Let me preface this by saying a few things. First, I have not caught up to this manga yet. I believe there are about 140 chapters out, and I'm only on chapter 105 as of the day this review was written, but as far as I know, there haven't been any major plot points in the 35 chapters I have yet to read. Second, I'm rather new to reviewing, so please take the time and read it, either agree with me or disagree, either is fine, and any/all feedback on things to improve on (since this is the first one where I didn't divide the review into sections) is always appreciated! Thanks, and now on to the review.
Update: There were no major plot points in the subsequent chapters.
Takagi-san is a simple manga. While teasing is its general premise, it doesn't take it to the extreme like Nagatoro. There's nothing overtly convoluted about it, nor is there anything particularly outstanding about it. The artstyle can be described as somewhere between good and great, whilst the plot, or rather lack thereof, is far from the best I've read.
I can already hear you complaining. "But Zichu, if there's nothing special about the characters, plot, or art, then why is it rated so high?" Because I can see the future (or just possess basic common sense), there are going to be people who inevitably scroll all the way down and just look at the two numbers in a green background because words intimidate them before scrolling back up and taking 5 minutes to read my review after discovering, to their surprise, I did not include a TL;DR section. Oh no, the horror.
In short, to answer your question, I believe it is unfair to rate media on attributes that are not the focus. For example, I wouldn't judge Grave of the Fireflies for its comedic value, nor would I put particular emphasis on High School DxD for its deeper themes. For Takagi-san, the sole purpose is to provide readers with a heartwarmingly cozy feel. While having a plot and fleshed-out characters, not to mention exceptional art, is a plus, it is not the primary focus. If we look at the goal of this manga, I must say, the manga accomplishes it exceptionally. Unlike most other romance anime/manga which include unnecessary drama, Takagi-san is ridden from all that tension. Takagi-san is there to provide some solace, some relief, some moments of relaxation from perhaps a stressful day at work or a long night of studying.
Before you even take into consideration what I rated this manga, ask yourself three questions.
Do you like cute manga?
Can you enjoy a romance manga without any relationship development?
Are you fine with little to no variation between the chapters?
If you answered "no" to any of the questions above, then you most likely won't enjoy it. Disregard my score and maybe choose another manga that better suits your taste. Or you could give it a try. Another great thing about this manga is every chapter is essentially the same, so just by reading five chapters, you could get a good feel for the general premise. Plus, five chapters doesn't take that long to read. Test the waters, then from there, you can either choose to jump in, or get out.
In the infinite wisdom Pedro Pascal gives us mere mortals, "Takagi-san is good. But it can be better."
