This goes for all seasons and the movie, this show is cute, fun and adorable through and through. Can the series be repetitive? Yes, but I’d like to clarify that season 3 alone does so many unique twists on the otherwise routine nature of the show that you should watch the first two seasons for season 3 alone. From having a majority of an episode going completely silent, to putting our cast in a school play, wavy hallucinations and dreams you cannot differentiate from reality. So you find the mind games played between Nishikita and Takagi a little tiresome, alright. Then you might find the side characters more interesting or your speed. I’d say that as much as I love the duo of takagi and Nishikita I would raise the roof and yelp in glee when a segment of the show would transition its focus to the side characters. Namely the trio consisting of Sanae-chan, Minae-Chan, and Yukari-chan.
A great addition to the cast that most would agree could very well be in a show/manga of their own. I preferred their segments for the more unpredictable nature and also when it would play off of a prior segment/bit that primarily involved the main duo. My favorite trio bit would be a three-way tie between “presence”, I believe it was called, them at the beach, and the bit in the very last episode where they solve Nishikita’s own, “love quest”.
Maybe you find the trio’s presence so upsetting that you wanna drop the series entirely. Well fret not, for there are also other characters too! Including a side couple consisting of a girl with a forehead that’s somehow even bigger than takagi-san’s and Brock from pokemon. Their relationship is reflective of a typical highschool romance more so than Takagi and Nishikita’s. You wonder why they don’t stick around more often and just go on a double date with them. Speaking of scenarios I wish I had a chance to see, I wish we got to see the rest of the picnic Takagi and Nishikita had with the trio. We hardly get to see Nishikita interact with the trio, let alone any girls that aren’t Takagi san. It would’ve been a hilarious romp I’m sure. There’s also Takao, Kimura, and Hamaguchi which comprise Nishikita’s friend group. Takao’s the lovable and rotund oaf (probably has a thing for Sanae-chan), Kimura is the inquisitive glasses dork of the group, and Hamguchi is shown as otherwise normal, looking more like a typical anime highschool protagonist than Nishikita. Yet he fumbles around his crush, Houjo-san(a girl who likes “mature” types) almost as badly as Nishikita does.
Alright, you despise the entire cast and find their antics annoying rather than sweet and wholesome. You pity Nishikita for losing to takagi-san all the time. Well fear not, despite not happening much, the moments where Takagi is btfo’d by Nishikita makes all his losses worth it. In fact, that was the main reason I kept coming back episode after episode. Because the rare instances he does win against Takagi are so warm, you can feel the love beaming through your screen. “But Nishikita is always winning even when he loses since he always has Takagi-san by his side”. Yeah, but you gotta understand how much my man’s suffering. To us the viewer, yeah the guy should take a step back and realize that he’s set for life. But to him, even if he likes takagi, he’s still losing in some capacity due to the games they play and no one likes losing over and over again. Even if it’s a game of rock, paper, scissors.
Look, all I’m saying is that you should watch this series even if it does get repetitive. Because hidden behind all of Nishikita’s losses, are moments worth cherishing forever, even if he doesn’t acknowledge them. You the viewer can.
