The team behind the live-action adaptation of Sōichirō Yamamoto’s Teasing Master Takagi-san (Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san) manga announced that the series will premiere exclusively on Netflix with a “director’s cut.”
Both the first and second episodes are set to stream on March 26, followed by weekly debuts of future episodes. The series is set to debut on the TBS channel’s Drama Stream programming block on April 2 at 11:56 p.m. (10:56 a.m. EDT).
Rui Tsukishima, who models for Shueisha’s Seventeen magazine, and fellow teenager Sōya Kurokawa, known for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, play the roles of Takagi and Nishikata. Filmed entirely on location at Kagawa Prefecture’s Shōdo Island, the live-action series is set in the same place as the earlier anime adaptation.
Rikiya Imaizumi, known for his work on live-action adaptations such as Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki and Chihiro-san, is directing the film. He is also collaborating on the scripts with Tomoki Kanazawa (Sanctuary, Sabakan) and Jun Hagimori (Sabakan). TBS is collaborating with FINE Entertainment on production.
Yen Press is set to release the manga in English, describing Takagi-san:
Middle schooler Nishikata is fed up with his classmate Takagi who sits nearby. Every day, she relentlessly plays tricks and pranks on him. Even when he attempts to playfully tease her, she always outsmarts him, but he’s determined not to back down easily in this playful competition of wits and energy!
The manga is also set to inspire a live-action film premiering in Japan on May 31. The movie narrates a unique plot that takes place a decade after the manga’s middle school backdrop. Mei Nagano stars as Takagi, a trainee teacher at her former school, while Fumiya Takahashi plays Nishikata, now a gym coach at the same school. Aimer will be singing the theme song “Haruka” (Far Away).
Rikiya Imaizumi, known for directing live-action adaptations such as Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki, Chihiro-san, and Just Only Love, is helming both the series and film adaptations. Just like the live-action series, Imaizumi is collaborating on the scripts with Tomoki Kanazawa (Sanctuary, Sabakan) and Jun Hagimori (Sabakan).
Takashi Ohmama, known for his work on Dances with the Dragons, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, and The Gene of AI, is in charge of composing the music. Both adaptations were filmed completely on location at Shōdo Island in Kagawa Prefecture, which was also the setting for the previous anime adaptation.
The manga was launched by Yamamoto in Gessan mini, the accompanying booklet to Shogakukan’s Gessan (Monthly Shonen Sunday) magazine, in 2013.
Following the conclusion of his Fudatsuki no Kyōko-chan manga serialization in Gessan in June 2016, Yamamoto began publishing Teasing Master Takagi-san in Gessan in July 2016. The manga concluded in October 2023.
The initial television anime inspired by the manga debuted in January 2018 within the “Anime no Me” programming block, also incorporating Yamamoto’s Ashita wa Doyōbi manga as segments in the show.
Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan, while Funimation streamed the series with an English dub. The second season of the television anime premiered in July 2019. The show premiered on Netflix in December 2019.
The third season of the television anime, Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san 3 (Teasing Master Takagi-san 3), debuted on MBS and TBS’ Super Animeism block in January 2022.
The anime film Teasing Master Takagi-san: The Movie (Gekijōban Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san) premiered in Japan in June 2022.
Source: Otakumo
