Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 3

Episode 5

Stop the presses! Hold everything. Ladies and gentlemen, Chi has arrived. I repeat, Chi has arrived. This is not a drill.

It took me a minute to catch on to what Takagi-san was up to this week, but dear readers, I cannot with words alone describe the absurdly huge grin (and accompanying “Waaaah!” noises) that I made when I realized that the opening segment of this week's episode is the official introduction of Chi, the daughter of Takagi and Nishikata. Yeah, spoiler alert, but for anyone that wasn't aware of the spinoff manga Karakai Jōzu no (Moto) Takagi-san, our adorable protagonists will eventually tie the knot, and the goofy tween girl from the opening of this episode is their progeny. Though she definitely takes after her mother in the looks department, young Chi is absolutely her father's daughter. Not only does she share his deep-rooted disdain for green peppers, she also has a friendly rivalry with a classmate who is also very obviously using his teasing to express affection for her. Chi is just as clueless as her father was, once upon a time, and thus the cycle continues forever on.

I love the (Moto) Takagi-san spinoff, so I would have been utterly delighted if this whole episode was just a flashforward to Nishikata and Takagi's adult lives, but alas, Chi's introduction is merely a pre-credits stinger, though the green-peppers bit gets carried back in time to be used as fodder for Nishikata and Takagi's usual back-and-forth. Not only is Chi's arrival in the anime a great confirmation for where our couple's lives are heading, but it also gives even these more typical Nishikata and Takagi skits a bit more weight, since Teasing Master Takagi-san is slowly transforming into the anime version of How I Met Your Mother (except, you know, it's good). In earlier seasons, you could imagine Takagi teasing Nishikata for his childish dislike of peppers and maybe leaving it at that, but here in Season 3, she makes sure to add on a sweet addendum: Whenever she eventually gets an occasion to cook for Nishikata, she's going to make him green peppers that taste delicious. Given how Takagi usually plays so coy, this might as well be her screaming a love confession from the rooftops at the top of her lungs. Judging by the blush on Nishikata's face, he might even be starting to catch on.

Another great aspect of this episode is how all of the remaining skits feel very interconnected, including our regular check-in with the Girl Squad. I was already enjoying their little food-trading routine (and I am becoming increasingly convinced that Sanae is the show's secret MVP), but I especially liked how the sketch led directly into the “Audition” segment. Here, Takagi-san is drawing from one of my favorite stock setups: The whole class has to perform a play for the cultural festival, and of course Takagi has been cast as the cool-headed princess “Romiya”. I love behind-the-scenes, “putting on a show” types of stories, and this is just the kind of running plot that will give all of the cast members some fun material to work on.

Nishikata is very nearly cast as the heroic frog-prince, “Juliot”, too, and I have to give my girl Yukari props for trying to play matchmaker between Nishikata and Takagi using the power of theater. I can't even be mad that it doesn't work, though, because I laughed pretty damned hard when Sanae ended up choosing Kumura instead, since his mournful wails over his lost fried chicken café can be perfectly translated to the lovesick cries of a prince on a quest. We still got the great scene of Takagi almost losing her cool over hearing Nishikata call her his “beloved” in the audition, and he's going to be helping her run lines in the meantime. I'll be taking bets now for how likely it is that Nishikata will be playing the prince after all by the time the season ends.

Finally, there's “Fishing”, a sketch that I should have hated, because I absolutely cannot stand fish, and the sight of Takagi handling that wriggling carp from the pond was nearly enough to give me hives. But dammit, this show keeps on finding ways to break down all of my defenses, because the scene where Takagi nearly freaks out after catching/hugging Nishikata when he almost falls into the water is maybe one of my favorite moments of the whole series so far. Rie Takahashi plays Takagi with such superhuman coolness, and the show is so committed to playing her utter domination over Nishikata completely straight, that it's easy to forget that she's just as much of a goofy little kid as her future husband. That awkward little flail that she does when she realizes how hard she was hugging Nishikata, though? It might be the most blatantly childish thing that Takagi's ever done, and I love it.

So yeah, screw it, five stars for this episode! This isn't Attack on Titan or Made in Abyss, so it isn't like I can reserve the top scores for episodes that completely blow my mind or shatter my spirit. This fifth episode of Takagi-san's third season is pretty much everything I want from this show, and any points that it lost from giving so much screentime to those awful fish are easily earned back by the artery-destroying levels of cuteness that we get from beginning to end. Plus, Chi is finally here! If that isn't worth five stars, I don't know what is.

Rating:

Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 3 is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.