English Dub Review: Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san “Eraser / Day Duty / Funny Face / One Hundred Yen”

A couple lovesick kids constantly competing to out-prank each other.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Based on a short-form gag manga, Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san (literally translated as ‘Skilled Teaser Takagi-san’) is the story of two kids who constantly prank each other. (To be more accurate, Nishikata constantly tries to prank his crush, while Takagi always succeeds.) Oh yeah, they are also harboring crushes on each other, too.

In the premiere episode, Nishikata tries a variety of methods to make his next-door seat neighbor laugh (and hence get in trouble with the teacher), but she always turns it around on him in some way or another. My personal favorite was when he made a funny face at her, only to have it reflected back at himself via her hand mirror.

Our Take:

Karakai is not going to be one of those shows that everyone will enjoy. The plot is slight. In fact, there is basically no plot so far. We know nothing of our protagonist’s histories, family lives, dreams, etc. In this show, the only goal that exists is successfully committing pranks. It’s very cute, and the teasing never goes into the malicious territory. That said, the competition between our two leads is already heated, and will likely only get more so in the future. Eraser is a good introductory tale, dropping us immediately into the action and clearly illustrating the playful dynamic between our two leads. Takagi has clearly mastered the art of pranking, but this could get boring quick if Nishikata doesn’t land a few blows of his own eventually.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fluidity of the animation. Karakai is a cut above other short-segment gag shows in this aspect alone. I’m definitely a fan of the characters cute designs, which are very round and squishy-looking. Even the OP is adorable! While Nishikata got to make loads of super-exaggerated funny faces in this premiere, Takagi so far is limited to slyly smiling and laughing demurely. (Even when she makes a funny face in the episode, we only get to experience it off-screen through Nishikata’s narration!) Hopefully, her barrier will break down when she is successfully pranked.

The dub was a cut above what I expected. Though my first impression was that the characters sounded older than I had imagined when watching the episode subbed, I quickly came around to their English voices. In some shows, the dub performances don’t have to have much nuance or depth to them, but Karaki is a show based around characters who go all out to prank each other while also struggling to hide their romantic feelings. There’s a fine balance to strike, and the actors nail it. What’s more, Nishikata is almost constantly inner-monologuing to himself. It takes a talented VA to sell this, and Aaron Dismuke delivers. (Dismuke also did a terrific job starring in Terror In Resonance.) The script makes it all sound pretty natural, too. Sarah Wiedenheft’s performance as Takagi is very good, portraying a ruthless pranker while also betraying the crush she harbors underneath.

So many romance shows portray love as two kids in a constant dovey-eyed stupor. If you are like me and find the idea of two kids tormenting each other with endless pranks while simultaneously crushing on each other to be even sweeter and entertaining… then Karakai is off to a good start!