It’s surprising how much Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san makes you think. Or how much I think about it, anyway (though it was the same way with the manga for me). At heart it seems such an utterly simple premise – a cunning girl uses her wits and charms to relentlessly torture a hapless boy. Even if you factor in that the girl obviously likes the boy it’s still seemingly as straightforward and uncomplicated as it gets. Except you know, it’s not. There are layers upon layers of complexity that reveal themselves over time.
I must confess, the test chapter was one of the ones that I most struggled with when reading the manga – one where the dark side of this relationship (and Takagi-san) seemed to be hardest to dismiss. And even now, I still think she was being a jerk here – especially after that speech she gave about feeling bad for ruining Nishikata’s grades by teasing him in class. Most (well- some) of the stuff Takagi pulls can be written off to her underlying crush, but I’ve never found a good reason for why she would intentionally teach him math that wasn’t going to be on the test. Except of course, for the obvious, Occam’s Razor one – she was just being mean for fun.
And that’s it – she was. I’m a pretty strong apologist for this series, but even I’ll admit there are times when it goes out of balance in favor of meanness for entertainment’s sake, and this is one of them. Poor Nishikata-kun is actually trying to do his best – in part because Takagi’s teasing has set him back – and when she has a chance to help him, she ends up wasting a bunch of his time instead. And to add insult to injury, she snookers him again when she turns the test scores into a guessing game – one he’d have won if he’d only trusted his first instincts. That, obviously, is a recurring theme – and to that extent, Nishikata has only himself to blame.
“What is she thinking right now?” If any phrase sums up the hell of being a male (especially an adolescent one), it might be that one. Nishikata has no chance in that sort of battle of course – but the “100% Unrequited Love” bit was just plain bad luck, with Takagi-san happening by just as he was paying for his shoujo manga (or she really is psychic). The most interesting part of this little interlude is the “lying” exchange. Of course Takagi-san is actually telling the truth when she says she’s never lied to Nishikata-kun – her pleasure comes in fooling him with the truth. But what about the “lie” she tells him as payback? Was she lying about never lying – and if she’s lying now, how can one know she wasn’t lying before? And if she actually loves Nishikata, does that make “I like you” a lie? I’m surprised Nishikata’s head didn’t just explode right there.
Finally we have what certainly comes across as the most sexually-charged moment of the series so far, as Nishikata and Takagi are caught in the rain on the way home from school (even the phrase is sexually-charged). It’s clear at this moment that Nishikata is seeing Takagi as a potential object of desire (it’s obvious that Takagi has seen Nishikata that way all along). The exchange of used P.E. shirts is, frankly, pretty intimate – but then, the more you watch these two together the more you realize that their relationship is very intimate, especially for kids their age (and I don’t mean that in a sexual way – mostly). The degree of familiarity and comfort between them is extraordinary for middle schoolers – what exactly that says about their relationship is, I suppose, subject to interpretation. But then it wouldn’t be Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san any other way, would it?
sonicsenryaku
February 6, 2018 at 2:44 pmYeeeeeaaaa I must admit that i found myself initially scratching my head a bit at Takagi’s actions during the test skit. Even before Takagi had admitted that she might have a hand in the reason why Nishikata is probably not doing so well in class, I had made that exact same assumption. It’s unfortunate then that Takagi would acknowledge that and then still pull a prank on Nishikata just for the lulz. I was about ready to condemn her actions completely, until it had occurred to me not too long after that this was yet another apt and challenging writing decision by the series to subverts our thoughts and expectations regarding the moral duality of Takagi’s actions.
By all intents and purposes, Takagi does actually help Nishikata out in a productive manner, regardless of whether taught him material that’s not going to end up on the test. The prank she pulled would have been exponentially worse (math puns..heheh) if she was the one who directed Nishikata to the math chapter he was reviewing rather than it being his own mistake. Sure she’s guilty for not bringing it to his attention sooner, but she never gave him false information to lead him into believing he was studying the right chapters; she only helps him with the problems that he was reviewing. The other thing to take into consideration is that math is a quantitative subject that continuously builds on previously learned material, especially in a classroom setting; it’s very linear in nature, meaning if you don’t understand the material that came before it, you’re going to struggle with what’s presented to you going forward. Nishikata was struggling with mathematical substitution and algebraic operations, which utilizes basic mathematical principles that will be extended and fortified as one delves deeper into the subject. Basically, that shit’s going to show up again quite a few times during middle school math. If Nishikata is struggling with that now when he should have already learned it, I can only imagine how difficult the rest of his math school year would be. If anything, Takagi helped him understand how to overcome a problem that might rear its ugly head in the future; after all, just because something won’t show up on the test does not mean you shouldn’t learn it. It’s also important to note that had Takagi never shown up at the library to later on tell Nishikata that he’s studying the wrong stuff, he would have unknowingly continued studying the wrong material for the rest of the weekend.
Takagi does inadvertently help Nishikata, it’s just that it comes at the expense of him not getting the tutoring that he clearly needed to prepare him for the test. This is exacerbated further by the fact that Takagi’s prank feels emotional betraying, especially after she had played the whole feel guilty card just to pull the wool over his eyes. That’s ultimately the part where I did wince a bit at her behavior as she essentially got his hopes up just to be like “Nah fam, your princess is in another castle.” Exercising some thoughtfulness would have been great on her part but then i have to keep in mind that as confident and intelligent as that Takagi is, she’s still a bit immature and has some growing up to do. This is the first time where i felt that her intent and actions weren’t so separate. Usually her intent is clear even though her actions oppose those intentions on a superficial level. Here, it felt like her intent was gray and her actions were just 100% dick-ish, come together to form a more muddied gray than the pristine gray I’m use to with Takagi. Still, when you assess the situation, Takagi’s prank had some positive outcomes: Nishikata learned subsitution and can carry those necessary mathematical principles to future problems, and he learned that he had been spending his time in the library studying the wrong shit even before Takagi came by.
“The degree of familiarity and comfort between them is extraordinary for middle schoolers.”
Exactly; it’s this particular element of the show that I’m really enjoying; the episodic growth of their familiarity and the way the series illustrates this without orchestrating some sort of grand emotional character moment or situation. This is simply a case of two kids who are into each other becoming closer together through their day to day situations. It feels so relatable in that way because growing closer to someone kind of happens spontaneously, without much theatrical staging involved as opposed to what many narratives in media may lead to believe. People tend to grow closer with one another without really realizing that they are or that their routine has become more and more inclusive of the other person; it’s this exact phenomenon we see happening between Takagi and Nishikata and it’s one that the show handles in a cleverly subtle way . Hell, the show is so aware of this particular element of its narrative that the montage shots of Nishikata and Takagi together are slowed down purposely for the viewer to really take in the shots of them being close and intimate (that and the fact that a different ed was used, but that’s probably because we are nearing the half way point).
Guardian Enzo
February 6, 2018 at 3:13 pmYou’re reaching…
The test thing aside, the positive takeaway from the episode is indeed that final sketch. Nishikata is a full-on partner in this extraordinary familiarity even if he doesn’t realize it – I’m not even sure if the uber-prescient Takagai realizes it fully.
sonicsenryaku
February 6, 2018 at 7:17 pmahaha i figured you say that; although my excuse for her is based on my experiences when i’m helping my friends with critical essay responses. If they are responding to the essay in the wrong way, sometimes, ill just let them do it without saying anything. It’s not until I’m reading it over that i point out to the person that they misinterpreted the question and have them do it again while cheekily letting them know that i was aware of them not going about the response the right way. This time however, I sit down with them to evaluate both the technical and comprehensive aspects of their writing, where they went wrong, and how not to do those things again. In short, the idea here is that I’m doing something that seems asshole-ish, but im doing it mainly for the purpose of helping my friends realize their mistakes so that they don’t do it again. Perhaps it does seem a bit reaching (I won’t argue with you there……..much) but i still think there is some value in the perspective that she does help Nishikata with something that sooner or later he would have to confront. You’re not getting through math if you’re still struggling with basic principles, you know?
Now I wouldn’t say what i do with my friends and what Takagi did to Nishikata are the exact same situation per se say (I loop my arguably dick-ish move back into purposeful learning practices). What ends up making Takagi’s actions during the test skit mean-spirited comes down to a factor that i’ve repeated many times while discussing this show gray undercurrent: the intent. Takagi seemingly had NO intent after messing with Nishikata to help him actually study the stuff he should have been learning for the test; she just left him hanging and it was that moment where i was like, “uuummmm dude…he still has a test to pass.” Had Takagi simply played her prank and instantly offered to genuinely help him over the weekend, she could have mostly absolved herself of the mean-spirited nature of her prank. Something as simple as saying, “hey my bad for being a dick, but if you really want to pass this math test, invite me over tomorrow and ill help you study for real,” would had both made up for wasting Nishikata’s time and served as a significant step forward in getting closer to the kid, i.e. going over his house. Takagi has yet to develop the maturity to realize that sometimes she can profit immensely by being prospective and exercising a bit of thoughtfulness…then again, maybe she is aware of this and just feel like being a jerk; who knows. But as we’ve already said, that’s the song-and-dance this series is so good at conducting.
UndeadCalamari
February 6, 2018 at 3:20 pmThis show really is something special. Taking this seemingly simple premise and turning it into something so entertaining and endearing. Takagi-san was pretty cruel with the test prep prank though. Ignoring all of her other antics, if someone did that to me, I’d probably not trust them again. Tbh, I would probably hate such a person if they kept messing with me the way she does to Nishikata. Though if that was the case, there wouldn’t be much a show now would there.
The wild guesser
February 6, 2018 at 3:31 pmIt is so simple to just underestimate this gem of a show. But it is about good though.
Like really fucking good.
Tombeet
February 8, 2018 at 2:51 pmNo dude, regarding the test segment, you were reading it a wrong way. For me, the whole reason Takagi-san tutors him the material that wasn’t in the test isn’t because she has fun teasing him (she does to a degree), but because she enjoys spending time tutoring him something. The end result never meant to be the test result, but him gainingg some math knowledge. He did, so I completely disagree that Takagi-aan being mean in this case
Guardian Enzo
February 8, 2018 at 2:53 pmROFL, I didn’t misread anything – you’re just interpreting what happened differently than I did.
Mayuf
February 10, 2018 at 5:54 amThanks You 😀
hilda
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