The series features the day-to-day interactions between the main duo, Takagi-san and Nishigata, which revolves around trivial moments in school and daily life, ranging from visiting a small grocery store to throwing stones beside the river. Each episode is divided into several sub-episodes where they will hold small bets or “contests”, with Nishigata being the loser on nearly all occasions. Still, he tries every desperate mean to trick Takagi-san back but fails anyways. Bit by bit, day by day, their relationship grows from the little pranks they put on each other. The second season continues to illustrate Nishigata’s inability to retaliate and the ever-increasing intimacy with Takagi-san.
The immaturity of Nishigata can be pinpointed in the title itself. In Japanese, “-san” is usually used for addressing formally or someone you are not acquainted with, which is basically the equivalence of “Mr.” or “Mrs.” in English. The fact that Nishigata still adopts such a distant approach with Takagi-san even after a whole year shows that he is unable to handle conversations or even a relationship with the opposite sex - a perfect example of how carefully designed Nishigata is.
If I were to nitpick, the show’s greatest downfall would be its repetitiveness. Episodes after episodes of contests with very predictable outcomes are surely dull and boring. Retaining the same format, the story nonetheless showed some progression from the first season, with Nishigata evolving from not revenging at all to reminding himself of the humiliation through push-ups and constantly plotting back at Takagi-san.
It is crucial to bear in mind that Nishigata was merely a grade 7 student(grade 8 in this season). Immaturity, irrationality, and evasion from physical and verbal contact with the opposite sex are all undeniably traits of someone in Nishigata’s age, and that is exactly what the show depicted Nishigata as with panache. Aberrant the scenes may seem, they are nonetheless a genuine and authentic portrayal.
Takagi-san features an art style nuanced from the mainstream. The colour tone is mainly bright and vibrant with the doodle-ish feeling, which is not commonly seen in other popular shows. We can see that the animation is done with passion and care. The backgrounds are well-crafted and details are not compromised.
The opening “Zero Centimeters” is sung by Yuiko Oohara, who also sang Season 1’s opening. The endings are sung by Takagi-san’s voice actor, Rie Takahashi. Not only are the opening and endings catchy, but the background music also gives a youthful and upbeat feeling with its performance with recorders and a piano, fitting the middle school theme perfectly.
Takagi-san has transcended beyond your typical seasonal romcom waifu battleground. It remains one of my favourites in the romance genre for its simple yet meticulous depiction of some heart-tingling and face-blushing middle school romance and touches on themes seldom explored. Next time before you are about to dive into another brawl for waifus, why not take a break and fill your wholesomeness meter with Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san instead?
