Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san

I watched this expecting a nice lighthearted slice-of-life comedy to fill a gap between some serious and gory animes to keep my Chi in balance.

I was treated to 12 episodes of student with full mental faculties bullying and manipulating a clearly special needs child. (Has no impulse control, has no control over the volume of his voice and incapable of recognizing basic causal relation.) That's the premise for 12 24 min episodes. If that sounds like something you enjoy, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san provides.

I hope that teachers in Japan don't actually use their mentally challenged students with no volume control as target practice for ... throwing chalk. That's a legitimate thought that came across my mind as I watched this.

It wouldn't be so bad if the story actually progressed somewhere, but 12-episode adaptation syndrome is in full effect, so story goes nowhere.

Boy oh boy did no one tell this series’ creators that bullying is neither fun nor funny. To normalise such a horrible practice under cloak of cuteness is not only distasteful but it’s also reckless given the target audience. This Takagi girl is a total piece of shit and trying to make her cutesy doesn’t rid her of her utterly horrible, evil personality. She mercilessly, constantly teases the protagonist to the point it has a real impact on his life and personality, plus he seems constantly stressed and nervous because of it, and somehow we are supposed to enjoy this “humour”. Total cringe packaged as ... an anime. It would be one thing if it was just offensive, the anime is not even funny. The gag patterns are repeated over and over several times per episode and there is no element of surprise. I literally didn’t laugh even once on any of the scene so what is even the point of this shit show existing. Very rarely do I drop anime, specially popular ones, this early on into the series. But this one was so painful and cringe to watch I just cannot come up with a single reason to continue.

A story that is in a constant state between irritating and boring, Takagi-San is far from the light hearted slice of life rom com its commonly referred to as.

The moment I found Takagi an unredeemable character is when Nishikata is studying for a test in the library. You see Nishikata stay longer and put in more effort than the other male students. Takagi joins Nishikata while he's studying, he momentarily opens up to her despite all of the 'teasing' she has done at his expense. He states that his parents want to see him score in the top 50 in his class ... and he doesn't want to let them down so that's why he's staying longer to study compared to the other students. For the smallest amount of time you're led to believe that Takagi genuinely cares about Nishikata as she helps him study, correcting mistakes he made and explaining how to come to the correct answer. As she's leaving the library Takagi tells Nishikata that everything she helped him with won't be on the test, the following day and he ends up getting a failing grade meanwhile Takagi gets one of the highest grades on the test. If Takagi genuinely cared or had feelings for Nishikata this would have been the pivotal moment where she refrains from her constant 'teasing' and help her classmate crush in need.

The side story amongst the 3 female classmates only serves to break up the nonstop harassment/bullying portrayed in the main story. During these interludes nothing ever happens and it brings the flow of the anime to a halt, however boring these side characters and their plot are if they were not present it would be 20 minutes of school bullying.

To summarize the plot of the series, Takagi is always 2 steps ahead and can out-think Nishikata therefore he can never win against her. He tries everyday to not be 'teased' by her, he has endless internal monologue trying to out-think Takagi, he gets outsmarted by Takagi, his face gets red and she laughs at him rinse and repeat for 12 episodes.

Something that I thought I could at least overlook was how the characters are drawn, but the more I watched the more their giant foreheads make them look like weird anime aliens.

There gonna be spoilers! Though, you will know most those things from episode one, so that doesn't matter much...

I came to this show from Kaguya's recommendations.

Expected it to be funny, easy-going show, without many dropped cliffhangers, which i would watch and enjoy slowly (it never happens, but nevertheless, i hoped). And romantic, maybe a bit

Instead... Well, i am jumping on a hate train. I probably won't say much that other people hadn't said. So, short theses:

- Supersmart mature girl
- Ultrastupid childish guy
... - That's while they both are ~12 years old
- Girl constantly makes fun of a guy, bullies him, sometimes in pretty hard ways
- Girl clearly sees and predicts guy's every move! (no hope for him = everything is predictable = boring)
- Guy makes revenge efforts again and again, but always fails (miserable to watch)
- Guy constantly sweats, blushes and can't speak normally. He always has a bunch of different emotions, every single one of which shows on his face
- There are also 3 sidekick girl characters, which sometimes take the screen time. They are pretty useless and boring
- Story stays in place, pace is slow and isn't fun in pretty any way
- Most of the problems and dramas are so actually tiny... The guy could easily ingore most of them, but he dives in because of his stupidness and keeps failing. And he never learns!
- There is some threads, like there is something romantic between those two... but because of everything higher, i can't digest this "romance" and it feels just cringe

Why would this genius girl do this to such mentally retarded guy? Why does he even has her interest? Why would she influence him to fail the test in that episode 5, goddamit??? Is she really a sadist?

"Cringe" is definitely a proper word to describe this anime. Not on the outside - on the inside

Will place this at 3 because art was somewhat nice (not for main hero). And, I guess, to make lower score, it could trigger me harder, right?
Anyway, this is the first show I drop (at episode 5, btw). And this is my lowest rated anime (at the moment of writing this)

After not being able to even force myself to watch past episode 5, I might include some g r o u n d b r e a k i n g spoilers.

The ''plot'' in the anime gets predictable and overused already after episode 3.
Takagi teases the protagonist, protagonist tries to tease back but fails miserably because takagi already predicted his next move which leads to the protagonist getting teased again.
The anime fails to deliver anything new to the story after the second - third episodes, interactions are extremely cringey and uncomfortable, protagonist blushing needlessly after every second sentence doesn't help much either.

Many ... people are talking about how cute and uwu the anime is, but fail to notice how Takagi is literally bullying the protagonist, true, she is cute when she smiles after teasing Nishikata, but her constant teasing leads him to always being paranoid, stressed out and anxious of getting teased again. I don't really understand how this can be defined as entertainment. Normalizing bullying because anime girl makes uwu faces is disturbing, and yes, Takagi does have a crush on Nishikata but that does not justify her bullying, that makes it plain abusive.

As I've already mentioned, story is extremely boring and predictable, I can't bring myself to continue this anymore, wonder what they will milk out of the bland repetitive story for the second season (not really).

I can see why this anime would be amusing to some people, it does have a lot of teasing and a main character that isn't treated like a human being as he is mentally abused over and over again, some people can't get enough of doormat mcs.

Now, I don't really care much about that since I couldn't care less about a mc like this, whether he is abused to death or not, that's not why my score is fairly low. The jokes were pretty witty at times, I'll have to give it that and this is why the score isn't lower. A lot of ... kinda funny scenarios are added where she f*cks him silly mentally. Which honestly isn't hard with a mc like this.

However, while it's kinda interesting and amusing to see, this just DOESN'T work in anime format. I believe that it could be kinda good in manga format where you can read quickly. It honestly starts getting old after the first episode, I only made it through the rest because I watched one episode at a time spread out over a week, but even then I kind of felt like dropping it after 2-3 episodes.

This is a very monotone and quite boring anime that is pretty similar to anime such as "sakamoto desu ga" where we're served with the same type of stuff all the time but it's not the type of stuff that can be recycled and still be amusing, at least not in the way it's done here. There's no real point to it and I somehow don't really feel any spirit or personality from the characters. They don't feel even remotely "real" or "alive", they just feel like machines that exists purely to deliver jokes. Not sure how to best explain it, but normally you feel like the characters have a proper purpose and they're almost "alive" instead of dead and static. You feel that you actually like the characters and you want to see what they'll be up to next, that if they were real, you'd love to spend some time with those people, be it alone or in the "gang" they usually have.

Well, there's nothing like that here. I wouldn't say I hate them, but I don't like them either. They feel empty and I certainly can't get behind any of them. It actually feels cringeworthy at times to see the excessive overreactions and unrealistic situations in a setting that is supposed to be pretty realistic. This just wasn't a good anime in my opinion, at least for me it was a complete miss. The only thing it gets plus points for is that the jokes are witty/smart/well thought-out, but that's sadly the only thing this anime has going for it and it just isn't enough.

Only seen 2 episodes, but from what I seen it just grinded my gears. Humor used is beyond cheap and sad. Storyline along side that is horrible due to misguided attempts of humor and trying to keep pressing the point failing every time. The characters keep being stuck in their roles and show no change in any sense of the word which makes it worse.

I know this is rather harsh, but so far I seen the only thing that this anime has going for it is a okay art style that is fairly unique from the regular styles. The sound on it's own is actually ... not that bad. Problem is that none of the other points will get any sympathy from me. It just grinds my gears way to much, I like to see a series that shows at least some intelligence. This for storyline, humor as the characters and their progression. None of which seem to be present.

Sorry, it's how I feel after watching the first two episodes. I tried to watch another episode but I just couldn't get myself to do it.

If you want to be blue balled figuratively by an anime like so many other slice of life/romances, then Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san is for you. The story is extremely one-track, with pretty much 0 development until near the end, and even then its not worth it. At best i would consider watching the first episode then the last two to save yourself the time on this.
Although the art style and the sound tracks and effects are decent enough, it doesnt come even close to make up for the lack of character development and story line. Making for a rather poor anime to enjoy.
You ... want to root for the main character to do LITERALLY ANYTHING, but he just acts dumb like most characters and is all shy and bashful. If you want to watch stupidity for 12 episodes then watch this.

I'll keep this short and sweet.
I disliked the first season, granted I did accidently watch the 2nd season before the first (because Netflix had the 2nd season but not both). I found this season to be boring and lacking in story, and not that funny compared to it's sequel.
I can understand why people would like this anime, but it's just not for me.
I did watch it all the way through because that's my goal with any anime, but I was hoping it would pick up a bit more in the end. To me, it didn't.
I have yet to see the OVA in between seasons, but ... I gotta find where to watch that first.

What started out as a decently cute slice of life school comedy just dredged on and on with no progress to neither the story, as if there actually were one, nor the characters.
The two main characters are exactly the same in the last episodes as the first, and the side characters play no important roll in anything other than as a break in the extremely repetitive formula that the whole show is built around.

The male lead has the same reaction to EVERYTHING the female lead says, and it happens repeatedly in every episode, and every episode is basically the same thing with a different ... background, if different at all.
If you enjoy the type of humour presented here you might have a giggle from watching an episode or two, but if you actually find anything of value in the rest I can't see what that would be other than some dreamed up nostalgia of how incredibly awkward and socially inept you were as a kid.

Sorry for the mistakes. English is not my first language
It's my first review.

Story: 4/10
The story is simple and uncompromising. This must be respected, but it will never justify not being good. Basically you have a kid who is constantly trolled for a girl and wants to change that, but it's always trolled again in the end. And this is repeated over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. The problem is not just having a formula but especially repeating 3 times per episode. It is extremely repetitive and rarely any moment of humor is creative. If romance is just a heap of random ... and predictable moments (with a few exceptions) that do not make much difference if they don't exist and is not going anywhere, so it's not a well-developed romance, and romantic or sensual insinuations are just one useless plus. The goal is just to show situations that should be funny. Sometimes between a skit and another one, there's a trio of random girls talking about random things, and I'll never understand the point in their existence.
It's no use having a simple base and doing nothing with it. It's almost the same as Yuru Camp, another anime from the same season that has a simple idea but does nothing creative or memorable inside it, but is considered a masterpiece because "it's cute".
Some people are comparing with Tonari no Seki-kun, which is also largely centered on simple (but not very straightforward) interactions involving two characters of different sexes, but this one is not so repetitive, it's more original, humor is more creative and the reactions of the characters are not so predictable.
Anyway, the ending was cool.

Art: 6/10
It's "ok". Remember: cuteness is not an automatic synonym of excellent art. The character figures are very shallow. The animation is not very important in this context, but it did not seem so good at some necessary moments (like in a racing scene).

Sound: 6/10
It's "ok". Music and voice acting are forgettable, but they have not done a bad job.

Characters: 3/10
A dumb boy with a girl you'll only remember for being a smiling troll and having a big forehead. Without good characterization, (explicit) development or chemistry that makes a lot of sense, and reactions to situations are predictable (even if many jokes are not). Many one-dimensional characters from animations are functional within their contexts and they can be charismatic and memorable for some reason, not the case of these characters. I do not find it very comfortable to watch everything from the point of view of the boy who is always being "victimized" in situations and the fact that the pranksters only work to one side.
And the 3 random girls are ... just 3 stupid random girls.

Enjoyment: 4/10
It is not detestable, but it has a formula that wears out very fast and becomes a boring experience to me.

Overall: 4/10.
It's not so bad because some moments can still be fun, but why is it still not a good anime, if it's unpretentious and supposedly we should not be rigid? Some genres of this anime include romance, comedy, school and slice of life. Failed as a comedy because it is repetitive and uncreative, fails as a romance because it is just "bait", school is just a scenario that could easily be replaced, and it's a normal slice of life. The result? A bad anime.

I do not recommend it unless you can easily enjoy any romantic school comedy or be part of a select group of people who love to see little girls commenting about their own body.
In other cases, I would recommend watching Tonari no Seki-kun.

I just couldn't get into it. I know that there's a lot of reviews here saying that it's great and stuff, but really, I just couldn't. I liked the first episode, not gonna lie, but the second episode was literally the same thing. The girl teases him, and he gets mad. That's it. Repeat. I tried looking into the 3rd ep, but it was just boring. Like the dude keeps saying that he's going to get her back, but does he actually get her back? No, LOL. yea, it reminds me of Tom and Jerry, this situation. Plus, the girl bullies him, which i do ... not tolerate. Always getting him in trouble and distracting him from his education.

But to be honest, girl looks like a boiled egg. I had to point that out. That kind of annoys me a bit, but then again she's a middle schooler. Who looks like a 5 year old. Kind of weird, but okay. Plus the sexualization of little kids. ya'll noticed that? Bikinis, boobs, wet shirt, being naked, all that stuff, it makes me uncomfortable, especially for the girl. Yea, no. Just no. Imagine all those sweaty old people watching that?

Slice-of-life story about a grade school boy named Nishikata who tries to outsmart his seat mate Takagi, it is told through loosely connected short skits with recurring side characters. The art and background music is standard, water colour backgrounds, simple shading, lot of wood winds. However the voice acting and writing is better than usual, it is not over acted but there is enough effort put in to make it seem natural plus the manga provided a good base for the script.
I like that the show is low key just a girl negging a beta male in the hopes that he likes her, and he ... hates every moment. Its is everything I remember from grade school, and it is great to see a show about a girl winning dispute her opponents skill without be a Mary Sue. I dislike that the background characters have no real development but still take up a portion of the show, but that is just nit picking.

A very forgettable story popular just because the prepubescent characters are doing things maybe late teens should be doing.
Unless this is some sort of untold narration aspect, that this is hell or limbo, and main male kid is cursed for eternity to live his 4 year old mind in 12 year old boy's body, being teased and laughed at by everyone.

Animation is not horrible, but source material character design demands at least 3 heavy drinks to stomach how this thing looks, and I don't drink.
Voice acting is adequate, music is safe, backgrounds are not the cheapest, op and ed songs aren't terrible.

It's just a weird ... series. A safe corporate product to peep and watch children doing weird things. But it's not an deconstruction meta-concept like Girlfreind-X. It's just... boring?
Of course, I am way too old to understand this series, but that's even more why it amplifies all the oddities and quirks, irks and... I'm just inventing nonsensical phrases, because there's not much to be said about this series - you either like 12 year old children acting weird, or you are normal.

I'm normal, so this production feels off. It's same grade as Nagatoro - but while Nagatoro progresses and have some idea and story hidden under 7 tons of dung and trash, Takagi is just 10 hours of brown noise.

Basically, unless you are child or very young teen, you should feel bad watching and even worse, if you were to enjoy this.

Among the three well-known "teasing MC" anime (Uzaki-Chan & Nagatoro-San being the other two) this anime is by fair the most tepid, which I did not expect considering how boring most of Nagatoro-San was. It is also the only of the three that I could not and most certainly will not complete any time soon.

This anime blows. It has absolutely nothing to offer besides the overly fuzzy nature of it, which makes me wonder why you'd ever watch this instead of something like The Peanuts Movie (which is a certified banger). I feel like it's almost unfair to try to rank this only having been ... able to stomach half of it, but if anything that only reinforces my distaste for it.

Both of the main characters have little to no development beyond their basic cookie-cutter premise. This anime does a massive disservice to Ryûnosuke Kamiki considering he was able to give a performance so substantial as Koichi Hirose that I never once thought of this white bread main character as anything other than Koichi's unfortunate alter-ego.

Both the art and music are pretty good, especially the opening, but everything feels so irritatingly normal that nothing sticks and everything feels hollow.

Like most of the anime that I don't like, I have no problem with people enjoying this. I don't, and that's pretty much it.

I cannot fathom why anyone would watch the first season of this anime and think anything other than how the man female is a cruel bully. I would use her name, but after seeing the first season I honeslty can't remember any of the characters names. The anime follows a pattern; main girl tricks/pranks/makes fun of the main boy in the series, the boy feels anxious/emberassed/mad about what she does, he tries to get back at her and constantly fails, boy gets in trouble. Not only does this unfold for the main characters, but the writer also does this with his audiance as he makes ... you believe that maybe the girl (who clearly likes the boy) is finally doing something nice for the boy only to go through the entire series laughing at you when you realize that each nice thing she does literally ends in her just doing another mean thing to him.

Besides the 2 main characters we have 3 other girls who show up in the show. I really don't understand why they show up in the show other than to give us a break from the main girls sadism. Are they all friends with the main characters? Haven't a clue. Are they in the same class, the same school, the same city??? No clue. They literally add nothing to the story other than giving us a break from the main characters constant bullying of the boy.