Teasing Master Takagi-san

Teasing Master Takagi-san (からかい上手の高木さん) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sōichirō Yamamoto. It started in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine supplement Monthly Shōnen Sunday Mini in June 2013, and later moved to the main magazine, Monthly Shōnen Sunday, in July 2016, and finished in October 2023, with its chapters collected in twenty tankōbon volumes. The series features the daily life of Takagi, who loves to tease her classmate Nishikata, and Nishikata's failed attempts to get back at her. In North America, the manga is licensed by Yen Press.

An anime television series by Shin-Ei Animation aired from January to March 2018. An original video animation (OVA) was released in July 2018. A second season aired from July to September 2019. A third season aired from January to March 2022, and an animated film premiered in June 2022. A television drama adaptation aired from April to May 2024. A live-action film premiered in May 2024.

In 2021, Teasing Master Takagi-san won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category. By October 2023, the manga had over 12 million copies in circulation.

Plot
Middle school students Nishikata and Takagi sit next to each other in class. Takagi enjoys teasing Nishikata with embarrassing pranks and jokes. In response, Nishikata creates plans to get his revenge, but he fails when she identifies his weaknesses and capitalizes on them. In some rare instances where Takagi loses the challenge, Nishikata does not feel like he really won. The setting is based on Yamamoto's hometown of Tonoshō on the island of Shōdoshima in the Kagawa Prefecture.

Characters

 * Takagi (高木さん)
 * Takagi likes to pass time by teasing Nishikata; she enjoys his reactions to her pranks. Early in the series, she tells Nishikata that she will reveal a secret: "I like you", but "that was a lie". However, it is revealed that the only part that was a lie was that it was a secret. When asked by their classmates if she and Nishikata are a couple, she denies it.
 * Takagi likes to pass time by teasing Nishikata; she enjoys his reactions to her pranks. Early in the series, she tells Nishikata that she will reveal a secret: "I like you", but "that was a lie". However, it is revealed that the only part that was a lie was that it was a secret. When asked by their classmates if she and Nishikata are a couple, she denies it.
 * Takagi likes to pass time by teasing Nishikata; she enjoys his reactions to her pranks. Early in the series, she tells Nishikata that she will reveal a secret: "I like you", but "that was a lie". However, it is revealed that the only part that was a lie was that it was a secret. When asked by their classmates if she and Nishikata are a couple, she denies it.


 * Nishikata (西片くん)
 * Nishikata is Takagi's seatmate and the target of her teasing. He is constantly thinking of ways to get back at her, but Takagi always takes advantage of the situation and thwarts his schemes. Nishikata refused to acknowledge that he might like Takagi as more than friends until later on in the series when he realized his feelings for her.
 * Nishikata is Takagi's seatmate and the target of her teasing. He is constantly thinking of ways to get back at her, but Takagi always takes advantage of the situation and thwarts his schemes. Nishikata refused to acknowledge that he might like Takagi as more than friends until later on in the series when he realized his feelings for her.
 * Nishikata is Takagi's seatmate and the target of her teasing. He is constantly thinking of ways to get back at her, but Takagi always takes advantage of the situation and thwarts his schemes. Nishikata refused to acknowledge that he might like Takagi as more than friends until later on in the series when he realized his feelings for her.


 * Mina Hibino (日比野 ミナ)
 * A childish girl with large eyebrows.
 * A childish girl with large eyebrows.
 * A childish girl with large eyebrows.


 * Yukari Tenkawa (天川 ユカリ)
 * Mina and Sanae's friend. She wears glasses. Although she tries to maintain a semblance of maturity as class president, she regularly lets her classmates copy her answers so no one would fail.
 * Mina and Sanae's friend. She wears glasses. Although she tries to maintain a semblance of maturity as class president, she regularly lets her classmates copy her answers so no one would fail.
 * Mina and Sanae's friend. She wears glasses. Although she tries to maintain a semblance of maturity as class president, she regularly lets her classmates copy her answers so no one would fail.


 * Sanae Tsukimoto (月本 サナエ)
 * Mina's best friend, unruffled and quietly amused by her antics. She, Mina, and Yukari hang out together as a trio. She has short dark hair.
 * Mina's best friend, unruffled and quietly amused by her antics. She, Mina, and Yukari hang out together as a trio. She has short dark hair.
 * Mina's best friend, unruffled and quietly amused by her antics. She, Mina, and Yukari hang out together as a trio. She has short dark hair.


 * Nakai (中井)
 * Friend of Nishikata and classmate of both him and Takagi; he and Mano are a couple.
 * Friend of Nishikata and classmate of both him and Takagi; he and Mano are a couple.
 * Friend of Nishikata and classmate of both him and Takagi; he and Mano are a couple.


 * Mano (真野)
 * Classmate of Nishikata and Takagi; she and Nakai are a couple. She has short dark hair with small pigtails.
 * Classmate of Nishikata and Takagi; she and Nakai are a couple. She has short dark hair with small pigtails.
 * Classmate of Nishikata and Takagi; she and Nakai are a couple. She has short dark hair with small pigtails.


 * Takao (高尾)
 * One of Nishikata's close friends along with Kimura. He is a bespectacled boy with buck teeth.
 * One of Nishikata's close friends along with Kimura. He is a bespectacled boy with buck teeth.
 * One of Nishikata's close friends along with Kimura. He is a bespectacled boy with buck teeth.


 * Kimura (木村)
 * One of Nishikata's friends along with Takao. He is an overweight boy who dislikes running.
 * One of Nishikata's friends along with Takao. He is an overweight boy who dislikes running.
 * One of Nishikata's friends along with Takao. He is an overweight boy who dislikes running.


 * Mr. Tanabe (田辺先生)
 * Tanabe is Nishikata and Takagi's no-nonsense homeroom teacher.
 * Tanabe is Nishikata and Takagi's no-nonsense homeroom teacher.
 * Tanabe is Nishikata and Takagi's no-nonsense homeroom teacher.


 * Hamaguchi (浜口)
 * One of Nishikata's friends. He tries to act mature in order to get Houjou to become interested in him.
 * One of Nishikata's friends. He tries to act mature in order to get Houjou to become interested in him.
 * One of Nishikata's friends. He tries to act mature in order to get Houjou to become interested in him.


 * Houjou (北条さん)
 * Houjou is a classmate who is reputed to like mature people.
 * Houjou is a classmate who is reputed to like mature people.
 * Houjou is a classmate who is reputed to like mature people.


 * Sumire Takagawa (鷹川すみれ)
 * Sumire is a close friend of Takagi with a distinctive ponytail. She shares with Takagi an enjoyment for long walks.
 * Sumire is a close friend of Takagi with a distinctive ponytail. She shares with Takagi an enjoyment for long walks.


 * Chi Nishikata (西片ちー)
 * Chi is the daughter of Takagi and Nishikata according to the flashforward chapters of the main series. The spinoff series Karakai Jōzu no (Moto) Takagi-san features Chi as a main character. While Chi usually joins her mother in her pranks on her father, she fails to outsmart Takagi herself.
 * Chi is the daughter of Takagi and Nishikata according to the flashforward chapters of the main series. The spinoff series Karakai Jōzu no (Moto) Takagi-san features Chi as a main character. While Chi usually joins her mother in her pranks on her father, she fails to outsmart Takagi herself.

Manga
Teasing Master Takagi-san is written by Sōichirō Yamamoto. The series began serialization in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine supplement Monthly Shōnen Sunday Mini on June 12, 2013, and it moved to the main Monthly Shōnen Sunday magazine on July 12, 2016. The series finished on October 12, 2023. It has been collected in twenty tankōbon volumes.

In November 2017, Yen Press announced the acquisition of the manga for an English release in North America.

Spin-offs
A spin-off manga series by Yamamoto, titled Ashita wa Doyōbi (あしたは土曜日), was serialized in the newspaper Yomiuri Chūkōsei Shimbun from November 7, 2014 to November 2015, and was collected into two tankōbon volumes. It was also adapted within the Teasing Master Takagi-san anime adaptation in 2018.

A second spin-off manga series by Yūma Suzu, titled Koi ni Koisuru Yukari-chan (恋に恋するユカリちゃん), was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday from July 12, 2017 to April 11, 2020, and was collected into five tankōbon volumes.

A third spin-off by Mifumi Inaba, titled Karakai Jōzu no (Moto) Takagi-san (からかい上手の（元）高木さん), featuring an adult Takagi, now married to Nishikata, and their daughter, Chi, started in MangaOne app on July 15, 2017. It has been collected into twenty-one tankōbon volumes.

A fourth spin-off by Inaba, titled Karakai Jōzu (?) no Nishikata-san (からかい上手(？)の西片さん), centered around Chi during her middle school years, began serialization in Monthly Shōnen Sunday on November 10, 2023. It is set to run for ten chapters.

Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in the August 2017 issue of Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday magazine. The series was directed by Hiroaki Akagi at Shin-Ei Animation, with scripts written by Michiko Yokote and character designs by Aya Takano. It aired from January 8 to March 26, 2018 on Tokyo MX and other channels. The series ran for 12 episodes. Crunchyroll simulcasted the series, while Funimation streamed the series with an English dub.

On January 10, 2019, it was announced that the series would receive a second season; the staff and cast reprised their respective roles. It aired from July 7 to September 22, 2019 on Tokyo MX and other channels, with episodes being exclusively streamed on Netflix in Japan; a worldwide release on Netflix took place on December 6.

A third season and an animated film were officially announced in September 2021 after they were first teased with the release of the sixteenth volume of the manga. The third season aired on the Super Animeism block on MBS and TBS, and other networks from January 8 to March 26, 2022. The film features returning staff members from the third season of the anime series. It was released in Japan on June 10, 2022. On December 28, 2021, Sentai Filmworks announced it had acquired the rights to the third season and the film for worldwide distribution excluding Asia, and is streaming it on Hidive.

Video game
The mobile game Teasing Master Takagi-san: Kyunkyun Records (からかい上手の高木さん キュンキュンレコーズ) was released on Android and iOS on June 8, 2022. The game ended its service on March 31, 2023, but Toho Games stated in January 2023 that they intended to release its offline version.

Live action
A live-action adaptation was announced in March 2023, with Rikiya Imaizumi serving as the director. In September 2023, Tomoki Kanazawa and Jun Hagimori were announced to be writing the live-action television drama series, with TBS producing it in cooperation with Fine Entertainment. Rui Tsukishima and Sōya Kurokawa portray Takagi and Nishikata, respectively. The series aired on the TBS channel block programming Drama Stream in Japan from April 2 to May 21, 2024. Aimer performed the theme song "Haruka" (遥か). Netflix streamed the series worldwide.

A live-action film was announced in November 2023, with Imaizumi set to direct and write it alongside Kanazawa and Hagimori. It is set a decade after the events of the manga, with Mei Nagano portraying Takagi, who works as a trainee teacher in her middle school alma mater, and Fumiya Takahashi portraying Nishikata, who works as a gym coach at the same school. The film premiered in Japan on May 31, 2024.

Reception
By December 2016, the manga had over 1 million copies in circulation. By February 2018, that number had increased to 4 million copies. It had over 6 million copies in circulation by February 2019; over 11 million copies in circulation by August 2023; and over 12 million copies in circulation by October 2023.

The manga was nominated for the 10th Manga Taishō awards in 2017. In 2021, along with Chainsaw Man, Teasing Master Takagi-san won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category.