Minori works in, one of several part time jobs she has. While there, Taiga points out a magazine teen model who has come in. The model, Ami, is with Yuusaka and they sit at the booth with Taiga and Ryuuji. Yuusaka has Ryuuji come with him under the pretense of going to the bathroom, but in fact, he wants to see how Ami treats Taiga.  He explains to Ryuuji that he and Ami are old friends but since she’s become a model, she has a fake persona she displays in public and he wants to cure her of that. Ami belittles Taiga and even threatens to take Ryuuji away from her.  Taiga responds by slapping Ami due to a fly there, then gets offended when Ami gets angry by it. Ami throws a tantrum and so she ends up leaving with Yuusaka.  However, Ami has transferred to their school and is in their homeroom class, meaning Taiga and Ryuuji have a new issue to deal with as Ami makes a move on Ryuuji.

With the entry of Ami into the story, I know things will become more entertaining based on the anime. One thing I remember really liking was Ami and Taiga’s becoming friends in spite of everything.  Of course, it is fun watching Taiga and Ryuuji become fast friends, especially in light of what is in store for both of them. ^_^

So far, there’s nothing that struck me as really being new or anything.  Granted, it has been ages since I watched the anime, so I could be mistaken.  One of the reasons I’m buying this manga series is that light novel creator Takemiya-sensei is also writing the manga.  Thus, while not the light novel, I’m hoping for additional insights or the like into the various characters and situations.

Still, it is nice having the manga version of a story I really enjoyed as an anime.  Since I like reading manga before going to bed, this series is one that easily fits the bill for me.  While I still wish the character designs were a bit more like the anime ones, I’m not going to complain there.

On the Seven Seas side of things, Japanese honorifics are included as are a couple of translator notes.  A preview of A Certain Scientific Railgun is included, which would tempt me except that it is not being done by the original author, so I’m passing.

In the end, I’m just glad to be able to enjoy one of my favorite series in manga form and know that it will be close to the original light novels, which whatever modifications the original author decides to make. As such, I recommend this manga to all Toradora! fans.