OP: “Straight” ( まっすぐ) by Ohara Yukio

Here’s the thing that I really love about this adaptation – aside from the fact that it’s just generally really good.  We’re getting the best that Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san can possibly be, pretty much.  I enjoy the manga – I’m current with it, after all – but I would never claim it was anything profoundly great.  It’s just a breezy, charming look at adolescent romance through a comical lens.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the anime elevates the experience in every way.  It makes sleepy Shodoshima come alive as a setting in a way the manga simply can’t.  It captures the things that make the manga charming, while downplaying the things that can be tiresome about it.  Not many adaptations can say they max out a series’ potential, and I think this one can.

There’s one other thing the anime has done to lift Karakai Jouzu’s game, and that’s deliver original material that’s often better than much of the canon content (also extremely rare).  The second season came pretty much out of nowhere to sneak onto the 2019 Top 10 list (and it wasn’t a bad year), and that original content is a big reason why.  I won’t swear to it as some of the non-exceptional chapters blend together a bit in my memory, but I believe much of this premier was original – which makes sense, given that it spins off what happened in the blockbuster S2 finale, which was also largely original.

The chapter (adapted) that kicks off the season, the “Grip Strength Thingy“, is certainly a part of the patchwork quilt of this series.  But these sorts of silly teasing vignettes take on less importance the further the narrative progresses – or at the very least, they evolve to signify more than they once did.  The meaning behind Takagi’s teasing of Nishikata was never hard to figure out – mangaka Yamamoto Souichirou never tried to hide it but it’s not like it would have mattered if he had.  If the narrative had stagnated on this sort of thing the series would have grown stale pretty quickly.  Fortunately, it didn’t – which is another reason the second season was so much better than the first.

This is where the anime goes in its own direction.  And while that’s often an ominous moment, in Karakai Jaouzu’s case it usually means good things are to follow.  The dream sequence is quite cleverly done, the first tipoff being when Takagi-san is suddenly wearing a yukata.  The summer festival is a huge Karmic event in this couples’s timeline to be sure, and in fact we’re re-joining the story only a day after that momentous event.  What follows makes it pretty clear it’s still very much on both Nishikata-kun and Takagi’s minds (as it surely would be).

“100% Unrequited Love” makes an appearance in Nishi’s dream, but it’s certainly not a factor in his real life.  As for Takagi, she has her dream too – and it likewise involves the fireworks.  Nishikata actually beating her in a dream isn’t something she can admit openly, but if he were more astute he’d realize she has no poker face – her blush always gives her away.  But he’s a 13 year-old boy and hardly observant, and that’s really the essence of the whole premise.  We also get some cameos from the “Nichiyoubi” trio (“it tastes like a cucumber dipped in honey” – who’s have guessed?) and Nishikata’s goofus wingmen, which manage to add to the charm rather than detract from it.

Yamamoto-sensei is certainly living his best life.  His manga empire is thriving – the parent series is on its third season and has a film coming, and he has two more series premiering as anime this year.  Hell, one could even say he’ll have four adaptations, since this series actually incorporates its spinoff manga – and it seems a sure bet that the timeskip sequel to Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san (though he doesn’t actually do that one himself) will be adapted when this one finishes (or even sooner). Also of note, the OP and ED are again excellent – and it looks like we’ll get another season of Takahashi Rie covering oldies for the latter.  Shin-Ei is pretty much writing the book on how to do an adaptation right, and we’re the beneficiaries.

ED: “Yume De Aetara” (夢で逢えたら)” by Rie Takahashi