Yep. Still thoroughly enjoying this.

Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san
Studio: Shin-Ei Animation
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance

CVoyage: That. Girl. Is. The. Devil.

EvilBob: Seriously. She and Homare seriously need to compare notes.

CVoyage: And Kiri.

EvilBob: The ways this poor guy just keeps shooting himself in the foot. It’s almost impressive how amazingly he manages to keep walking right into the traps. You almost feel sorry for him.

CVoyage: Psh. I don’t.

EvilBob: What? Why?

CVoyage: He does it to himself. If he’d stop thinking about it so hard, he might actually pull it off, too. Besides, here he’s got a smart, playful girl who’s crazy about him, perfectly willing to spend entire days with him. What do I have to feel “sorry” about?

EvilBob: …You know… that’s such a good point, I can’t even argue with it.

CVoyage: Though in typical awkward teenager fashion, Nishikata has a bunch of geeky friends that he keeps listening to, despite the fact that it’s definitely not any help at all. Like when he refers to them over the pool segment, while trying to figure out what Takagi’s problem is.

EvilBob: They do always have those friends, don’t they?

CVoyage: And speaking of the pool… come on, dude. How did you not piece it together? I’d have figured that out instantly.

EvilBob: But, uh… you’re cynical and jaded.

CVoyage: Shut up.

EvilBob: She’s a master at leading him on, too. Like holding her hand over her stomach to make him focus on that part. Or “helping” him during the calligraphy class to make him second-guess himself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This girl’s trolling is God Tier.

CVoyage: I also kinda like the little segments revolving around their classmates. So far they’ve only focused on the three girls, but they manage to be cute little distractions from the main story, as break things up a little. They’re nowhere near as entertaining as the main pair’s antics, but they’re charming enough to be enjoyable.

EvilBob: I think I’mma do it again, Chris.

CVoyage: Eh?

EvilBob: It’s about as Evil as… a Super Villain (10).

CVoyage: *Blinks* …

EvilBob: Hear me out. This episode was on the same level as the last episode. It didn’t shatter my expectations, or anything, because I already knew what to expect. And they did address your fear of it all being in the classroom. So it looks like they’ll be taking it outside every now and then. And the ways she got him were still different. So as long as they don’t repeat the same exact gags, we should be fine.

CVoyage: Still amused me that, in his desperation, he almost fell back on the Jack-in-the-Box again. Because it worked spectacularly the last time. Either way, it’s still an extremely enjoyable show. Takagi is adorable and hilarious. Nishikata is just as endearingly gullible as before, and the little break from the main premise was charming. What more can I say than this episode is Super Effective at what it does?

EvilBob: But if you’d prefer a different kind of Boy Meets Girl pairing, maybe check out his review of DARLING in the FRANXX. The female lead in that one is also, uh… special. Yeah. We’ll go with that.

EvilBob: And that’s basically it. Thanks for letting us waste your time, people.

CVoyage: Thanks, as always, for reading, folks. Keep up the awesome.

EvilBob: And keep it classy.

CVoyage: Take care.