Vinland Saga is far more accessible to non-anime audience. Especially thanks to shows like Vikings (and now shogun) being so popular, and the memes surrounding some scenes in S2.
Toradora being the most accessible romcom. Taiga as a tsundere is pretty hard to consume if you're starting romance with it. At least that was my experience with it.
Watched Toradora for the first time a couple months ago and loved it. I don’t think it’s a nostalgia thing. I will say that it’s probably the second or third best option for newcomers though as the tsundere trope may be lost on them. Horimiya I think is a far better place to start, but it may set unrealistic expectations for the genre.
I watched Toradora as a fairly new watcher (at least for romance/SOL shows)
While I knew the concept of tsundere and seen a few in other shows (like Kaguya-sama's), but violent tsundere part was completely new and took me out of the show.
I might be able to get into it now and hold my suspension of disbelief. But I couldnt get past like Ep 4 due to Taiga's character.
Sadly, where you stopped is right about the point the writers start to chip away at her character and you see why she uses the tsundere archetype as a defense mechanism. Her interactions with Ryuji start to soften, she starts to do things for others, and then you get to her realizing her feelings for someone in on of the most heartbreaking realizations in the genre. Go back to it, you won’t regret it.
I do want to return to it someday. Still waiting a while to forget my first impression, as I really did watch it at the worst time (some IRL factors). And Toradora being *massively* hyped up, like in this thread, so I was really excited after enjoying some other romances.
I did expect Taiga's character to be fleshed out, but I was worried that I wouldn't be emotionally invested in her growth. Logically understanding how she become the way she is, yet being unable to shed tears over it. Ep 4 did have some emotive scenes with Taiga but I realised I became fully detached from her character at and tapped out.
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u/Thatsmaboi23 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Thatsmaboi23 27d ago edited 27d ago
Feels like Frieren should be in there.
Disagree with the following positions:
Vinland Saga is far more accessible to non-anime audience. Especially thanks to shows like Vikings (and now shogun) being so popular, and the memes surrounding some scenes in S2.
Toradora being the most accessible romcom. Taiga as a tsundere is pretty hard to consume if you're starting romance with it. At least that was my experience with it.