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There are spoilers below, but this anime is so generic you’ll predict everything anyway.

Generally, I’m all for tournaments, sword fights, high-fantasy, and adventure anime, but Rakudai fell flat on its face with crappy characters, cliches, and plot holes.

【Story】

4/10 — Rakudai Kishi no Calvary (which will be shortened here as “Rakudai”) follows the story of Ikki Kurogane a knight with the nickname ‘The Worst One’ due to his lackluster magical skills. However, despite what everybody believes, Ikki actually possesses extraordinary skill and fighting ability. After beating the A-rank princess-knight Stella Vermillion in battle, the two team up (sort of) to battle through the Seven ... Star Sword Festival in order to establish themselves as the best knights.

The plot of Rakudai is fairly generic these days in anime, but for me I still love this type of storyline. Unfortunately, the execution of Rakudai was pretty lame and heavily relies on cliches and tropes. You’ll see the same run-of-the-mill junk that has been done to death in the anime world: a guy walking in on a girl while she’s dressing, incest, several jealous guys that pick a fight with the MC because why not, etc.

For all the cliches this anime includes, it also leaves plenty of room for plot holes, too! Not once does the anime try to explain what knights are/what their duty is. Are they supposed to be the police of the world? Are they just people gifted with powers from birth? What are they and what is their purpose? What do they even use these powers for anyway? We never find out and there are no attempts made to explain. As another review mentioned, this makes the Seven Star Festival seem pretty… useless. Participants are paired up to fight in death-matches because… why? To determine the strongest, you say? So basically this is just a sporting event? Okay… so what happens after the tournament? Are apprentice knights hired as bodyguards for people? Clearly not, since many of the top students (Touka Touma, for example) are still attending school even after the tournament ends. So… what is the purpose of knights? The anime never explains. I know some might say, “well, if Rakudai gets a second season, they’ll explain some of these things!” but that to me is a pretty lame excuse. You don’t give someone subpar information and expect them to be interested in what’s to come. Even if this anime were slated for a second season, I shouldn’t have to wait to get basic expository details.

Another issue I found is that most of the battles in Rakudai (an action-tournament anime) aren’t even tournament-related. Most battles take place outside of school grounds and really aren’t even relevant in the grand scheme of things. When it comes to actual tournament battles, most just flash forward to the end where we see one of the main characters brandish their sword as they’re declared the winner. Only about 3 - 4 fights are shown over the course of the entire series and nearly all (with the exception of one) are Ikki’s. As the main character, this is to be expected, but the fact that his battles all end predictably make the anime dull.

Rakudai seems like it had a great plot idea, but it wasn’t approached in an enjoyable or sensical way, thus I give this category a 4.

【Characters】

2/10 — The characters of Rakudai are what make this anime intolerable.

Ikki Kurogane — Your flat, overused, “kind-hearted” male protagonist who becomes conveniently oblivious whenever a girl wants to take him to bed. Coming from a family that shunned and isolated him because his knight skills were an epic fail on their record of prestigious knights, Ikki works hard to become a strong knight that will be able to protect others. He’s colorless, having no unique goal in mind that you haven’t seen or heard before. By episode one, Ikki establishes himself as Kirito 2.0. He’s your typical Gary-Stu, complete with a sad past to make you feel as if he actually deserves your pity and has genuine flaws. One of the biggest issues with this show is that Ikki doesn’t have any flaws or weaknesses (because no, not knowing how to deal with the attention of girls is not a character weakness). All of his problems are external rather than internal. The problem isn’t him, it’s the world he lives in. There are no inner demons he has to face, no personality defects he has to overcome, no opponent that *really* will give him a run for his money. He’s basically flawless. When he was younger his magic skills might’ve been crappy, but we never actually SEE this. All we see is the end product of a perfect sagacious swordsmen. In episode 12, after Ikki realizes his father truly doesn’t love him (big surprise), he goes into emo mode for about 10 minutes before his school friends cheer him up. This isn’t an internal struggle and about the closest we ever get to seeing one. Characters like Ikki are hard to root for because you already know he’ll win every battle he steps into. That’s why watching him get beaten down by characters such as Kuraudo and Kirihara was all the more enjoyable, even if it only lasted a few minutes.

Stella Vermillion — She is, shockingly enough, worse than Ikki. Stella Vermillion, princess-knight from a foreign land, wears the label of “twin-tailed tsundere heroine” and quickly rises to the top of this story’s short-lived list of female horndogs. She’s introduced as the all-powerful A-ranked knight that has the ability to control fire. And of course, throwing away all logic, she loses her first battle on the first day of her enrollment to none other than Ikki Kurogane. (Never mind the fact that she’s an A-ranked knight and doesn’t land a scratch on Ikki yet a C-ranked knight beats Ikki so bad he has to go to the hospital in a later episode…) What sickens me the most about Stella is that she has very little dignity. Ten minutes into the anime, she’s prepared to make Ikki commit suicide for walking in on her while dressing, but later on, that SAME day, she seats herself on top of him and begins stripping him down/touching him out of “curiosity.” By episode two (which, for viewers, seems like only a day has passed) she’s already “in love” (read: lust) with him. For the next two episodes, her only role is to pine over Ikki and try to maintain a monopoly over him. Ikki himself seems oblivious to her feelings, but don’t worry, he falls for her by episode 4. Buildup and relationship development not included. For the rest of the series, her personality can best be described as that of a desperate, quick-tempered girl that seems to always be in heat (with episode 9 being particularly disturbing). To make matters worse, even though Stella is an A-ranked knight, she loses or becomes incapacitated for almost every single one of her on-screen battles (this doesn’t include tournament duels since they aren’t even shown). Even though she’s the supposed HEROine, you only see her defeat 1 opponent in the entire anime. This makes for a very weak heroine indeed, so I wouldn’t necessarily call her a heroine but more of a side character. Stella is Ikki’s cheerleader and trophy, plain and simple. She’s not meant to be taken seriously as a character that can hold her own, and if she is, the studio should’ve done her justice instead of making her out to be lovesick and needy all the time.

Shizuku Kurogane — A character that had potential, but is forced into the ‘incest-is-best’ character trope for the simple reason of why not. Misanthropist at large, Shizuku is one of the only Kurogane family members (Ikki’s younger sister) that isn’t out to get Ikki. She’s quiet, analytical, controls water/ice, and French kisses her brother in episode 2 (he doesn’t seem to have a problem with it considering he doesn’t push her away). From the get-go, she’s introduced as having a brother complex, but this aspect of her personality has no relevance whatsoever to the story. After episode 4, it’s clear that she’s “out of the running” for Ikki’s heart, making me wonder why she even had that incestual bit of her personality in the first place. General love and respect for her brother would’ve been enough, but I guess this anime really wanted to hit home the fact that she’s always going to be there for Ikki. That aside, Shizuku actually isn’t that bad of a character, but as much as I rack my brain, I can’t figure out what her purpose is. She doesn’t actually add anything substantial to the plot. If she were removed entirely nothing would be different.

Nagi Arisuin — Alice, as he is referred to, is the only character that isn’t squashed into an archetype. He is introduced as Shizuku’s roommate and appears to be a kind-hearted male (?) that can control shadows. Like Shizuku, he actually wasn’t that bad of a character and became the ‘wise old owl’ of the four. Sadly enough, he’s one of the better characters this show had to offer, but was barely given any screen time. As a result, he didn’t seem to have much of a purpose, though he did provide cryptic advice from time to time.

【Art】

4/10 — I don’t have much to say about the art and sound since they aren’t my prime focus, but for the sake of the review, I’ll leave my two cents. The art is decent; not my favorite but decent enough. Battle scenes were fluid and not bad at times. The art style itself seems as if it were literally ripped from the light novel and given color, which isn’t a bad thing. What was a bit strange, however, was the shine that the characters had in their eyes and hair. It was almost as if the sun was always shining on everyone… even in a dark room. Perhaps I’m just nitpicking, so I’ll leave it at that.

【Sound】

5/10 — No part of the soundtrack stood out for its excellence. I admit that while I didn’t listen to the ending, I thought the opening was very catchy and enjoyable. Voice actors were fine and I have no complaints.


【Enjoyment / Conclusion】

3/10 — I can say with honesty that Rakudai was my least favorite part of each week. With very few redeeming traits, I can’t really recommend this anime for anything you wouldn’t find executed better somewhere else. Perhaps if I had to say something positive, the character designs were pretty decent and at least two of the battles kept my attention. Rakudai seemed like it didn’t know what it wanted to do, or rather, it had a plot in mind but didn’t know how to execute it in a sensical way. Annoyingly stupid or pointless characters and over-the-top ecchi scenes made this anime something I didn’t enjoy nor would I recommend. Comparison-wise, Rakudai was like eating a hamburger and trying to find the meat. Sure, the lettuce, pickles, and bun might taste okay, but the real substance just isn’t there. The few good points this story does have (and I found very, very few) are nothing to write home about.

This anime is, without a doubt, “The Worst One” I’ve seen this whole year.

I came into Toradora! excited. I heard so much hype for it over the years and I’m a huge fan of tsundere characters of which Taiga is the poster child. So, why not?

However, from the very first episode I could tell: Toradora! isn’t really anything special. Perhaps the series was groundbreaking when it was first released, but I failed to see what was so amazing about it. Sure, I had a few chuckles here and there, and certain scenes (ski-trip incident, Taiga’s mental breakdown about losing Ryuuji, and a few others) were pretty great, but I definitely wouldn’t consider this anime a masterpiece.

Now, ... I may sound like I’m just trash-talking this series, but there were some pretty decent points, too. I’ll go through each category one by one and explain both the positives and negatives I found.

Story:

5.5/10 — Ryuuji Takasu, a 2nd year high-school student who is often feared for his scary-looking face, meets Taiga Aisaka— the school’s most feared girl. After discovering that Taiga has a crush on his best friend (Kitamura) and that he has a crush on hers (Minori), the two join forces in an attempt to play matchmaker for one another. The story follows their attempts at getting their friends to fall for each other, but in the end, it’s Ryuuji and Taiga that end up getting together.

Let’s face it, Toradora! had a very basic storyline. While I admit the plot of having the MCs play matchmaker was new, the majority of Toradora! was your basic slice-of-life/high school storyline. I enjoyed the class trip, the pool “arc” and other typical high school activities since I’m a fan of the slice of life genre, but what bothered me was the overall pacing of the story. There were far too many episodes and not enough entertaining content to fill them. Certain problems were drawn out unnecessarily (i.e.: Ryuuji trying to confess to Minori) that dampened the show to boring at times. Other times (particularly the first episode) the scenes cut through quickly and weren’t even given proper conclusions. One example of this was in the first half of episode 1 when Ryuuji literally bumps into Taiga for the first time. Taking offense, Taiga punches him.

…And that’s it.

Ryuuji moves on as if getting punched in the face is an everyday occurrence. It doesn’t show him angered, saddened, even bothered by the fact that he got socked in the face for no apparent reason by a stranger. He just rolls with it, because, hey, why not? On top of that, the next time he meets with her, he has nothing to say about being punched. He doesn’t confront her or complain about it. He has no reaction; he just moves on. Normal humans don't do that.

Skipping ahead, I also find it worthy to add my feelings about Ryuuji and Taiga as a couple. Though I understand the build-up for Taiga's feelings toward Ryuuji, I can't quite understand why Ryuuji liked Taiga in return. The anime made it seem as if, once he figured out Taiga had feelings for him, he decided to like her, too, just because. Taiga falling in love with Ryuuji made sense because he was a generally kind person that helped her through thick and thin. In fact, the majority of the series is spent with Ryuuji trying to help Taiga win Kitamura over. Ryuuji, on the other hand, didn't have the same luxury from Taiga. There were only about a handful of scenes where Taiga honestly tried to help Ryuuji get together with Minori. This, in the end, made Ryuuji's love feel forced, considering that he didn't really have any reason to like Taiga. Instead, it seemed as if he just got used to her being around.


Characters:

8/10 — Definitely strong and entertaining, this is probably where Toradora! shone the brightest. I found Minori and Ami the strongest of all the cast with special emphasis on the former. Though Minori was presented as an oddball character, she succeeded where other whacky anime characters fail– she had substance. There was meaning behind her odd behavior and even slight hints at a deeper layer that I wish could have been explored more. Ami, though depicted as a spoiled, self-absorbed girl, seemed to undergo an entertaining personality change that was subtle enough to be believable and flawlessly executed. Kitamura, though a kind and chuckle-worthy character wasn’t particularly notable, and the same can be said (but to a lesser degree) about Taiga and Ryuuji— the main characters. Ryuuji is another likable character that makes you root for him, though nothing about him particularly stands out. He’s introduced as a character that scares most of his peers due to his fearsome appearance, but this detail was barely touched upon. In the end, I felt Ryuuji was a flat character— kind, a little snarky at times, and a cleaning-fanatic, but hardly worthy of becoming anybody’s favorite character. As for Taiga, I personally liked her quick tongue when it came to battling Ami’s jeers and her dynamically fearless spirit, though, at times her attitude was a little annoying. There were also times where I was a bit confused because her actions clashed with her personality. For example, though she and Ami seemed to fight and bicker constantly, they decide (without any build-up) to sing a cheerful and festive Christmas song together on stage at a class party because… why not? Perhaps there was a love-hate relationship that built overtime between the two, but I didn’t feel as if it was executed in a subtle yet comprehendible way.

All and all, everyone was fairly likable and pulled off the series very nicely.


Art / Sound:

5.5/10 — I don’t have much to say about the art and sound since I don’t often focus a whole lot of time on them with anime. But for the sake of the review, I’ll leave my two cents. The art is decent. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly beautiful, but it wasn’t bad, either. It gets the job done. As for the sound, I felt the first opening didn’t really fit the show. It wasn’t because it was a bad song, but I just felt that its techno-y sound clashed with the series’ genre. As for the other songs, I admit that I didn’t give them much of a listen with the exception of the second ending, “Orange” (a song that I rather enjoyed and found very catchy).

In terms of the voices, everyone did a decent job and I have no real complaints about it. The only exception to this is Taiga who was voiced by Rie Kugimiya in the Japanese version. Having watched Gintama (another anime where Kugimiya plays the main female heroine ‘Kagura’) before Toradora! I kept getting a “Kagura” vibe. There were times when she sounded decent for Taiga, but when her pitch changed, I just kept picturing Kagura. Kagura has such a vastly different personality from Taiga’s, so to keep picturing her, I couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated. This is just my personal opinion and I’m simply including this tidbit because it did have an affect on my enjoyment. Her voice, to me, just didn’t feel right at some points.


Enjoyment/Conclusion:

7/10 — Toradora! is a decent anime if you want to pass the time. It does have its excellent points as well as its weak ones. I found myself bored by a few of the center episodes, but the anime as a whole is marathon-able. If I had to give it a grade, it would get a B-. I’m honestly a little confused as to why this anime is hyped about and given as much praise as it has received over the years. However, I’m not above recommending it to anyone that wants a satisfactory romance story with great slice of life elements.