One Week Friends

One Week Friends ( 一週間フレンズ) is a slice of life romance based on the manga of the same name by Hazuki Matcha.  The anime was broadcast in Japan in the spring if 2014 and ran for 12 episodes.

    Hase Yuki is a quiet and unassuming student who has feelings for the mysterious Fujimiya Kaori in his class.  Wanting to get closer to her even though she never interacts with anyone he decides to have lunch with her on the schools rooftop.  Fujimuya is at first gruff and put off by the outgoing Hase but his earnestness lets her open up a little.  At the end of the week though she is faced with telling this likable,  if persistent,  boy her secret which keeps her from making friends.  For some reason her memories reset at the end of each week and she can only remember things not dealing with her peers.  She remembers her family,  Her studies and her early childhood but everything else goes away with each Sunday night.  Surprised and determined even more Hase wants to do what he can to create memories of him that Fujimiya won't easily forget.

    This us a slow and very quiet series.  All of the characters are relaxed to the point they may really all be on downers.  The artwork is hazy and dream like, which fits the atmosphere of the show well.  While not bad the series really just did amble on with no real conflict or resolution.  But,  it ends with you wanting more...some sort if solid conclusion.  But,  with its faults I still enjoyed it.  This series is probably best dished out a little at a time though.  I think if I watched it in one big go,  instead of weekly,  I would have fallen asleep and not cared to finish it.  The story really could have benefited some more legitimate tension.  Instead it seems to amble on with small moments of drama popping up almost formulaically.  They should have taken a look at the serious dramatic tension in Asatte no Houkou for some pointers.

    The anime was simulcast in North America via Crunchyroll.  No word on any sort of DVD release.  The manga is not currently available outside of Japan.

Bakuman

Bakuman (バクマン) is a slice of life manga by Oba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi of Death Note fame.  The series was published in Shonen Jump between 2008 and 2012 and was collected into 20 tankobon.

   Mashiro Moritaka is good at drawing and has a crush on classmate Azuki Miho.  When fellow classmate,  Takagi Akito discovers his talent he tries to convince him that they should team up to become a successful manga team.  Mashiro is hesitant as his uncle was a semi famous manga-ka who died before achieving the fame he desired.  Takagi forces Mashiro to confront Azuki and confess his feelings for her.  Takagi tells him that Azukis dream is to be a voice actress.  In a moment of nervousness Mashiro tells Azuki that when he and Takagi become famouse manga-ka and have an anime for it she will be cast as the heroine.  Once they accomplish that they will start dating.  Much to everyones surprise Azuki agrees.  With a drive like none other the due strikes out to become a successful manga-ka team.  Along the way they face adversity from the industry,  other artists and themselves.  Can they succeed and at what cost?

    While the entire motivating factor for the series is to see the realization of the romance betwern Mashiro and Azuki,  this series is not a romance.  It actually seems like a biopic.  This was a fun and educational manga that in no way ressembles Death Note.  It gives you a detailed and painful view of the life of a manga-ka.  The duo,  who work under the pen-name of Ashirogi Muto,  face all sorts of conflicts on their way to becoming famous manga-ka.  The series focuses on the process of developing and submtting a manga.  The process of sirialization and the arduous task to keep it going week after week while competing against the other manga for popularity among the readers.  The story plays off of the real artists history with Shonen Jump and probably immortalizes some of the magazines real personalities.  Yet the manga does have its flaws.  The biggest is how wordy it is.  There is a ton of dialouge and at times the manga completely contradicts its characters conversations about what it takes to make a successful series in Jump.  Some of the conflicts in the story seemed forced and half hearted.  There was also an amount of storyline that seemed unneeded and only there to draw out the series.  There were a number of plot arcs that seemed to be pointless.  The main characters are enjoyable but the wide range of supporting characters are the real gem I think.  The creators did a really good job of making everyone unique and memorable.  

    In the end this was a really enjoyable manga to read.  It gives the reader a birds eye view into the world of a manga-ka but also tells an enjoyable story about adolescent dreams and the struggles to be successful.

    The manga is available in its entirety in North America and was published by Viz.  There was also an anime adaptation which is also available and a pending live action movie set to release in 2015.

Knights of Sidonia

Knights of Sidonia (シドニアの騎士) is a space mecha series based on the manga of the same name by Tsutomu Nihei.  The series aired in Japan during the spring of 2014 and ran for 12 episodes.

    1000 years after an aggressive and enigmatic alien known as the Gauna destroyed Earth; the survivors on one of the seed ships created from the remains of the planet are trying to spread the human race.  The Sidonia has experienced 100 years of peace, since the last confrontation with any Gauna.  The ship/city is flourishing with a population boom amid safety of peace.  Yet it is still run with a military style government and being chosen to pilot a Gardes mech to defend the ship is a high honor that many strive for.  Nagate Tanikaze was raised, hidden from view, in the bowls of the city by his grandfather, a hero from the war.  After his guardian dies and the last of his food runs out he begins to search through the labyrinth of the ship for food.  In a series of unfortunate events he ends up captured by security and hospitalized.  Before he can be charged with any criminal negligence his identity is discovered and the woman who commands the ship decides to instead enroll Nagate into the Gardes academy.  She is betting on Nagate being as talented of a pilot as his guardian was.  Luckily for her Nagate was essentially raised in a VR simulator.  His first actual mission is with other rookie pilots to harvest ice from a nearby asteroid.  Everything goes downhill when I dormant Gauna is found inside of the asteroid.  Now the 100 years of peace are shattered as their mortal enemy has shown its self again.  Can a new generation of pilots who have never been in battle save their city from destruction?

    This was one of my favorite new series from 2014 (so far) and I highly enjoyed it.  The animation is a bit bothersome at first.  The used cell shade CG with wire frame motion capture, so at times the people move a little 'unnaturally'.  But you get used to it after a while and the color scheme and use of shadows typical with cell shade CG actually lends to the style of the anime.  The mechs are pretty cool looking and the combat sequences are well done.  The real meat of this show is the story though.  The history of the Sidonia begins to reveal its self throughout the show and not everything is as it seems.  There is a lot of information that is left out though.  It is assumed that there are other seed ships like Sidonia.  I'm pretty sure what other survivors from Earth are in space are far removed from Sidonia.  Memory is hazy but there may have been a brief mention in an early episode about Sidonia's last contact with another seed ship years in the past...  There are also many secrets that they begin to hint at relating to current and recent events with the ship that they only start to touch upon.  I really like the 'world' that Nihei-sensei has created with this series.  While the mechs and mech combat are nothing new, I like what he has done with the society of the Sidonia.  In order to make up for limited agriculture space the populace of the ship has been genetically modified to photosynthesize.  Cloning is rampant and a 3rd neutral gender has been established, of which the person decides later in life what gender they want to settle on, if at all.  The biggest secret of all are the Gauna.  Why did they initially attack Earth, where did they come from, what is their goal?  None of these have been answered or even remotely discussed.  But new mysteries involving them have been introduced, like their ability to seemingly replicate things they come in contact with.

    This is a fantastic series; it’s got great action, an engaging story and beautiful CG artwork.  In retrospect though, the main character is rather flat and not well established.  He's a bit of a wet noodle that operates in about 2 or 3 emotional modes.  He is the apparent savior of the Sidonia, but the show isn't totally about him being the unlikely hero of the day like a shonen fight series.  The characters around him are much more interesting but his actions and character are a focal point of the series and determine the course of many of the events.  I'm not saying I hate Nagate, but he is a rather boring lead character, I enjoy a number of the peripheral characters better but wouldn't want them to be the main focus of the show either.  Instead, and the series does this to an extent, the story focuses on the events and the people involved in them, not just focusing solely on Nagate's growth, challenges and victories.  But in the end, Nagate is still the hero.

    You may be thinking, well shit, 12 episodes and they have not really answered any pressing questions?  What’s the point of watching this show if it’s not going to satisfy my need for completion.  True, you could just read all the manga, which is ongoing and up to 57 issues.  Well, there will be a second series titled Knights of Sidonia: War of the 9th Planet which appears to be airing in the beginning of 2015.  Meanwhile, watch this series, read the manga and also read another series by Nihei called Blame! which Knights of Sidonia steals some character designs from.  Who knows...maybe Blame! takes place on another of the seed ships?

    The series did not air simultaneously in America but Netflix will begin airing it in July of 2014, a week after the series concluded in Japan.    UPDATE: Neflix will have all 12 episodes available at the same time, dubbed in English. (6/27/2014)

The Outlawing of Child Porn in Japan

Recently the Japanese government outlawed owning child pornography.  It was already illegal to produce child porn.  There was a foot note in this ruling that did not include manga, anime or computer games, due to a lot of push back from the manga/anime/gaming lobby.

    The reason for the outcry from these industries was due to; censoring creative freedom and that a drawing does not harm anyone, like the act of filming a sexual assault does.  These are both valid and understandable arguments and should not be taken lightly.  There are always implications when it comes to creating censorship laws and how those laws would infringe on freedoms of expression and press that should be universal rights.   The second idea that no one was harmed with a drawing is correct as well.  No child was exploited for the creation of the drawings.  Not in the way a child is exploited during the filming of a live action child porno.  Yet, and you knew it was coming, these are hollow and flawed arguments that speaks of a larger problem in the psyche in Japan.  Let’s unpack this a piece at a time.

    Censorship argument: yes, it is a slippery slope and can be viewed as a dangerous thing to censor drawings and text.  Yes, everyone should be able to express their own viewpoints freely and openly without fear of legal repercussions.  At the same time that right of expression comes with social responsibility and accountability.  You can not publish a tract on racial segregation and eugenics and not be at least morally responsible for someone’s adverse actions directly relating to that piece of material.  Legal accountability, perhaps not, that’s a very gray area, that in many cases, could lead to witch hunts and wide speculation.  Marilyn Manson didn’t make the guys in Columbine murder classmates and how much did Mein Kampf play a role in the holocaust?  But, because you have the legal ability to do something doesn’t mean you should do it.  We will circle back to this one in a bit.

    Exploitation argument: Yes, at the very basic idea, no one is harmed from a drawing.  You would assume that no one was exploited in the creation of a drawing, series of drawing, etc.  Not in the way of the actual filming of the actual process.  Yet there are two aspects where this is wrong.  A hypothetical situation says that the artist is basing the drawings on a live model, which, if it is a child, definitely still exploits and harms that child.  The other aspect, which is the real meat of my argument, is the post-exploitation factor.  This will take a bit to get into so I want to start it off with addressing the ideas of the sexualization of minors.

    If memory serves correct age of consent in Japan is 14 or 16.  As we all were, at one point, raging hormonal teenagers all we cared about for the most part was fucking.  So hey, teenagers fuck, sometimes like bunnies, no big deal.  I don’t have a problem with it and no one else really should as long as they are being safe and smart and everyone is consenting.  So I’m not talking teenagers here, high school students.  I’m talking barely teenager and younger.  Now, in Japan one is not considered an adult until 20 years old.  I am not sure of the exact language of the law and what they are determining to be considered child porn, what age the victims are.  So let’s just work with the idea that it’s anything under the age of consent in Japan and take the argument from that standpoint.  If it is for people under 20 then there are some societal differences that make this argument a little wonky, but the general population in America doesn’t have any issue with people under 18 being banned from porno.

    One thing to get out of the way is the idea of innocuous nudity.  Again, I do not know the exact verbiage of the law, so I don’t know how this is covered.  So we will just go with the idea of the material depicting sexual acts and to provide for simulated sexual gratification.  I highly doubt My Neighbor Totoro would be edited to remove the scene of the two girls taking a bath.  Much like how in America there are nekkid baby butts on diaper commercials.  These things are not intended to be there for sexual gratification but to show life as it is.  (Yes I can see an entire argument with that statement to derail this discussion but don’t be an idiot)  Now, that is not to say that a few people out there don’t masturbate to naked baby butt diaper commercials, nor can we imply that naked baby butt diaper commercials lead to this type of dangerous behavior that may lead to victimizations and assaults.  This discussion should be solely focused on the sexualization of minors as represented in video and drawings.

    You can call me moralistic and a prude and you can fuck yourself for thinking that.  But it is in no way shape or form OK to sexualize a 12 year old.  In any form of media, regardless if the creation of that media exploited/harmed a living person.  Yes, you have the right to create a drawing or a story dealing with the sexual exploitation of a 12 year old.  But you have to take into consideration the dangerous environment you are creating by generating something like that.  Yes, with or without a drawing or a story of a minor being sexually assaulted it does happen.  Let’s not fuck around…having sex with a 12 year old should be flat out considered assault, even if the child is ‘consenting’.  Where the problem lies is the danger of perpetuating and encouraging the sexualization of minors through graphical media.  This can foster an idea that it is OK to behave in this fashion, emboldening people with morally questionable fetishes to endanger the lives of minors.  If a culture is created where it is represented as being OK to sexual assault a minor then the line between fiction and reality can blur with very disastrous effects.  Yes, in a way, this is thought policing.  Yes in a way this is restricting freedom of expression.  You can say this is over reacting, like blaming video games and Catcher in the Rye for creating hardened mass shooters.  The idea that you have to argue with someone that sexualizing and promoting sexual assault on minors is OK because, if you don’t allow it you’re repressing freedoms is ludicrous. 

    Societies have taken it upon themselves to determine what types of content should be accessed at what age levels.  I don’t have a problem with that when done properly.  At the same time, those who are restricted also have the benefit of their guardians ultimately determining what content they can access and when.  This has nothing to do with that.  This has everything to do with stopping the fostering and legitimizing of child sexualization by adults.  You can say that violence, strong language, alternate life styles and all types of various elements of the adult world can be damaging and inappropriate for children.  To some extent those fears are correct and it’s up to the parents guardians to help determine the maturity and understanding of their child when accessing and dealing with those things.  What is wrong though, is allowing a group of potentially dangerous individuals to have any sort of acceptability when it comes to their dangerous behaviors.  I don’t give a shit where you are from, but it is not OK and it is not healthy for a 30 year old to have sex with a 12 year old, ever.  Having material that is designed to simulate that experience is dangerous as well, there are just some things that need to be repressed and outlawed, things that wholly and truly are dangerous and offer no positive outcome.  What positive outcome does graphically depicting sex with a minor provide?  Yes, we can cite many cases of it in literature, but I wonder how much of that literature is designed specifically for the purpose of simulated erotic pleasure?  You can in no way shape or form argue that hentai about sex with minors is for nothing more than erotic pleasure.

    It’s not just hentai though.  There has been a growing public acceptance in the anime and manga community regarding sexualizing minors.  The industry says this is a market thing, sales go up with panties and more are shown in series that are not erotic in nature.  Fine and all, but there comes a point where enough is enough and the industry isn’t doing a good enough job of self policing its self.  I stopped watching the anime No Life, No Game when there was a pretty explicit scene of the 11 year old main characters panties.  What is the artistic purpose in a detailed vaginal lump of an 11 year old character?  Good for you, you can draw a really realistic camel toe.  Why an 11 year old?  What are you trying to represent?

    The psychological aspect needs to be examined, not just for the dangerous pedophiles who consume explicit child sexualization material, but the creators.  The person, who sits, visualizes (hopefully not coping from real life) and painstakingly reproduces the image of an 11 year old vagina.  Why are they representing the sexualization of a minor?  Can’t they sell just as well, maybe even better, by doing the same exact representation of a 23 year old character?  I don’t think anyone has any problem with a 23 year old fucking.  One could say the character is an adult but only looks like a child.  Really…why?  Is there a specific purpose for having a character that is 20 years old, but has the body of a prepubescent child?  Then is there a purpose for taking said character and involving them in a variety of sexual situations?  Is the only reason the character is 20 yet looks 10 to bypass any sort of moralistic issues yet still allow for underage fetishism?  I call bullshit.  Own up to the intent and purpose and let’s have a discussion for said intent and purpose, don’t try to worm around it and create a quagmire.

    Sexualization of underage children in Japan needs to be addressed and allowing anime and manga, which is more prolific and influential than the AV industry, I would imagine, needs to be addressed.  I am far from being a member of the Christian Coalition and even the Church of Satan agrees with the idea of not harming children.  Producing content that represents the sexual assault of children is dangerous and is a mentality that should not be supported or promoted.  Japan needs to check its self with some of its fetish representations before something horrible happens.

    With that I am deeply upset that the industry pushed so hard to limit the new laws from affecting them, crying wolf and protecting their pocket books, the pedophiles in their ranks and above all doing it at the potential expense of children.  Look, kids already face enough danger from sexual assault without fostering a culture that appears to approve of it, at least in a simulated form.

Mokuyobi Post - Big Wars

Big Wars is a sci-fi action movie that originally came out in Japan in 1993.

   Mankind has colonized Mars but has brought war with it.  A secret mission is sent out to destroy a massive battleship of an alien species known as The Gods, to help swing the war to the 'good guys' favor.  The mission goes less than smoothly when the attack group is infected with an alien virus, driving them insane.

    This is actually an OK movie.  The animation is typical for the early 90's, usless nudity, stiff character animation and odd dialogue.  But, its a fun stand alone sci-fi military story.  No bull shit, no weirdness, just straight forward sci-fi.  I think it's worth checking out if you like straight forward sci-fi stories.  Its easily available on DVD.

Blame! Ver. 0.11

Blame! Ver. 0.11 is an ONA series based on the manga Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei.  The ONA was originally released in 2003 and consisted of six 5 minute episodes and 1 special episode.

    The story presented in the ONA series is a bit different than in the manga.  In this one is has Cibo as more of the main character than Killy.  She is using him to defeat the silicon beings and to stop the structure from its uncontrolled expansion.

    There is not much to say for the plot and development of this series, it only spans about 30 minutes worth of time, much of that wordlessly.  The series is confusing and disjointed in the way it tells the story.  If one watched it with out reading or understanding the premise for the manga you would be incredibly lost and perhaps turned off from the manga its self.  This was not very good.  In fact it was quite disappointing.  The artwork was low quality and the entire project seemed pretty low budget, given the amount of still frames used in it.  It would be really nice to see a proper animated rendition of Blame! and it appears this was initially meant as a sales pitch for a feature length adaption.  I would wholly welcome a feature length adaption of the manga if handled by the right people, but i don't see that happening.  The current popularity of the anime adaption of Nihei's manga Knights of Sidonia is questionable, even though I think its fantastic!  But, I ultimately don't control anything the industry does so it doesn't matter what I think.

    Either way, I would avoid this series, even though you wouldn't be wasting too much time.  Its not good and confusing.  Instead stick with the manga.  It was, surprisingly, released on DVD in North America by Media Blasters...crazy!

    One thing that I forgot to cover in the review of the manga was how much it initially reminded me of something that Moebius might come up with, in scale and set design.

Blame!

Blame! is a dark sci-fi manga by Tsutomu Nihei.  It was published beginning in 1997 and was compiled into 10 tankoubon.

    Killy is on a mission to find a human with net access genes.  To do so he has to scour through the unending maze of the construct.  His job is made more difficult by the scores of enemies trying to stop him.  Along the way he has to face an army of silicon based life forms, deranged AI, cyborgs and the construct it’s self.  He and other non-human beings are searching high and low for the few remaining uncorrupted humans.

    This is an entertaining and confusing manga.  There is little in the way if dialogue for most if the series, with entire issues where there is none at all.  This works well for the series but can also lead to moments if confusion.  I am still really unsure about some of what was going on at some points.  In the end some things are kind of left unresolved.  But...maybe not.  With the void of text it leaves room for a lot of analysis.  What is the construct?  What was its initial purpose?  What caused it to change?  What happened to humanity over the countless generations?

    Even with all the potential confusion this was a highly enjoyable manga.  The artwork is well detailed with memorable character designs.  Sit back and take the detail in.  There is a lot of action as Killy doesn't ask questions, but instead shoots his way through his problems.  The hordes of silicon based enemies he faces are creepy and dark.  You can tell from the art that this world has been left to rot for a long time and the survivors don’t have much hope for survival.  This series is like a cyber-goths wet dream, with plenty of cosplay ideas to scare the shit out of the loli goth and visual kei people.

    Much of the series reminded me of Gunnm, but with fewer words.  Which reminded me of how bored I was during the annoying and unneeded dialog in that awesome series.  This a relatively unique and enjoyable manga.  Even with its flaws.  The world in it is mesmerizing and unfathomable.  I would like to see a bit more, but thought the series was done well...even if parts started to become convoluted in the end.

    Fortunately Nihei decided to do a number of prequels and follow ups to this manga as well as an ONA.  The manga for Blame! Is available in North America and was distributed by Tokyo Pop.  If you are wondering, Nihei is also responsible for Knights of Sidonia and he reuses some of the character designs in that series as he used in Blame!.

House of Five Leaves

House of Five Leaves (さらい屋五葉) is a historical drama based on the anime of the same name by Natusme Ono.  This 12 episode series originally aired in Japan in the spring of 2010.

    Masanosuke Akitsu is a ronin during the Tokugawa shogunate.  His lack of confidence and timid personality doesn't help him to retain any sort of employment suited for a samurai.  He moved from his home town to Edo in hopes of finding employment better suited for his personality, instead he becomes involved with a small gang of kidnappers.  Originally hired as a one time body guard by the mastermind of the gang, Yaichi, Akitsu is invited into the fold by Yaichi who is fascinated with the demure ronin.  He is unwittingly made an accomplice in two kidnappings before he even comes to terms with joining the band of criminals.  The small group is composed of Yaichi, the reclusive leader.  One time brothel worker, Otake, who enjoys watching the honest Yaichi stumble through the underworld.  Single father and bar owner, Umezou, who uses connections from his past as a gangster to help with their kidnappings.  The final member is serial burglar Matsukichi who's espionage skills are essential to the group.  The gang targets selective members of those loyal to the Shogun who are less then likely to report the crimes to the authorities in order to hide their own criminal activities.  While at first reluctant,  Akitsu joins the Five Leaves out of intrigue for the other members backgrounds and motivations, seeing them as the first comrades his has had in his entire life.

    At first I was unsure about this series.  The artwork is unusual, with uncomfortable character designs.  The story didn't seem to go much of anywhere in the first few episodes, but once it actually kicked in the series was rather enjoyable.  It does begin rather slowly with no discernible direction for quite a while.  Once you understand the conclusion the series is leading to it becomes much more enjoyable, otherwise it just seems like a series of random events to pass the time.  The story is well written though and relies heavily on developing the characters, all of whom have mysterious pasts and unknown motives.  The point of the story is to explain those past's, motives and how everyone is intertwined with Yaichi.  In the end I did enjoy this series and was glad to have worked my way through it.  The story telling was top notch and interesting through it all.  The character designs bugged the hell out of me though, but I will let that slide, they do add an odd quality to the series.  While this deals with the world of crooks and gangsters in the shogun era don't expect a lot of sword play and blood, there is very little of either.  The series is not an action adventure one, it is a clear cut drama depicting the lives of its main characters and unfolding their personalities for the viewer.  It wasn't written to please adolescent boys, sell licensed merchandise or prompt elaborate cosplay.  For all of those qualities this series is far better than many others that have come out recently.  It's just honest story telling with a passion for its characters.  This isn't something created by some otaku manga-ka.  it was created by someone with a passion for the art of story telling.  We need more anime and manga by those kinds of people.

    The series is available on Crunchyroll, on DVD and the manga is being released by Viz in North America.  Watch and enjoy, because its rather well done, if slow.  Also, the opening theme is rather catchy. 

Mokuyobi Post - Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies is a theatrical historical drama that originally was released in Japan in 1988.  The story is based off of a semi-autobiographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka.  The film was produced by Studio Ghibli and was directed by Isao Takahata.

    The story follows the struggles of siblings Seita and Setsuko at the end of Wolrd War 2, following the fire bombing of Kobe and shortly after the war ends.  Following the death of their mother they go to live with thei aunt who treats them like a burden and exploits them while feeding them very little.  After deciding that they will be better on their own then continue to be exploited and abused by their uncaring relative they fend for themselves, but are really unequipped to survive in the desolation and aftermath of the war.

    This is a really powerful and depressing movie that shows the horrors of war and horrors of mankind.  While Mr. Nosaka survived the war to write about his experiences, the rest of his family was not so fortunate and he based some of the events in the story on what he witnessed happen to his family.  It's hard to not watch this movie and be moved or moved to tears.  This is an important movie into the human condition, perhaps more powerful than Barefoot Gen.  So please watch it and take something away from it.  The movie has been commercially available in North America for a long time and is readily available.  There have also been two live action adaptations but these do not appear to be readily available.

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.