Common Name: Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san
Alternative Names: Skilled Teaser Takagi-san
Score: 6/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life, School Life
Summary: Nishikata, like most young boys his age, is a pretty undisciplined student. His grades aren't great. He isn't all that popular. Despite all his faults, though, he is an honest and earnest guy when it comes to things that actually interest him. Too bad for Nishikata, though, a certain someone has taken notice of the fact that he's a pretty nice guy. Now, Nishikata suffers the attention of the girl who sits next to him, Takagi, on a daily basis. However, being the boy he is, Nishikata isn't going to take her merciless teasing lying down. He's all but sworn that, one day, he's going to get the better of Takagi-san. Considering how bad he is at the art of teasing, though, it might take a decade or two before that actually happens. Good thing Takagi is willing and patient enough to wait for that day to come.
Review: Crazy as this might sound, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san might just be the perfect example of why honesty isn't always the best policy. I say this because, while I do like the show, it grew old for me faster than any comedic romance before it, and I think a good reason why that's the case is because this show is honest and upfront with you from the very beginning. Sure, there are a few things that could have made this experience more tolerable for me. For example, I think this show just isn't paced to be a full episode series. On another track, I don't think the show's musical score is varied enough to be as emotionally engaging as the show wants to be. No matter the reason, the result is still the same though; I'm just not as into this show as a want to be.
And I think the main reason that's the case is because of this.
At first, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san is a cute, simple, and fun comedy about two kids who, more or less, secretly like each other and tease each other mercilessly as a means of expressing those feelings. Well, I say they "tease each other" but the fact of the matter is that our male lead, Nishikata, is usually the only one that ends up being teased. The dynamic of this show basically hinges on the fact that Nishikata is terrible at planning, hiding, and executing a good prank while his love interest, the titular Takagi-san, is a master of all those skills. While he might suck at pretty much everything, it's worth noting, however, that Nishikata is a very caring and driven young man when push comes to shove, so long as the thing interests him. On the whole, the reason he's so bad at teasing in the first place is that he's very much the kind of person who wears his heart on his sleeve and can't help showing how he feels in every given moment, try though he might to hide his anticipation when he's plotting something. In other words, he's a pretty OK guy.
It's hardly any wonder why Takagi has a thing for this idiot boy who just doesn't know when to quit.
Easy prey though he might be, the other key factor of this show's brand of romantic comedy is that Takagi-san rarely teases Nishikata just for the sake of messing with him. There is almost always an underlying plan or scheme to every one of her pranks that is meant to do more good than harm, even if that good is just deepening their relationship they have. More often than not, Takagi's plans are meant to do little more than encourage interaction and make Nishikata slowly come to terms with his feelings for her. From time to time, though, her teasing actively encourages him to become a better person, build his self-esteem, or just keep him active and healthy. Through all these little plans and the attention to detail she puts into her work, we see just how much she likes Nishikata.
On the reverse of that coin though, the amount of shit Nishikata is willing to
put up with from her speaks volumes of how much he's into her.
As thoughtful and well-intentioned as the interactions between these two are, that's pretty much all this show has to offer. More than that, though, everything I just described is basically expressed at length in just the first episode. So, is it any wonder that I grew tired of this show so quickly when every single episode is basically just the same joke repeated 2-3 times an episode until the show is done? Now, sure, there are other characters to consider who rendered into quick, almost Nichijou-like segments that are there one minute and gone the next. Heck, there' even some commentary about the absurdity and juvenile nature of masculinity, but all that commentary is pretty surface layer stuff. Like the show's comedy and romance, though, these little points of enterest get pointed out so much over the course of the show that there's nothing really to say about it. Worse still, all those finer points are pretty simplistic in nature and boil down to the idea that Nishikata shouldn't care what other people think or adhere to social/gender norms and that his life would be better if was honest about the things he likes. Were that the case, however, this show's comedy would be even less effective.
So, in the end, he's pretty much left in a position of being damned if he doesn't and damned if he does.
Now, I know my opinions here aren't exactly the popular one, but I can't see this show as being anything other than a comedy predicated on beating a horse that was killed off in the show's first episode. The jokes just aren't varied enough at best and make little sense in terms of continuity at their worst. I mean, how is mocking the fact that Nishikata likes girly manga and anime supposed to be considered funny? Where is the sense and humor in Nishikata thinking he can hide that fact from Takagi for the 5th time when it was already explained that she already knew about his interests the first time the joke made its run? Quite frankly, I think this show needed some more thought and time put into it before it hit the air because there just isn't enough here for it to really deserve being called "good." Is it cute? Definitely. Funny? From time to time. Adorable? Absolutely. All those little stylistic and conceptual facts don't add up to much in the long run though. I won't go so far as to say that I won't recommend it, but I can't say it's worth the time and effort either. As much as love how Takagi and Nishikata's relationship works, there are just too many other shows out there that feature a similar kind of quality that also end up being a good product as a whole--a factor that this show, unfortunately, just doesn't possess.