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meorawr's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
banana83854's review against another edition
3.0
Think I'm gonna put this series on pause for now, it's getting very repetitive..
absentminded_reader's review
3.0
Teasing MONSTER Takagi-san
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★☆
I wasn’t a fan of this volume. I found Takagi to be a tad mean spirited in her teasing this time around. I read the second volume so many months ago that I can’t put my finger on why she feels meaner in this volume. Perhaps it’s because the teasing in this volume had more to do with manipulation & entrapment and less about pranks. Maybe the sexual teasing felt too adult for Takagi’s age. Maybe I was just bothered by the fact that she could poke him, but him poking her back was sexual harassment, even if it was stated in jest.
However, now that my gripes are out of the way, I can recognize that this volume is a window of time in the overall character arc of Takagi. After all, this is her story, not Nishikata’s. There was even a moment on page 58 where we could see that the little sadist actually was a feeling human being. We were even treated to a moment of self analysis where she admitted she couldn’t help herself when she was around him. I believe the anime, which was my first introduction to the story, did a better job smoothing out the rough edges of Takagi. She was a more sanitized, cuter, and endearing character.
Not so in the manga. Here we see Takagi torturing the boy of her dreams. She is merciless, and often unkind. She is self-indulgent, pursuing her own pleasures at the cost of romance. She mocks Nishikata relentlessly. She is a precocious coquette who leads her naive victim to her web, delighting in his exaggerated reactions despite pushing her prey further away from her grasp. Arguably, she is more real as a person in the manga. I just don’t like her very much. For that I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the mangaka, Soichiro Yamamoto. He’s the one who is drawing her, after all.
I’d like to see more mischievous close-ups of Takagi’s face as found on pages 38 & 82 and less narrow eyed, half-lidded, arching eyebrowed side glances as found on pages 74 & 100. I find the latter examples leading to her character’s perception as cruel in many of the other reviews I have read. However, there are seven more volumes already finished after this one, so my wishes have little impact on what has followed. I can only hope that Takagi finds her humanity soon so that I can enjoy her journey towards romance a little bit more.
She really is a mean li’l rotter, isn’t she? Too bad she’s so darn cute. Poor Nishikata.
Story: ★★★☆☆
Art: ★★★★☆
I wasn’t a fan of this volume. I found Takagi to be a tad mean spirited in her teasing this time around. I read the second volume so many months ago that I can’t put my finger on why she feels meaner in this volume. Perhaps it’s because the teasing in this volume had more to do with manipulation & entrapment and less about pranks. Maybe the sexual teasing felt too adult for Takagi’s age. Maybe I was just bothered by the fact that she could poke him, but him poking her back was sexual harassment, even if it was stated in jest.
However, now that my gripes are out of the way, I can recognize that this volume is a window of time in the overall character arc of Takagi. After all, this is her story, not Nishikata’s. There was even a moment on page 58 where we could see that the little sadist actually was a feeling human being. We were even treated to a moment of self analysis where she admitted she couldn’t help herself when she was around him. I believe the anime, which was my first introduction to the story, did a better job smoothing out the rough edges of Takagi. She was a more sanitized, cuter, and endearing character.
Not so in the manga. Here we see Takagi torturing the boy of her dreams. She is merciless, and often unkind. She is self-indulgent, pursuing her own pleasures at the cost of romance. She mocks Nishikata relentlessly. She is a precocious coquette who leads her naive victim to her web, delighting in his exaggerated reactions despite pushing her prey further away from her grasp. Arguably, she is more real as a person in the manga. I just don’t like her very much. For that I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the mangaka, Soichiro Yamamoto. He’s the one who is drawing her, after all.
I’d like to see more mischievous close-ups of Takagi’s face as found on pages 38 & 82 and less narrow eyed, half-lidded, arching eyebrowed side glances as found on pages 74 & 100. I find the latter examples leading to her character’s perception as cruel in many of the other reviews I have read. However, there are seven more volumes already finished after this one, so my wishes have little impact on what has followed. I can only hope that Takagi finds her humanity soon so that I can enjoy her journey towards romance a little bit more.
She really is a mean li’l rotter, isn’t she? Too bad she’s so darn cute. Poor Nishikata.
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