Toradora!

Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryūji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent, so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryūji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and a girl he has a crush on, Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Taiga Aisaka—who just happens to also be in his class, and is a good friend of Minori.

Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate to snap at people. After meeting Ryūji, she takes an instant dislike of him. Taiga comes from a rich family, but she has moved out to live on her own due to family issues. She is coincidentally living in an apartment next to Ryūji's. When Ryūji discovers that Taiga has a crush on Yūsaku, and Taiga finds out about Ryūji's affections towards Minori, Ryūji suggests that they cooperate to win the objects of their affections. Taiga exploits the fact that Ryūji will do anything to get closer to Minori. She makes him her personal servant, getting him to do all her household chores (cooking and cleaning). Taiga spends a lot of her time over at his house, so much that she could almost be considered a member of his family. Since Ryūji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he has opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not see. The two also try to help each other improve the way people view them. However people they know from school start to become curious about their strange relationship and rumors begin to spread about them behind their backs.

Ryūji Takasu (高須 竜児, Takasu Ryūji)

Voiced by: Junji Majima

The series' main protagonist, Ryūji is a seventeen-year-old high school student in his second year, class 2-C. Due to biological inheritance, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent and causes many misunderstandings. He lives in a fatherless family with just his mother, and due to this, Ryūji has learned to be self-sufficient. He is good at cooking and keeping everything in his house clean (nearly to the point of obsession), and also excels at sewing. He holds a crush on Minori Kushieda, a girl his age in his class. He has a pet parakeet named "Inko-chan" ("inko" literally means "parakeet" in Japanese). Ryūji often helps Taiga with domestic chores which she is otherwise unable to perform. At school, he is known as "the only person able to stop the palmtop tiger", referring to Taiga's nickname. While initially seen as intimidating by most others, he makes more friends. His feelings and relationship to Taiga begin to change as he spends more time with her throughout the series.

Taiga Aisaka (逢坂 大河, Aisaka Taiga)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

Taiga is a girl in Ryūji's class. She has a well-regulated and beautiful appearance though is unable to stomach company from others. Due to her often snapping at others in brutal ways and her short stature, she is given the nickname "Palmtop Tiger" (手乗りタイガー, Te Nori Taigā). Her under-developed body and the added nickname has given her a complex which in turn serves to give her a negative attitude and facial expression. Essentially, Taiga gets upset easily and is considerably clumsy. Due to her cute looks (described as a doll by Ryūji), she often gets confessions by boys her age, but she turns down every one of them. She comes from a rich family but due to bad family relations, she has taken to living on her own. However, since she came from a privileged household, she does not know how to do any domestic chores. When she meets Ryūji and learns of his domestic talents, she ends up relying on Ryūji to clean up after her. Aside from sleeping in her own house, and going to school, she spends most of her time at Ryūji's house; so much so that she is almost considered a member of his family. At the beginning of the story, she is infatuated with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and gets nervous every time he appears around her. Due to this, Taiga and Ryūji team up to help each other get into a relationship with each other's best friend. Though she treats Ryūji badly at first, her feelings begin to change as she spends more time with him.

Minori Kushieda (櫛枝 実乃梨, Kushieda Minori)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Minori is a girl in Ryūji's class, and is a close friend to Taiga. She is also known by the pet name "Minorin" (as a form of friendly affection). In contrast to the violent nature of Taiga, Minori is always smiling and cheerful. She is very athletic and is the captain of the girl's softball club at school, though at the same time she holds many part time jobs. She is a glutton when it comes to food, but is also constantly combating with dieting, calling herself a 'diet warrior'. She gets a thrill out of being scared. Despite her air-headed tendencies, she is very perceptive, and is one of the few people to see Ryūji for the gentle person he is, and is also not fooled by Ami's act of innocence.

Yūsaku Kitamura (北村 祐作, Kitamura Yūsaku)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima

Yūsaku is a male student in Ryūji's class, and is his best friend. He is the vice-president of the student council, the class representative, and captain of the boy's softball club at school. Yūsaku wears glasses, and has a diligent personality. He thinks he is poor at talking to girls, though Ryūji observes otherwise. At first, he has some feelings to Taiga and eventually confesses to her that he loves her, but Taiga herself rejects Yūsaku's confession of his feelings. During his time as the Vice President of the student council, he eventually falls in love with the student council president, Sumire Kanō. A running gag is that he will appear out of nowhere behind Taiga and Ryūji when they are discussing a "plan of attack" to get their crushes. Like Minori, he has an unusual personality, but oftentimes it is an expression of his friendship and appreciation.

Ami Kawashima (川嶋 亜美, Kawashima Ami)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura

Ami is Yūsaku's childhood friend who transfers into his class midway through their second year of high school. She is very beautiful and even works as a model and is seen as the mature one of the group. Though after she transfers school, she temporarily stops modeling. However, she still continues to go to the gym readily and maintains a slim figure. She is always kind and generous towards others, though this is merely a deception. In truth, she is arrogant and will not hesitate to use abusive language towards others. During her first meeting with Taiga, Ami shows her true colors, but the tables are turned when Taiga counterattacks by slapping her. Since then, Ami and Taiga have been enemies, Taiga referring to her as Stupid Chihuahua, though Ami still sometimes envies Taiga since she can always be honest. Ami has a love interest in Ryūji, asking him if he would love her real self and give her a second chance. She has a deep understanding of the relationship situation going on between Minori, Ryūji, Taiga, and herself.

Yasuko Takasu (高須 泰子, Takasu Yasuko)

Voiced by: Sayaka Ōhara

Yasuko is Ryūji's thirty-three-year-old mother, though she refers to herself as eternally twenty-three; she has large, F-cup-sized breasts. Though she tells Ryūji his father died before he was born, the truth is they were never married; he left her before Ryūji was born, and she raised her son by herself. She works at a hostess bar named Bishamontengoku where she goes by the name "Mirano" (魅羅乃), and single-handedly supports her two-member family financially. However, she has a childish personality and since she works, she entrusts the household chores to Ryūji. She instantly takes a liking to Taiga and already regards her as a member of her family, getting depressed when Taiga will not appear for dinner. However, she does get angry when woken up early. Despite the childish behavior, Yasuko proves to have a rather good insight of other people.

Yuri Koigakubo (恋ヶ窪 ゆり, Koigakubo Yuri)

Voiced by: Rie Tanaka

Yuri is the twenty-nine-year-old homeroom teacher of Ryūji's class, though she turns thirty in the fifth volume of the light novels. She likes to do things at her own pace and is timid towards Taiga's way of speaking out. Since her twenties are almost over, Yuri is in a hurry to get married soon and she even tries to dress well so as to be able to get into a relationship quicker. After she becomes thirty without getting married, she develops a twisted and depressed personality, which does not help that when Taiga talks about her, she emphases her single status. She has an interest in real estate.

Sumire Kanō (狩野 すみれ, Kanō Sumire)

Voiced by: Yūko Kaida

Sumire is the student council president and always manages to get the top grades in school; she is in fact a scholarship student and has horrible eyesight. She has a strong-minded personality which she depends on to be a figure those will follow. Her younger sister is Sakura and her parents own a supermarket. Sumire likes Yūsaku and as a result is the object of a one-sided hostility from Taiga. She later studies abroad in America as she wants to become an astronaut, and because of this, she rejects Yūsaku's confession of his feelings.

Sakura Kanō (狩野 さくら, Kanō Sakura)

Voiced by: Kana Asumi

Sakura is Sumire's younger sister who attends the same high school as Sumire though her grades are horrible. She can unconsciously flirt with people, and like her sister, she hates snakes.

Kōta Tomiie (富家 幸太, Tomiie Kōta)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto

Kōta is a first-year student who is the main character to Toradora Spin-off!. He is generally unhappy about his life. He works on the student council in general affairs, and gets good grades.

Hisamitsu Noto (能登 久光, Noto Hisamitsu)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu

Hisamitsu is a male student in Ryūji's class who wears glasses. He was also in Ryūji's class the previous year and is on good terms with him. Noto begins to develop feelings for Maya Kihara following an argument they had during the class winter ski trip.

Kōji Haruta (春田 浩次, Haruta Kōji)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino

Kōji is a male student in Ryūji's class who has long hair and is on good terms with him. He is regarded as a class 'idiot' and that opinion is deepened by his poor school marks and overly energetic behavior. His childish pranks often target Taiga and he has been the victim of her violent outbursts.

Maya Kihara (木原 麻耶, Kihara Maya)

Voiced by: Ai Nonaka

Maya is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Nanako. She is a kogal. She has a crush on Yūsaku, and she circuitously opposes the idea of Taiga and Yūsaku being a couple, although she wants Taiga and Ryūji to be together.

Nanako Kashii (香椎 奈々子, Kashii Nanako)

Voiced by: Momoko Ishikawa

Nanako is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Maya and Ami.

Kuroma (黒間)

Kuroma is the thirty-four-year-old unmarried gym teacher at Ryūji's school. He enjoys strength training and improving his muscle mass.