Review of Teasing Master Takagi-san

Ah...the fun moments of middle school days, MORE SO when it comes towards the romantic aspect. Needless to say, I was a HUGE fan of the manga series even before the anime adaptation was out, and remembering my thoughts of requesting this to have an anime, and what to say, my (and many fans)prayers are finally answered with this great adaptation of 2 comic series (the main series and the spin-off (Ashita wa Doyoubi) which focuses on the side characters Mina, Yukari, Sanae) and it truly delivered the one-to-one experience to a T. Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san is a rom-com, a SoL on 2 very simple butplayful characters: Nishikata (veteran CV KajiKaji) the playful boy who ALWAYS gets teased by the savage girl, Takagi (one of the best seiyuu CVs, Rie Takahashi, her voice is VERY noticeable and a great one at that) (with an affectionate love of teasing, of course). The moments of Nishikata wanting to win over Takagi in numerous ways sets up the ONLY plot for the show, and my heart fluttered as I remembered the manga original and finally getting to see it in action. Every single detail, though simple and plain yet appropriately beautiful was handled exquisitely well and props for retaining the original designs of the manga art.

So, with a plain, boring but yet endearing series, what do you get with it? A boy who's always frustrated at the girl whom has an edge over him, with the girl finding that the naïve, innocent-looking boy is her fun factor. Every "plot" that Nishikata comes up with is a total failure and wreck at the same time, but that doesn't always pose a problem for Takagi, who has always been able to outwit and outlast Nishikata, at times charming him with simple things like tickling to the more heart-to-heart embarrassing moments like getting together under an umbrella when raining, closing on faces that look like a kiss and blushing like mad when she doesn't mean it, oh how we wished our younger sweetheart days were like that.

The art is simply beautiful and gorgeous, that reminds me of the typical Sunrise and Tatsunoko Productions' type of old anime backgrounds made modern-age and it truly is a sight that looks simple but yet it delivers. Musically wise, what better way than to express the romantic love than to come up with songs of young, romantic expressions? The OST here is simple too but great in its own regard; the OP and numerous EDs (sung by Rie Takahashi) are light-hearted, giving the whole series an appeal that will never run dry.

For people that absolutely love rom-coms in its entire simplicity, I recommend you to check out this show. While the repetitive teasing thing is a BIG drawback and flaw of the series, it is the EXACT same factor that gave the series its substance that stands out among other school-type rom-coms.

The unrequited love of middle-school teasing, signing out.