Review of Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

It took me two takes before getting into the series but when I finally did, I wholeheartedly enjoy the show. The main story resolves about a loner and reclusive teenage boy who gets the "misfortune" of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and ending up being bullied by his younger, female students. Titular Nagatoro-san is energetic, sporty and witted girl with rather rotten attitude. She appears to be yandere. which at first turned me off with her annoying antics, but as the series goes, she turns out to be neo-classical take on tsundere archetype in quite fresh and well made way. Main male character,Senpai, also isn't just another weak-witted protagonist that some people would see themselves as, there's certainly well made character development which could be glanced over by some viewers.

Story isn't deep or groundbreaking. It even falls into some very tired tropes but somehow works them out due to limited characters and focus on the dynamics between main and supporting characters which is the strongest point, especially Nagatoro-Senpai dynamic. Despite sounding counter intuitive, because this would usually make a weak point being limited cast with trope defined personalities, but series doesn't tries too much to be something it won't and can't be, so comedic relief characters are like that, serious characters are over the top, and certain plot lines aren't dragged for the sake of airtime and fake drama.
In the end, it is a teenage romance with emphasis on the comedy and slapstick & romance, yet it did remind me of some of my old times in high school which probably caused biased reception. But that's how shows work - you either dive into created world or compare it to your own experiences, and "Don't toy with me, Nagatoro!" reminded me of general naivety and innocence one would reflect upon of theirs teenage years.

Art.
Art is borderline cheap. There are moments when some visual gags which worked in manga seem cheap and lame being used over and over. Overall direction and quality doesn't go below certain levels and there's a handful of "quality(not)" moments but also I must praise the studio for well made pencil artwork heavily featured in many episodes.

Audio, soundtrack and OP&ED is nothing special but there are some well defined moments, like switching theme from animes-que to typical rpg/mmo-styled audio narration in game-themed episode.
OP is, well, just that. An opening song. I've skipped it every time beyond first take, and usually did the same with ending, though ending song surely is cutesy and sets certain mood in a better way then the opening song did.

Cast is good.
Prior to watching the series I didn't research who played in it, so seeing Sumire Uesaka and Nana Mizuki really surprised me.
Voice acting is solid but also in many cases falls into certain tropes, which for some, might be good but others might be tired of the same formula used over and over.

Enjoyment and recommendation.
Overall, despite dropping series as a unwatchable 4/10 after first episode something nagged and drawn me to give series another chance, and few days ago it just clicked.
Like I said, there are very tired, overused tropes but there are also very well made character progression.
Glancing over other reviews (without obviously 9+ and 2- ones) series does polarize the audience, but without getting into spoilers region, I think it is because it toys with a glanced over topic being female students bullying male student. Or just bullying in general.
In my personal opinion jumping in the conclusions because series made a strong, emotional impression is somewhat missing two things: character development and that it makes an impact, which is quite rare these days with mass made series trying same formulae over and over.

Would I recommend this tittle? No. Not to everyone. You either would fall for the same jokes and slapstick, like me, would remind yourself of long gone high school era (totally cutting out all of the annoying parts of it), or would get totally triggered just after first episode (again me). Yet, despite rocky start, this was really fun and heartwarming experience, so maybe if you're 30+ y.o. otaku like me, you'd ride this ride with rosy shades on and just smile with how the story unfolds, because if you stick with it, it totally is worth the time.