This anime is almost like an aged-down version of Nagatoro-san. Nishikata is a young student who finds himself the victim of his classmate Takagi. Takagi’s extensive knowledge of Nishikata’s behavior results in her being able to flawlessly predict his reaction to any one of her many pranks. Nishikata desperately tries to retaliate; hoping to one day pull off a prank so epic that it leaves Takagi blushing embarrassedly as a result of his teasing. Nevertheless, that day has yet to come and, in the meantime, Takagi has a lot more teasing left up her sleeve.

Teasing Master Takagi-san is very much a prelude to Nagatoro-san. While the premises are almost identical, Takagi-san features a much younger cast. As such, the teasing falls more in line with the characters’ respective ages in this show. Nagatoro-san features a lot more sexual teasing inflicted upon the inexperienced and timid Hachioji from the confident Nagatoro. Also, their attraction to each other comes through a lot sooner in this show and we learn early on that Nagatoro does in fact have romantic feelings for her senpai. While a more subdued romance is present in Takagi-san, the pranks are of a much more light-hearted nature. Regardless, if you enjoyed watching a teasing master craftsman show off her expertise in Nagatoro-san, Takagi should be able to satisfy you just the same.

Maid Sama follows the life of our two protagonists; Usui and Misa. Misa is the school’s student council president and an all-around disciplinarian. After her school transforms into one that is co-ed, she lays down the law very quickly on any boys who misbehave in the presence of her girls. You would think that, with such a personality, Misa would be quite adept at teasing any of her potential love interests. However, after learning that Misa works part-time at a maid cafe in order to help her struggling family pay their bills, her classmate and school heartthrob Usui makes it his mission to tease her daily. While keeping Misa’s secret from any of the students, he attends the cafe almost daily to poke fun at Misa. Misa is then revealed to not have such a tough shell as she often blushes in embarrassment at any of Usui’s advances.

Have you ever wanted to watch Nagatoro-san but the roles were reversed? Well, here you go! Maid Sama sees the switching of sadist and masochist as Usui (the male) relentlessly teases Misa (the female). This is done through romantic confessions, ordering luxurious items on the cafe menu, and generally pestering Misa while she works. Both Nagatoro and Hachioji are still unsure of their feelings in Nagatoro-san. However, Usui is much more confident and confesses his attraction to Misa almost immediately. Misa, the tsundere that she is, rebukes these utterances at first but Usui gradually chips away at her exterior over the course of the season.

After Uzaki reunites with her high school senpai Sakurai during her freshman year of college, she is taken aback by his transformation. Though Sakurai used to be the life of the party, he has since transitioned into a loner with no friends who does nothing but play games all day. Uzaki makes it her mission to remove Sakurai from his life of isolation and forces him to join her on various excursions. The two go to movies together, go shopping, or hang out at Sakurai’s part-time workplace. Sakurai does not particularly enjoy doing any of these activities but puts up with it despite it involving the pair entering into exceedingly ridiculous situations (we don’t speak of the bush scene…).

While Uzaki-chan does feature degrees of teasing usually from Uzaki, the show is much more focused on presenting this mismatched pairing, and the varying difficulties they have interacting together. The two’s relationship starts off very platonic but as they continue to spend time together, they come to appreciate the other’s quirks and mannerisms. Some people may wonder who two completely different people could strike up such a meaningful relationship. How can the loud and bombastic Nagatoro-san ever find a connection with the weak-willed and introverted Hachioji? How can the extroverted and energetic Uzaki find kinship in the stern and serious Sakurai? It seems opposites really do attract.

“Chuunibyou”, otherwise referred to as “second-grade syndrome” is an affliction that many middle school students suffer from. At such an age, it isn’t too uncommon to concoct various delusions that your life is special and different from your peers. That your letter from Hogwarts must have just gotten lost in the mail, and one day you will leave behind the textbooks and the bullies and enter into a world of floating textbooks and goblin bullies instead. One can only dream. One such sufferer of this disease was Togashi Yuuta, otherwise referred to as “Dark Flame Master”. Yuuta posed as this being during his childhood and wants more than anything to forget that embarrassing time in his life. However, another student with chuunibyou and one yet to find a cure is Takanashi Rikka. She quickly becomes obsessed with the Dark Flame Master and Yuuta must do all he can to keep that part of his life locked away.

Most of the teasing that is seen in this show is entirely involuntary. Rikka will often call upon the Dark Flame Master to aid her own persona; the “Wicked Eye”. Rikka’s antics often cause embarrassment for Yuuta but she never goes out of her way to intentionally cause him pain. Likewise, Yuuta often makes fun of Rikka for being set in her delusional ways but Rikka simply takes these blows on the chin and continues with her antics. As Yuuta comes to realize that perhaps Rikka has a reason for not wanting to give up her childhood, he comes to accept her for who she is (and in turn accepts the past he has left behind). The two are inherently a mismatched pair and very in line with Hachioji’s attempts to avoid embarrassment at the hands of Nagatoro. Both pairs also come to discover their feelings for each other as the show progresses.

Both Kaguya and Shirogane are at the very peak of their adolescent life. They are both the vice-president and president respectfully of their school’s student council, they both rank top of the leaderboard in terms of grades, and they both have respect from all of their peers. Often being mistaken for a couple, students often wonder what goes on behind closed doors. These whisperings seem to ring true, as we learn that Shirogana and Kaguya have developed romantic feelings for each other. However, with both of their prides on the line, neither wants to be the first to admit defeat and confess their love for the other.

Whereas Nagatoro-san features a lot of one-sided teasing, both Shirogana and Kaguya dish out as much teasing as they take. Depending on the day, either one may have pushed the scales more so in their favor, and at the end of each episode, we receive a little narration declaring who has one this particular match. As the two tease each other more and more, they do not discover their romantic attraction towards one another but cement it and deepen it even further than it already had been. This show features a lot of funny teasing with a nice romantic subplot layered underneath.

The Shikada Dagashi is a small sweet shop run by the Shikada family out in the countryside. The shop has stood firm for nine generations but runs the risk of closing its doors for good when the aspiring manga artist and next in line to take hold of the reins refuses to do so. Kokonotsu Shikada dreams of a much more lavish life. However, a young girl named Hotaru Shidare aspires to bring back Kokonotsu’s veteran father to her own sweet manufacturing company known as the Shidare corporation. Kokonotsu’s father appears to be just as adamant as his son, but his initial refusal morphs into a deal. He states that, should Shidare convince Kokonotsu to take over the family shop, he will return to work. Thus begins Hotaru’s desperate attempts to awaken Kokonotsu to the life of a Dagashi enthusiast

Let’s finish this list with some more good old-fashioned sadodere goodness. While not as sadodere as Nagatoro herself or other famous sadodere out there, Hotaru takes great pleasure in teasing Kokonotsu with sexual advances and flirty wordplay. If you enjoyed the flirty back and forth between a seemingly experienced elder who enjoys picking on someone completely oblivious to such a world of wonder, take a look at Dagashi Kashi.