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Barakamon is a wonderful anime, and is probably the best example of how to do a good slice of life anime.

Story: 9
Barakamon's plot revolves around the struggles of a young, but popular calligrapher, who is forced to go to a small island when he punches the head of a calligraphy exhibition. The story largely follows his path towards maturity, and his relationship with the islanders. The anime is slow and calm, and the story rarely escapes it's tendency to use a situation each episode to deliver a lesson involving tenacity and inspiration when creating something. For the most part, the story is about character interactions ... and growth, so most episodes don't have anything too significant happen.

Art: 8
The art in Barakamon is great. All of the characters are fluid and expressive, and some of the scenery is gorgeous. The art style often looks similar to a painting, but isn't very different or unusual. The arts weakest point is that while some scenes are wonderful, plenty if them are pretty average, and they resort to using completely white eyes and other common anime gags a little too often, still it isn't distracting or obtrusive.

Sound: 8
The op and ed are fantastic. The soundtrack itself is good, but nothing really stands out and it can get repetitive. The sound design is about as good as a slice of life could need to be. The voice acting is all great, and no one feels out of place or awkward.

Character: 10
Easily the best part of this anime is it's characters. Almost every character gets good characterization, and no one feels particularly shallow or stereotypical. The main character gets the clearest amount of growth and depth, but a surprising amount of the side characters get plenty of screen time to grow and build their character. The changes the main character goes through are very relatable, and his path towards finding his inspiration is very fun to watch and follow.

Enjoyment: 10
There's little to be said here other than that each episode is both funny, and intriguing. There are no moments that aren't fun and engaging.

Overall: 9
The only real thing keeping this from being a 10 is the lack of something truly outstanding. Everything is done wonderfully, and there are no large problems or flaws in this anime. A perfect example of the absolute best a single season slice of life can be.

Story 9/10 Toradora starts as a simple romance comedy. Two teenagers, Taiga and Ryugi, have a crush on the others' friend, so they work together to try and set each other up with the other's friend. The part that makes Toradora a good anime is that soon the relationships start to change. Toradora challenges the idea that you always know how you feel about someone, and that love and friendship are straightforward things. The other thing that separates this from most romance comedies, is that while the ending is pretty obvious, the plot twists are amazing and send you off course, in a way that ... just when you thought you saw a plot twist coming, another one sends you back into the abyss.

Art 9/10 The art style is very well done. When a character shows emotion, the subtle changes in the facial expressions put layers of depth to what the character is feeling and thinking. It is clear that the art is well taken care of, and that everything is taken into consideration.

Sound 8/10 The BG is nothing to die for, and won't likely be remembered, but it is good enough to do it's job, and supports the plot and theme well. The openings and endings (two of each) are very catchy and relevant to the story. The best part of the sound is the voices. Every actor perfectly portrays the personality of the character and how they are reacting to their surroundings, making even the smallest points in the plot have meaning.

Character 10/10 The characters in Toradora are easily the best, most well-developed characters in any anime I've watched. While the basic trait of a character is obvious and generic, the little details underneath are what define the characters so well, and also supplies so much of the plot. For example, Minorin is Taiga's best friend, and Ryugi's love interest. On the outside, she is fun, energetic, and almost crazy, and supplies most of the humor, An easy to recognize stereo-type in most animes. But, on the inside, she shows a very deep and emotional side, and can usually tell someones true personality just by looking at them.

Enjoyment 9/10 If you are a romance fan, I would recommend this heartily, and suggest it over almost anything else in it's genre. If you aren't much of a romance fan, I would still suggest you take a look at it and at least watch the first 7 episodes.