Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san

In the moment you encounter that special someone, everything else is rendered obsolete. In this encounter, the world around you, the people in your life, and the things they demand of you all lose meaning. Your attention belongs to that special someone and no other. Time itself ceases to move as your encounter unfolds; when that special someone carries on a conversation with you, it feels as if it’ll last forever. Your heart races, pulsating as if it’ll spring forth from your chest at any given time. Your nerves quiver, the butterflies fluttering freely inside your body. Your vision blurs and your face crimsons, the ... blood coursing through your head at an alarming rate. Clouded by a whirlwind of strange thoughts, emotions, and instincts, you react to this encounter in a completely different fashion than you would in any other situation. The ideas you contemplate, the things you say, and the actions you create are a jumbled mess, shaken and stirred by the heat of the moment. Just as the conversation is gathering steam, that special someone departs from you and the encounter concludes. Time has moved forward again. While you’re mostly relieved to distance yourself from the situation, there’s a part of you that pleads to return to that brief encounter, that yearns to conversate with that special someone, that fantasizes of losing yourself in the moment once more.

For those that have become infatuated with a crush, for those that are adjusting to their feelings of attraction for another, for those that are stumbling their way into their first relationship, Skilled Teaser Takagi-san is a reflection of their lives, their own romantic endeavors manifesting themselves on a grand scale. As this show ignites and refines the chemistry between its two protagonists, Nishitaka and Takagi, it reveals its understanding of relationships and the intricacies they possess. Subdued in its tone and serene in its outlook, Skilled Teaser Takagi-san’s handling of its central couple is accomplished with nigh-unparalleled ease, using their series of frivolous yet elaborate pranks to slowly and steadily transition into something more, and its examination of their relationship is delivered with a rather unconventional approach.

When two contrasting personalities attempt to align, there is an army of problems that arise along the way due to the differences between them. Although said differences can generate a rift in relationships, they can also strengthen them; contrasting personalities naturally heighten common interests. While most works of the romance genre opt for discovering these common interests, Skilled Teaser Takagi-san almost entirely ignores this pursuit. Instead, what it values is how these characters think and why they’re attracted to one another. In particular, it values these concepts as they relate to Nishitaka.

It is his point-of-view that Skilled Teaser Takagi-san operates from. It is his series of pranks, his attempts to outwit and “tease” Takagi, that this show mainly revolves around. Nishitaka is always thinking of ways to perplex Takagi, either by concocting a complex scheme to use on her or (more often than not) by solving the problems she gives him. Every challenge Nishitaka tackles, every puzzle he confronts, makes for a satisfying watch. No two obstacles are alike; each distinct in their own way, they’re deceptively simple at first glance but dangerously intricate the more you analyze them. And, boy, does Nishitaka analyze these obstacles. The music crescendos to a fever pitch, with saxophones screaming their way through, and the animation dizzily spirals out of control, its color scheme constantly changing, as he ceaselessly conjures countermoves and hypothetical solutions in his head. To Nishitaka, these pranks are far from trivial pastime activities. To him, they are battles of the intellectual variety, epic in scale, each choice determining one’s fate.

It’s obvious that Nishitaka cares deeply about outsmarting Takagi, which makes it all the more depressing to witness him falling short time after time. It matters not what plan he formulates, what measures he takes, what approach he adapts; the result never changes. Nishitaka is Sisyphus, forever doomed to try changing his fate, to watch his efforts go to waste, to repeat the same pattern. It’s not his fault, though. With his remarkable tenacity, perception, confidence, and cunning, Nishitaka definitely distinguishes himself as a talented individual. Were he competing against someone else, against anyone else, one could argue that he’d easily be more than a match for them. However, as long as Nishitaka remains tethered to his current circumstances, he’ll always be defeated. Sure, he’s quite intelligent for someone his age but, for all of his virtues, he pales in comparison to the titular character.

“Prodigy” is an overused word; it's a term that's often given to people who don't deserve such praise. Takagi, however, is an exception. Not only is she able to unravel the most intricate of Gordian knots but she also does so effortlessly. Not only does she repeatedly confound Nishitaka with riddles, traps, and decoys galore but she also manipulates each and every one to obscure her true motives. However, it’s not just Nishitaka that Takagi dupes. On multiple occasions, she easily deciphers the tricks her classmates pull on her, alongside subjecting them to a few of her own, and (in one memorable instance) she’s even able to deceive her teacher, manipulating him into disciplining someone else for her transgression.

With each competition, with each episode, with each challenge, it’s almost pre-determined who's going to persevere in the end. On the one hand, this pattern of predictability causes Takagi to come across as a Mary Sue, one who's almost entirely defined by her ceaseless victories. On the other hand, you simply cannot resist watching her mercilessly outfox her peers time after time. Takagi is akin to a world-renowned chessmaster practicing against novices of the game, a decorated military tactician competing against cadets in the field, a veteran criminal investigator matching wits with rookies on the job; the inevitable outcome of each encounter never detracts from the entertainment value that they provide. While it is pleasing to witness Takagi flaunting her intellect, it’s in conveying this show’s themes where she really proves her worth.

Skilled Teaser Takagi-san is, perhaps more than anything else, a master of subverting expectations. With each issue that arises, the solution to them is never what you’d anticipate. Takagi and the show itself deceive you into assuming, alongside Nishitaka, that the motives, nuances, and hints in each situation are leading to one solution when the true answer is entirely different. Again and again, this show emphasizes that Takagi’s victories are due to Nishitaka overthinking each situation, attempting to uncover the deeper meaning behind it, instead of choosing the most obvious answer. Through its titular character, Skilled Teaser Takagi-san argues that the problems we encounter in life aren't as challenging or complex as we think they are. Through Takagi, this show argues that if we can push aside the details surrounding these problems (alongside our preconceived notions of them) and simply examine them for what they are, it'd be easy to find a solution for our issues.

For Takagi, each challenge presents an opportunity for Nishitaka to acquire more knowledge, and she strives to accomplish that goal. Yes, part of why Takagi teases him is for her own amusement; she enjoys watching her opponent panic, struggle and ultimately collapse under the pressure she places upon him. However, the other part is because Takagi wants to see Nishitaka mature and grow. The puzzles that she tasks him with are crafted out of love; Takagi gives Nishitaka a hard time mainly because she cares about him, and this detail really strengthens their relationship.

When Skilled Teaser Takagi-san directs its focus away from the smoke and mirrors, it's actually a genuinely sweet and charming show to watch, and the central couple’s relationship emphasizes its virtues. On the surface, Nishitaka and Takagi couldn't be more different if they tried. While Nishitaka approaches every situation with tact and caution, Takagi is far more direct. While Nishitaka leans towards the naive, Takagi is incredibly perceptive. While Nishitaka is something of a workaholic, Takagi is more relaxed. However, with a closer observation, one can see that, despite the surface-level differences, they are essentially alike. Both Nishitaka and Takagi are confident and intelligent individuals that adopt an extremely timid approach to their relationship (Nishitaka more than Takagi). Watching them develop more and more into expressing their feelings for one another, while supporting each other along the way, is easily the highlight of the show. In fact, the central couple's bond is so heartwarming, nuanced, and inspiring that it allows one to overlook the more unappealing aspects, the various deficiencies and mishaps, of this show that materialize just outside the insulated sphere of the central couple.

100% Unrequited Love is an in-universe anime that not only inspires a few of Nishitaka’s schemes but it also serves to poke fun at other works of the romance genre. By overloading Unrequited Love with genre-specific stereotypes, cliches and tropes, Skilled Teaser Takagi-san claims that it's different from the other shows of its chosen field, more intelligent and self-aware than the rest. However, when it involves its supporting cast, Takagi-san resorts to the same tiresome and tedious cliches as its peers. Whenever this show transitions away from its central couple and towards the people around them, it almost always suffers because of it. While the supporting cast strengthens Takagi-san’s youthful charm, they also represent this show at its weakest. With each appearance the supporting cast makes, it becomes more and more apparent that, outside of its central couple, Skilled Teaser Takagi-san isn't all that adept at developing its characters.

The relationship between Mano and Nakai, classmates of Nishitaka and Takagi, is among the most dull and lifeless that I’ve seen in recent memory. Mano is the “shy one”, blushing, squirming, and stammering about to no end, while Nakai is but a cardboard cutout, hardly worth mentioning, really, and they lack even a faint resemblance of chemistry. Then, there's Mina and Sanae, classmates of the central couple that serve as comic relief. The adventures that this pair embark on are rife with memorable gags - my personal favorite is a recurring act where they dub over random conversations, like an exchange between cats or a chat between the central couple - but they tend to wear themselves out after a while. Mina and Sanae’s adventures are meant to represent the protagonists’ shenanigans from a different, more carefree, perspective but they (more or less) come across as re-iterations of previous events than anything creative or unique. It doesn't help matters much that this show stylistically pigeonholes these two. One is the “genki girl”, manically working herself into a frenzy over trivial matters, while the other is the “quiet one”, silently observing the mess that unfolds around her, and Takagi-san never allows either of them an opportunity to establish themselves beyond these classifications.

When Takagi-san strays from its intended course (mishandling a supporting character here, re-treading an old plot line there), it's the central couple's chemistry that helps re-adjust its focus. Skilled Teaser Takagi-san is, in part, an elaborate game of chess, a neverending battle of wits, with brilliant strategists on either side. It is also a refreshingly pure and simple tale of romance, a love story mostly unchained by the conventions of its peers. And all of it is deftly secured by the incredible bond between its protagonists. Fascinated with their intellect and awestruck by their passion, you cannot resist wishing to accompany the central couple in whatever direction their relationship guides them toward. Time itself ceases to move as you rush headlong into Takagi-san, allowing its loving, all-encompassing embrace to overtake you.

She teases him; he blushes and resolves not to let her tease him again.

Rinse and repeat every single episode. The anime is divided into a series of shorts each a few minutes long; there are normally about 4 or 5 per episode. Each is a small self-contained story about Takagi’s and Nishikata’s daily lives in and out of the classroom. This isn’t a plot-heavy series and it’s not meant to be. What it is meant to be, however, is a character-oriented series, and so that shall be my main focus.

Just to get the art and music out of the way: the art style is ... really cute. Huge heads, massive eyes (even by anime standards), high foreheads and relatively simple drawings altogether. It suits the characters and show style nicely without being too extravagant. The animation is done well, even if not much is being animated besides the characters. The music is good, nothing spectacular but again, just nice. No complaints on these areas.

So now to the characters. There are the two main characters, Nishikata and Takagi, who take up the majority of the shorts, and then there are a few supporting characters (a trio of girls in the same class) who feature every now and again. Nishikata and Takagi engage in a variety of activities, from making bets with each other to tandem riding to doing homework or going shopping. All basic daily activities, and nothing really happens in any of them event-wise, but they provide a lot of opportunities for exchanges between the two.

Nishikata seems to take these exchanges as mental matches between the two of them - constant sparring to see who comes out on top verbally. He reads deeply into every single thing Takagi says, wondering if she’s trying to tease him and then trying to play bluff and double bluff. Whilst it’s true that Takagi does slyly tease him a fair amount of the time, watching him thoroughly analyse every single little sentence of hers becomes irritating after a while. It’s obvious to the viewer (although not to Nishikata) that her teasing is well-intentioned and that she actually likes him, perhaps even has feelings for him. (The latter’s shown more subtly until the last couple of episodes.) Nishikata does seem to like her (hence the blushing) but the feelings seem to be pretty pure and innocent. In any case, her teasing is always incredibly mild. If she wins a bet and gets the opportunity to order Nishikata to do anything she wants, she’ll just choose something like going shopping together or another harmless activity.

Nishikata, however, sees every single tease as a personal failure, and a blow to his pride. He never seems to be able to best her in anything, and to be fair to him this is probably incredibly frustrating. But it never ends! He never actually tries to talk to her properly about anything! He never tells her unequivocally to stop teasing him, because it would be a ‘loss’ to let her know that she’s gotten to him. He just makes every exchange, no matter how harmless, into a mental sparring match and thus causes his own inferiority complex to worsen, because she always ‘beats’ him. (Even when there’s nothing to ‘beat’ him on – sometimes she just asks him a simple question that is literally only an attempt to make small talk.)

There is almost no character development whatsoever. If you look at the beginning episodes, and compare them to the later ones, you’ll notice barely any change. She still talks to him and teases him in the same way she’s always done, and he still tries and fails to best her the same way he always has. This was the main flaw of the anime, as a character-driven series. The characters just become boring after a while, you can predict almost exactly what will happen and how it will happen. Even Takagi’s initially adorable laugh becomes grating after hearing it every few minutes, episode after episode.

The show does try to add a few more characters into the mix, but they suffer from the same problem of one-dimensionalitis. Their exchanges are also cute, sometimes funny and sometimes boring, but I think the only reason I liked these three girls was that they were a break from the endless cute monotony that was Takagi and Nishikata’s exchanges. They were nothing special in and of themselves.

In conclusion, I wouldn’t say that I dislike Skilled Teaser Takagi-san. Whilst I didn’t exactly look forward to it every week, it has a lot of sweet moments, and it does have a few funny parts. I just can’t binge watch it.

If you want to try it, I wouldn’t recommend watching more than one or two episodes at a time, with a large break in between sessions. That should keep it from getting too tedious, and instead just be a cute and mildly comedic series. XD

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.