Nana, big time. The characters were relatable, likable, interesting, and just all around very well written. I cared about the characters and wanted to see them succeed, or at the very least learn something about themselves. I blew through the anime, loving every second of it. The humor, the drama, the pacing, the production values, everything about it was amazing.

And then the ending started to happen, the characters who I thought were smart suddenly turned into idiots, completely unaware of the easy way they could, not turn the situation around, but address it in a way they just failed to do, and we were left helpless as we watched everything we loved about the characters go straight down the drain. Tonally, it's jarring, but more than that, it reflects poorly on the rest of the show, because it makes you wonder if you should have cared in the first place. It's not realistic, it doesn't fit with the rest of the show, and offers no closure whatsoever. It's like a parody of every shitty romcom ever, only no one's laughing, we're all just weeping at how a tragically an anime could ruin itself.

On a lighter note, Toradora. Hanasaku Iroha changed my perception of slices of life a few years ago. The characters were complex and had different mannerisms that made their dialogue seem dynamic and real, whereas most slices of life conversations feel like one person talking to him or herself. The way the show treated tsunderes blew my mind as exceptionally realistic and interesting, and it was clear how much more thought went into it than most anime. Toradora did all of that a few years beforehand. Had I watched Toradora first, it might be one of my favorite anime. I appreciate Toradora from the bottom of my heart, for establishing the ideas that would make shows like Hanasaku Iroha, Nagi No Asukara, Gosick, and Blast of Tempest great, but I will never love it as much those shows, simply because I saw them first.