Hopefully, by now my contention that Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san evolves over time is starting to be more believable to some of the more skeptical among you.  And thank goodness it does evolve, because if the character dynamic were static I think this premise would get tiresome pretty quickly.  I think it’s pretty hard to miss the true nature of the Takagi-Nishikata relationship at this point, but I like that it feels like an organic process – the change we perceive doesn’t feel forced or sudden.

Our first evidence of that this week comes with the onset of summer vacation.  Nishikata is naturally thrilled at the notion, being that he spends his school days being teased and having chalk thrown at his head.  Takagi-san is considerable more conflicted about summer vacation, it seems – and the reasons should be obvious to anyone (if they weren’t already) when she quietly notes to Nishikata that school is “fun”.  More so for her than he, no doubt.  The two of them are walking home together as if it were the most natural thing in the world (because of course for them, it is) when they spot a couple of classmates tandem bike-riding.

I remember this chapter being one of the key moments for me, when it really became obvious how much the tenor of this relationship had changed.  I have to give Takagi credit for the incredibly skillful way she manipulates this into a daily pre-scheduled “date” with Nishikata (who, perhaps finally catching on, kind of figures that out when they meet up the next day).  Worth noting, I suppose that tandem bike-riding is actually illegal in Japan and Nishikata’s caution is sort of warranted.  Also worth nothing, I think, is that when he’s too embarrassed to share a can of juice after his first failed attempt at tandem riding she buys him one when she sees he’s out of money, and only extracts a small bit of teasing in exchange.

The test of courage is more the classic Takagi-Nishikata dynamic, where she seems to tease him more or less for the fun of it – though of course she’s no doubt aware of the significance of entering the abandoned road tunnel holds for young couples.  This is interspersed with a bit from the “Doyoubi” trio, up to their usual dynamic – with Yukari trying in vain to instil some sense of responsibility into the other two dingbats.  In their defense, I do think it’s ridiculous how much work schoolkids in Japan are expected to put in during their vacation – in that sense, the country really ought to lighten up…

Finally, “Water Tap” is pretty much a straight-up ode to Nishikata and Takagi as a couple.  What starts out as a bad day for him winds up as a very good day for her – and not so bad for him, either.  The tricks Takagi pulls on him here are standard stuff for her, but when he actually hurts himself it’s strictly by accident when he thought she was going to fall – and her gratitude is about as straightforward and sincere as anything we’ve seen from her.  Her thank you and the use of her handkerchief are gestures, to be certain, but when Takagi flat-out admits without a trace of teasing that it was a good day because she got to spend it with Nishikata that’s the real watershed moment of this incident.