History Manga / TeasingMasterTakagiSan

''Teasing Master Takagi-san'' (''Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san'') is a {{manga}} series by Sōichirō Yamamoto.

An anime adaptation aired from January 8 to March 26, 2018. An OVA was released on July 12, 2018 along with Volume 9 of the manga. A second season aired from July 7 to September 22, 2019. A third season and a film have been announced.

* ShowWithinAShow: Chapter 206 of ''Karakai Jōzu no (Moto) Takagi-san'' shows Chi acting out ninjutsu from a ninja show she's been watching of late, and her parents having to take action when things get out of hand. This show is ''Manga/InTheHeartOfKunoichiTsubaki'', as revealed in an Omake in ''Tsubaki'' featuring Chi watching it.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karakai_jouzu_no_takagi_san_visual2.jpg]]

** In the anime’s Season 2 finale, [[spoiler:Takagi gives Nishikata a subtle one as Nishikata has the two play a game with fireworks on the beach to make up for missing the fireworks from the summer festival. Still not ready to admit his feelings, Nishikata insists the game--whose firework will go out last--is to give him a shot at winning as he always loses to Takagi. Takagi responds that Nishikata hasn’t been losing at all. Her words then distract Nishikata, causing him to lose and allowing Takagi to claim another win.]]

* ExposedEmbarrassingPurchase: This happens to Nishikata when Takagi reveals she saw him purchase the latest volume of ''100% Unrequited Love'', a shojo manga he secretly likes.

* LoveEpiphany: Nishikata comes close to realizing his crush on Takagi on several occasions, but can't quite bring himself to believe it.
** Hamaguchi apparently had his in regards to Hojo long ago, as in Chapter 119 he mentions he fell in love with her due to her kindness.

* MinimalistCast: The only major characters are Nishikata and Takagi. All the others, named or unnamed, range from ThoseTwoGuys to RecurringExtra. This was played up during the ''Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san'' stage event at Anime Japan 2018, when Yūki Kaji (Nishikata) and Rie Takahashi (Takagi) were the only two cast members on stage, and they both poked fun at how empty the stage was compared to some of the other stage events.

** In Chapter 19, Nishikata attempts to make himself unteasable by acting like the Clint Eastwood-like character Dandy of the movie ''Dandy of the West''. He and Takagi wind up playing a game based on a scene from the movie where Dandy and a traitor question each other. While Nishikata starts as Dandy, his inability to answer Takagi's questions has him take the traitor's role while Takagi takes over as Dandy (who then "shoots" the traitor by poking the ticklish Nishikata in the side). The entire sequence is made funnier by the {{Imagine Spot}}s they have, which starts with Nishikata as Dandy but as Takagi asks her first question, Dandy "morphs" into the traitor!

* ValentinesDayEpisodes: Two stories revolve around Valentine's Day. The first is an extra comic while the second is a regular chapter. Both of them follow the same premise, though-- Nishikata is antsy and a bit upset about not receiving chocolate, Takagi tricks Nishikata into thinking she didn't give him romantic chocolate, gives him a small obligation chocolate instead, and teases him about the chocolate in his locker, which came from her.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Nishikata will occasionally come up with some brilliant plan, only for Takagi to point out the huge gaping flaw or for Nishikata seeing the flaw himself, much too late to do anything about it:
** In Chapter 8, Nishikata is inspired by an episode of ''100% Unrequited Love'' to fluster Takagi by retorting with the line "You're cute" to any teasing she might do. Unfortunately, Takagi intends to take it easy on him because he has a cold. Not realizing this, he slowly drives himself nuts with anticipation. When she glances at him, he almost blurts out the line, only to realize that it would be much more embarrassing for him to call Takagi cute than it would be for her. He spends the next few panels asking himself how he could possibly have thought that calling Takagi, an extremely cute girl, cute would've embarrassed her.
** In Chapter 23, he challenges her to doing a flip on the monkey bars, only for her to point out she's wearing a skirt. She suggests that he turn around while she takes her turn, and he agrees. However, while she's grunting, Nishikata realizes that he's basically trusting Takagi to not lie.
** Even Takagi can be prone to this, normally when Nishikata's response is something that can be seen as romantic (as seen in the first DidIJustSayThatOutLoud example). In Chapter 152, her plan to grow closer to Nishikata hits a snag when Nishikata declines her offer to fix his button and instead borrows her sewing kit to do it himself.

* AllAccordingToPlan: How many of Takagi and Nishikata's interactions end, with her gleefully informing him that he acted exactly how she thought he would. This frustrates Nishikata to no end. Even in chapters where she doesn't say this, it's pretty clear she got what she wanted. For example, in Chapter 34, she teases Nishikata about taking pictures, and by the end of the chapter, the pair have photos of each other on their phones. Takagi leaves Nishikata in an extremely good mood, while Nishikata decides to keep the photo as a [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial potential weapon against her]].

* ChildhoodFriend: Chapter 119 has Hojo mention she's known Hamaguchi for a long time, and chapter 146 clarifies that the two are neighbours and have known each other since they were kids.

** In Chapter 8, Nishikata is inspired by a romance anime to fluster Takagi by retorting with the line "You're cute" to any teasing she might do. Unfortunately, Takagi intends to take it easy on him because he has a cold. Not realizing this, he slowly drives himself nuts with anticipation. When she glances at him, he almost blurts out the line, only to realize that it would be much more embarrassing for him to call Takagi cute than it would be for her. He spends the next few panels asking himself how he could possibly have thought that calling Takagi, an extremely cute girl, cute would've embarrassed her.

** In Chapter 146 Hojo thinks that Hamaguchi is hungry (thanks to his stomach growling) and offers him one of the shrimp tempura she was bringing over to her grandparents' house. When he reaches for it, she scolds him for trying to touch food with his sweaty hands (as he'd just been jogging) and instead offers it to him herself since her hands are clean. It doesn't occur to her that she's hand-feeding him until he almost bites into the tempura, at which point [[Main/{{Tsundere}} she jams it into his mouth complaining he's taking too long]].

** In Chapter 10, Takagi and Nishikata are CaughtInTheRain, and he realizes that the rain has [[SexySoakedShirt made her blouse translucent]]. He offers her his gym shirt, and she requests that he not look while she changes. He actually complies.

** Non-Takagi and Nishikata-related running gags include Yukari desperately wanting to find someone to talk to about romance and Hamaguchi somehow chickening out whenever Hojo is involved.

** In Chapter 9, when she meets Nishikata after he bought a shojo manga, she forces him to admit he lied to her out of embarrassment. She then promises not to tell anyone, and offers to tell Nishikata a secret about herself. She tells him that she likes him, and follows that up by informing him that since he lied to her, she lied to him. The lie was that her affection for him [[OpenSecret isn't really a secret to anybody]].

* ExposedEmbarrassingPurchase: This happens to Nishikata when Takagi reveals she saw him purchase the latest volume of ''100% Unrequited Love'', a particularly girly shoujo manga for a boy to be seen reading.

* ExactWords: One of Takagi's most potent weapons is to be misleading in the things she says:
** In Chapter 9, when she meets Nishikata after he bought a shojo manga, she forces him to admit he lied to her out of embarrassment. She then promises not to tell anyone, and offers to tell Nishikata a secret about herself. She tells him that she likes him, and follows that up by informing him that since he lied to her, she lied to him. The lie was that her affection for him [[OpenSecret isn't really a secret to anybody]].
** In Chapter 28, she convinces Nishikata to invite her into his house by promising to let him copy whatever homework she had on her. Once in his room, she reveals that she only has her kanji worksheets, causing him to protest.

* ExposedEmbarrassingPurchase: This happens to Nishikata when Takagi reveals she saw him purchase the latest volume of ''100% Unrequited Love''.

* ExposedEmbarrassingPurchase: This happens to Nishikata when Takagi reveals that she saw him purchase the latest volume of ''100% Unrequited Love''.

* ExposedEmbarrassingPurchase: It isn't the clerk who reveals that Nishikata has purchased the latest volume of a particularly girly shoujo-manga, but his close friend and champion of their one-sided prank war, Takagi.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The English title "Teasing Master Takagi-san" can be read two ways: as Nishikata's goal to tease the expert trickster Takagi or as a title for Takagi, i.e. the "Teasing Master".

** The voice actors Yûki Kaji (Nishikata) and Rie Takahashi (Takagi) appear to invert the roles of the characters they voice with each other. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7rsmv-BZag (Video)]]

* HopeSpot: Nishikata generally has a moment of hope in each chapter, making it seem as though ''this'' will be the time where he'll finally be able to one-up Takagi. Then she springs her trap or he notices the huge gaping flaw in his plan...
** In the anime's Season 2 finale, [[spoiler: Kimura creates one by helping Nishikata locate Takagi, after the two are separated before the Summer Festival's fireworks. Unfortunately, the two reach each other just as the fireworks end.]]

** In the anime’s Season 2 finale, [[spoiler: Takagi gives Nishikata a subtle one as Nishikata has the two play a game with fireworks on the beach to make up for missing the fireworks from the Summer Festival. Still not ready to admit his feelings, Nishikata insists the game--whose firework will go out last--is to give him a shot at winning as he always loses to Takagi. Takagi responds, as viewers have, that Nishikata hasn’t been losing at all. Her words then distract Nishikata, causing him to lose and allowing Takagi to claim another win.]]

** Amusingly enough, in the third ''Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san'' webcast, Yūki Kaji successfully teases Rie Takahashi repeatedly. He even teasingly refers to her as a "real life Nishikata" much to her protests.

** Both Takagi and Nishikata make use of this strategy, though Takagi is vastly more successful. Typically either or both of them will act as though they aren't particularly good at a particular activity, only to then turn the tide. This is sometimes played with, though. There are times where it isn't so much Takagi is more skilled than Nishikata, it's just that she's able to distract him at just the right moment to completely negate any advantage he might've had.

** In the anime's Season 2 finale, Kimura creates one by helping Nishikata locate Takagi, after the two are separated before the Summer Festival's fireworks. Unfortunately, the two reach each other just as the fireworks end.

** In Season 2 Episode 12 of the anime, Nishikata insists that Takagi and him going to the summer festival together is not a date, despite his ''asking'' her to the event, Takagi seeing it as one, and many other passerbyers seeing them as a couple. Takagi naturally turns the issue of whether they look like a couple to others into a game, while Nishikata ultimately changes his mind about their outing by the end of the episode.

** In Season 2 Episode 12 of the anime, Nishikata insists that Takagi and him going to the summer festival together is not a date, despite his asking her to the event, Takagi seeing it as one, and many other passerbyers seeing them as a couple. Takagi naturally turns the issue of whether they look like a couple to others into a game, while Nishikata ultimately changes his mind about their outing by the end of the episode.

* ArtEvolution: The art has progressed noticeably over the years since the early chapters: the character designs have become generally rounder and eyes proportionally enlarged. Nishikata's irises on the other hand have shrunk considerably, making him appear more standoffish or mischievous. The character designs also shifted towards making Nishikata and Takagi look more younger.

* FlirtyVoicePloy: Takagi will frequently use the teasing voice ploy to distract Nishikata in their ongoing (one-sided) prank war. Interestingy enough, she actually is interested in Nishikata, but she delights in teasing him for his reactions, and counts on him not realizing that there's actually something to her flirting

An anime adaptation aired from January 8 to March 26, 2018. An OVA was released on July 12, 2018 along with Volume 9 of the manga. A second season aired from July 7 to September 22, 2019.

* BelligerentSexualTension: An extremely cute example, as while Nishikata is constantly annoyed by Takagi's teasing, he also tries to give as good as he gets. Pity he's so outgunned. This is emphasized when the class gets rearranged and he and Takagi no longer sit together. He gets jittery and tries to switch seats to be with her again. He chalks up how unnerved he is to how he had a brilliant plan, and desperately wanted to carry it out.

** Takagi has directly told Nishikata that she has a crush on him several times in clever ways. For example, when she comes over to study with Nishikata in the summer, she notes that his room is very much "him", and states how much she likes ''it'' while staring directly at him.

** When she meets Nishikata after he bought a shojo manga, she forces him to admit he lied to her out of embarrassment. She then promises not to tell anyone, and offers to tell Nishikata a secret about herself. She tells him that she likes him, and follows that up by informing him that since he lied to her, she lied to him. The lie was that her affection for him [[OpenSecret isn't really a secret to anybody]].
** On another occasion, she convinces Nishikata to invite her into his house by promising to let him copy whatever homework she had on her. Once in his room, she reveals that she only has her kanji worksheets, causing him to protest.

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: When Sanae, Mina and Yukari spy on Takagi and Nishikata walking home, the first two try to dub their conversation about a challenge of who can run to the shrine first. Yukari refuses to believe they would say something so unromantic, but it was remarkably close to the actual conversation.