Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san: Enjoying Your Youth

Credits: Ramen Parados

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san brings me back to my childhood days. In this anime, Nishikata finds himself in a losing battle against Takagi, his seatmate who likes to playfully tease him to see his funny reactions. So he tries to come up with the perfect plan to win against and get back at her. However, time and again, he finds himself being outwitted and outplayed by Takagi causing her to poke fun at him even more. He also often gets in trouble at school because of Takagi’s antics. So will he succeed in his quest?

There is something refreshingly nostalgic about Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. It makes you want to go back to your younger days and relish the sweet moments of youth.

I enjoyed watching the anime and I even decided to check out the manga just because it really piqued my interest. I am very much fascinated with how the story would go even though there is a sequel manga that shows an after-story of the original.

I think with this kind of manga or anime, you won’t run out of material to write or work with. It doesn’t have a strict storyline either since it just shows how kids interact with one another and discover more about themselves. You see how they learn how to interact with the opposite sex and how they process their feelings. At the same time, we see how they express these feelings in different ways. I can see that this is a series that I would continue following for years because it’s very relevant to me.

The relationship between Nishikata and Takagi is also just so cute. It makes my heart flutter like a silly schoolgirl. As I said, it brings back memories such as of those times when you had your first crush. You think about how you long to talk to them but you can’t because you feel shy about it.

So instead, you resort to some form of rivalry so that people around you won’t suspect that you like that person. But it eventually becomes obvious that you actually like that person because you spend most of your time thinking about them and being with them.

I remember those times during my childhood when I feel embarrassed much like Nishikata whenever somebody teases me with a girl. I often act very aloof about it unlike Nishikata who was very candid with his reactions, facial expressions, and body language. In my case, I learned how to do a poker face and change the subject in the most normal way so as nobody would suspect. I think it worked.

Obviously, this anime lets us peer into Nishikata’s thoughts and how he reacts to Takagi. And I feel sorry for him because Takagi is always very poised and composed whenever he tries to catch her unawares or to make her feel embarrassed. It seems Takagi is always twenty steps ahead of Nishikata. Except for that one time when Nishikata finally says something honest and sincere to Takagi which hit her hard.

Despite that, she was still able to keep her composure but it definitely shook her. So if I can only be Nishikata’s big brother or friend, I would tell him to just be candid with Takagi if he wants to win. Because he won’t win if he continues to plot and scheme so that he can get back at her. Then again, they are still very young. His naïveté is what makes their relationship super sweet and lovable.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san appeals to me in that way because these two are just so adorable. I feel like I’m looking into my past or at my younger self. When you remember your childhood days, you think fondly of those moments which now seem almost childish and nonsensical. But those moments brought fun and color to your life.

In those moments, you don’t really feel too conscious about yourself and those around you. It doesn’t matter whether your actions were silly or immature, you were simply trying to explore the world. You didn’t think too much.

When you grow up, you look at things differently. Things start to become matters of consequence, as the little prince often noted about adults. You become more cautious, self-conscious, risk-averse, safe, unwilling to venture out of your comfort zone. Until you finally break out of that phase and begin to take a plunge into the big world.

So I’m reminded of the days of my youth because of this anime. Granted, they were middle schoolers so that would be around the time I was in high school. Things were still light back then but I was already beginning to understand the world. My eyes were widening their scope of vision and I learned to act responsible and mature. I may have cocooned myself a bit too much though.

My title says "enjoying your youth". The phrase was mentioned in one of the episodes. It was referring to two classmates of Nishikata and Takagi who were going out, Nakai and Mano. Their classmates said of them that they were enjoying their youth because that’s when romance was still quite a sweet, lofty, and idealistic thought. When you’re young, you don’t think about the consequences. You just care about how good it feels to be in love or to fall in love or even the just the thought of love.

I think I could have enjoyed my youth more. Back in high school, I just focused on my studies and it did pay off. However, I think that having little to no social life during those days slightly backfired on me.

In my last year of high school, that was when I started opening up and trying to balance out my academics with extra-curricular activities like going on competitions and training camps. It overwhelmed me and I lost a bit of control over my academic duties.

Thankfully, I was able to get back on track and steer toward the right direction. It was a bit late though and the damage had already been done.

I always said that grades didn’t matter to me, or that was how I wanted to act and think. Rather, at the time, I was only beginning to develop the mindset of not taking things too seriously. So in the end, it still affected me and I wished I could have done things differently. But I was able to forge great relationships with others and have wonderful experiences in return so I think it was a good trade-off.

Credits: Jotaku Network

I definitely would recommend this anime and the manga to others. It’s light-hearted and generally just a fun show to watch. You also start to root for the hapless Nishikata to try and figure out how he can defeat the teasing master Takagi. But then again, you also just want them to get together.

Although I have some ideas that might spice up their story. It would definitely be interesting to see if Nishikata, who has a crush on Takagi and vice versa, would have another love interest. Or perhaps, if they get separated in high school and meet again afterward. But those are just my thoughts.

I do love that the sequel shows that they do get together in the end when they become adults and they have a kid. But still, my point is that so many things could happen along the way and the journey is as fun as the destination. I would want to see how their relationship grows through different challenges and obstacles which ultimately succeeds in the end. I am hoping that there will be a second season.