My Neighbor Seki (Japanese: となりの関くん, "Seki Next to Me"), known in its English-language release as My Neighbor Seki, is a school-life comedy manga and anime series by Takuma Morishige. The series tells the everyday story of a student named Rumi Yokoi who is always disturbed by the creative and unusual antics of her desk neighbor, Toshinari Seki, who spends class time on various elaborate games on his desk without ever being caught by the teacher.
The story centers on Rumi, who tries hard to pay attention to the lesson, but always fails because her curiosity about the games Seki makes is continually provoked. This creates a unique and funny dynamic in which Rumi is often emotionally involved in those games, trying to sabotage them or even unconsciously joining in playing them, while Seki remains focused on his "work" with a serious expression. The series is liked for its clever visual humor and its ability to present an engaging story from only the narrow space of a school desk.
Background and Publication
The Tonari no Seki-kun manga first appeared as a one-shot story in August 2010 in Media Factory's Comic Flapper magazine. The success of this short story later prompted the start of regular serialization in the November 2010 issue of the same magazine. To date, the series is still running and has produced dozens of tankōbon volumes. In North America, the manga is licensed and published by Vertical.
In 2020, a spin-off manga titled My Neighbor Seki-kun Junior began serialization in the same magazine. This story focuses on the future of Rumi and Seki, in which they are married and have a two-year-old son named Makuru, exploring a new generation within the same unique dynamic. Serialization of this spin-off lasted until May 2023.
Main Characters
Rumi Yokoi (横井 るみ) is the protagonist and main narrator of the series. As a diligent student, she is always determined to focus on the lesson, but her high curiosity makes her continually distracted by Seki. Her reactions to Seki's games often become the main source of humor in the story. In the future, she is married to Seki and blessed with a son named Makuru.
Toshinari Seki (関 俊成) is the eponymous character and the center of all the chaos. He is a quiet and mysterious student who has a high dedication to making elaborate games on his desk, ranging from arranging dominos from erasers and making stamps from rubber erasers to directing melodramatic shogi dramas. Seki very rarely speaks, and he has a desk box arranged so neatly that only he can put it back in order. Although he appears innocent, he sometimes shows a cruel side, such as when he deliberately destroys a toy he made himself if he feels disturbed. In the spin-off, he marries Rumi and becomes the father of Makuru.
Adapted Media
Animation
The anime adaptation of Tonari no Seki-kun was produced by studio Shin-Ei Animation and directed by Yūji Mutoh. Before the TV series aired, an OVA (Original Video Animation) was released on January 4, 2014, bundled with the limited edition of the fifth manga volume. This OVA contains two episodes titled "Bo-taoshi" and "Neko".
The television anime series then began airing in Japan on TV Tokyo and AT-X from January 5 to May 25, 2014. The series consists of 21 episodes with a duration of around 8 minutes each, a short format that fits the comedy style of this series. Outside Japan, the series was simulcast by Crunchyroll under the title Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time. The license for release in North America is held by Sentai Filmworks, which released an English-language dubbed version in 2020.
The opening theme for this series is titled "Meiwaku Spectacle" (迷惑スペクタクル), sung by Kana Hanazawa (the voice of Rumi Yokoi), while the ending theme is "Set Them Free" by Akira Jimbo. The music for the anime was composed by Akifumi Tada.
Live-Action Drama
In addition to the anime adaptation, Tonari no Seki-kun was also adapted into a live-action drama series that aired on MBS and TBS from July 27 to September 14, 2015. The drama series consists of 8 episodes and stars Fumika Shimizu as Rumi Yokoi and Yutaro Watanabe as Toshinari Seki.
Episode List
The following is the episode list of the Tonari no Seki-kun anime series that aired in 2014:
1. "Domino" (ドミノ) – Aired January 5, 2014
2. "Shogi" (将棋) – Aired January 12, 2014
3. "Polishing the Desk" (机みがき) – Aired January 19, 2014
4. "Go" (囲碁) – Aired January 26, 2014
5. "Eraser Stamp" (消しゴムはんこ) – Aired February 2, 2014
6. "Disaster Drill" (避難訓練) – Aired February 9, 2014
7. "Passing Notes" (手紙まわし) – Aired February 16, 2014
8. "Shogi 2" (将棋②) – Aired February 23, 2014
9. "Knitting" (編み物) – Aired March 2, 2014
10. "Golf" (ゴルフ) – Aired March 9, 2014
11. "Mountain Climbing" (登山) – Aired March 16, 2014
12. "RC Car" (ラジコン) – Aired March 23, 2014
13. "Swimming Pool" (プール) – Aired March 30, 2014
14. "Lunch" (お弁当) – Aired April 6, 2014
15. "Paper Sumo" (紙ずもう) – Aired April 13, 2014
16. "Shogi vs Chess" (将棋vsチェス) – Aired April 20, 2014
17. "Fukuwarai" (福笑い) – Aired April 27, 2014
18. "Magic" (手品) – Aired May 4, 2014
19. "Glasses" (眼鏡) – Aired May 11, 2014
20. "Flip Book" (パラパラ漫画) – Aired May 18, 2014
21. "Belongings Inspection" (持ち物検査) – Aired May 25, 2014
References
Wikipedia, "My Neighbor Seki"
Wikipedia, "List of My Neighbor Seki episodes"
Tonari no Seki-kun Wiki, "Toshinari Seki"
TEGASIAN, "Drama "Tonari no Seki-kun to Rumi-chan no Jishō": Perpaduan Unik Dua Cerita Rumi"