「将棋」 (Shougi)
“Shogi”

Continuing on from its strong showing last week, this short anime brings to life something I would normally find super boring.

Shogi

While I understand the love that some people have with watching games like shogi or checkers, I am definitely not one of those people. Sure I may have been in love with the game when I was much, much younger; but something about both the pace and the tactical finesse needed to become a great player never really rubbed me in quite the right way. However, if given the chance to watch Seki-kun take it to a whole a new level by role-playing with his pieces while Yokoi crafted up a devilish story of treacherous general, I would drop whatever I was doing to hear more.

Seriously though, I’ve always loved it when people use things outside their intended use and this episode was no different. What better way to play out an old fashioned story of wartime betrayal than with Japanese Chess pieces? Not only do you have everything you need to make two warring armies, but with Seki-kun going to such lengths such as snapping pieces in half to add realism to the story or installing trap doors into his desk, it doesn’t get much better given the circumstances.

Yokoi 1, Seki-kun 1

Seeing how the itself show is rather short, I think I’m going to start keeping an unofficial tally of who’s winning the silent war between the two. And even with Seki-kun starting out strong by coming out as the “winner” last week, I think Yokoi did a great job with getting the last laugh this week. With a brilliant eraser shot from across her desk, she managed to both save her beloved king and foil Seki-kun’s game!

So, What’s Next?

Apparently, this adaptation is following the manga chapter by chapter. While this may take a bit of the excitement away for those of us who have read the manga, you can bet I’m super excited for what should be in store for us next week. While it may not necessarily be another one of Seki-kun’s games, you’re going to have to question just what kind of background he has with the type of skills he exhibits!

21 Comments

    1. I also have the imagination on doing things like that but doing it in the classroom is so awesome! Seki-kun, the master of killing time! Perfect seat and perfect wall (the big guy in front of him).

      Ciaossu
  1. damn, what was up with that ending seki-kun was going with? so glad yokoi stepped in to shove the gold king off the school building. i’m trying to imagine this sort of story-telling being done with any other board game like checkers or chess but it’s funny how something so uncharacteristic as wooden tiles with words on them actually have the capacity to be more expressive (albeit in a very roundabout way) than most other board games. i keep thinking how chess pieces have tops that are too elaborate. you cannot point them except for with the knight either.

    so far this series is very easy to watch. yokoi becoming gradually more invested into whatever seki-kun is doing is very cute and seki-kun’s antics are amusing. looking forward to more.

    bolton
    1. That’s why imo they are the best voice acting couple because their voices are so unique.

      Shiori x Keima (TWGOK)
      Zange x Jin (Kannagi)
      Mifune x Daichi (Kotoura-san)
      Yokoi x Seki (Tonari no Seki-kun)

      🙂

      mrdaftpunk
  2. Just goes to show how you can make even the simplest things seem so epic with nothing more than your imagination.

    Loved how much Sokoi actually got into it herself by doing so.

    HalfDemonInuyasha

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