English Dub Review: Karakai Jozu No Takagi-san “Studying for the Test / Test / Test Results / Bookstore / Shelter from the Rain”

Takagi confesses her crush to Nishikata… but where do her teasing stop and the truth begin?

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Nishikata has a major test coming up, and he’s serious about studying. Too bad Takagi is equally serious about teasing! Whether it’s giving him grief about his favorite manga or making him blurt out his poor test score in front of the entire class, Takagi clearly loves to tease Nishikata.

Our Take:

The show doesn’t make any significant switch-ups like last week, but it continues to come up with interesting conflicts between these crazy kids. Takagi tutoring Nishikata is a sweet segment, but it disappointed me a bit in the end. It would’ve been nice to see just one time when Takagi helps Nishikata without resorting to teasing. Ah well, Takagi’s gonna Takagi. At least she didn’t teach him the wrong answers! The test results scene felt like a repeat of other in-class segments and went on too long for me (although Takagi’s comment about staring at each other almost made it worth it).

Nishikata making a secret trip to purchase the 100% Unrequited Love manga is great. There’s not a lot of plot in Karakai, but there’s still continuity! (Also, Takagi is totally stalking Nishikata, right?) Regardless of how they end up meeting, their relationship definitely feels like it’s progressing. We aren’t even at the halfway mark of the series and they’re already borrowing each other’s clothes. (The finale better is the wedding.)

The English dub had some cute moments this week, like Aaron Dismuke’s reading of Nishikata’s internal complaining: “Nice going, me.” I really loved his subdued “Why not?” after Takagi proposes a bet. Her countless contests have left him a broken man. In a show like this, it’s vital that the two main VA’s have chemistry, and they definitely do.

Nearly halfway through the series, Karakai remains a fun comedy sketch show about two adorable kids. Nishikata is easy to root for, but Takagi is awesome enough that we don’t mind too much when she inevitably defeats him. If the show keeps up this same pattern to the end, I won’t be mad. I do hope that we get a twist or some kind of dramatic event to overturn the status quo eventually, though. Karakai is good, but it needs something a little extra to be truly great.