Review of Teasing Master Takagi-san
A story that is in a constant state between irritating and boring, Takagi-San is far from the light hearted slice of life rom com its commonly referred to as. The moment I found Takagi an unredeemable character is when Nishikata is studying for a test in the library. You see Nishikata stay longer and put in more effort than the other male students. Takagi joins Nishikata while he's studying, he momentarily opens up to her despite all of the 'teasing' she has done at his expense. He states that his parents want to see him score in the top 50 in his classand he doesn't want to let them down so that's why he's staying longer to study compared to the other students. For the smallest amount of time you're led to believe that Takagi genuinely cares about Nishikata as she helps him study, correcting mistakes he made and explaining how to come to the correct answer. As she's leaving the library Takagi tells Nishikata that everything she helped him with won't be on the test, the following day and he ends up getting a failing grade meanwhile Takagi gets one of the highest grades on the test. If Takagi genuinely cared or had feelings for Nishikata this would have been the pivotal moment where she refrains from her constant 'teasing' and help her classmate crush in need.
The side story amongst the 3 female classmates only serves to break up the nonstop harassment/bullying portrayed in the main story. During these interludes nothing ever happens and it brings the flow of the anime to a halt, however boring these side characters and their plot are if they were not present it would be 20 minutes of school bullying.
To summarize the plot of the series, Takagi is always 2 steps ahead and can out-think Nishikata therefore he can never win against her. He tries everyday to not be 'teased' by her, he has endless internal monologue trying to out-think Takagi, he gets outsmarted by Takagi, his face gets red and she laughs at him rinse and repeat for 12 episodes.
Something that I thought I could at least overlook was how the characters are drawn, but the more I watched the more their giant foreheads make them look like weird anime aliens.