May 24th, 2022
Teasing Master Takagi-san - Season 2 watch log
Anime Relations: Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 2
Introduction:
Previously I had posted a reaction log from my (re)watch of Season 1 (S01) which was quite lengthy and fairly detailed. The feedback indicated that there was interest in continuing to do so as I move on to Seasons 2 and 3. So here we are, my reaction log for season 2. In lieu of the timetagged notes in the S01 blog, I'm going to keep it to episode summaries this time, and I'll post the whole thing at once when it's finished.
So what am I expecting? Word on the street is that S02 and S03 each get progressively better, and that the story progression and the character/relationship development are more pronounced than in S01. There was some character development and story progression over the course of S01, most notably in how Takagi was initially indifferent to how Nishikata handles her teasing but later shows more restraint and more concern over how he handles it. I'll be watching how this progresses. I'll also be watching for any new developments with the trio of Mina, Sanae, and Yukari, with Mano and Nakai, with Kimura and Takao, and any new characters that weren't properly introduced in S01.
Time to dive in...
S02E01:
For the most part this could have been a typical S01 episode - the latter part of S01, that is, considering the some of the earlier S01 episodes were a struggle for me to get through. Predictable that Nishikata wouldn't find an English book. Takagi was never hypnotized. Mina, Sanae, and Yukari are still as funny and cute as ever. There's a difference between 'holding hands' and grabbing someone's hand to keep them from falling. In this episode it was mostly Nishikata I was rolling my eyes at. A decent enough start for the season. So far I'm not seeing much of anything in the way of story progression and character development but it may take a few episodes to become evident.
S02E02:
Winter has arrived. Still predictable that Takagi would win the ice contest. The ice scene could have been a perfect opportunity for a cute-no-teasing scene but I suppose that's too much to hope for. Also predictable that Takagi knew right off what Nishikata had changed and all of her "guesses" were just to mess with him. Mina/Sanae/Yukari still cute, and so are Mano and Nakai. Am I weird for thinking that any of these characters are more relaxing and enjoyable to watch than the main couple? I think there were a couple of other new characters in there that we may be seeing more of. I noticed that it was never positively confirmed that Takagi left the chocolate in Nishikata's shoe locker but no indication who else might have so it was most likely her. Did she also make the obligatory chocolate or was that one of Mina's?
S02E03:
Nishikata is still obsesses over getting Takagi. Is this ever going to change? Also, they skipped from early winter to April Fools and sakura season. Nothing at all about Christmas or late second/early third trimester. Will that big of a time jump I have to wonder if these will be covered out of sequence. Takagi didn't tease much at the candy shop but she sure as heck exploited Nishikata's paranoia that she was going to. That flashback about what names to call each other by was only a week after the start of the term when they first met. I guess it didn't take long for the teasing/victim dynamic to emerge between them. (I see also that Nishikata is still reading 100% Unrequited Love.) In the final scene we see Nishikata trying to push Takagi to a less childish relationship, and struggling when Takagi challenges him. Is there any doubt that she could subvert his efforts if she were of a mind to do so? But in the end she doesn't, being agreeable instead to move up. Nishikata is starting to grow a spine. It's not so much an outright victory for Nishikata as a win/win outcome.
My summaries of E01 and E02 probably make it sound like it's more of the same between the two main characters as what we saw in S01. The final scene in E03 is the first time this season that we see some clear character/relationship development beyond that. This is what I was looking for in S02 and I hope we see more of it.
S02E04:
The arm wrestling scene was much too similar to one of my least favorite scenes in all of S01, "Cleaning Duty". In the next scene, that was the cutest Mina has ever been, both in her facial expressions and her words. She wins the cute award for this episode. After that, it was interesting seeing some different town scenery such as the pagoda, but other than that it was much too much like some of the less enjoyable parts of S01. Nishikata is still overthinking and overreacting as much as ever - is he ever going to improve? Whatever happened to trying to move up to a less childish relationship as they discussed last episode? If anything they seem to have backpedaled.
When I blogged about S01 I talked about bullying, but following the infamous math test scene, nothing else happens for the whole rest of that season that I'd consider over the line from teasing into bullying. I would have liked nothing better than for that to have held up through S02, S03, and so forth. But here we see Nishi got extra cleaning duty because of Takagi's teasing. That's over the line, and now I'm disappointed. More so that the final scene of E03 was the first real "let's take it to the next level" of S02, only to drop the ball in the first scene of the very next episode.
S02E05:
The 'bang bang' scene didn't do much for me, at least not until Mina got into the act (however briefly). She, Sanae and Yukari never fail to make me smile. Nishikata seems uncertain whether to be relieved or disappointed when he doesn't walk home with Takagi. The cake shop scene was very cute and highly enjoyable. For one thing, this may be the first time we've seen Nishikata win a game and actually get to at least somewhat enjoy the victory. The sneezing scene was pretty cute too, and was notable for how many different characters appeared in it. Although we've seen Houjou and Hamaguchi in the background and such before, the sub-scene is their first proper appearance.
We see Nishikata's mom, though we don't see her face. This is the first time we've seen either of his or Takagi's parents. The closest we've come before was in S01E07 when we briefly hear (but don't see) Takagi's mom speaking to her. The girl in the cake shop reminded me of Maika Sakuranomiya from Blend S.
S02E06:
The classic comic strip Peanuts had a recurring gag where Lucy would hold a football, Charlie Brown would try to kick it, and Lucy would pull the football away at the last second. Every single time. You'd think Charlie Brown would figure out that he's never going to kick the football yet he falls for it every time. Just once I'd like to have seen him say "Sorry, not today", and walk away. Two scenes into this episode it feels as if in order to enjoy this show you'd have to be the sort of person who could watch 100 variations of Lucy pulling the football away when Charlie Brown tries to kick it, and still find it funny the 101st time.
That Mina/Sanae/Yukari scene went in an unexpected direction. This isn't the first time Nishikata and Takagi have been on what could be regarded as a date. There was the swimsuit shopping scene in S01E07. It isn't just with Takagi that Nishikata has a problem with overthinking things, as we see demonstrated here with Takao and Kimura.
S02E07:
Who was that looking at the picture just before the OP? Why does everything have to be a game or contest? To be fair, it's often Nishikata's idea. It would be nice to see Nishikata just enjoying the outdoor class instead of constantly being obsessed with finding a chance to put one over on Takagi. The folk dance scene was nice. For once, Tanabe-sensei gets after someone other than Nishikata for their behavior (meaning Mina and Sanae). The final scene, where Nishi and Takagi end up hiding under a rock, was charming and possibly the cutest scene to date, in no small part because Takagi didn't appear to be even thinking about turning it into a tease, and even Nishikata seemed less concerned than usual.
S02E08:
The storage closet - Takagi never once tried to tease Nishikata except when it was in response to something he started. Wait, there was one time, the rope on the broom handle, but other than that... At the infirmary, she could have shut down the teasing while treating his knee. She should have. Nishikata seems way too bashful about holding hands, even to win a game that no one else would see. All those variations in the lottery ticket scene were amusing. Another cute ending with Nishikata and Takagi talking about dreams and what they'd do with a million or ten million yen. They started out making it a game but abandoned it in the end. Very nice and enjoyable.
Nishikata is still almost constantly either paranoid about how Takagi is going to tease him next, or trying to find a way to tease her back. That, and turning everything into a game. Plus actual teasing by Takagi. It's probably too much to hope for that this would ever stop, but maybe they could tone it down some so it's not such a constant multiple-times-per-episode thing? Anytime a scene is about these two, my enjoyment seems to be inversely proportional to how much these elements are present.
S02E09:
I have no idea how this 'Look This Way' game is supposed to work. Mina's conclusion about Yukari (that her specialty is having no specialty) reminded me of the mathematical paradox of what is the smallest positive integer that is unremarkable, meaning that every lesser number is remarkable in some way. But then being the smallest unremarkable number would make it remarkable. The shrine scene... I once saw a movie where a dog wanders the neighborhood daily and at one particular house chases the cat. One day the dog just wanders by without chasing, and the cat gets confused and wanders to it's owner like something's wrong. I think Nishikata was like that cat. As for the surprise box, we knew Takagi wouldn't be surprised, but there no hint of "gotcha, can't fool me" in her reaction; it was more like "you thought about me", as if he'd handed her a flower or a piece if candy. I wonder if Takagi's argument with her mother about vacation dates involved something she was hoping to do with Nishikata. The message scene was cute too. He made Takagi blush, though he didn't get to see it. Between those last two scenes, this is my favorite episode so far this season.
S02E10:
Eye drop scene - Takagi went overboard with the "If ... then I win". Couldn't you just help him with the eye drops? Plus, I was wondering when Nishikata was going to remember the armpits. Count on Yukari to interrupt the moment. I like Houjou's response. The first look at Takagi and Nishikata in "Hide and Seek" is almost as if they're at the OK Corral. Funny how it completely changed when Houjou and Hamaguchi showed up. Houjou had no problem drinking the same coffee Nishikata could barely handle in an earlier episode. The treasure map and the ending under the tree were lovely, though it would have been nicer without the bit about the fighting cats.
S02E11:
Takagi figured out quickly enough that Nishikata had maneuvered to run into her, but was quite pleased by it. Did Takagi call off the contest because she knew she'd lose, or because she knew she'd win? (And why is it only her who ever calls them off?) Who is the friend that Takagi met (whom we've seen several times before but I don't think her name has ever been mentioned). Mina can be hard to converse with sometimes. Yukari's sister is very cute. I wonder where Nishikata's vacation was. The shots made me think of Kyoto but I wouldn't know how many other places look similar (we briefly see a sign but I can't read Japanese). The walk to the shrine got awkward. Nishikata has a bike now, which means if Takagi gets her flat fixed they can go biking together. The conversation about the summer festival really... dragged... on... but he finally said it, and this time I don't think there's any doubt what Takagi's reaction means. And he got drinks to share with his friends.
A random observation heard in multiple episodes - When Takagi makes that "hmm?" sound with a rising pitch (Japanese VA), she sounds exactly the same as when Mitsuha makes that sound in Your Name. By the way, I've been watching all of S02 in Japanese with subs.
S02E12:
Did Nishikata also forget to bring any money? And why does he have trouble admitting it's a date, even after he asked her? Different layout at this festival than we usually see in anime; I suppose that's how it's laid out in Tonosho. Looks like Sanae got talked into a yukata after all. Kimura and Takao aren't fooled by the mask. As the festival progresses, it seems Nishikata is the only one who doesn't think they're on a date. A pity Takagi and Nishi were separated for most of the fireworks display; Nishikata owes Kimura a thank you. If I'm not saying much, it's because the episode is almost-speechless-enjoyable.
Nishikata, a lot of girls would have dumped you for trying to claim it wasn't a date. For all that I complain about Takagi turning everything into a tease or a contest, this is one time that it was the right thing to do. But of course she knows Nishikata well enough to expect this sort of thing and wouldn't have wanted to go to the festival with him if she wasn't okay with it.
Conclusions:
To start with, I concur with the popular view that S02 was better than S01. For me, given my particular neurodivergence (see my S01 blog intro about that), it was an easier watch. I sometimes watched multiple episodes in a day, and while writing the episode summaries, I considered dropping in a joke about trying to decide whether to keep going for one more episode or switch to something more relaxing like Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (which I am concurrently watching). On one day I did just that, and it turned out the episode of FMAB actually was more relaxing (and it even had fight scenes). Yeah, sorry, that's just how my brain works.
There were too many scenes that were basically just Takagi and Nishikata playing out some variation of teasing, him trying to get her back, or turning something into a game, or some combination of these elements without much else happening. No story progression, no character development... it got samey. This was especially true of the first half of the season, of which all but about three scenes (of these two) pretty much fit that description. The second half of the season still had them but not as many of them. In a couple of cases it strained plausibility that Takagi would end up winning, such as the arm wrestling or the grip strength.
Those samey scenes aside, the best bits early where the last scene of E03 and the cake shop scene in E05 (Nishikata got a victory and got to enjoy it). I was hoping so bad there would never again be anything over the line into bullying but I couldn't overlook that it happened again in E04. I was more disappointed than you can imagine. That episode is my least favorite of the season, despite having one of the cutest Mina/Sanae/Yukari scenes ever. From E07 on, every episode included (and usually ended with) at least one highly enjoyable and cute scene with the main couple. I especially liked the stargazing scene in E07, the shrine visit in E09, and the endings of E11 and E12. These were my 'Wow! moments. It's the moments where I can see them moving, progressing, becoming something they weren't before, that are the best.
Mina, Sanae, and Yukari were cute and always a pleasure to watch, often one of the most enjoyable and relaxing part of an episode. Didn't see enough of Mano and Nakai but they're holding steady. Same with Kimura and Takao, though I have to give kudos to Kimura for his "Go up!" moment. Houjou and Hamaguchi are the newcomers as far as characters focused on. And maybe that other girl Takagi is often seen with - will there be a scene where she gets properly introduced?
As for MAL rating, the first half of the season I'd give a 7 on the whole, or maybe not quite. The second half deserves at least an 8. So it's a toss-up between 7 and 8, or would be if it wasn't for that one disappointing occurrence in E04 is virtually a deal breaker against going upward, so 7 it is.
This concludes my Season 2 blog. Opinions/agreements/disagreements/other discussions welcome. I'll be watching Season 3 sometime in the next few weeks. I'll probably blog about that one too.
Previously I had posted a reaction log from my (re)watch of Season 1 (S01) which was quite lengthy and fairly detailed. The feedback indicated that there was interest in continuing to do so as I move on to Seasons 2 and 3. So here we are, my reaction log for season 2. In lieu of the timetagged notes in the S01 blog, I'm going to keep it to episode summaries this time, and I'll post the whole thing at once when it's finished.
So what am I expecting? Word on the street is that S02 and S03 each get progressively better, and that the story progression and the character/relationship development are more pronounced than in S01. There was some character development and story progression over the course of S01, most notably in how Takagi was initially indifferent to how Nishikata handles her teasing but later shows more restraint and more concern over how he handles it. I'll be watching how this progresses. I'll also be watching for any new developments with the trio of Mina, Sanae, and Yukari, with Mano and Nakai, with Kimura and Takao, and any new characters that weren't properly introduced in S01.
Time to dive in...
S02E01:
For the most part this could have been a typical S01 episode - the latter part of S01, that is, considering the some of the earlier S01 episodes were a struggle for me to get through. Predictable that Nishikata wouldn't find an English book. Takagi was never hypnotized. Mina, Sanae, and Yukari are still as funny and cute as ever. There's a difference between 'holding hands' and grabbing someone's hand to keep them from falling. In this episode it was mostly Nishikata I was rolling my eyes at. A decent enough start for the season. So far I'm not seeing much of anything in the way of story progression and character development but it may take a few episodes to become evident.
S02E02:
Winter has arrived. Still predictable that Takagi would win the ice contest. The ice scene could have been a perfect opportunity for a cute-no-teasing scene but I suppose that's too much to hope for. Also predictable that Takagi knew right off what Nishikata had changed and all of her "guesses" were just to mess with him. Mina/Sanae/Yukari still cute, and so are Mano and Nakai. Am I weird for thinking that any of these characters are more relaxing and enjoyable to watch than the main couple? I think there were a couple of other new characters in there that we may be seeing more of. I noticed that it was never positively confirmed that Takagi left the chocolate in Nishikata's shoe locker but no indication who else might have so it was most likely her. Did she also make the obligatory chocolate or was that one of Mina's?
S02E03:
Nishikata is still obsesses over getting Takagi. Is this ever going to change? Also, they skipped from early winter to April Fools and sakura season. Nothing at all about Christmas or late second/early third trimester. Will that big of a time jump I have to wonder if these will be covered out of sequence. Takagi didn't tease much at the candy shop but she sure as heck exploited Nishikata's paranoia that she was going to. That flashback about what names to call each other by was only a week after the start of the term when they first met. I guess it didn't take long for the teasing/victim dynamic to emerge between them. (I see also that Nishikata is still reading 100% Unrequited Love.) In the final scene we see Nishikata trying to push Takagi to a less childish relationship, and struggling when Takagi challenges him. Is there any doubt that she could subvert his efforts if she were of a mind to do so? But in the end she doesn't, being agreeable instead to move up. Nishikata is starting to grow a spine. It's not so much an outright victory for Nishikata as a win/win outcome.
My summaries of E01 and E02 probably make it sound like it's more of the same between the two main characters as what we saw in S01. The final scene in E03 is the first time this season that we see some clear character/relationship development beyond that. This is what I was looking for in S02 and I hope we see more of it.
S02E04:
The arm wrestling scene was much too similar to one of my least favorite scenes in all of S01, "Cleaning Duty". In the next scene, that was the cutest Mina has ever been, both in her facial expressions and her words. She wins the cute award for this episode. After that, it was interesting seeing some different town scenery such as the pagoda, but other than that it was much too much like some of the less enjoyable parts of S01. Nishikata is still overthinking and overreacting as much as ever - is he ever going to improve? Whatever happened to trying to move up to a less childish relationship as they discussed last episode? If anything they seem to have backpedaled.
When I blogged about S01 I talked about bullying, but following the infamous math test scene, nothing else happens for the whole rest of that season that I'd consider over the line from teasing into bullying. I would have liked nothing better than for that to have held up through S02, S03, and so forth. But here we see Nishi got extra cleaning duty because of Takagi's teasing. That's over the line, and now I'm disappointed. More so that the final scene of E03 was the first real "let's take it to the next level" of S02, only to drop the ball in the first scene of the very next episode.
S02E05:
The 'bang bang' scene didn't do much for me, at least not until Mina got into the act (however briefly). She, Sanae and Yukari never fail to make me smile. Nishikata seems uncertain whether to be relieved or disappointed when he doesn't walk home with Takagi. The cake shop scene was very cute and highly enjoyable. For one thing, this may be the first time we've seen Nishikata win a game and actually get to at least somewhat enjoy the victory. The sneezing scene was pretty cute too, and was notable for how many different characters appeared in it. Although we've seen Houjou and Hamaguchi in the background and such before, the sub-scene is their first proper appearance.
We see Nishikata's mom, though we don't see her face. This is the first time we've seen either of his or Takagi's parents. The closest we've come before was in S01E07 when we briefly hear (but don't see) Takagi's mom speaking to her. The girl in the cake shop reminded me of Maika Sakuranomiya from Blend S.
S02E06:
The classic comic strip Peanuts had a recurring gag where Lucy would hold a football, Charlie Brown would try to kick it, and Lucy would pull the football away at the last second. Every single time. You'd think Charlie Brown would figure out that he's never going to kick the football yet he falls for it every time. Just once I'd like to have seen him say "Sorry, not today", and walk away. Two scenes into this episode it feels as if in order to enjoy this show you'd have to be the sort of person who could watch 100 variations of Lucy pulling the football away when Charlie Brown tries to kick it, and still find it funny the 101st time.
That Mina/Sanae/Yukari scene went in an unexpected direction. This isn't the first time Nishikata and Takagi have been on what could be regarded as a date. There was the swimsuit shopping scene in S01E07. It isn't just with Takagi that Nishikata has a problem with overthinking things, as we see demonstrated here with Takao and Kimura.
S02E07:
Who was that looking at the picture just before the OP? Why does everything have to be a game or contest? To be fair, it's often Nishikata's idea. It would be nice to see Nishikata just enjoying the outdoor class instead of constantly being obsessed with finding a chance to put one over on Takagi. The folk dance scene was nice. For once, Tanabe-sensei gets after someone other than Nishikata for their behavior (meaning Mina and Sanae). The final scene, where Nishi and Takagi end up hiding under a rock, was charming and possibly the cutest scene to date, in no small part because Takagi didn't appear to be even thinking about turning it into a tease, and even Nishikata seemed less concerned than usual.
S02E08:
The storage closet - Takagi never once tried to tease Nishikata except when it was in response to something he started. Wait, there was one time, the rope on the broom handle, but other than that... At the infirmary, she could have shut down the teasing while treating his knee. She should have. Nishikata seems way too bashful about holding hands, even to win a game that no one else would see. All those variations in the lottery ticket scene were amusing. Another cute ending with Nishikata and Takagi talking about dreams and what they'd do with a million or ten million yen. They started out making it a game but abandoned it in the end. Very nice and enjoyable.
Nishikata is still almost constantly either paranoid about how Takagi is going to tease him next, or trying to find a way to tease her back. That, and turning everything into a game. Plus actual teasing by Takagi. It's probably too much to hope for that this would ever stop, but maybe they could tone it down some so it's not such a constant multiple-times-per-episode thing? Anytime a scene is about these two, my enjoyment seems to be inversely proportional to how much these elements are present.
S02E09:
I have no idea how this 'Look This Way' game is supposed to work. Mina's conclusion about Yukari (that her specialty is having no specialty) reminded me of the mathematical paradox of what is the smallest positive integer that is unremarkable, meaning that every lesser number is remarkable in some way. But then being the smallest unremarkable number would make it remarkable. The shrine scene... I once saw a movie where a dog wanders the neighborhood daily and at one particular house chases the cat. One day the dog just wanders by without chasing, and the cat gets confused and wanders to it's owner like something's wrong. I think Nishikata was like that cat. As for the surprise box, we knew Takagi wouldn't be surprised, but there no hint of "gotcha, can't fool me" in her reaction; it was more like "you thought about me", as if he'd handed her a flower or a piece if candy. I wonder if Takagi's argument with her mother about vacation dates involved something she was hoping to do with Nishikata. The message scene was cute too. He made Takagi blush, though he didn't get to see it. Between those last two scenes, this is my favorite episode so far this season.
S02E10:
Eye drop scene - Takagi went overboard with the "If ... then I win". Couldn't you just help him with the eye drops? Plus, I was wondering when Nishikata was going to remember the armpits. Count on Yukari to interrupt the moment. I like Houjou's response. The first look at Takagi and Nishikata in "Hide and Seek" is almost as if they're at the OK Corral. Funny how it completely changed when Houjou and Hamaguchi showed up. Houjou had no problem drinking the same coffee Nishikata could barely handle in an earlier episode. The treasure map and the ending under the tree were lovely, though it would have been nicer without the bit about the fighting cats.
S02E11:
Takagi figured out quickly enough that Nishikata had maneuvered to run into her, but was quite pleased by it. Did Takagi call off the contest because she knew she'd lose, or because she knew she'd win? (And why is it only her who ever calls them off?) Who is the friend that Takagi met (whom we've seen several times before but I don't think her name has ever been mentioned). Mina can be hard to converse with sometimes. Yukari's sister is very cute. I wonder where Nishikata's vacation was. The shots made me think of Kyoto but I wouldn't know how many other places look similar (we briefly see a sign but I can't read Japanese). The walk to the shrine got awkward. Nishikata has a bike now, which means if Takagi gets her flat fixed they can go biking together. The conversation about the summer festival really... dragged... on... but he finally said it, and this time I don't think there's any doubt what Takagi's reaction means. And he got drinks to share with his friends.
A random observation heard in multiple episodes - When Takagi makes that "hmm?" sound with a rising pitch (Japanese VA), she sounds exactly the same as when Mitsuha makes that sound in Your Name. By the way, I've been watching all of S02 in Japanese with subs.
S02E12:
Did Nishikata also forget to bring any money? And why does he have trouble admitting it's a date, even after he asked her? Different layout at this festival than we usually see in anime; I suppose that's how it's laid out in Tonosho. Looks like Sanae got talked into a yukata after all. Kimura and Takao aren't fooled by the mask. As the festival progresses, it seems Nishikata is the only one who doesn't think they're on a date. A pity Takagi and Nishi were separated for most of the fireworks display; Nishikata owes Kimura a thank you. If I'm not saying much, it's because the episode is almost-speechless-enjoyable.
Nishikata, a lot of girls would have dumped you for trying to claim it wasn't a date. For all that I complain about Takagi turning everything into a tease or a contest, this is one time that it was the right thing to do. But of course she knows Nishikata well enough to expect this sort of thing and wouldn't have wanted to go to the festival with him if she wasn't okay with it.
Conclusions:
To start with, I concur with the popular view that S02 was better than S01. For me, given my particular neurodivergence (see my S01 blog intro about that), it was an easier watch. I sometimes watched multiple episodes in a day, and while writing the episode summaries, I considered dropping in a joke about trying to decide whether to keep going for one more episode or switch to something more relaxing like Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (which I am concurrently watching). On one day I did just that, and it turned out the episode of FMAB actually was more relaxing (and it even had fight scenes). Yeah, sorry, that's just how my brain works.
There were too many scenes that were basically just Takagi and Nishikata playing out some variation of teasing, him trying to get her back, or turning something into a game, or some combination of these elements without much else happening. No story progression, no character development... it got samey. This was especially true of the first half of the season, of which all but about three scenes (of these two) pretty much fit that description. The second half of the season still had them but not as many of them. In a couple of cases it strained plausibility that Takagi would end up winning, such as the arm wrestling or the grip strength.
Those samey scenes aside, the best bits early where the last scene of E03 and the cake shop scene in E05 (Nishikata got a victory and got to enjoy it). I was hoping so bad there would never again be anything over the line into bullying but I couldn't overlook that it happened again in E04. I was more disappointed than you can imagine. That episode is my least favorite of the season, despite having one of the cutest Mina/Sanae/Yukari scenes ever. From E07 on, every episode included (and usually ended with) at least one highly enjoyable and cute scene with the main couple. I especially liked the stargazing scene in E07, the shrine visit in E09, and the endings of E11 and E12. These were my 'Wow! moments. It's the moments where I can see them moving, progressing, becoming something they weren't before, that are the best.
Mina, Sanae, and Yukari were cute and always a pleasure to watch, often one of the most enjoyable and relaxing part of an episode. Didn't see enough of Mano and Nakai but they're holding steady. Same with Kimura and Takao, though I have to give kudos to Kimura for his "Go up!" moment. Houjou and Hamaguchi are the newcomers as far as characters focused on. And maybe that other girl Takagi is often seen with - will there be a scene where she gets properly introduced?
As for MAL rating, the first half of the season I'd give a 7 on the whole, or maybe not quite. The second half deserves at least an 8. So it's a toss-up between 7 and 8, or would be if it wasn't for that one disappointing occurrence in E04 is virtually a deal breaker against going upward, so 7 it is.
This concludes my Season 2 blog. Opinions/agreements/disagreements/other discussions welcome. I'll be watching Season 3 sometime in the next few weeks. I'll probably blog about that one too.
Posted by mwalimu | May 24, 2022 6:41 PM | 0 comments
April 28th, 2022
Teasing Master Takagi-san - rewatch/reaction log
Anime Relations: Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san: Water Slide
Introduction
This blog is about my second attempt to watch Teasing Master Takagi-san. Let me start by saying I'm a completionist - that is, I'll finish whatever I start watching almost no matter what, at least if it's no more than a couple of cours long. Even if it's boring, eye-rollingly stupid, or I don't care anymore what happens to the characters, I'll finish it anyway. The only show I ever attempted to watch and simply could not get through was - you guessed it - Teasing Master Takagi-san. The show was simply unbearable, even painful, for me to watch. I wrote a review. This was a little over 3 years ago, and at the time only season 1 had aired though season 2 had been announced.
Something about me that's probably relavant is that I have Asperger's Syndrome(*), an autism spectrum disorder. Around the time of my first attempt to watch Takagi-san I remember finding an article online that suggested some people on the autism spectrum who have a different empathic sense might react to the show similar to how I did. I don't know if it's quite the same thing, but I'll offer an example. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 1964 Rankin-Bass special, has one part I cannot stand to watch. It's early in the show during the reindeer games scene when Rudolph gets surrounded and name-called by the other reindeer. I have to look away and cover my ears for that part (I'd probably leave the room if it wasn't for one of my favorite parts being just before, when Clarice tells Rudolph he's cute and he's so elated he flies around).
(*)I have come to dislike that name due to historical evidence that Hans Asperger was complicit in the Nazi regime's eugenics program. Nevertheless it is still in widespread usage and I don't know of another term for it. In DSM-V it falls under autism spectrum disorder, but that term is less specific and covers a wider range of disorders.
So why am I doing this? It's hard to explain, even to myself. It's become something that won't leave me alone. The show keeps coming up regularly on Twitter, Reddit, MAL, Discord, etc. It has in some sense become a challenge to be overcome. Sometimes you have to face your demons. In addition, I've seen enough favorable reactions to later seasons to leave me with a sense that dismissing them might represent a missed opportunity.
I might have considered doing this as a watch-along/reaction video, but I have neither the equipment nor the video editing knowhow to do that, plus there's the possibility I'd have to deal with takedowners, as has happened to many other anime YouTubers, and that's something I have no desire to deal with. Instead I'll just keep a written log of my reactions as I go along, both favorable and unfavorable.
I expect many readers of this blog will be fans of the show. If you're one of them, I'm not expecting anything I say to change your opinion of the show, and I don't expect you to agree with what I say about it. My brain doesn't work like your brain. Still, I hope you'll gain a better understanding of how a minority of viewers could be affected the way I was, and maybe I'll understand better what others appreciate about the show. I'll be happy to engage in the comments with anyone who can be civil and respectful. If we can meet halfway, that's something.
Disclosure: Although the above largely represents my thinking before starting, I've already completed the rewatch of season 1 and recorded my reaction logs before I began posting anything. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, so that I wouldn't be committed in the event that either I didn't complete the season, or if it went "too well" and ended up being a "much ado about nothing" outcome. Since I'm posting this, you can assume neither of these things happened. Second, I wanted to avoid any possibility that any responses my blog entries would influence my reactions or even the exercise as a whole. (PM me if you really want to know the end result before I post it.)
Reaction log: S01E01
In case anyone was checking, I have not yet updated my MAL rating or the review I posted 3 years ago. I intend to do so once I reach the end this blog.
Before: I'm a little bit fearful.
02:10 The OP theme is nice. As for the OP visuals, it seems like Takagi is smiling every time while Nishikata always looks shocked or flustered or embarrassed.
"Eraser"
03:58 It starts. Also, why isn't the teacher saying anything to Takagi about laughing after he just scolded Nishikata?
06:55 The teacher again.
09:50 Some of Nishi's reactions are too over the top. And so far Takagi is much too smug and appears to have no interest in being nice to him.
"Day Duty"
11:30 Forget it, Nishi. You can't win.
12:20 Stop overthinking it and just clean the blackboard.
14:05 Takagi, if he's not laughing along with you, you're probably doing it wrong.
14:50 First appearance of Mina, Sanae, and Yukari.
15:40 Don't overreact so much, Nishi.
"Funny Face"
17:10 Give it up, Nishi. You can't win.
19:25 Tanabe-sensei is blind if he can't see it was as much Takagi's fault as Nishi's.
20:40 Takagi's laugh is irritating, at least when she's the only one laughing.
"One Hundred Yen"
22:20 Mina, Sanae, and Yukari again. At least with these three I can just relax and enjoy the cute.
After: I didn't have any real difficulty getting through that episode, so I'm less worried now about those ahead. That said, so far I'm not really finding Takagi and Nishikata that enjoyable to watch, and as long as the interactions and the dynamic between them are more or less the same, that's unlikely to change.
Reaction log: S01E02
Before: Since I watched the dub of E01, I'll do the sub this episode. The voice acting might make a difference.
"Calligraphy"
02:15 Nishi, you could just figure something out on your own. You should know by now that playing along with Takagi isn't likely to turn out well for you.
04:00 This is the closest so far to them having an actual conversation about teasing. But the scene isn't over yet.
07:10 Called it the moment she touched his face. Will she actually be nicer after this? Still, it's conversation, and this time the teacher didn't get involved.
"Seasonal Change of Clothing"
09:10 Ya think Mina and Sanae aren't quite on the same wavelength?
"English Translation"
09:40 Why is Nishi thinking about getting back at her again, especially after the earlier scene?
10:40 Nishi, this time it was mostly your own fault.
14:20 Takagi says she thinks about him all the time. That could be an unhealthy obsession.
15:00 Nishi, you'd be terrible at poker. Be thankful that your "plan" simply failed rather than backfiring. Also seeing a bit of "OP Takagi". (Aside: Do middle schoolers in Japan normally talk that much in class?)
"Pool"
18:35 You're overthinking again, Nishi.
20:50 Called it again, Takagi is able to swim. Going out of her way to pretend she couldn't just for a chance to tease him wasn't nice.
Replay:
20:30 Takagi's laugh. Replayed both the sub and the dub. Takagi's English VA definitely has a more irritating laugh than the Japanese VA.
After: At a couple of points we saw a bit of "OP Takagi", where she's practically superhuman in her ability to anticipate Nishikata. Overall this episode was sufficiently less annoying to be somewhat cute, but still kind of annoying. The Mina/Sanae/Yukari scene was the only one I remembered from when I watched it three years ago.
Reaction log: S01E03
Taking a detour into art style since it's one aspect of the show that's been commented on frequently. A common observation is the size of Takagi's and some other character's foreheads. Another compares the size of Takagi's pupils to Nishikata's. I recently observed the same pupil disparity between Bocchan and Alice, the male and female leads of The Duke of Death and His Maid. It also reminded me of the internet meme about the boy wolf and the girl wolf. For me personally, the character design is not a factor. I've seen plenty of anime with a wide range of character designs, and while this show's is distinct it's not jarring or out of bounds.
A secondary reason I'm doing this whole rewatch-and-blog exercise is that manga author Souichirou Yamamoto has other works being adapted into anime that are likely to have similar art style and character designs. So long as my impression of Takagi-san is unfavorable, the similarity of art style is likely to give me a more negative impression of those other shows. If a rewatch results in a more favorable impression, of Takagi-san, it'll be much easier to judge those shows on their own merits.
Before: Of the episodes I got through three years ago, this was the only one I found at least somewhat enjoyable. Let's see if that holds up this time around.
"Coffee"
01:35 Another enjoyable scene with Mina, Sanae, and Yukari.
"Empty Can"
06:00 Nishikata's laugh is annoying too, but in this case the Japanese VA was the worse of the two compared to the English VA.
06:30 You know how this is going to end.
08:05 Takagi cheated. Nishi should have at least gotten a do-over. Not having to do anything is little consolation for not having a victory.
"Soda"
10:00 Mina can be annoying too sometimes.
11:15 Nishi, maybe think about how not to get teased? Like avoidance, or not taking the bait?
"Muscle Training"
14:30 Takagi actually complimented him. Nishi needs to learn how to handle a compliment.
"Dubbing"
14:40 What's with the cats?
15:20 Oh, it's Mina and Sanae.
"Umbrella"
18:20 How did she get the frog over there? Also, her reaction to the frog reminded me of Yuki from Wolf Children.
21:30 Sometimes Takagi is barely teasing him, and Nishikata is just that inept at reacting to her.
22:05 Called it wrong. I had predicted Takagi actually had her umbrella and only claimed she didn't so they could walk together under his. (Or maybe she did and decided against revealing it.)
22:40 Different ED animation
After: I smiled at this episode, even as I realized sometimes Takagi doesn't have to try very hard against Nishikata's ineptitude. If Nishi actually got good at reacting to her teasing, and teasing her back, it could turn into a very entertaining battle of wits akin to Kaguya-sama: Love Is War; regrettably I don't expect that to happen with this pair. I could enjoy the season more if I thought the rest of it would be like this from here on out; unfortunately I remember enough of the next two episodes to know that's not the case.
(Also, plenty of Mina/Sanae/Yukari screen time.)
Reaction log: S01E04
It's time to bring up a subject I've avoided mentioning until now. If you asked me why the series was painful for me to watch the first time, I could answer that in one word: bullying. It started out as a visceral reaction to certain scenes, certain parts of the story, similar to the one from Rudolph described in the introduction. It wasn't a reasoned assessment; it was something I felt. Anything more objective was worked out after the fact.
Does this mean I think Takagi is bullying Nishikata? In some cases, yes. My criteria here is that if Takagi does something that has tangible negative consequences for Nishikata, then it's over the line from teasing into bullying. Two scenes from this series stuck in my memory from three years ago that are examples of this, one of them in this episode and the other in the next. There were a couple of iffy moments in episode 1 when Nishi gets scolded in front of his class, but I'll give those a free pass. I'm not saying anything Takagi does is particularly serious as bullying goes - it's actually pretty mild compared to what often happens in bullying situations - but it still meets the minimum requirements.
In any discussion about bullying in anime, for many the first work that comes to mind is A Silent Voice. Another, at least for me, is 3-Gatsu no Lion, season 2. I've gotten incredulous reactions before when making comparisons between A Silent Voice and Takagi-san, as if discussing these two works in the same conversation blew a mental circuit breaker. First off, I readily acknowledge that the bullying that happens in A Silent Voice (and in 3-Gatsu no Lion) is much worse, and it made these shows uncomfortable to watch. But they didn't pull any punches that it was bullying and it was a really bad thing and something that should be put a stop to. And that is where Takagi-san fails; it tries to play it off as cute and funny, and what I saw didn't give me any sense that it wouldn't continue to happen and to be portrayed in such a manner. It's what drove this hardcore completionist into the drop zone.
Maybe this is the point where some fans of the show who have been okay with my blog through the last episode feel I've lost them. Perhaps these fans also thought that my comments through episode 3 were much ado about nothing (or not much). Well, we've kind of arrived at the core issue. Some folks will follow along while it's easy and turn tail when the going gets tough. I hope you'll stick with me.
Before: Here goes...
"Cleaning Duty"
00:25 So we don't see Takagi provoking Nishikata this episode. Still, it's a safe bet that's what it's what got him here, possibly including scenes from earlier episodes. Negative consequences. Over the line. (Also, how did Takagi know which room to hide in? The science room is a different room than the one they're usually seen in.)
02:25 I would like to have seen Nishikata close the locker the moment he saw Takagi hiding inside. And maybe barricading her inside for a little while (though of course he'd have to open it if he needs the cleaning supplies).
02:40 That annoying laugh again.
03:00 Just say no, Nishi. You should know by now this won't turn out well for you. Just tell her to split the work and leave the games out of it.
05:30 Takagi's not doing anything to help.
07:00 That's the third time we've seen Takagi go out of her way for a chance to tease him when she could have left him alone (although the fact that she wasn't actually punished along with him suggests Tanabi-sensei is playing favorites). She could have left bad enough alone; Nishi would have had to do all the work anyway, but beating him at 4/4 games of RPS and making him feel worse for it is just rubbing salt into the wound.
07:10 I could probably have appreciated the 'enjoy youth' theme (and the appearance of Mano and Nakai) if this scene wasn't so messed up in other ways.
"Kickover"
07:35 Why does everything have to turn into a game?
10:20 What the hell kind of game was that? Changing the rules as you go along? Nishi should have just said "The heck with this, see you tomorrow."
11:10 Yes, Nishi, she was cheating. It's okay to call her out on it.
"Cold"
12:05 Are the characters in the show he's watching supposed to in some way parallel Takagi and Nishikata (possibly with the genders reversed)?
14:30 Nishi, she knows you're plotting. Has it ever occurred to you that you might catch her by surprise by not doing that? Such as by actually paying attention in class?
17:20 Nothing about this scene was amusing, nor did it leave a more favorable impression of either of them.
"Tailing"
18:30 This is the most interaction so far between Takagi/Nishi and Mina/Sanae/Yukari.
20:35 So Nishi isn't the only one whose actions Takagi can predict.
23:35 Mina, Sanae, and Yukari haven't failed to amuse me yet.
After: It seems like everything about the cleaning duty scene was Takagi at her worst. It's like she never misses a chance to make Nishikata feel worse. If she knows him so well, does it ever occur to her to do things that will make him feel better instead of making him feel worse? Whenever Takagi looked cute I couldn't help but to see her as being devious. And she never plays fair when it's a game.
I somewhat enjoyed rewatching and blogging about the first three episodes. This one felt much more like I was 'just getting through it'.
Reaction log: S01E05
In case you're wondering if I was bullied while growing up, the answer is yes, though not particularly severely. In grade school I got it worse than most of my classmates; I think a lot of it was from others who were sometimes bullied themselves and needed someone to feel better than.
One article about the show I came across was this one, which sounded entirely reasonable and plausible until almost the end, when a shift in tone clued me in that it was meant as satire (something I now know but didn't before about Anime Maru). It fails as satire because, as a commenter points out, it's an entirely reasonable interpretation of the show.
Before: This is the episode that did it in for me three years ago. How will I do this time?
"Studying for the Test"
(Note: I remember all too well how this scene ends.)
00:45 Nishi has some weird friends
06:40 ...and there it is. This would have been a perfectly cute and adorable scene if Takagi hadn't pulled the rug out from under it all by uttering that last line.
"Test"
(Note: I had to deal with the next scene first before backing up to watch this one.)
08:20 I guess Yukari is the "smart one" of her trio, except maybe knowing what subject the test is about.
"Test Results"
09:05 This was the 'drop' moment on my first viewing. If Takagi really wanted to help him pass the test and not get his video games confiscated, she could easily have done so, since besides knowing what wasn't on the test she evidently knew the material that was. Now Nishikata is worse off for it. Takagi's actions were unquestionably over the line into bullying. She owes him an apology.
09:25 A better answer from Nishikata would be, "I'm not talking to you right now."
10:40 Even after Nishi got cleaning duty (see last episode), Takagi has no qualms about provoking him.
13:05 That whole guessing game was tiresome to sit through. Just be quiet and pay attention to class, both of you.
"Bookstore"
14:10 Why is Nishikata worried about Takagi finding out? She already guessed earlier that he had stayed up late watching the show by the same title.
15:25 Depending on how soon after the above scene this is supposed to take place, Nishikata has every right to say, "Leave me alone. I'm still not talking to you."
16:20 Takagi: "I've never lied to you". Fact check: Mostly false. It might be technically true that she hasn't said anything that's literally false, but insofar as misleading statements, withholding information, and being manipulative can also be considered forms of lying, she definitely has, many times.
17:30 If Takagi said she likes him, then says she was lying, does that mean she doesn't like him?
"Shelter from the Rain"
(My 15:25 comment above still applies. Has Takagi apologized yet? Somehow I doubt it.)
22:05 That was probably the cutest scene so far, and I think it had the least amount of teasing. Nishikata still overreacts to things, though. Was that "OP Takagi" predicting the rain would stop?
We're not told whether Nishikata's games were confiscated.
After: Let's compare the first and last scenes of this episode. Both were very pleasant and enjoyable scenes most of the way through, the kind I like to watch, but the first ended in a way that completely ruined what it had built up and became Takagi's worst instance of bullying so far. The last ended happily. I want to be able to enjoy scenes like the last when they happen, but after the first it will be hard to escape the discomfort that a seemingly cute scene might be leading up to another "pull the rug" ending.
This episode was as far as I got three years ago, which means next episode and beyond is unfamiliar territory. Others have made comments to the effect that the math test was the nadir and that nothing else from here on out is as bad. I guess I'll get to judge for myself. Another complaint from others is that the episodes get kind of repetitive and samey, something else I'll make note of if I agree.
Reaction log: S01E06
Before: First never-before-seen episode. Among the things we haven't seen yet are any scene with either Takagi or Nishikata but not both. I wonder when that'll happen.
"Tandem Riding"
00:25 Is this going to be a beach episode?
03:00 Second appearance of Mano and Nakai.
03:20 Sometimes Nishikata overreacts to the most innocuous things Takagi says.
05:30 Just keep trying until you get it.
07:50 That scene was pretty cute. Takagi could have left out the 'have to buy me a drink' aspect but she makes up for it in the end by buying him one.
"First Day of Summer Vacation"
09:20 Looks like Mina and Sanae are also fans of '100% Unrequited Love'. I wonder if we'll get to see them discussing it with Nishikata.
"Test of Courage"
10:55 Takagi, if you're worried about Nishi seeing the reflection in the puddle up your dress, you could have worn shorts or something else. Come to think of it, isn't riding a bicycle in a long dress a safety hazard due to the moving parts it could get caught in?
16:20 Is Nishi still on about that 3 push-ups for every time thing?
"Summer Science Project"
17:40 Yukari is class president? Interesting though not too surprising.
18:15 I have a feeling we'll be seeing more about homework and science projects.
"Water Tap"
19:50 She's not wearing the hat.
21:20 It's nice to see Takagi actually helping Nishi for once instead of trying to provoke him.
After: Not a beach episode after all (but summer vacation isn't over yet). I enjoyed this episode more than any other so far. I hope there are more like it.
Not really important to the characters or story, but regarding the tunnel in "Test of Courage"... A straight tunnel would have to be really long, as in a couple of miles, to be unable to see the light from the far end in daylight, double that to be unable to see either end from the middle. Even well short of those lengths, it'll be dark enough that one would want a flashlight or other light source.
Addendum: I later found out it's based on a real tunnel in Tonosho but that tunnel is nowhere near as long or dark as is portrayed in the anime. The real tunnel looks to be about 260 ft (80 m) in length. Here it is in Google street view, and here it is looking back from the other end.
Reaction log: S01E07
Before: Much as I liked the last episode, it's probably too much to hope for that there won't be more of what bothered me about earlier episodes. I'm thinking that's more likely to happen once they're back in school and that there's at least one more summer vacation episode before that.
"Shopping"
00:20 For a few seconds there I thought, 'new OP', until I realized it's for the anime-within-the-anime '100% Unrequited Love'.
01:00 Who is talking to Takagi? Come to think of it, we've never seen her parents (nor Nishi's).
04:30 Nishi, your hand on the bag is a giveaway.
06:00 Nishi, you know she knows you like the series. Why are you still trying to hide it? You're only making matters worse.
06:30 This time it's Nishikata turning it into a game. Not that there's any doubt how this will end.
"Bathing Suit"
10:45 I'd totally enjoy helping a girl pick out a swimsuit, but my middle-school-age self might not have agreed.
11:40 Mano was quick to size up the situation. I could easily see Nakai and Nishikata having a bro-bonding moment from this.
12:25 Takagi is trying to let him off easily.
13:05 Given that Takagi knows Nishikata so well, I like seeing her use that to be nice to him instead of outwitting him.
"Ocean"
14:45 Yukari can't swim? She can still wade, can't she?
"Room"
16:15 Takagi just invited herself to Nishi's house.
16:40 Still no parents.
17:50 Nishi, she's right, you know. You don't have to hide it.
18:00 "This room is so you." Does that include the chicken?
20:30 The eraser. Thinking back to E01, I wondered if she would see if he wrote anything on it. Didn't happen, though.
After: Another episode I found much more enjoyable than the first few. Nishikata is still overthinking and overreacting to everything Takagi says or does, even though she's been a lot nicer to him these last two episodes. Depending on how much and for how long she's been teasing him besides what we see, it's not surprising that it would take some time before he'd be able to relax with her. At this point it would be premature to assume Takagi won't still tease him in a more antagonistic manner, or that Nishikata's reaction is unjustified.
Reaction log: S01E08
Before: Is it still summer break, or is it back to school?
(They've had pre-OP scenes before but this is the first one that was pretty much standalone and not the beginning of the post-OP scene.)
02:45 They've learned how not to fall over when off balance. I liked that scene a lot.
"Typhoon"
05:15 Nishikata can be silly sometimes.
06:30 Takagi caught him being himself.
08:00 The usual. Takagi makes it a guessing game. Nishi overthinks. We've seen this before.
09:20 I liked that scene. And it looks like they are back in school.
"Marathon"
11:05 Seems like everyone is in this scene. Takagi and Nishikata made it into a competition. Mano and Nakai helped each other. Which is the better approach?
11:15 So the heavier boy's name is Kimura. What about the tall one with the teeth? *pauses to check online* Takao.
14:15 Did Nishi seriously not know they had to run different distances? (Probably the 'but...' Kimura was about to say earlier.)
15:10 So Takagi messed up Nishi's marathon run. Probably the most not-very-nice thing she's done since the math test.
"Ribs"
15:45 This time it was Nishikata's idea to make a game of it.
17:55 Takagi changes tactics.
19:15 Didn't Nishi touch her, with his hands even, while they were practicing tandem bike riding?
"Regret"
20:20 That tunnel again.
22:05 It was very amusing to see Mina, Sanae, and Yukari finding the same things in the tunnel that Takagi and Nishi did two episodes ago.
ED: They've been back to the version with Takagi riding her bike alone for a couple of episodes now. Considering they used a different version earlier with Takagi and Nishikata walking the bike, I was thinking perhaps they'd have one with both of them riding tandem. Maybe it'll still happen in a later episode.
Before starting this rewatch, I wasn't sure if my claim of liking the Mina/Sanae/Yukari parts was because they were a respite from the two main characters, or because they were actually good in themselves. I can now confidently say it was the latter, at least based on the episodes so far, and I look forward to seeing more of them.
This episode reverts to some of the kind of teasing I found annoying in earlier episodes, but in those episodes Takagi was usually the initiator, whereas increasingly it more recent episodes it's Nishikata who starts it. He still seems fixated on getting her at least once. Mano and Nakai appear to be much better at supporting each other instead of trying to compete or outwit.
I am ticklish but haven't laughed from being tickled since sometime in childhood, possibly younger than Takagi and Nishi are supposed to be. That scene reminded me that my ex-wife would occasionally tickle me, but she wasn't ticklish, at least not by my hand (she claimed her brother could tickle her and even told me how, but when I tried to "practice" it on her she quickly got annoyed from my attempts). Thankfully this didn't happen often. Still, it's not exactly a good memory to have brought to mind but in this case I'll own it and won't diss the show because of it.
Reaction log: S01E09
Before: I've watched the last few episodes with Japanese audio and subtitles. Early on I watched at least E01 with the English dub, and maybe one of the next couple after that, but since then I've gravitated toward Japanese with subs.
"Cell Phone"
02:30 Nishi, you should know better than to think that by now. And what did Takagi just do to his phone?
04:30 If Nishi were thinking a little quicker he could reply with something like, "Since you brought it up..."
05:35 That time Nishikata messed up on his own without much provocation from Takagi.
06:45 Nishi, it's easier to ignore a cell phone than a person beside you.
07:20 Funny what Mina considered "a while now". Yukari knows her too well.
09:20 Public service announcement: There have been RL phone scams that are pretty much what Sanae just described.
"Horror"
11:30 Nishikata says "I don't care". Maybe he's figuring out that he'll get teased less if he does that more often, but I have a feeling in this case he won't follow through with it.
12:15 A weird video, maybe, but not exactly my idea of nightmare fuel.
12:50 If Nishikata is certain he didn't send that picture, he should ask Takagi why she had it on her phone.
15:10 The cherries on the phone, a bland name variant of an apple, obviously. Reminds me of the carrot on Judy Hopps's phone in Zootopia.
17:20 I remember phone calls that ended like that, each waiting for the other to hang up first until it got awkward.
"Picture"
21:00 Takagi is still annoying sometimes. Nishikata seems to be on the right track about how to react to her, but has a ways to go.
ED: The bike-walking version again.
After: Apparently Takagi didn't do anything to Nishi's phone (referring to my first comment above).
Reaction log: S01E10
So far I haven't seen anything that would lead me to concur with the impression by some that the series gets samey or repetitive. There have been several scenes that have turned into some sort of guessing game or back-and-forth between Takagi and Nishikata where he tries to outthink her and it never works. If there are too many more scenes in this and future episodes that follow this pattern, it could get tiresome, but it doesn't feel like we're at that point yet.
Before: Today I'll try the English dub again to see if it leaves a different impression.
"Who's Taller?"
00:25 I've had that happen, being so lost in thought that I ran into something. (Thankfully only a rare occurrence, and only when on foot.)
02:45 I was wondering about that... After practicing tandem riding earlier, why aren't they doing it? Then again, has Nishikata looked into getting his own bicycle? But now I'm going off on tangents.
04:05 Takagi is using bait-and-switch on him. Why else would she mention sexual harassment one moment, knowing how he'd infer that, and pivot to height a moment later? Nishi has every right to call her out on it, if he's sharp enough to see what she's doing.
04:30 Will they remember to remove shoes so that heels won't affect the outcome?
06:55 They did. And how you tilt your head matters. Nishi gets this one, sort of, except maybe the pole thing.
"I Hate the Cold"
07:20 Yukari sensitive to the cold brings back the earlier scene about the long vs. short sleeved school uniforms.
08:40 Mina deserved that. Still love these three!
09:35 They've been found out!
"Invitation"
10:40 I have no idea what his plan is but it should be obvious it won't work.
11:55 Nishi, are you really so stuck on thinking you have a chance to tease Takagi (that'll probably fail anyway) that you can't do something fun with your other friends?
14:15 Nishi, do you seriously think this is all Takagi's doing and that your other classmates haven't noticed these things?
"Two-Choice Question"
16:00 "Wormwood Juice". The same thing absinthe is made from, which has a taste similar to anise or licorice.
19:50 This game was Nishikata's idea. That said, shouldn't they be taking turns?
After: Three times in the first four episodes, we saw Takagi go out of her way to be with Nishikata when he might rather have been alone. We haven't really seen that happen again. In this episode in particular, it's pretty obvious Nishi chose to be with her.
Reaction log: S01E11
Before: Three years ago when I was trying to decide whether to keep watching or drop, one of the things mentioned to me was that this and the next episode have more story progression and character development than the other season one episodes. Time to find out if that's true.
Note: If some of my comments in "Critical" and the After section don't make sense, please read the Addendum section below.
"Cat"
00:20 Wouldn't the 'crouching down' tip be for cats at or closer to ground level and not really apply when the cat is above you?
00:50 Would that advice about how to approach a cat also apply to Takagi approaching Nishikata?
03:05 What's wrong with a boy liking cats?
06:00 Seriously, Nishi, it's okay to like cats. You got yourself in trouble this time.
"Taste"
07:30 Miscommunication! I think Yukari is emerging as my favorite of that trio.
"Portrait"
07:35 Mona Takagi?
08:20 I like the teacher.
09:15 Nishi overthinking as usual.
10:45 Somehow I'm not surprised that's how Nishikata envisions her. And apparently she isn't either, or at least she doesn't appear to be bothered by it.
11:55 Takagi was nicer to him, or should I say, less mean.
"Fortune Telling"
12:10 Is this the first time we've had all five of the main female characters on screen at the same time? (Takagi, Mina, Sanae, Yukari, and Mano)
13:30 Did Takagi lose on purpose?
13:50 This time she's actually helping.
16:30 Yes, she lost on purpose.
"Critical"
17:30 OP Takagi - not for knowing his birthday, which isn't surprising, but for knowing he had read and was thinking about the horoscope.
17:50 I didn't know my own blood type until I was in college and started donating blood.
18:40 He's still doing the push-ups thing? Makes me wonder what he counts as an instance of teasing, and whether some of them shouldn't count.
21:35 For once Takagi's attempt to laugh it off and turn it into a teasing opportunity didn't work.
21:55 Did Takagi actually almost cry? It's like she just realized for the first time that Nishikata sometimes gets upset, even hurt, by their back-and-forth. Nishikata actually scored his critical hit, though he probably doesn't realize it since it's not the kind of hit he expected to score.
(New, different ED this time too.)
After: Wow, that ending... Some of my comments throughout this series have been about how I would rather have seen a scene end, and finally an ending of that sort actually happens. I actually feel bad for Takagi. A little. I've felt bad for Nishikata countless times, so it was kinda deserved, but still... Do you suppose Nishi's portrait (which she didn't react to at the time, at least a day earlier) contributed to her reaction?
Does it seem like Nishikata is passing up opportunities to spend time with his other friends because he's too obsessed with not missing a chance to get back at Takagi? Also wondering how much people in Japan believe in things like fortune telling and horoscopes (but these are middle schoolers, not adults, which might make a difference).
This is the third time we've seen Nishikata on cleaning duty. As I understand it, in Japanese schools, cleaning duty is assigned in rotation, and a student can be given extra cleaning duty as punishment. This is what happened to Nishi in E04, but as far as we know the other two times it was his turn in the rotation.
Addendum (5/20): So I received feedback regarding my observations during "Critical" and further comments in the After section, suggesting that I had misinterpreted what happens in this scene. Apparently many/most viewers interpret it that Takagi was happy because Nishikata had let slip that he chose walking home with her over video gaming with his friends because he thought he would score a critical hit. My interpretation was that Takagi was perturbed by the revelation that he chose her not so much because he wanted to be with her as that he believed it was his lucky day to score a critical hit, and when Nishi became visibly upset and stormed off, she was shaken that their walk home ended on that note.
This is, in all seriousness, how I thought the scene was meant to be interpreted and how most viewers would see it. Since being told how others view this scene, I've rewatched it multiple times, even tracked down and read the corresponding manga chapter. The allegedly correct interpretation just doesn't quite work for me. Nishikata just took off visibly angry that he didn't get his critical hit after passing up a chance to play a video game, and she's supposed to be happy about this? It just doesn't add up. With my interpretation all of the pieces fit. I'm struggling to understand how others saw this scene so differently.
Reaction log: S01E12
Before: The ending of E11 could almost be considered a cliffhanger.
"Letter"
00:30 The look on her face. And Nishikata is actually focused on the class.
01:35 Sanae can be mean sometimes.
04:45 Nishi, you could have said something like "I'm not saying".
07:20 Nishikata seems just as worried that the letter won't be teasing as he is that it will be.
07:55 Sometimes Nishi reacts as if Takagi is teasing him when she actually isn't.
"First Day of School"
09:30 I take it this is a flashback
10:20 Did Nishi not go to the same elementary school as any of the other kids?
12:50 That handkerchief.
13:30 Takagi was pretty nice the day they met.
"Seating Arrangement"
14:30 That handkerchief again.
15:15 Would it be that bad if they were separated? They might even pay better attention during class, and they'd still have plenty of chances to talk.
18:00 Mano doesn't look too happy.
19:25 So they're back together. Good thing they both wanted it.
21:30 Is this the first time we've seen Takagi's room?
After: Nothing quite so dramatic as the ending of E11. It seems that whatever feelings they ended that episode with cleared up soon enough. I thought we'd see some conversation about that when they walked home, per Takagi's invitation in the letter, but we don't see that scene. (Is it in the manga?) Takagi was pretty nice the day she met Nishikata. How long was it before she started teasing him so much? Anyhow, for a season end episode it was nice and cute, if somewhat anticlimactic.
This also indicates Nishikata and Takagi had first met no more than three months before the first episode, where I assumed that they had known each other much longer than that. Three months isn't much time to go from first encounter to 'able to predict his every thought and reaction'. OP Takagi?
Reaction log: S01E13
Takagi is one third of the so-called "teasing trio". The other two are Nagatoro from Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, and Uzaki from Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out. They are at different ages - Takagi-san is set in middle school, Nagatoro-san in high school, and Uzaki-chan in college. I haven't watched Nagatoro-san so I can't say much about it. But I watched Uzaki-chan and enjoyed it a lot. The target of Uzaki's attentions is Shinichi. Uzaki can be quite pushy in her efforts to get Shinichi to do more than study, work, and hole up in his residence. Shinichi, though often reluctant and annoyed at Uzaki's efforts, ends up being agreeable to them in the end. Uzaki makes mistakes, sometimes being unwittingly embarrassing, unlike Takagi who it seems comes out on top every time. There are other supporting cast observing the two who think she's good for him. (There's one other *cough* big difference between Uzaki and Takagi, but we don't need to talk about that.)
Before: This episode is an OVA and is technically not part of S01 proper (MAL link), but I shall include it here for completeness. Offhand there doesn't appear to be an English dub.
"Water Slide"
02:45 A refer-back to the swimsuit shopping in E07.
03:00 Sometimes Nishikata's reaction begets a teasing opportunity where Takagi hadn't intended.
03:40 That's the most emotional outburst we've seen from the normally very chill Mano.
07:00 The angst of middle schoolers afraid to be seen as a couple, perhaps as themselves.
08:00 The M/S/Y trio is here. Planned, or coincidence?
09:05 Takagi: "How should I tease him this time?" Me: Why does it have to be teasing?
10:00 I don't remember ever being embarrassed to see girls my own age in swimsuits, at any age.
11:55 So even Nishikata, quite possibly a klutz in relationship matters, sees what's happening between Mano and Nakai.
13:35 Weight has nothing to do with whether you float. Density is what matters.
14:10 Will Takagi and Nishikata realize they have the same goal before one of them ends up subverting the other?
15:00 They sort of realized it.
17:00 Looks like it worked. And Takagi's suggestion was predictable enough.
18:05 Even Kimura sees what's going on.
After: This episode gave us a much better look at Mano and Nakai than we've had up to now. For that alone it's worth watching, since just about everything else was filler episode material, but I guess you can't put anything too important in an OVA.
Conclusion
Finally we reach my concluding remarks for the series. To make a long story short, my reactions to the first five episodes were pretty much as I remember from watching them three years ago. At that time I had made some inquiries about whether the rest of the season was going to be more of the same, and my findings led me to conclude that yes they were, at least through E10, implying that my reactions would likely be much the same. Now that I've watched the whole season, I can say that was not accurate. The later episodes, starting with E06, were easier to watch and were much more enjoyable. What bothered me the most about the first five episodes was either significantly scaled back or absent altogether in the later ones. (If I were to go below the episode level to the scene level in choosing a cutoff point, I would put it before the final scene of E05, "Shelter from the Rain", thus including that scene with the later episodes.)
Lest you think I "just got used to it", allow me to point out some specifics:
The pattern here is that Takagi starts out having too much fun teasing Nishikata and is indifferent to how angry or upset it makes him, or even if it gets him into trouble. Later she seems to be figuring out that if she wants to continue spending time with them and doesn't want to risk their friendship, she needs to keep her teasing in check and work on making it fun for both of them and not just herself.
There are worse things I had planned to say when I thought the whole season was going to be like the episodes I watched three years ago, but since that turned out not to be the case, those statements wouldn't be fair or accurate. Rewatching those early episodes required me to adopt a guarded mindset, and astute readers may have noticed in my reaction logs that even as I was enjoying the later episodes more, it took me a while to relax and let go of that mindset. MAL has it tagged as Iyashikei, a term I wasn't familiar with until I looked it up. And then laughed incredulously. I wouldn't say it was the most stressful anime I've ever watched, but it was easily in the top third. This anime ought to have a warning label of sorts that some neurodivergent viewers may find some parts disturbing, especially early in the season.
What about MAL rating? Three years ago I gave it a 3 based on the first five episodes. That's still pretty much my assessment of those episodes - maybe bump it to a 4, but no more. The later episodes I'd rate much higher, at least a 7, maybe an 8. On the balance, thinking about the season as a whole, I'll give it a rating of 6.
But wait, you might ask, if there was character development and story progression over the course of the season, shouldn't that make for a better story? That's a fair question. Look at A Silent Voice. The way Shouya goes from being a bully to an outcast to trying to reconcile with Shouko is the main element that makes that story great. We don't really see that in Takagi-san. When Takagi is being not-so-nice in early episodes, it's played off as cute and fun, and isn't really presented in a way that invites the viewer to contrast it with her behavior in later episodes. The shift in her behavior is so downplayed that less perceptive viewers might overlook it entirely. We never see her contemplating her behavior toward Nishikata or how she might change it. One possible exception to this is the ending of E11, which I would go so far as to say was the most powerful moment of the whole season. But on the whole, the lack of focus on Takagi's character development leads me to conclude it wasn't intended to be a primary story element.
As for Nishikata, the change less dramatic. By the end of the season he's still paranoid about what Takagi is plotting to do next, even when she isn't (that we can tell). We see him trying to "improve his game" at interacting with her. He also becomes more amenable to her company where early on he might rather have avoided her. It's unclear at the beginning whether he'd be relieved to be seated farther away from her or disappointed that it would give him fewer opportunities to tease her back, but by E12 it's obvious that he prefers being seated next to her.
A common complaint among fans of the show is that the segments with Mina, Sanae, and Yukari were filler material that they would skip over. On this I will strongly disagree. These three were a joy to watch, and if they made a whole episode featuring these three, or even a whole spinoff series, I would definitely watch it. I wonder how much material from Tomorrow Is Saturday hasn't already been incorporated into the three seasons of Takagi-san.
Will I watch S2/S3? Yes, I plan to. There was enough character development for me to want to see how it progresses further, and comments I've read from others indicate that the seasons get progressively better. It's a bit concerning that the shift in Takagi's behavior from the earlier to the later episodes was never particularly highlighted, leaving me to wonder whether or not it was done purposefully, and thus how likely she is to revert to her earlier behavior. Will I blog about them? If there's enough interest, but if I do it will most likely be episode summaries rather than timed reaction logs, and be posted a whole season at once.
The rewatch has been - I don't know if 'therapeutic' is the right word, but it's like I've made peace with something that's been bothering me for three years. I won't be hating on Teasing Master Takagi-san any more like I had been. Where it had been in my bottom 1% of all anime I've watched, it's now middle of the pack, and I have reason to believe later seasons will be more enjoyable.
Fin
This blog is about my second attempt to watch Teasing Master Takagi-san. Let me start by saying I'm a completionist - that is, I'll finish whatever I start watching almost no matter what, at least if it's no more than a couple of cours long. Even if it's boring, eye-rollingly stupid, or I don't care anymore what happens to the characters, I'll finish it anyway. The only show I ever attempted to watch and simply could not get through was - you guessed it - Teasing Master Takagi-san. The show was simply unbearable, even painful, for me to watch. I wrote a review. This was a little over 3 years ago, and at the time only season 1 had aired though season 2 had been announced.
Something about me that's probably relavant is that I have Asperger's Syndrome(*), an autism spectrum disorder. Around the time of my first attempt to watch Takagi-san I remember finding an article online that suggested some people on the autism spectrum who have a different empathic sense might react to the show similar to how I did. I don't know if it's quite the same thing, but I'll offer an example. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the 1964 Rankin-Bass special, has one part I cannot stand to watch. It's early in the show during the reindeer games scene when Rudolph gets surrounded and name-called by the other reindeer. I have to look away and cover my ears for that part (I'd probably leave the room if it wasn't for one of my favorite parts being just before, when Clarice tells Rudolph he's cute and he's so elated he flies around).
(*)I have come to dislike that name due to historical evidence that Hans Asperger was complicit in the Nazi regime's eugenics program. Nevertheless it is still in widespread usage and I don't know of another term for it. In DSM-V it falls under autism spectrum disorder, but that term is less specific and covers a wider range of disorders.
So why am I doing this? It's hard to explain, even to myself. It's become something that won't leave me alone. The show keeps coming up regularly on Twitter, Reddit, MAL, Discord, etc. It has in some sense become a challenge to be overcome. Sometimes you have to face your demons. In addition, I've seen enough favorable reactions to later seasons to leave me with a sense that dismissing them might represent a missed opportunity.
I might have considered doing this as a watch-along/reaction video, but I have neither the equipment nor the video editing knowhow to do that, plus there's the possibility I'd have to deal with takedowners, as has happened to many other anime YouTubers, and that's something I have no desire to deal with. Instead I'll just keep a written log of my reactions as I go along, both favorable and unfavorable.
I expect many readers of this blog will be fans of the show. If you're one of them, I'm not expecting anything I say to change your opinion of the show, and I don't expect you to agree with what I say about it. My brain doesn't work like your brain. Still, I hope you'll gain a better understanding of how a minority of viewers could be affected the way I was, and maybe I'll understand better what others appreciate about the show. I'll be happy to engage in the comments with anyone who can be civil and respectful. If we can meet halfway, that's something.
Disclosure: Although the above largely represents my thinking before starting, I've already completed the rewatch of season 1 and recorded my reaction logs before I began posting anything. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, so that I wouldn't be committed in the event that either I didn't complete the season, or if it went "too well" and ended up being a "much ado about nothing" outcome. Since I'm posting this, you can assume neither of these things happened. Second, I wanted to avoid any possibility that any responses my blog entries would influence my reactions or even the exercise as a whole. (PM me if you really want to know the end result before I post it.)
Reaction log: S01E01
In case anyone was checking, I have not yet updated my MAL rating or the review I posted 3 years ago. I intend to do so once I reach the end this blog.
Before: I'm a little bit fearful.
02:10 The OP theme is nice. As for the OP visuals, it seems like Takagi is smiling every time while Nishikata always looks shocked or flustered or embarrassed.
"Eraser"
03:58 It starts. Also, why isn't the teacher saying anything to Takagi about laughing after he just scolded Nishikata?
06:55 The teacher again.
09:50 Some of Nishi's reactions are too over the top. And so far Takagi is much too smug and appears to have no interest in being nice to him.
"Day Duty"
11:30 Forget it, Nishi. You can't win.
12:20 Stop overthinking it and just clean the blackboard.
14:05 Takagi, if he's not laughing along with you, you're probably doing it wrong.
14:50 First appearance of Mina, Sanae, and Yukari.
15:40 Don't overreact so much, Nishi.
"Funny Face"
17:10 Give it up, Nishi. You can't win.
19:25 Tanabe-sensei is blind if he can't see it was as much Takagi's fault as Nishi's.
20:40 Takagi's laugh is irritating, at least when she's the only one laughing.
"One Hundred Yen"
22:20 Mina, Sanae, and Yukari again. At least with these three I can just relax and enjoy the cute.
After: I didn't have any real difficulty getting through that episode, so I'm less worried now about those ahead. That said, so far I'm not really finding Takagi and Nishikata that enjoyable to watch, and as long as the interactions and the dynamic between them are more or less the same, that's unlikely to change.
Reaction log: S01E02
Before: Since I watched the dub of E01, I'll do the sub this episode. The voice acting might make a difference.
"Calligraphy"
02:15 Nishi, you could just figure something out on your own. You should know by now that playing along with Takagi isn't likely to turn out well for you.
04:00 This is the closest so far to them having an actual conversation about teasing. But the scene isn't over yet.
07:10 Called it the moment she touched his face. Will she actually be nicer after this? Still, it's conversation, and this time the teacher didn't get involved.
"Seasonal Change of Clothing"
09:10 Ya think Mina and Sanae aren't quite on the same wavelength?
"English Translation"
09:40 Why is Nishi thinking about getting back at her again, especially after the earlier scene?
10:40 Nishi, this time it was mostly your own fault.
14:20 Takagi says she thinks about him all the time. That could be an unhealthy obsession.
15:00 Nishi, you'd be terrible at poker. Be thankful that your "plan" simply failed rather than backfiring. Also seeing a bit of "OP Takagi". (Aside: Do middle schoolers in Japan normally talk that much in class?)
"Pool"
18:35 You're overthinking again, Nishi.
20:50 Called it again, Takagi is able to swim. Going out of her way to pretend she couldn't just for a chance to tease him wasn't nice.
Replay:
20:30 Takagi's laugh. Replayed both the sub and the dub. Takagi's English VA definitely has a more irritating laugh than the Japanese VA.
After: At a couple of points we saw a bit of "OP Takagi", where she's practically superhuman in her ability to anticipate Nishikata. Overall this episode was sufficiently less annoying to be somewhat cute, but still kind of annoying. The Mina/Sanae/Yukari scene was the only one I remembered from when I watched it three years ago.
Reaction log: S01E03
Taking a detour into art style since it's one aspect of the show that's been commented on frequently. A common observation is the size of Takagi's and some other character's foreheads. Another compares the size of Takagi's pupils to Nishikata's. I recently observed the same pupil disparity between Bocchan and Alice, the male and female leads of The Duke of Death and His Maid. It also reminded me of the internet meme about the boy wolf and the girl wolf. For me personally, the character design is not a factor. I've seen plenty of anime with a wide range of character designs, and while this show's is distinct it's not jarring or out of bounds.
A secondary reason I'm doing this whole rewatch-and-blog exercise is that manga author Souichirou Yamamoto has other works being adapted into anime that are likely to have similar art style and character designs. So long as my impression of Takagi-san is unfavorable, the similarity of art style is likely to give me a more negative impression of those other shows. If a rewatch results in a more favorable impression, of Takagi-san, it'll be much easier to judge those shows on their own merits.
Before: Of the episodes I got through three years ago, this was the only one I found at least somewhat enjoyable. Let's see if that holds up this time around.
"Coffee"
01:35 Another enjoyable scene with Mina, Sanae, and Yukari.
"Empty Can"
06:00 Nishikata's laugh is annoying too, but in this case the Japanese VA was the worse of the two compared to the English VA.
06:30 You know how this is going to end.
08:05 Takagi cheated. Nishi should have at least gotten a do-over. Not having to do anything is little consolation for not having a victory.
"Soda"
10:00 Mina can be annoying too sometimes.
11:15 Nishi, maybe think about how not to get teased? Like avoidance, or not taking the bait?
"Muscle Training"
14:30 Takagi actually complimented him. Nishi needs to learn how to handle a compliment.
"Dubbing"
14:40 What's with the cats?
15:20 Oh, it's Mina and Sanae.
"Umbrella"
18:20 How did she get the frog over there? Also, her reaction to the frog reminded me of Yuki from Wolf Children.
21:30 Sometimes Takagi is barely teasing him, and Nishikata is just that inept at reacting to her.
22:05 Called it wrong. I had predicted Takagi actually had her umbrella and only claimed she didn't so they could walk together under his. (Or maybe she did and decided against revealing it.)
22:40 Different ED animation
After: I smiled at this episode, even as I realized sometimes Takagi doesn't have to try very hard against Nishikata's ineptitude. If Nishi actually got good at reacting to her teasing, and teasing her back, it could turn into a very entertaining battle of wits akin to Kaguya-sama: Love Is War; regrettably I don't expect that to happen with this pair. I could enjoy the season more if I thought the rest of it would be like this from here on out; unfortunately I remember enough of the next two episodes to know that's not the case.
(Also, plenty of Mina/Sanae/Yukari screen time.)
Reaction log: S01E04
It's time to bring up a subject I've avoided mentioning until now. If you asked me why the series was painful for me to watch the first time, I could answer that in one word: bullying. It started out as a visceral reaction to certain scenes, certain parts of the story, similar to the one from Rudolph described in the introduction. It wasn't a reasoned assessment; it was something I felt. Anything more objective was worked out after the fact.
Does this mean I think Takagi is bullying Nishikata? In some cases, yes. My criteria here is that if Takagi does something that has tangible negative consequences for Nishikata, then it's over the line from teasing into bullying. Two scenes from this series stuck in my memory from three years ago that are examples of this, one of them in this episode and the other in the next. There were a couple of iffy moments in episode 1 when Nishi gets scolded in front of his class, but I'll give those a free pass. I'm not saying anything Takagi does is particularly serious as bullying goes - it's actually pretty mild compared to what often happens in bullying situations - but it still meets the minimum requirements.
In any discussion about bullying in anime, for many the first work that comes to mind is A Silent Voice. Another, at least for me, is 3-Gatsu no Lion, season 2. I've gotten incredulous reactions before when making comparisons between A Silent Voice and Takagi-san, as if discussing these two works in the same conversation blew a mental circuit breaker. First off, I readily acknowledge that the bullying that happens in A Silent Voice (and in 3-Gatsu no Lion) is much worse, and it made these shows uncomfortable to watch. But they didn't pull any punches that it was bullying and it was a really bad thing and something that should be put a stop to. And that is where Takagi-san fails; it tries to play it off as cute and funny, and what I saw didn't give me any sense that it wouldn't continue to happen and to be portrayed in such a manner. It's what drove this hardcore completionist into the drop zone.
Maybe this is the point where some fans of the show who have been okay with my blog through the last episode feel I've lost them. Perhaps these fans also thought that my comments through episode 3 were much ado about nothing (or not much). Well, we've kind of arrived at the core issue. Some folks will follow along while it's easy and turn tail when the going gets tough. I hope you'll stick with me.
Before: Here goes...
"Cleaning Duty"
00:25 So we don't see Takagi provoking Nishikata this episode. Still, it's a safe bet that's what it's what got him here, possibly including scenes from earlier episodes. Negative consequences. Over the line. (Also, how did Takagi know which room to hide in? The science room is a different room than the one they're usually seen in.)
02:25 I would like to have seen Nishikata close the locker the moment he saw Takagi hiding inside. And maybe barricading her inside for a little while (though of course he'd have to open it if he needs the cleaning supplies).
02:40 That annoying laugh again.
03:00 Just say no, Nishi. You should know by now this won't turn out well for you. Just tell her to split the work and leave the games out of it.
05:30 Takagi's not doing anything to help.
07:00 That's the third time we've seen Takagi go out of her way for a chance to tease him when she could have left him alone (although the fact that she wasn't actually punished along with him suggests Tanabi-sensei is playing favorites). She could have left bad enough alone; Nishi would have had to do all the work anyway, but beating him at 4/4 games of RPS and making him feel worse for it is just rubbing salt into the wound.
07:10 I could probably have appreciated the 'enjoy youth' theme (and the appearance of Mano and Nakai) if this scene wasn't so messed up in other ways.
"Kickover"
07:35 Why does everything have to turn into a game?
10:20 What the hell kind of game was that? Changing the rules as you go along? Nishi should have just said "The heck with this, see you tomorrow."
11:10 Yes, Nishi, she was cheating. It's okay to call her out on it.
"Cold"
12:05 Are the characters in the show he's watching supposed to in some way parallel Takagi and Nishikata (possibly with the genders reversed)?
14:30 Nishi, she knows you're plotting. Has it ever occurred to you that you might catch her by surprise by not doing that? Such as by actually paying attention in class?
17:20 Nothing about this scene was amusing, nor did it leave a more favorable impression of either of them.
"Tailing"
18:30 This is the most interaction so far between Takagi/Nishi and Mina/Sanae/Yukari.
20:35 So Nishi isn't the only one whose actions Takagi can predict.
23:35 Mina, Sanae, and Yukari haven't failed to amuse me yet.
After: It seems like everything about the cleaning duty scene was Takagi at her worst. It's like she never misses a chance to make Nishikata feel worse. If she knows him so well, does it ever occur to her to do things that will make him feel better instead of making him feel worse? Whenever Takagi looked cute I couldn't help but to see her as being devious. And she never plays fair when it's a game.
I somewhat enjoyed rewatching and blogging about the first three episodes. This one felt much more like I was 'just getting through it'.
Reaction log: S01E05
In case you're wondering if I was bullied while growing up, the answer is yes, though not particularly severely. In grade school I got it worse than most of my classmates; I think a lot of it was from others who were sometimes bullied themselves and needed someone to feel better than.
One article about the show I came across was this one, which sounded entirely reasonable and plausible until almost the end, when a shift in tone clued me in that it was meant as satire (something I now know but didn't before about Anime Maru). It fails as satire because, as a commenter points out, it's an entirely reasonable interpretation of the show.
Before: This is the episode that did it in for me three years ago. How will I do this time?
"Studying for the Test"
(Note: I remember all too well how this scene ends.)
00:45 Nishi has some weird friends
06:40 ...and there it is. This would have been a perfectly cute and adorable scene if Takagi hadn't pulled the rug out from under it all by uttering that last line.
"Test"
(Note: I had to deal with the next scene first before backing up to watch this one.)
08:20 I guess Yukari is the "smart one" of her trio, except maybe knowing what subject the test is about.
"Test Results"
09:05 This was the 'drop' moment on my first viewing. If Takagi really wanted to help him pass the test and not get his video games confiscated, she could easily have done so, since besides knowing what wasn't on the test she evidently knew the material that was. Now Nishikata is worse off for it. Takagi's actions were unquestionably over the line into bullying. She owes him an apology.
09:25 A better answer from Nishikata would be, "I'm not talking to you right now."
10:40 Even after Nishi got cleaning duty (see last episode), Takagi has no qualms about provoking him.
13:05 That whole guessing game was tiresome to sit through. Just be quiet and pay attention to class, both of you.
"Bookstore"
14:10 Why is Nishikata worried about Takagi finding out? She already guessed earlier that he had stayed up late watching the show by the same title.
15:25 Depending on how soon after the above scene this is supposed to take place, Nishikata has every right to say, "Leave me alone. I'm still not talking to you."
16:20 Takagi: "I've never lied to you". Fact check: Mostly false. It might be technically true that she hasn't said anything that's literally false, but insofar as misleading statements, withholding information, and being manipulative can also be considered forms of lying, she definitely has, many times.
17:30 If Takagi said she likes him, then says she was lying, does that mean she doesn't like him?
"Shelter from the Rain"
(My 15:25 comment above still applies. Has Takagi apologized yet? Somehow I doubt it.)
22:05 That was probably the cutest scene so far, and I think it had the least amount of teasing. Nishikata still overreacts to things, though. Was that "OP Takagi" predicting the rain would stop?
We're not told whether Nishikata's games were confiscated.
After: Let's compare the first and last scenes of this episode. Both were very pleasant and enjoyable scenes most of the way through, the kind I like to watch, but the first ended in a way that completely ruined what it had built up and became Takagi's worst instance of bullying so far. The last ended happily. I want to be able to enjoy scenes like the last when they happen, but after the first it will be hard to escape the discomfort that a seemingly cute scene might be leading up to another "pull the rug" ending.
This episode was as far as I got three years ago, which means next episode and beyond is unfamiliar territory. Others have made comments to the effect that the math test was the nadir and that nothing else from here on out is as bad. I guess I'll get to judge for myself. Another complaint from others is that the episodes get kind of repetitive and samey, something else I'll make note of if I agree.
Reaction log: S01E06
Before: First never-before-seen episode. Among the things we haven't seen yet are any scene with either Takagi or Nishikata but not both. I wonder when that'll happen.
"Tandem Riding"
00:25 Is this going to be a beach episode?
03:00 Second appearance of Mano and Nakai.
03:20 Sometimes Nishikata overreacts to the most innocuous things Takagi says.
05:30 Just keep trying until you get it.
07:50 That scene was pretty cute. Takagi could have left out the 'have to buy me a drink' aspect but she makes up for it in the end by buying him one.
"First Day of Summer Vacation"
09:20 Looks like Mina and Sanae are also fans of '100% Unrequited Love'. I wonder if we'll get to see them discussing it with Nishikata.
"Test of Courage"
10:55 Takagi, if you're worried about Nishi seeing the reflection in the puddle up your dress, you could have worn shorts or something else. Come to think of it, isn't riding a bicycle in a long dress a safety hazard due to the moving parts it could get caught in?
16:20 Is Nishi still on about that 3 push-ups for every time thing?
"Summer Science Project"
17:40 Yukari is class president? Interesting though not too surprising.
18:15 I have a feeling we'll be seeing more about homework and science projects.
"Water Tap"
19:50 She's not wearing the hat.
21:20 It's nice to see Takagi actually helping Nishi for once instead of trying to provoke him.
After: Not a beach episode after all (but summer vacation isn't over yet). I enjoyed this episode more than any other so far. I hope there are more like it.
Not really important to the characters or story, but regarding the tunnel in "Test of Courage"... A straight tunnel would have to be really long, as in a couple of miles, to be unable to see the light from the far end in daylight, double that to be unable to see either end from the middle. Even well short of those lengths, it'll be dark enough that one would want a flashlight or other light source.
Addendum: I later found out it's based on a real tunnel in Tonosho but that tunnel is nowhere near as long or dark as is portrayed in the anime. The real tunnel looks to be about 260 ft (80 m) in length. Here it is in Google street view, and here it is looking back from the other end.
Reaction log: S01E07
Before: Much as I liked the last episode, it's probably too much to hope for that there won't be more of what bothered me about earlier episodes. I'm thinking that's more likely to happen once they're back in school and that there's at least one more summer vacation episode before that.
"Shopping"
00:20 For a few seconds there I thought, 'new OP', until I realized it's for the anime-within-the-anime '100% Unrequited Love'.
01:00 Who is talking to Takagi? Come to think of it, we've never seen her parents (nor Nishi's).
04:30 Nishi, your hand on the bag is a giveaway.
06:00 Nishi, you know she knows you like the series. Why are you still trying to hide it? You're only making matters worse.
06:30 This time it's Nishikata turning it into a game. Not that there's any doubt how this will end.
"Bathing Suit"
10:45 I'd totally enjoy helping a girl pick out a swimsuit, but my middle-school-age self might not have agreed.
11:40 Mano was quick to size up the situation. I could easily see Nakai and Nishikata having a bro-bonding moment from this.
12:25 Takagi is trying to let him off easily.
13:05 Given that Takagi knows Nishikata so well, I like seeing her use that to be nice to him instead of outwitting him.
"Ocean"
14:45 Yukari can't swim? She can still wade, can't she?
"Room"
16:15 Takagi just invited herself to Nishi's house.
16:40 Still no parents.
17:50 Nishi, she's right, you know. You don't have to hide it.
18:00 "This room is so you." Does that include the chicken?
20:30 The eraser. Thinking back to E01, I wondered if she would see if he wrote anything on it. Didn't happen, though.
After: Another episode I found much more enjoyable than the first few. Nishikata is still overthinking and overreacting to everything Takagi says or does, even though she's been a lot nicer to him these last two episodes. Depending on how much and for how long she's been teasing him besides what we see, it's not surprising that it would take some time before he'd be able to relax with her. At this point it would be premature to assume Takagi won't still tease him in a more antagonistic manner, or that Nishikata's reaction is unjustified.
Reaction log: S01E08
Before: Is it still summer break, or is it back to school?
(They've had pre-OP scenes before but this is the first one that was pretty much standalone and not the beginning of the post-OP scene.)
02:45 They've learned how not to fall over when off balance. I liked that scene a lot.
"Typhoon"
05:15 Nishikata can be silly sometimes.
06:30 Takagi caught him being himself.
08:00 The usual. Takagi makes it a guessing game. Nishi overthinks. We've seen this before.
09:20 I liked that scene. And it looks like they are back in school.
"Marathon"
11:05 Seems like everyone is in this scene. Takagi and Nishikata made it into a competition. Mano and Nakai helped each other. Which is the better approach?
11:15 So the heavier boy's name is Kimura. What about the tall one with the teeth? *pauses to check online* Takao.
14:15 Did Nishi seriously not know they had to run different distances? (Probably the 'but...' Kimura was about to say earlier.)
15:10 So Takagi messed up Nishi's marathon run. Probably the most not-very-nice thing she's done since the math test.
"Ribs"
15:45 This time it was Nishikata's idea to make a game of it.
17:55 Takagi changes tactics.
19:15 Didn't Nishi touch her, with his hands even, while they were practicing tandem bike riding?
"Regret"
20:20 That tunnel again.
22:05 It was very amusing to see Mina, Sanae, and Yukari finding the same things in the tunnel that Takagi and Nishi did two episodes ago.
ED: They've been back to the version with Takagi riding her bike alone for a couple of episodes now. Considering they used a different version earlier with Takagi and Nishikata walking the bike, I was thinking perhaps they'd have one with both of them riding tandem. Maybe it'll still happen in a later episode.
Before starting this rewatch, I wasn't sure if my claim of liking the Mina/Sanae/Yukari parts was because they were a respite from the two main characters, or because they were actually good in themselves. I can now confidently say it was the latter, at least based on the episodes so far, and I look forward to seeing more of them.
This episode reverts to some of the kind of teasing I found annoying in earlier episodes, but in those episodes Takagi was usually the initiator, whereas increasingly it more recent episodes it's Nishikata who starts it. He still seems fixated on getting her at least once. Mano and Nakai appear to be much better at supporting each other instead of trying to compete or outwit.
I am ticklish but haven't laughed from being tickled since sometime in childhood, possibly younger than Takagi and Nishi are supposed to be. That scene reminded me that my ex-wife would occasionally tickle me, but she wasn't ticklish, at least not by my hand (she claimed her brother could tickle her and even told me how, but when I tried to "practice" it on her she quickly got annoyed from my attempts). Thankfully this didn't happen often. Still, it's not exactly a good memory to have brought to mind but in this case I'll own it and won't diss the show because of it.
Reaction log: S01E09
Before: I've watched the last few episodes with Japanese audio and subtitles. Early on I watched at least E01 with the English dub, and maybe one of the next couple after that, but since then I've gravitated toward Japanese with subs.
"Cell Phone"
02:30 Nishi, you should know better than to think that by now. And what did Takagi just do to his phone?
04:30 If Nishi were thinking a little quicker he could reply with something like, "Since you brought it up..."
05:35 That time Nishikata messed up on his own without much provocation from Takagi.
06:45 Nishi, it's easier to ignore a cell phone than a person beside you.
07:20 Funny what Mina considered "a while now". Yukari knows her too well.
09:20 Public service announcement: There have been RL phone scams that are pretty much what Sanae just described.
"Horror"
11:30 Nishikata says "I don't care". Maybe he's figuring out that he'll get teased less if he does that more often, but I have a feeling in this case he won't follow through with it.
12:15 A weird video, maybe, but not exactly my idea of nightmare fuel.
12:50 If Nishikata is certain he didn't send that picture, he should ask Takagi why she had it on her phone.
15:10 The cherries on the phone, a bland name variant of an apple, obviously. Reminds me of the carrot on Judy Hopps's phone in Zootopia.
17:20 I remember phone calls that ended like that, each waiting for the other to hang up first until it got awkward.
"Picture"
21:00 Takagi is still annoying sometimes. Nishikata seems to be on the right track about how to react to her, but has a ways to go.
ED: The bike-walking version again.
After: Apparently Takagi didn't do anything to Nishi's phone (referring to my first comment above).
Reaction log: S01E10
So far I haven't seen anything that would lead me to concur with the impression by some that the series gets samey or repetitive. There have been several scenes that have turned into some sort of guessing game or back-and-forth between Takagi and Nishikata where he tries to outthink her and it never works. If there are too many more scenes in this and future episodes that follow this pattern, it could get tiresome, but it doesn't feel like we're at that point yet.
Before: Today I'll try the English dub again to see if it leaves a different impression.
"Who's Taller?"
00:25 I've had that happen, being so lost in thought that I ran into something. (Thankfully only a rare occurrence, and only when on foot.)
02:45 I was wondering about that... After practicing tandem riding earlier, why aren't they doing it? Then again, has Nishikata looked into getting his own bicycle? But now I'm going off on tangents.
04:05 Takagi is using bait-and-switch on him. Why else would she mention sexual harassment one moment, knowing how he'd infer that, and pivot to height a moment later? Nishi has every right to call her out on it, if he's sharp enough to see what she's doing.
04:30 Will they remember to remove shoes so that heels won't affect the outcome?
06:55 They did. And how you tilt your head matters. Nishi gets this one, sort of, except maybe the pole thing.
"I Hate the Cold"
07:20 Yukari sensitive to the cold brings back the earlier scene about the long vs. short sleeved school uniforms.
08:40 Mina deserved that. Still love these three!
09:35 They've been found out!
"Invitation"
10:40 I have no idea what his plan is but it should be obvious it won't work.
11:55 Nishi, are you really so stuck on thinking you have a chance to tease Takagi (that'll probably fail anyway) that you can't do something fun with your other friends?
14:15 Nishi, do you seriously think this is all Takagi's doing and that your other classmates haven't noticed these things?
"Two-Choice Question"
16:00 "Wormwood Juice". The same thing absinthe is made from, which has a taste similar to anise or licorice.
19:50 This game was Nishikata's idea. That said, shouldn't they be taking turns?
After: Three times in the first four episodes, we saw Takagi go out of her way to be with Nishikata when he might rather have been alone. We haven't really seen that happen again. In this episode in particular, it's pretty obvious Nishi chose to be with her.
Reaction log: S01E11
Before: Three years ago when I was trying to decide whether to keep watching or drop, one of the things mentioned to me was that this and the next episode have more story progression and character development than the other season one episodes. Time to find out if that's true.
Note: If some of my comments in "Critical" and the After section don't make sense, please read the Addendum section below.
"Cat"
00:20 Wouldn't the 'crouching down' tip be for cats at or closer to ground level and not really apply when the cat is above you?
00:50 Would that advice about how to approach a cat also apply to Takagi approaching Nishikata?
03:05 What's wrong with a boy liking cats?
06:00 Seriously, Nishi, it's okay to like cats. You got yourself in trouble this time.
"Taste"
07:30 Miscommunication! I think Yukari is emerging as my favorite of that trio.
"Portrait"
07:35 Mona Takagi?
08:20 I like the teacher.
09:15 Nishi overthinking as usual.
10:45 Somehow I'm not surprised that's how Nishikata envisions her. And apparently she isn't either, or at least she doesn't appear to be bothered by it.
11:55 Takagi was nicer to him, or should I say, less mean.
"Fortune Telling"
12:10 Is this the first time we've had all five of the main female characters on screen at the same time? (Takagi, Mina, Sanae, Yukari, and Mano)
13:30 Did Takagi lose on purpose?
13:50 This time she's actually helping.
16:30 Yes, she lost on purpose.
"Critical"
17:30 OP Takagi - not for knowing his birthday, which isn't surprising, but for knowing he had read and was thinking about the horoscope.
17:50 I didn't know my own blood type until I was in college and started donating blood.
18:40 He's still doing the push-ups thing? Makes me wonder what he counts as an instance of teasing, and whether some of them shouldn't count.
21:35 For once Takagi's attempt to laugh it off and turn it into a teasing opportunity didn't work.
21:55 Did Takagi actually almost cry? It's like she just realized for the first time that Nishikata sometimes gets upset, even hurt, by their back-and-forth. Nishikata actually scored his critical hit, though he probably doesn't realize it since it's not the kind of hit he expected to score.
(New, different ED this time too.)
After: Wow, that ending... Some of my comments throughout this series have been about how I would rather have seen a scene end, and finally an ending of that sort actually happens. I actually feel bad for Takagi. A little. I've felt bad for Nishikata countless times, so it was kinda deserved, but still... Do you suppose Nishi's portrait (which she didn't react to at the time, at least a day earlier) contributed to her reaction?
Does it seem like Nishikata is passing up opportunities to spend time with his other friends because he's too obsessed with not missing a chance to get back at Takagi? Also wondering how much people in Japan believe in things like fortune telling and horoscopes (but these are middle schoolers, not adults, which might make a difference).
This is the third time we've seen Nishikata on cleaning duty. As I understand it, in Japanese schools, cleaning duty is assigned in rotation, and a student can be given extra cleaning duty as punishment. This is what happened to Nishi in E04, but as far as we know the other two times it was his turn in the rotation.
Addendum (5/20): So I received feedback regarding my observations during "Critical" and further comments in the After section, suggesting that I had misinterpreted what happens in this scene. Apparently many/most viewers interpret it that Takagi was happy because Nishikata had let slip that he chose walking home with her over video gaming with his friends because he thought he would score a critical hit. My interpretation was that Takagi was perturbed by the revelation that he chose her not so much because he wanted to be with her as that he believed it was his lucky day to score a critical hit, and when Nishi became visibly upset and stormed off, she was shaken that their walk home ended on that note.
This is, in all seriousness, how I thought the scene was meant to be interpreted and how most viewers would see it. Since being told how others view this scene, I've rewatched it multiple times, even tracked down and read the corresponding manga chapter. The allegedly correct interpretation just doesn't quite work for me. Nishikata just took off visibly angry that he didn't get his critical hit after passing up a chance to play a video game, and she's supposed to be happy about this? It just doesn't add up. With my interpretation all of the pieces fit. I'm struggling to understand how others saw this scene so differently.
Reaction log: S01E12
Before: The ending of E11 could almost be considered a cliffhanger.
"Letter"
00:30 The look on her face. And Nishikata is actually focused on the class.
01:35 Sanae can be mean sometimes.
04:45 Nishi, you could have said something like "I'm not saying".
07:20 Nishikata seems just as worried that the letter won't be teasing as he is that it will be.
07:55 Sometimes Nishi reacts as if Takagi is teasing him when she actually isn't.
"First Day of School"
09:30 I take it this is a flashback
10:20 Did Nishi not go to the same elementary school as any of the other kids?
12:50 That handkerchief.
13:30 Takagi was pretty nice the day they met.
"Seating Arrangement"
14:30 That handkerchief again.
15:15 Would it be that bad if they were separated? They might even pay better attention during class, and they'd still have plenty of chances to talk.
18:00 Mano doesn't look too happy.
19:25 So they're back together. Good thing they both wanted it.
21:30 Is this the first time we've seen Takagi's room?
After: Nothing quite so dramatic as the ending of E11. It seems that whatever feelings they ended that episode with cleared up soon enough. I thought we'd see some conversation about that when they walked home, per Takagi's invitation in the letter, but we don't see that scene. (Is it in the manga?) Takagi was pretty nice the day she met Nishikata. How long was it before she started teasing him so much? Anyhow, for a season end episode it was nice and cute, if somewhat anticlimactic.
This also indicates Nishikata and Takagi had first met no more than three months before the first episode, where I assumed that they had known each other much longer than that. Three months isn't much time to go from first encounter to 'able to predict his every thought and reaction'. OP Takagi?
Reaction log: S01E13
Takagi is one third of the so-called "teasing trio". The other two are Nagatoro from Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, and Uzaki from Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out. They are at different ages - Takagi-san is set in middle school, Nagatoro-san in high school, and Uzaki-chan in college. I haven't watched Nagatoro-san so I can't say much about it. But I watched Uzaki-chan and enjoyed it a lot. The target of Uzaki's attentions is Shinichi. Uzaki can be quite pushy in her efforts to get Shinichi to do more than study, work, and hole up in his residence. Shinichi, though often reluctant and annoyed at Uzaki's efforts, ends up being agreeable to them in the end. Uzaki makes mistakes, sometimes being unwittingly embarrassing, unlike Takagi who it seems comes out on top every time. There are other supporting cast observing the two who think she's good for him. (There's one other *cough* big difference between Uzaki and Takagi, but we don't need to talk about that.)
Before: This episode is an OVA and is technically not part of S01 proper (MAL link), but I shall include it here for completeness. Offhand there doesn't appear to be an English dub.
"Water Slide"
02:45 A refer-back to the swimsuit shopping in E07.
03:00 Sometimes Nishikata's reaction begets a teasing opportunity where Takagi hadn't intended.
03:40 That's the most emotional outburst we've seen from the normally very chill Mano.
07:00 The angst of middle schoolers afraid to be seen as a couple, perhaps as themselves.
08:00 The M/S/Y trio is here. Planned, or coincidence?
09:05 Takagi: "How should I tease him this time?" Me: Why does it have to be teasing?
10:00 I don't remember ever being embarrassed to see girls my own age in swimsuits, at any age.
11:55 So even Nishikata, quite possibly a klutz in relationship matters, sees what's happening between Mano and Nakai.
13:35 Weight has nothing to do with whether you float. Density is what matters.
14:10 Will Takagi and Nishikata realize they have the same goal before one of them ends up subverting the other?
15:00 They sort of realized it.
17:00 Looks like it worked. And Takagi's suggestion was predictable enough.
18:05 Even Kimura sees what's going on.
After: This episode gave us a much better look at Mano and Nakai than we've had up to now. For that alone it's worth watching, since just about everything else was filler episode material, but I guess you can't put anything too important in an OVA.
Conclusion
Finally we reach my concluding remarks for the series. To make a long story short, my reactions to the first five episodes were pretty much as I remember from watching them three years ago. At that time I had made some inquiries about whether the rest of the season was going to be more of the same, and my findings led me to conclude that yes they were, at least through E10, implying that my reactions would likely be much the same. Now that I've watched the whole season, I can say that was not accurate. The later episodes, starting with E06, were easier to watch and were much more enjoyable. What bothered me the most about the first five episodes was either significantly scaled back or absent altogether in the later ones. (If I were to go below the episode level to the scene level in choosing a cutoff point, I would put it before the final scene of E05, "Shelter from the Rain", thus including that scene with the later episodes.)
Lest you think I "just got used to it", allow me to point out some specifics:
- I stand by my assessment that some of Takagi's behavior in early episodes are over the line from teasing into bullying, specifically her provoking Nishikata that resulted in him getting extra cleaning duty, and the math test. Nothing happens from E06 onward that I'd consider bullying.
- Three times in the early episodes ("Day Duty", "Pool", and "Cleaning Duty") Takagi goes out of her way to be with Nishikata and tease him when he might rather have been alone. I don't think this happens in the later episodes; if he's with her it's by his choice.
- In my E05 comments, I talked about "pulling the rug". It didn't happen again to speak of. The closest thing to a rug pull for the rest of the season was in E11 when Takagi said she lost RPS on purpose.
- Early on, Takagi is usually the initiator. Later it's about evenly divided between the two of them.
- At first, it's Takagi who wants to make something into a game or bet, and she often changes the rules after they agree. In later episodes it's often Nishikata who turns it into a game, and he gets better at negotiating rules (even if it doesn't help the outcomes).
The pattern here is that Takagi starts out having too much fun teasing Nishikata and is indifferent to how angry or upset it makes him, or even if it gets him into trouble. Later she seems to be figuring out that if she wants to continue spending time with them and doesn't want to risk their friendship, she needs to keep her teasing in check and work on making it fun for both of them and not just herself.
There are worse things I had planned to say when I thought the whole season was going to be like the episodes I watched three years ago, but since that turned out not to be the case, those statements wouldn't be fair or accurate. Rewatching those early episodes required me to adopt a guarded mindset, and astute readers may have noticed in my reaction logs that even as I was enjoying the later episodes more, it took me a while to relax and let go of that mindset. MAL has it tagged as Iyashikei, a term I wasn't familiar with until I looked it up. And then laughed incredulously. I wouldn't say it was the most stressful anime I've ever watched, but it was easily in the top third. This anime ought to have a warning label of sorts that some neurodivergent viewers may find some parts disturbing, especially early in the season.
What about MAL rating? Three years ago I gave it a 3 based on the first five episodes. That's still pretty much my assessment of those episodes - maybe bump it to a 4, but no more. The later episodes I'd rate much higher, at least a 7, maybe an 8. On the balance, thinking about the season as a whole, I'll give it a rating of 6.
But wait, you might ask, if there was character development and story progression over the course of the season, shouldn't that make for a better story? That's a fair question. Look at A Silent Voice. The way Shouya goes from being a bully to an outcast to trying to reconcile with Shouko is the main element that makes that story great. We don't really see that in Takagi-san. When Takagi is being not-so-nice in early episodes, it's played off as cute and fun, and isn't really presented in a way that invites the viewer to contrast it with her behavior in later episodes. The shift in her behavior is so downplayed that less perceptive viewers might overlook it entirely. We never see her contemplating her behavior toward Nishikata or how she might change it. One possible exception to this is the ending of E11, which I would go so far as to say was the most powerful moment of the whole season. But on the whole, the lack of focus on Takagi's character development leads me to conclude it wasn't intended to be a primary story element.
As for Nishikata, the change less dramatic. By the end of the season he's still paranoid about what Takagi is plotting to do next, even when she isn't (that we can tell). We see him trying to "improve his game" at interacting with her. He also becomes more amenable to her company where early on he might rather have avoided her. It's unclear at the beginning whether he'd be relieved to be seated farther away from her or disappointed that it would give him fewer opportunities to tease her back, but by E12 it's obvious that he prefers being seated next to her.
A common complaint among fans of the show is that the segments with Mina, Sanae, and Yukari were filler material that they would skip over. On this I will strongly disagree. These three were a joy to watch, and if they made a whole episode featuring these three, or even a whole spinoff series, I would definitely watch it. I wonder how much material from Tomorrow Is Saturday hasn't already been incorporated into the three seasons of Takagi-san.
Will I watch S2/S3? Yes, I plan to. There was enough character development for me to want to see how it progresses further, and comments I've read from others indicate that the seasons get progressively better. It's a bit concerning that the shift in Takagi's behavior from the earlier to the later episodes was never particularly highlighted, leaving me to wonder whether or not it was done purposefully, and thus how likely she is to revert to her earlier behavior. Will I blog about them? If there's enough interest, but if I do it will most likely be episode summaries rather than timed reaction logs, and be posted a whole season at once.
The rewatch has been - I don't know if 'therapeutic' is the right word, but it's like I've made peace with something that's been bothering me for three years. I won't be hating on Teasing Master Takagi-san any more like I had been. Where it had been in my bottom 1% of all anime I've watched, it's now middle of the pack, and I have reason to believe later seasons will be more enjoyable.
Fin
Posted by mwalimu | Apr 28, 2022 6:45 PM | 0 comments