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TLDR Review:
I personally have never particularly enjoyed the slice-of-life genre, I feel it takes a bit of an acquired taste, which I do not have. Though after watching and finishing Toradora it never even once crossed my mind that it was in fact a slice-of-life show. Now the show itself isn't particularly original in terms of character or story design, but for some reason I still enjoyed every minute of it. The show had me emotionally attached to the characters which is by no means an easy thing to do, especially if the show has already ended or is below the 26 episode mark. ... Whether it be from the show’s simplicity itself or how the characters interact with one another. It manages to grasp your understanding of what a slice-of-life/ romantic comedy is and throws it out the window [In a School Days format (In a good way)]. For those of you that have yet to experience this show for yourself and are like myself, in terms of not “enjoying” slice-of-life, give it a shot.

In Depth Review:
Toradora is based off of the light novel written by Yuyuko Takemiya which was published from 2006-2009 and had a manga adaptation in 2007, illustrated by Zekkyo, which was eventually followed by an anime adaptation. Originally Toradora ran from October of 2008 to March of 2009, and was animated by J.C. Staff with 25 episodes. The show begins just like any other school show with our main character Ryuji Takasu, he is seen by his peers and even the rest of his school as just another delinquent. From this it is hard for him to make friends as everyone flees as soon as his gaze would meet theirs. His only friend at the beginning seems to be Kitamura as he finds what class he will be in for the year, though as he is walking to his class he ends up bumping into Aisaka Taiga. From this point the story begins, just like any other.

Story: 8/10
As for the story, it starts off hardly any different from your typical 6/10 school show; however, as the story progresses it becomes much more about everyone being happy and not just the protagonist getting what or who he wants. From them setting it up like just any other show, that in itself, is and was original for the time it came out as school shows such as this still are becoming stale, repetitive experiences. Toradora stands above these shows with an iron fist and tells those mediocre shows to dare follow in its footsteps.

Characters: 9/10
Characters are the biggest thing about a slice-of-life shows as they revolve around their daily lives and endeavors, thus it would have to be their strongest point. Toradora doesn't just develop the one main protagonist and love interest as so many shows do, it makes you feel for everyone involved in the story, side characters included. You continuously build an image behind every character and how they fit into and affect the story itself. That in itself is an achievement for a show.

Art: 7/10
Art can or cannot be the main focus of a slice-of-life as I've found, Toradora leans more towards the “can” side but not enough for it to take away from the characters or story. This could be either a good or a bad thing, since in amazingly animated shows you tend to look more at the animation and forget about the in-between conversations. Though this can be a downside, animation leaves more of a mark in your memory then dialogue does. Toradora isn't really that different in this aspect from pretty much any show you see today, but again it was animated almost 7 years ago. Back then this was beautiful animation and still is, it just can be easily disregarded nowadays unfortunately.

Music/ Sound Design: 7/10
As for music and sound design, aside from the intros and endings, they didn't particularly vary much from any other school show. Since more emphasis is put onto the character’s dialogue, music can be easily over-looked, though I feel this is for the better. Since again it really does not vary from typical shows.

Overall: 8/10
Toradora, for me, was about as refreshing of an experience as they come. I began to find myself in a rut in terms of romance shows as they all begin and end the same; however, my faith was restored after finishing this show. Toradora may have seemed like all the rest, which may have been the reason why I had avoided it for so long, sometimes it’s a good thing to be wrong. You may have to tread through many fields and many miles of mediocrity to find that one genre defining title, in a genre such as slice-of-life that isn't typically varied to begin with, Toradora is easily among the elite in its respective genre. Slice-of-life surely isn't a genre for anyone as I have found that lesson out the hard way, but there is always that one title that just for whatever reason stands above all of the rest. Toradora may not be for everyone since nothing is, but it gets damn near close, so if you’re pissed like me and need a good show to watch regardless of your preferences, give it a shot.

TLDR Review:
I don’t exactly enjoy the idea of rating something before it’s over but after 59 episodes I think I've gotten the gist of the show. From the standpoint of someone who has been around and played baseball since I was able to walk, Diamond no Ace is a show that gets baseball right. DnA is by no means a perfect show but in terms of understanding the sport of baseball and developing the characters as a result, it hits the nail on the head. So if you are looking for a realistic baseball anime then DnA should be ... on your very short plan-to-watch list.

In Depth Review:
For me, personally, I've found shows that exceed the 20-30 episode mark are hard to get into. Though I never felt that while watching DnA, now whether that was because of my ability to relate to the characters and the situations or not could be left up for interpretation. DnA is simply the anime adaptation of the DnA manga that has been published since 2006 and is still publishing. The current show is being animated primarily by Production I.G. with help from Madhouse. The show begins with a practically hopeless pitcher by the name of Eijun Sawamura who has a couple tricks up his sleeve. Eijun is scouted during a game with his middle school team and ends up getting an offer to play baseball with one of the most renowned baseball high schools in all of Tokyo: Seido. The story picks up from there on, so for the sake of not spoiling anything major I will not say any more. With that aside lets begin with the actual review.

Story: 7/10
The story itself is not anything special, it follows your regular routine in a shonen similar to that of Naruto. Where the main protagonist is not reliable in the slightest but has the will and determination to get better, However the story begins to take a bit of a turn after the initial arc. The story turns more into the team itself instead of what the main character can accomplish and that in itself turns into one of the story’s strong points. Granted that the story is a bit generic but you can’t exactly expect much in that aspect from a light-hearted sports anime, what the show does it does to the best of its abilities.

Characters: 9/10
The characters are one of, if not the strongest point of this show. As I said previously the show turns into more of the team and form that you don’t just feel for one of the characters but everyone as a whole. You physically want them to win against every team they play against, following every player and hoping that they can do their part in sealing the win for the team. Characters are certainly something that this show did right and I feel other shows could learn from it.

Art: 6/10
Unfortunately the art and animation suffer a bit because of the sheer length of the show. You can’t exactly ask for gorgeous fight scenes, well in this case batting or fielding scenes. Mainly due to the fact that the animation studios simply do not have the money to invest into a 60+ episode series. I won’t harp on the art for too long but they do again use it to the best of their abilities which is by no means a bad thing. All in all the art is not bad, it’s just very mediocre from their excessive use of still frames and such.

Music/Sound Design: 7/10
In terms of sound and music design there really isn't much to choose from aside from the sounds of dialogue and baseballs being hit and caught. With the occasional hype music to keep you in tune with the scene. Aside from those sounds, which do in fact sound accurate, I can’t REALLY rate this. So from that I just went with my go to rating, really nothing more to say about this.

Overall: 8/10
Now I don’t particularly like to rate things subjectively but because this one hit home (no pun intended) for me this is MY opinion on the show. It really reminded me of some of the things that baseball was to me, whether remembering these things are a bad thing or not I have yet to find out. The show suffers from small things such as many still frames and mediocre animation but that is not what makes this show great. The teamwork of everyone, the build-up of every antagonist and every game, giving characters that need a back-story one. Everything about this show just fits for what it is. Sports anime can be particularly hard to get into, especially if you don’t understand many of the complex rules of the game such as baseball. However this show is by no means hard to get into and if you’re looking for a longer sports show, give it a try.

Top wo Nerae or Gunbuster was created by Gainax in 1988 and was Hideaki Anno’s debut production. Though the show is only 6 episodes long it is regarded as a work on par with his much more famed Neon Genesis Evangelion. Top wo Nerae’s title was inspired by both “Aim for the Ace” (Classic tennis anime) and “Top Gun” (Hollywood Film). When watching Gunbuster some aspects of the show can almost immediately be drawn as similar to that of Neon Genesis, such as both protagonists having practically the same character archetype. The art, soundtrack, etc. can also be viewed as similar but that is ... where the similarities end. One thing that Gunbuster seems to do better than the majority of shows in its respected genre (Mecha) is its implementation of science and how it affects everything in the world.
The story of Top wo Nerae starts during the year 2023 and follows the main protagonist Noriko Takaya, the daughter of Admiral Yuzo Takaya of the Luxion who went missing early in the war. The story is picked up during her training in Okinawa with the desire to become a Gunbuster Pilot. Noriko is seen to have superior physical strength compared to the majority of the students there, however she is awful with technology and is seen by the other pilots as the weak link with no hope of ever becoming a pilot.
Though she was the worst of the lot in controlling the mechs, she worked hard at trying to become her dream, a Gunbuster pilot. (*Spoiler*) This was seen by “Coach” or Kouichirou Oota and against all odds was chosen as a pilot to go into space. This is where the story really begins.
Honestly I think it would be better going into it not knowing much after that portion, so that it adds to the experience.

Story: 8/10
Nowadays a sci-fi mecha series is just seen as another genre, however back when Top wo Nerae (1988) was airing it was a relatively new concept with some of the only other sci-fi mecha series out at that point being Macross and Gundam. As I stated previously it also has heavy influence from scientific theory and how the nature of the technology realistically could make this story plausible. Which again was, and still is an underused concept that I feel should be used more as it makes you more inclined to believe what the story is throwing at you.

Characters: 7/10
Noriko Takaya was a different take on what a main character should be at the time. As the majority of main characters have a sort of air about them that made you instantaneously realise that “Yep, that’s main protagonist-kun”. Noriko, however is different, she acts more like a real human, ex. Getting depressed over the death of another character, which affects her ability in combat. Now aside from Noriko the cast is pretty limited, other characters being: Coach, Kazumi and Jung. The story does do a good job of trying to flesh out the characters but I felt them still a bit lacking aside from Noriko, that may be in part to the fact it is only 6 episodes.

Art: 9/10
The beauty of Gunbuster being produced during the 80s is that every frame of every episode was drawn by hand. This leads to objects having an incredible amount of detail, such as the mechs. By adding more detail to things the viewers become more invested in the technology and how it works, which is something that Gunbuster does a phenomenal job at. Gunbuster has some of the most gorgeous animation of a series that came out before 1990 that I have ever seen.

Music/Sound Design: 8/10
One thing that I can say that I took away from Gunbuster is the OST which plays a heavy role in putting you in the atmosphere of the show. The majority of the music is orchestral type and listening to it during epic scenes just makes the show all the more enjoyable. The same can be said about the sound design as it comes of as very unique in nature compared to modern day mecha, it just feels different.

Overall: 8/10
Personally I enjoyed the series as a whole and would re-watch it if I felt I wanted to, however this is not a show I would recommend to a new viewer of anime in the same sense that you wouldn't give an inexperienced driver the keys to 78 Nissan. You would have to go to the trouble of teaching them how to drive clutch; clutch being the analogy that I’m using for appreciating classic shows in the same sense of appreciating classic cars. #ClutchMasterRace… get it, because race… cars race...never mind. But for those of you that have been around for a while, give it a shot, one episode never hurts right (Unless it's Boku no Pico)?