2014-06-12

Tonari no Seki-kun

Tonari no Seki-kun (となりの関くん) is a 21 episode comedy based on the manga of the same name.  This 8 minute per episode series began airing in Japan January 2014.

    Lit. My Neighbor Seki-kun, Tonari no Seki-kun deals with high school student Rumi Yokoi as she is constantly distracted by her scheming classmate Toshinari Seki.  Seki does anything and everything he can during class not related to studying.  Each episode deals with him doing something extravagent during a class period and Yokoi narrating the action with an internal dialog.  While concerned for her classmates inattention and possible punishment if caught, she also shows disdain for his wilfulness and admiration for his creativity.  With each episode we see Seki pulling seemingly random things from his school bag of tricks and incorporating them in ways not normally considered.  From a tragic romance story with Shogi pieces to a lesson in swimming safety from the omnipresent robot family.

    This is a fun, light and enjoyable series.  There is no over all plot to the series, each episode is independent of themselves.  I was worried initially that it would become stale and passe.  Yet most of the episodes were enjoyable and the way Seki played in class each time was interesting and new.  There were a few where it got boring, but for the most part its an entertaining series.  This is a great one to just sit back and not think about anything.  Each episode clocks in around 8 minutes so this is a great series to use as a break between other shows you may be watching that require more attention.  Fun for everyone, its a rare series that's completely innocent and enjoyable by children and adults.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.  There is no word on it being released to DVD in North America.  The manga is slated to be published in English by Vertical sometime in the future.


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