Nessa batalha da juventude, perde quem se enrubescer! Nishikata continua tentando pregar peças e vencer nas apostas, mas Takagi é uma adversária firme. Só que talvez Takagi fique corada desta vez.?! Os dois brincam de esconde-esconde e queimada, trocam mensagens pelo celular, fazem apostas com sucos e conversam sobre seus amigos!
Sōichirō Yamamoto (山本崇一朗, Yamamoto Sōichirō) is a Japanese manga artist. He is known for writing and illustrating Teasing Master Takagi-san and Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru. Both series have been published in Monthly Shōnen Sunday and Weekly Shōnen Magazine, respectively.
Takagi and Nishikata continue their unending contests of low-stakes brinkmanship, this time tackling topics like hide-and-seek, text messaging, and indirect kissing. Despite his best efforts, Nishikata never seems to get anywhere, but Takagi still hasn’t won what she really wants...
For a series that doesn’t have much fluctuation in its structure, it’s important to appreciate how much the context of these little stories has changed since the first volume.
Takagi used to just hint around about liking Nishikata, but she couldn’t be more obvious about it here. Not that he’s particularly helpful, as laser focused as he is on getting one up on her, but their slowly evolving relationship is one of the manga’s most satisfying parts.
Amusingly, the closest he ever gets is in the indirect kiss chapter, where he technically foils Takagi’s plan, much to her slightly concealed disappointment.
While many of these chapters are above average for the series (the texting one and the hide-and-seek I mentioned above are particular highlights), I was absolutely floored by the sneezing chapter in particular.
From the title card I wasn’t expecting much, but it breaks the series’ formula in this brilliantly realized take on the old saw that when you sneeze somebody is thinking about you.
The crux of the story sees one group of the cast mention somebody in another group, then the perspective switches over to the latter via a sneeze and it continues on from there. It’s as clever a conceit as I’ve read in a while and using it to check in on the relatively small supporting cast is a genius move. It’s 100% the reason this gets a full five stars.
On the downside, well, same as with every instalment. This book runs the risk every time of being too same-y because it’s basically doing the manga version of Charlie Brown kicking the football over and over. I’d have to say that these stories were a cut above even the last couple volumes though.
If you have liked the series to this point, I don’t think you’ll mind this one at all. It’s definitely a step up in quality and that sneezing chapter is a magnificent bit of storytelling all on its own.
Takagi dan Nishikata melanjutkan adu permainan "berisiko rendah tanpa akhir", kali ini membahas topik seperti petak umpet, pesan kertas hingga ciuman tak langsung hha. Meski sudah berusaha sekuat tenaga, Nishikata sepertinya (dan sudah diduga) tidak pernah berhasil, tapi Takagi masih belum memenangkan apa yang sebenarnya diinginkannya hhe
Takagi biasanya hanya memberi isyarat tentang kesukaannya pada Nishikata, tapi pada beberapa jilid, (apalagi setelah meihat masa depan Takagi dewasa, yang sudah berganti nama marganya setelah menikah hhi), dia sangat jelas memperlihatkannya pada pembaca tentang hal itu, lebih-lebih di jilid ini. Bukan berarti dia sangat membantu, sama fokusnya dengan dia untuk mendapatkan perhatian darinya, tapi hubungan mereka yang berkembang perlahan adalah salah satu bagian manga yang paling menggemaskan hha.
The volume shares tidbits of the daily teasing and challenges that the two come up with. The challenges are different every time, yet his face always turns red. This time the opening chapter brings in several of their classmates as they discuss sneezing and whether people are dating.