Toradora!

Ryuji Takasu is discontent about how his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent. He wants to get closer to a girl he liked named Minori Kushieda, but he has not been able to tell her how he feels. On the first day of his second year of high school, he runs into a short girl named Taiga Aisaka who is known for snapping at others and her outward brutality. By coincidence, Taiga and Minori are in Ryuji's class this year. Taiga accidentally puts a love letter in Ryuji's bag, mistaking his for his friend Yusaku's, and Taiga comes to Ryuji's house that night to kill him for knowing that she likes Yusaku. Taiga finds out that Ryuji likes Minori, who is also Taiga's good friend, and Ryuji tells her that he will do anything to help her with Yusaku. Ryuji finds out the next morning that Taiga is already living in an apartment building right next door to his house, and when he comes over, he cleans the kitchen area and serves her food.

Ryuji figures out that for Taiga to help him get closer to Minori, he has to first help her get closer to Yusaku. During school, Taiga makes some cookies and plans to give them to Yusaku, but she falls off the stairs, throwing them out the window, and Ryuji breaks her off. Since Ryuji and Taiga are together so often, a misunderstanding begins among their classmates, thinking that Ryuji and Taiga are going out together. Taiga sets the record straight the next day, and even confesses her love to Yusaku, but he just wants to continue being friends.

After Ryujo's rice cooker breaks, Taiga takes him to a nearby family restaurant where, Ryuji's find out, Minori is working part-time. Minori tells Ryuji that she has several part-time jobs, but he later wonders if there is a special reason why Minori needs more money. The next day, Ryuji and Taiga by coincidence meet Minori at another of her part-time jobs, and the two help out for the day, despite Taiga wanting to back down from the start. Ryuji and Minori get locked inside the storehouse, and Ryuji starts to learn more about why Minori is often so cheerful.

After viewing some blurred images Taiga took of Yusaku, Ryuji offers to take pictures of him for Taiga. During school, Taiga speaks out to the student council president, but is stopped by Yusaku which Taiga becomes both happy and depressed about. Ryuji manages to take several photos of Yūsaku, but he later finds out about them. Yusaku tells Ryuji that he confessed to Taiga a year ago that he liked her, but she quickly turned him down, only to end up liking him back. Taiga later recounts this to Ryūji, and she gets mad about telling such embarrassing things to him.

When at the restaurant where Minori works, Yūsaku arrives with the model Ami Kawashima who is also his childhood friend. When Yūsaku and Ryūji excuse themselves, Yūsaku shows Ryūji how Ami's true self is a conceited and manipulative person, very different from her being a self-proclaimed "air head". Taiga quickly comes to dislike Ami, and even slaps her in the restaurant. Ami tries to make Taiga think Yūsaku hates her now because of how she acted, but Ryūji assures her that is not the case.

After being chased by what can only be described as a psycho-fanboy, Kawashima takes refuge at Taiga's condo where she was subjected to hours of torture in the form of what Taiga describes as "Rapid-Fire Impressions". Soon Yusaku, upon learning what happened in Taiga's condo, asks Taiga and Ryuji to befriend Kawashima due to the fact that they know her true self. However, before any progress could take place, Ryuji, Taiga, Minori, and Kawashima takes part in a clean-up event. However, due to Taiga and Kawashima getting into each other's skin, they split into two groups leaving Ryuji with Kawashima. During the event, the same psycho-fanboy appears and at which point Kawashima hides. She then reveals to Ryuji why she transferred school. Unfortunately for the psycho-fanboy, he crosses paths with Taiga, who proceeds to beat him up with her garbage bag when the fanboy tried to take a picture of her. Impressed with Taiga's fearlessness and honesty, Kawashima shows her darker self and chases down the stalker-fanboy and effectively drives him out. After the mishap, she takes shelter at Ryuji's house where she shows a love interest in Ryuji, asking him whether he would fall in love with her by showing her true self...and then, Taiga walks in.

The school's pool has finally opened for the summer season, and Minori, Ami, and Taiga go buy swimsuits with Ryūgi. Ami and Minori easily pick out swimsuits while Taiga has trouble due to her small chest size. Later, Ryūji realizes Taiga's problem and decides to create padding to make her breasts look bigger and fill out her swimsuit. At the pool, people are going around throwing others into the pool, and Ami throws Taiga into the pool. It turns out Taiga cannot swim, and when Ryūji goes to save her, she tells him one of the pads came out. Ryūji manages to work everything out and Taiga is saved. Back at the classroom, Ami and Taiga argue until Minori shows up, telling them to settle things with a sports contest.

The sports contest between Taiga and Ami is decided, and if Ami wins, Ryūji will come over to her villa over summer break, leaving Taiga alone. When the class passes around a paper, taking bets on who will win Ryūji in the end, Ryūji places his bet on Taiga and helps her practice. However, after Ryūji insists that she wants to win for Kitamura and says that he would go to Ami's villa alone if she wanted, Taiga is furious and refuses to compete. As the competition begins, Taiga is nowhere to be found, but when Taiga realizes that Ryūji packed her lunch with extra meat, like how she asked, she decides to participate. When Taiga hurts her ankle, Ryuuji jumps into the pool to stop her from continuing, but Taiga declares that she wants to win for him and he should be happy about that, so Ryuuji lets her go. However, when Taiga is pushing for the lead, a few boys are pushed into the pool and Ryūji is knocked out. Realizing that Ryūji is in danger, Taiga turns around and goes to save him, losing the match. Afterward, Ryūji regains consciousness for a brief moment and Taiga is shaken and angry to the point where she screams that Ryūji is hers. In the end, all the main characters decide to visit Ami's villa to spend their summer break together.

After a horrible dream that Ryūji and Taiga both share, Taiga decides to create a plan to avoid the reality of being married to a begging Ryūji (as that was the dream they shared), hold a badminton contest against Ryūji to see who will "support the other side." Ryūji wins and Taiga agrees to help him with a plan to get Minori closer to Ryūji by scaring her. The two arrive at the train station to meet Minori and Yūsaku attracting a lot of attention, doing exercises. The two convince Ryūji and Taiga to join in, driving Ami away in fear of being seen with such weird people. They finally arrive at Ami's villa and while Ryūji cleans the house, the others go to the beach and play a bit. Yūsaku and Minori go grocery shopping, while the rest clean the house. After dinner, Ryūji and Minori talk about love and ghosts outside while having ice cream that Minori bought. The two go back inside and Taiga orders Ryūji to make a midnight snack since she couldn't eat the super-spicy curry that Ryūji made earlier. The two go to their rooms, and Ryūji finds strands of hair and a sticky substance on his bed, while one of Taiga's dresses is warm and is covered with the same substance as Ryūji's. Banging sounds emerge from the door and the balcony door as the two grip each other in fear.