First Impressions / Tonari no Seki-kun

「避難訓練」 (Hinan Kunren)
“Disaster Drill”

After watching Yokoi end up on the tail end of most of Seki-kun’s schemes, it was nice to see the tables finally turned and Yokoi in control of the situation.

Giving the Stink Eye

After weeks of watching Seki-kun give Yokoi some pretty dirty and accusatory glares, be it from nearly toppling all of his dominos or knocking an evil general out the window, it just felt so rewarding to see Yokoi finally return the favor. Not only did she give him some pretty impressive death glares but I just loved it how she threw caution out the window and stole the robot family away from him.

Yokoi, the ever improving storyteller

Each and every week, I look forward to hearing Yokoi and her stories that bring Seki-kun’s antics to life. And with each passing episode diving deeper and deeper into just how involved she’ll get, this week’s episode takes the cake for being the most detailed so far. Sure, we got the standard fare of a short story depicting the lives of a small robot family but it didn’t stop there! Going above and beyond, Yokoi provided both unique voices for the entire family and a short but catchy insert song talking about family life and scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs!

 

Tonari no Seki-kun – 07

「手紙まわし」 (Tegami Mawashi)
“Note Passing”

THE POST OFFICE EPISODE!!

Ever since I first did my “research” on this show, I’ve been waiting to see this skit animated. Maybe it’s because dealing with the post office is part of my job or maybe it’s because we all know too well the torture of going through the bureaucratic red tape when trying to mail something, but am I the only one who thinks an idea like this is cool?

I mean, passing notes is both risky and stressful. You’re already pushing your luck by writing things on paper since if it’s intercepted by a third party, you’re screwed. Assuming your note doesn’t get caught, you still have to worry about somehow getting it to your friend without the teacher noticing! And what better way then to have an individual or individuals facilitating this whole “note passing” business? Sure, now-a-days you have text messages to get the job done but there’s just something special about receiving a folded handwritten note.

Seki-kun’s Revenge

While I personally don’t hold any animosity toward the post office since I have nearly all the stupid regulations memorized, I can understand how stupid it can appear to people who don’t send things that often. And boy oh boy, did Seki-kun do a great job at impersonating someone at the front counter of the post office. From strict size requirements to asking tons of unnecessary questions, he represented everything most people hate about the post office.

At the same time, I thought it felt like Seki-kun was getting this prime opportunity to get some revenge on Yokoi for what happened during the previous episode. Maybe it was just coincidental timing but even I wouldn’t wish for someone to get stuck at the post office with some jerk on a bureaucratic power trip.

Looking Ahead

With the score looking pretty close, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us down the road. While I have a pretty good idea of what’s coming next, only time will tell! That said, there won’t be an episode next week so it’ll be a whole two weeks before we get another dose of our comedic duo.

 

18 Comments

  1. I had to pause and laugh when it looked like Seki was ignoring the drill, but he had instead put the robots under the desk. That is way too funny.

    And this can only end with Yokoi killing Seki. Probably by pushing him out that window he sits next to.

    EmD
    Reply

  3. Sometimes I wish this was long form but then I realize that it’s probably the condensed nature of the storytelling that makes it so awesome. They’re just such tight little absurdist skits.

    Dave
    Reply

  7. a lovely surprise of releasing 2 eps! ultimate fun of Tonai no Seki-kun. I always thought that this series could have been even better if its length was 10-13 minutes with 2 parts. and watching 2 eps is giving the right tone for me. kinda like the OVA did.

    I was wondering when they are gonna do the post-office episode. it was hilarious. really. so as the robot family with Yokoi taking them and make them study. LOL.
    I love how this show, little by little, going outside the “box” – involving friends (Uzawa), involving whole class (post-office of the entire class..maybe school LOL) and even the drill which was swinging between indoors and out. this is really great to see this show combining more elements.
    Tonari no Seki-kun is really great comedy.

    thedarktower
    Reply

  10. In the post office episode, when Seki put up the ‘Closed’ sign I just cracked up laughing. That’s taking playing post office to an absolute level of realism.

    The Robot Family episode was brilliant too.

    Dop
    Reply

  13. I found something odd in ep 6 it was interesting how Seki was laughing witht he other guy, but he wasn’t talking 😛

    I heard that the last scene of the post office episode wasn’t in the manga, but it was still well done, got to love a love letter rumor :3

    Aggron
    Reply

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