English Dub Season Review: Tonari no Seki-kun Season One

Overview:

A boy is determined to slack off during the lesson.

Our Take:

It may seem like Seki-kun is a longer series, but each episode is quite short in comparison to regular more 23~25 minute episodes. This is okay since each episode has a pretty simple premise and doesn’t require a lot of time, each time dedicated to some antics that happen in the classroom.

Yokoi is a student who sits in the back of the class and wants to concentrate on her studies, but she is always distracted by her classmate, Seki. Seki is barricaded from view by a tall classmate, so he spends most of his time distracting himself and not paying attention to the lesson, in increasingly convoluted ways.

There is not paying attention in class, and then there is Seki’s not paying attention in class. He not only brings out items of his own to play with, but he also manages to be creative with them as well. He can make his own game with shogi pieces, put on elaborate scenes with gundams, and fold papercrafts. They’re all activities that don’t make a lot of noise, and half of the fun is seeing how exactly he’ll break the rules this time. It’s not just that he plays games, but that he is so over the top and is constantly finding out new ways to do things. It’s not just shogi, it’s a political drama. One time he creates his own post office system so that his classmates can safely pass notes during class (including constructing his own mailbox in the back).

Another comedy point is that considering the fact that they can’t talk during class, a lot of miscommunications can arise. Seki doesn’t really talk during the series, so most of what we see is Yokoi commenting on Seki’s antics, and imagining her own stories based on what exactly he comes up with. But when he does something that she doesn’t like, then she takes matters into her own hands. That there’s minimal communication makes it even more funny, because not only do you not know what’ll end up happening, the two also can’t guess what the other is thinking to correct those miscommunications. Still, seeing the two of them become more in synch over the course of the series is pretty great.

Even though there isn’t really a plot, it’s cute how Yokoi and Seki’s relationship have become a friendship over the course of the series. She went from being annoyed to being curious and even trying to warn him away from getting in trouble. It’s a fun and cute show, and worth watching if you need to pass some time and need a good laugh.