The prospect of Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2 is such a tease, especially when April Fool’s day is involved. The anime adaptation has not told the entire story of Takagi and Nishikata and already the creators are pranking fans. Thankfully, a real Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san OVA episode and an English translation of the manga series has already been confirmed for 2018. There are also many manga chapters, including a spin-off series, to keep fans busy.
The title of the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san manga series by author Soichiro Yamamoto literally translates as “skilled teaser Takagi-san.” The manga series has been serialized since 2013 and is currently published in Monthly Shonen Sunday . As of February of 2018, the ongoing manga is up to Volume 8, and Volume 9 is scheduled to come out on July 10, 2018. According to Anime News Network , the series has sold over 4 million copies in both print and digital format as of February of 2018.
Yen Press has licensed the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san English translation under the title Teasing Master Takagi-San , but the first volume won’t be published until July 24, 2018. However, there are fan translation projects which are already up to Volume 4.
The main series has spawned two spin-offs. The first is called Ashita wa Doyobi , and it’s two volumes, but the story was already adapted into the currently-released anime episodes since the plot was contained in the same world as the main manga. The second spin-off is the Karakai Jouzu no (Moto) Takagi-san manga, which began serializing in the summer of 2017. Just reading the plot summary of the second spin-off contains major spoilers, so the spin-off should not be read until you have completed reading Chapter 31 of the main series (see the spoilers section for more details).
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Manga Compared To The Anime
As previously noted, the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san anime adapted the spin-off’s manga chapters, so it’s not a direct chapter-to-episode adaptation of the source material. The chapters were also adapted out of order. For example, the middle of the anime skipped ahead to the swimsuit shopping story of Chapter 38. Since the anime showed that scene, it would have made sense for the anime to animate Chapters 57 through 59, but that swimming pool story arc is apparently being made into the OVA episode instead of Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Episode 12 started off with the love letter story of manga Chapter 13 and finished off with the class seating arrangement story of Chapter 21. The anime version was slightly different because Nishikata originally had planned to get Takagi to scream by surprising her with a toy rubber snake he was keeping in his pocket. That evil plot was foiled because Takagi somehow knew the prank was coming and declared that a toy snake would not scare her, anyway.
The anime finale substituted Takagi’s handkerchief for the toy snake, and the ending hinted that she really does like Nishikata. While the finale was technically an anime original, this open ending leaves plenty of room for Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2 while not giving away too much.
The good news is that the anime adapted less than half of the available manga chapters, so there’s plenty of source material left for creating Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2. The bad news is reserved for those wanting to read ahead in the manga since there’s no clear-cut starting point. Since the anime jumped around a lot, and the entire first volume was adapted, it’s recommended to start off with Chapter 16 in Volume 2.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san OVA Episode Scheduled For The Summer Of 2018
The official Twitter page for the magazine Monthly Shonen Sunday has announced that the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san OVA anime episode will be coming out during the summer. The release date is scheduled for July 10, 2018, and the OVA episode will be bundled with Volume 9 of the manga. It’s currently unknown whether anime streaming services like Crunchyroll will show the OVA episode.
??????????????????????????? 7??????????????OVA????????????????????????? #????? pic.twitter.com/iwTNRrVFM8
— ??????? (@gessanofficial) March 26, 2018
Based on the image attached to the tweet, it seems very likely that the OVA’s story will be focused on the aforementioned swimming pool story from Volume 6, which makes perfect sense as it’s divided into three parts like the rest of the episodes. However, some manga fans are hoping that Chapter 31 will be the subject of the OVA episode.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2 Release Date
As of this article’s publishing, animation company Shin-Ei Animation has not announced anything official about the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2 release date, although this article will be updated as soon as the anime sequel’s premiere is confirmed. However, there can be reasonable speculation about when, or if, the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2 premiere date may occur.
A 2018 April Fool’s joke announced that an anime sequel would feature Takagi in elementary school. The accompanying artwork was very convincing but in tiny text at the bottom it flatly stated, “It is April fool’s story.” Regardless, the post went viral in the western world largely because the “official” announcement was released on March 31st while Japan was already in April. Perfect joke for the ultimate teaser.
The first volume of the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Blu-ray box set released in Japan on March 28, 2018. Besides coming with a four-page manga booklet written by Yamamoto, it is also bundled with a Windows PC game called Karakai Simulation Game . The anime series will be divided up into six volumes, with each disc containing two episodes.
Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 2 Spoilers
The overall story of the manga is about Nishikata trying and failing to tease Takagi, but short stories about endless teasing will not provide any resolution to their relationship or move the plot forward. Thankfully, the spin-off manga series already provides an answer, and the infamous Chapter 31 was basically author Yamamoto’s way of epically trolling manga readers.
Warning: Major spoilers. It’s highly recommended that you go read Chapter 31 now.
Chapter 31 fast-forwards to a time when Takagi is a twenty-something adult and has a young daughter. The majority of the chapter heavily implies that Nishikata died or that they grew apart as they went through high school. However, on the final page, Takagi breaks the fourth wall and stares straight into the readers’ eyes. The final panel shows the outside of her apartment and the name label clearly shows “Nishikata.”
Now, readers know what Nishikata goes through every day. The title for the newer manga spin-off translates to (Former) Teasing Master Takagi-san and features the married life of the two main characters. Therefore, assuming that Shin-Ei Animation makes Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san Season 2, it could be argued that the second season could serve as a springboard for launching the Karakai Jouzu no (Moto) Takagi-san anime adaptation. However, the spin-off manga series is only up to Volume 2, so it would make sense to build up to that point in the story rather than jump straight into it.
However the story is adapted, let’s just hope that Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 2 comes quickly. Stay tuned.
[Update March 31, 2018] Added discussion of the April Fool’s joke, which was posted on the official website and social media accounts.