My Neighbor Seki

My Neighbor Seki (となりの関くん) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Takuma Morishige. The series follows a girl named Rumi Yokoi who is constantly distracted by her neighboring classmate, Toshinari Seki, as he indulges in elaborate hobbies and somehow never gets caught in the process. Originally published as a one-shot in 2010, it started serialization in the November 2010 issue of Media Factory's Comic Flapper magazine. Vertical publishes the manga in North America. An original video animation by Shin-Ei Animation was released bundled with the limited edition of the manga's fifth volume on January 4, 2014, and a 21-episode anime adaptation aired in Japan between January and May 2014. A spin-off manga serialized from July 2020 to May 2023.

Plot

Characters

• Rumi Yokoi (横井 るみ)
• , Fumika Shimizu (live-action)[5][6]
• Rumi is the viewpoint character and narrator of Seki's games. She continuously attempts to pay attention in class but is almost always distracted by her neighbor's antics. She sometimes tries to make Seki concentrate on class by sabotaging his projects, but usually finds herself joining in on them, though Seki misunderstands these attempts. Some episodes feature Rumi getting just as, if not more so, involved than Seki in his games, such as when he spends a day knitting or whenever he brings the Robot Family into school. In My Neighbour Seki-kun Junior, she marries Seki and they have a two-year-old son named Makuru.
• Toshinari Seki (関 俊成)
• , Yutaro Watanabe (live-action)[6]
• Normally referred to by his surname, Seki is Rumi's classmate, and is a cheerful but mysterious character who is always playing games at his desk, which at times, include some elaborate setups. His activity bothers Rumi to no end, although he is almost never caught in the act by the teachers. In his desk is a complex array of objects that, if disturbed by anyone but himself, are impossible to put back together. He rarely speaks, but is sometimes seen chatting with his friends. Despite his normal demeanor around his fellow students outside of the classroom, he is occasionally shown to have a dark and sadistic side. This comes through his destruction, sometimes wantonly, of his games and toys. He is also slightly superstitious, as is shown when some of his projects become so intense for Rumi that she secretly gets involved, scaring Seki out of his wits and his flippant behavior towards education. In My Neighbour Seki Junior, he marries Yokoi and have Makuru as their son.

Media

Reception

Over 3 million copies of the manga have been sold as of July 2014.[43] The manga was one of the works nominated in the fifth Manga Taishō awards in 2012.[44] My Neighbor Seki was listed on YALSA's 2016 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens.[45]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first volume of the manga an overall grade of C+.[46] Karen Mead of Japanator liked that the anime put the detail into Seki's projects rather than the characters, and that while the show could have worked as a three- to four-minute short, that it gets stretched to eight minutes with opening and ending themes gives it a chance to build atmosphere and tension.[47] Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku called it "the most basic, yet perhaps most entertaining, anime of the season."[48]

External links