Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san: Water Slide

This Takagi-san OVA is a direct, episodic continuation to the anime story, taking place in water park. There is not much this episode ads to the story nor the character's and their relationship development. Our comedy centers heavily around side characters who jump around in swimsuits, and seem to have similarly awkward feelings stuff going on.

Seeing and imaging Takagi in swimsuits obviously makes Nishikata blush and our teaser to giggle to this. Those who never got tired of seeing this to happen, might find this episode worth their while even if most of it feels like filler.

One of the strongest points with the ... anime is Takahashi Rie whose job voicing Takagi was impressive to say the least. Because of her, I got quite attached to the series to a point where I watched several live fan events cast by her and other cast members. They would play jenga with erasers and the loser would say lines from the original script. The English name for these events is 'Rie Takahashi and Yuuki Kaji Tease You' for those interested. I can say I enjoyed those events way more than this specific episode.

(I will be mainly reviewing this OVA in regard to the series).
This Episode follows a similar set up to the series. You have the main story with Takagi & Nishikata followed by comedic shorts of the trio (Mina,Yukari,Sanae).

The beginning is not focused primarily on the main duo, with the couple Nakai & Mano playing a main role. This is different to the main series, where we are used to it just being Takagi & Nishikata. However, as the story continues, it draws into the familiar story of teasing between Takagi & Nishikata.

Due to the countless guest appearances, this episode does have a similar ... plot line than the series, however, doesn't manage to fit as much content in (I would guess around half of what we'd expect in a normal ep).

The artwork, characters and sound are all the same like the series.
Overall this is an ok OVA. It isn't too different to the main series.

If you have jsut watched the main series, I would strongly suggest you watch this. But as nothing new is added to, there is no harm in missing this one out.

AAAAHAHAHAAHA-AHHAHAHAHAAA-AHHAHAHAHA, Geeez, don't you just hate it when Takagi does that kind of giggle when she get's to tease Nishikata? But in here what we have was what can we call as the quintessential swimsuit service and thought not set in a beach instead in a water theme park , considering that we don't get to see Takagi tease Nishikata that much all thanks to another couple whom were trying or at least one of them trying to have quality time with her mate but the bromance between Nishikata and Nakai keep getting in the way, so Mano ends up having to content ... with just Takagi. But it kinda seem that in this anime people starts to get the memo that Mano wants to be with Nakai or at least 3 of them like Takagi, Nishikata and the fat guy Kimura as for the 3 girls namely Sanae, Mina and Yukari, well, they're kinda corny considering that Yukari was just too much of a kill joy to be sooo insecure about unable to swim when she can just go for those water slides, since they're very much shallow at the end or just take a dip at one of those kiddie pool beside it ain't like that her 2 other girl friend would leave her...btw Sanae's swim suit look more like something from the 30's geez. Enjoyment of this this, for me was something that should have been included with the parent anime, since after the anime ended for the winter season , this has become more like an " Oh Yeah" thing , artwise , well none of them characters look hot in their swimsuit service and quite frankly studio Shin-Ei animation should have just stopped from the anime itself so:

Story-Mediocre 5: Since it was still in connection with the parent anime.

Art-pathetic 1: None of the characters here in their swimsuit service were hot.

Sound- Mediocre 5: It was still the seme seiyuus who did it.

Character- Good 7: Since this ain't about Takagi and Nishikata but its about Mano and Nakai arc, cu'z here Nakai is the annoying one when he was simply oblivious about Mano's desire to be with him and it has to take Takagi, Nishikata and fat Guy to do something about it.....the 3 bitches, were boring.

Enjoyment-Fair 6: It ain't that bad, but it ain't that good either.

Overall-Decent 4: It's wholesome, so no season 2 pls.

Story: again like the Anime no real story here just that Nishikata and Takagi also with Mano and Nakai go to a swimming park well for obvious reasons to swim also the 3 other side character girls are there Mina Sanae and also Yukari basically there part is that Mina and Sanae want to teach Yukari how to swim and also for Nishikata and the others the usual with takagi teasing him and another stuff as well (dont really wanna spoil the OVA even though i kinda did but oh well) all in all its just a swimming park OVA.

Art: art is pretty decent here ... can't really complain here so yeah that's the gist of it.

Sound: The Op and Ed come back for the OVA and there both decent in my opinion as for the Va's everyone returns here (i watched the dub so i wouldn't know exactly)

Character: Nishikata is the only male lead in the anime and is the bunt of when it comes to takagi and her teasing of him he is a really nice and just a good dude overall who tries to get back at takagi but fails a lot at it. Takagi is the only female lead and is the one who is always Nishikata in always than one when it comes to said teasing she is nice and again straight forward when it comes to teasing Nishikata. (they pretty much act the same here so nothing new or changed about them also i copied this from my review of the main anime also you'll see why if you read my other review i didn't review the 3 other side character girls.)

Enjoyment: What i liked: the comedy in here is decent not the greatest but i does do it job also the Art background and just everything else with the characters does its job here so nothing terrible here. What i didn't like: again the comedy is decent not that great but yeah also the Op and ed aren't the greatest also this a OVA that can be easily skip able if you don't wanna watch it also you do get the usual takagi teasing Nishikata so if your not a fan of that stay away (also i loved the anime just saying for people who were gonna watch the OVA to the anime).

Overall: id give this a 6.5 (it would almost inch to a 7 but not quite) again the comedy is decently there as well as the enjoyment as well but this OVA is very skip able sense there is nothing really story related here or anything but again a decent OVA and a worth the watch if you wanna watch it.

All I can really say about this special is that it was interesting seeing Takagi interact with another character besides Nishikata for once. The show's normal dynamic has them pretty much only ever spending time with each other, so having the double-date setup was a neat way to get some insights on how Takagi talks about Nishikata with other people, and what she's like when she isn't just bullying him.

Other than that, it's the swimsuit episode. An excuse for the artist to draw the female cast with more skin showing than normal. The titular water slide works as a good teasing mechanism but honestly I'm ... already starting to get a little sick of their whole dynamic and wish Nishikata would just grow a pair already. 7/10

*Disclaimer*
Just personal scratch.
Advised, possible spoilers.
Opinion & Informal

Art: 6/10 Same as the main season. Anatomic proportions are believable. Cute and lighthearted style and vibe.

Animation: 6/10 Same as the main season. Nothing too show-offy or any fluidity to note.

Plot: 6/10 Same as the main season. The adventures of a dense and stubborn boy and a clever and witty girl.
...
Development: 5/10 Nice to see that this particular bit was animated. I appreciate this OVA for that reason.

Characters: 5/10 Same. Develops the side-characters a bit more and their relationship/interactions with the main cast.

Music: 5/10 Same as main season. Same sound design. Nothing noteworthy.

Conclusion: 5/10 A simple OVA with a single-episode-based ending.

Overall: 5/10 Average OVA adapted faithfully from the manga, sort of, included the side characters too which weren't in the original story in the manga, I believe. Will revise if need be. Adds more substance to their relationship which is a plus.

This OVA is the side story to season 1. In an episode of season 1, when the viewers will watch, a question will arise in them. Like, what happened after that scene? The answer is- this OVA.

The art style is ok and the character reaction is also ok. Teasing or bullying is also present but in a romantic way. it can be said that, romantic teasing. People will enjoy it besides season 1.

Recommendation: Don't take this anime seriously, just enjoy the story of this anime. (As it may be annoying for those who hate bullying.)

Please, watch season 1 first, then watch this OVA. So that, ... you can understand the story.