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I love this series, however, I feel like there was a lot to be desired out of this movie.

The essence of Teasing Master Takagi-san revolves around the heartwarming and wholesome moments between our main protagonists. Despite this crucial aspect to the story, there was very little in terms of genuine heartfelt moments between Takagi and Nishkata. In previous seasons this was done exceptionally well, AND in abundance, so its a bit disappointing when these moments are few and far between in this movie. That being said, there are some good and organic sequences that evoke meaningful emotion. I think ... my favourite instance of this was when they were in the pool together seeing how long they could hold their breath. It was very cute, did not feel forced and was a simple, normal, everyday activity. This brought back similar feelings as the first 3 seasons, showing how much it can thrive off of using mundane tasks by making them feel fresh and exciting.

The latter half of the movie is where the majority of my criticism comes from.

I understand the need to create some drama and urgency in a movie, or else it seems like there isn't much to be desired or much to hold on to in terms of an overarching story. However, I think this movie would have been perfect for creating this type of atmosphere. There was no use for needless drama in this movie, but it was given it anyways. I am referring to the Cat sequence/storyline (If you can even call it that). Its not so much that this section of the movie was bad, it just felt like there could have been more. Or at least have it somehow effect Takagi and Nishkata's relationship. It felt like pointless drama to me. Now who knows, maybe thats just the material they wanted to adapt, as there wasn't much else in terms of character development for these two and this felt like a turning point. I have to believe there was something better for these two to end of the series than helping a stray cat. Not only that but it ends quite abruptly and suddenly this cat is no more. I wasn't gonna be fan of this happening, but I expected more to come out of this because it took up such a large portion of the movie. But it didn't really? I know that it ended up having Nishkata promise to make Takagi happy and vice versa at the end of the movie, but it could have been done a lot better in my opinion. Ffs they could have just talked to each other on a park bench for the last 30 minutes and explored each others feeling and I would have been satisfied with that. At least I could have been able to see more heartfelt interaction between these beloved characters before I have to say goodbye. Don't worry, I will be catching up with the manga...

My only other gripes are minimal. What was the point of adding the other random relationship at the start? The one with Houjou. Could've left that out, or better yet give the screen time somewhere else. I also would have liked to see at least a scene of Mano near the end. Her and her bf seemed like one of the more pivotal relationships in the series. Takagi and Niskata both looked at them as a template for dating. Each of them "mentored" Takagi and NIshkata in trying to get closer to each other. All 4 of them knew each other, wasn't like an awkward friend of a friend. Anyways, the list goes on as to why I found them to be important to the story.

I enjoyed Mina, Sanae and Yukari. In this movie, especially, they are quite bland, however, I did like to see them have their own conclusion. It was sweet and simple. With a run time so short it would have been hard to do anything more with these 3 than what was already done, so I found this to be done well.

The main strengths of this movie are seeing Takagi and Nishkata become closer. With each interaction you feel like they could suddenly break through to a new plateau in their relationship, which is one of the reasons why it makes them so much fun to watch. Regardless of what these two are doing, it is enjoyable to experience.

Ill talk about the ending and post credits as a whole as they somewhat parallel each other. Obviously very cute to see Takagi and Nishkata have their final festival looking at the fireworks. That was awesome, I loved that. It would have been nicer to see that come up organically rather than cutting straight to it after the cat storyline. The post credits scene gave me everything I wanted. Seeing Chii, and Takagi and Nishkata as parents, really hits home and I am very happy they animated a small section like this. It parallels them on their firefly walk as well as the many moments we see with Takagi and Nishkata at a festival but this time its with their daughter.

A few side notes:
- The animation was really good. Felt like a step up from previous seasons
- Sound and music were both good. It didn't try do to more than it needed to do

Im definitely being picky with this review, but this is one of my favourite series so I felt the need to analyze it critically. Despite my critiques I still had a fun and enjoyable time watching this movie. And for any other fans of this series, you will not regret watching this movie.