Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san didn’t try and follow up last week’s (original) blockbuster episode with another.  And wisely so – this is a slice-of-life romance, and the pacing should reflect that.  Too many event chapters dull the impact of the events, and Karakai Jouzu has always relied on incremental development over monumental.  One could almost say that was an extremely faithful episode, and coming on the heels of one of the least faithful (though that’s not a criticism) that’s not a bad thing.

One notable thing about this episode is that there’s not a lot of actual teasing going on (which is how the series trends over time, though it never goes away).  Even by his own standards Nishikata pretty much punks himself over and over here.  He imagines teasing situations and walks into them, and all Takagi really does is get out of the way and enjoy the show.  That said she certainly knows her man like a book, and her actions here certainly reflect that.

Did Takagi-san use that dog (which reminded me of a human Sanae) as bait?  Of course – she knows Nishi loves animals (which reflects what a sweetheart of a guy he is).  Hell, she’s used cats to lure him in the past.  And she got a lot of entertainment out of that whole interaction.  Some of it was amusement at his self-owning, but mostly she just liked watching him enjoy himself.  And, I think, enjoyed the fact that she was able to make him so happy.  She snapped a paparazzi pic just to remind him who was boss, but she was pretty discreet during the whole chapter, letting Nishikata-kun enjoy his moment in the sun.

“Left at School” is really just a humorous riff on how Nishikata is basically the only person left who doesn’t realize he’s officially part of a couple.  Nakai and Mano are of course the most official couple in the cast, so their benediction counts for something.  But everyone knows it, including Nishi’s crew, though happily for Takagi they don’t rub his nose in it too often and risk spooking him.  It’s funny how some kids this age can openly be in a relationship and think nothing of it, and others are consumed by embarrassment at the idea of anyone knowing they’re dating someone.  But in my experience that’s totally realistic.

After a brief reminder of just how much a child Mina still is, we move on to the main event of the episode – as usual running the anchor leg.  Just how much of all this Takagi-san had pre-planned is open to debate – if it were anyone else, you’d say they just like to knit.  But since she got to cop a feel and test Nishi’s jealousy reflex (it works) maybe it was all intentional.  My favorite part was that delicious pun – Nishikata said “muzukashi” (difficult), and she pretended she heard “hazukashi” (embarrassing).  As to the ED, it time-warps to 2009 for Ikimono-gakari’s “Joyful”.