First Impressions / Tonari no Seki-kun

「プール」 (Puuru)
“Pool”

Unless I get a nice surprise next week and discover another episode of Tonari no Seki-kun (or I’m enlightened by a legitimate source), this week marks the end of one of a great 10-minute anime that you may or may not have picked up.

Boy wouldn’t it be awkward if this wasn’t the finale?

With this show being a rather short one, I’ll just hop straight into the final impressions. Because while I’d love to talk about Yokoi’s imagination and just how wild she went this week, I can’t help but feel like we’ve all discussed it enough by now.

What can you do with 10 Minutes?

With a shortened opening and ending each week, I love how this show gives you the feel of a full-length episode even though in reality we only get a good six to seven minutes of actual anime. But in that short amount of time, I feel like we’ve all grown quite close to Yokoi and Seki-kun. What literally began as two strangers just sitting next to each other has turned into a weekly battle of wits. With Seki-kun laying down the foundation with all his random trinkets and Yokoi putting everything together with her never ending imagination, things like Shogi turn into a story of life, death, and betrayal!

But it doesn’t stop at Shogi — I don’t think there was an episode that I didn’t particularly enjoy. The only one that caught me a little off guard was probably the one with the flag planted in the sand but by the end it shouldn’t have been too hard to figure out what Seki-kun was trying to do. On the other hand one of my favorites, with the second Shogi episode taking a close second, is still the amazing post office episode. Somehow embodying all the grief and stress a typical trip the post office brings, it was such a perfect hit that at times I wish we got a follow up episode to that one. Not only would I love to see Seki bust out a fancy hat to wear as the postmaster but wouldn’t it be nice to see just how far the rumor about Yokoi liking Seki-kun went?

As an added bonus to each episode having a sort of “winner” by the end, the readers have been awesome and kept score for me as the weeks have passed. Essentially adding an extra dimension to something that should be super simple. I don’t know about you but I had fun thinking about who would end up the victor by the end of the episode — especially during the weeks when we had a random third character added into the mix.

Final, Final Impressions

Even as a show that I picked up on a whim, Tonari no Seki-kun ended up being a really fun show even with the limitations it had. Never trying to bite more than it could chew, each episode had a unique draw that did a great job at either fleshing out the characters or just being plain wacky. With a good opening and ending song and great insert songs like the one about robot families, there was always a nice surprise waiting every now and then.

Would I recommend watching this show? Kind of! It’s one of those shows that do one thing, but do it really well. While I wouldn’t say it’s worth going out of your way to watch, blowing through a couple episodes is pretty easy once you get into it. All in all, it’s a good way to kill some time without having to worry about needing to stop once you get started.

Thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to get this far! I hope you enjoyed the show and my posts, and thanks again for keeping score for me as well! Till next time!

 

28 Comments

  2. This is a great break when doing anime marathons. It’s a great ‘filler’ between too dramatic and psycho-filled anime. >.< I'll definitely miss watching Yokoi-chan getting too carried away with her hyper imaginations!

    Pickled Cucumber
    Reply

  5. https://randomc.net/image/Tonari%20no%20Seki-kun/Tonari%20no%20Seki-kun%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
    The above image kinda shows who (did not) had the last laugh for the TV run…

    The score (for now) after 13 episodes and 2 halves of OVAs (ep.10 skipped):
    Seki – 6
    Yokoi – 7
    Uzawa – 1
    Goto – 0
    Maeda – 1

    Good game Yokoi-san, you actually kept ahead of Seki-kun’s fast hands (He can be a blackjack dealer for all I know) (How does he do it??)…

    ps. Actual best troll shot of the episode:
    https://randomc.net/image/Tonari%20no%20Seki-kun/Tonari%20no%20Seki-kun%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2007.jpg

    info600
    Reply

  6. I’m not exactly sure if it has happened in previous opening animations, but this was probably the only time Seki-kun gave a thumbs up to Yokoi’s “yamete” line instead of asking her to repeat.

    Zhinvu
    Reply

    1. Someone pointed it out a few posts ago, but apparently it has happened before.

      Which is why ever since I read that comment, I’ve been on the hunt to see him give his seal of approval. AND WE FINALLY GOT IT.

      Takaii
      Reply

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