Teasing Master Takagi-san – J-drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Happy Competition

Episode 4 of Teasing Master Takagi-san begins with Takagi sneaking inside Nishikata’s bedroom to give him a gift. He pretends to sleep and scares her. She gives the present and accepts defeat. He is super excited about it but she doesn’t seem fazed. Turns out it is a dream and the gift is a jack-in-the-box. He wakes up with a start and is annoyed she got him even in a dream.

At school, Nishikata sees Takagi doing crochet. He acts uninterested but she ends up teaching him. She holds his hand to help and he blushes. He finally throws the yarn, saying it is too hard. He pretends to read but he is curious about what she is making to which she says it is a present. It is a scarf for a 15-year-old boy and it further piques his interest. The boy turns out to be the candy shop’s dog, Taro and Nishikata looks relieved. 

As the two head home, all he can think about is how to beat her before the year ends. He finally proposes a year-end competition and gives in when she asks to set the rules. Whoever makes the other person happier wins. He finds it easy as he will just pretend to frown and get her a pine cone.

As he waits with the pine cone, he realises that he needs to get something better and thinks hard about what makes Takagi happy. We get a flashback to her laughing every time she pranked Nishikata. He wonders if he should give her a pass to make fun of him for a whole day. He then realises that she does that anyway.

She too wonders what to do to make Nishikata as she realises it is harder than she thought. They both end up at the candy shop and he sulks on finding her there. After they get their things, they head to the local shrine where Takagi gives Nishikata a Christmas present full of sweets. He isn’t embarrassed like in his dream and feels happy.

It is his turn, and he too has a Christmas present for her – it has her favourite drinks and snacks that he knows she likes because he has observed her enjoying those in the past. She is happy and is about to declare him the winner when he stops her. He says they should tie as he is happy too and she accepts.

It is New Year’s Day and Nishikata goes to the temple where he wishes for Takagi to stop teasing him. Of course, she pops up from behind and scares him. She suggests a competition on guessing their wishes and instantly guesses that he prayed he wouldn’t get teased. He cannot guess her wish and is annoyed. They come up with a second competition of reading their fortunes and she gets better luck and he is shocked. As they roam around, he still tries to guess her wish and he fails.

Takagi’s mom calls her home and he looks sad that she has to go. She teases him for it and he suggests it is because he hasn’t guessed her wish yet. He says he will win the fortune competition next year and she teases him that it is a date. He is further flustered when she says her wish was for him to ask her out on a date and it has now come true. At the end of Teasing Master Takagi-san Episode 4, both look happy about spending New Year’s Day again next year.

The Episode Review

The happy competition at the beginning of Teasing Master Takagi-san Episode 4 honestly is the funniest and cutest thing ever. For Nishikata to get happy, Takagi needs to let him tease her. And no matter what they do, in the end, she is the true winner, as he has to go out of his way to do something that will make her happy for him to win. But the J-drama finds a sweet resolution as he is the one who concedes for the first time. 

This episode also furthers their character arcs from what we see at the beginning of the episode. While this had been a point of worry, the writers have done a good job of picking the right manga moments and aligning them in a way that allows us to see them grow. Nishikata accepts their friendship and what may be their blooming relationship while Takagi switches from constantly teasing him to choosing to have wholesome moments with him.