Tonari no Seki-kun Episode 2
What They Say:
Class is in session at a certain high school. While the teacher isn’t looking, a boy named Seki-kun is playing games by himself on his desk, while the girl who sits next to him, Yokoi-san, observes (or interferes or participates). Each time, Seki-kun’s games reach unimaginable levels… And this time the game is…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Tonari no Seki-kun won me over in a fun way in the opening episode, while also realizing its weaknesses in that it has to work with a really great gag in order to really hit in the right way. Spending an episode watching Seki build an elaborate eraser domino gag worked great and I loved seeing Yokoi deal with it, but it can go only so far in some ways. Such is the case in this episode as we see him with his latest little item, a variety of shogi tiles in a box that he pulls out.
Since he’s pretty bored in class, he ends up drawing a board on his desk in ink and starts playing the game against himself. But not quietly, which kind of throws everyone else off since they’re not sure what the sound is. What makes the whole game amusing is that he plays it in a way where his own troops betray their leader and we get a twisted leader that’s just going beyond the bounds of how the game actually works. It’s pure fantasy playing in a very comical way, especially through his imagination, but what makes it even more fun to watch is Yokoi’s running commentary as she envisions it as an actual battle and tries to understand how it’s unfolding. She takes it so seriously and personally that you just get caught up in what she’s saying as much as what Seki is doing.
In Summary:
Seki manages to show once again that he’s that kind of imaginative kid with a flair for reworking and reinventing games in order to amuse himself. The rules aren’t a part of what’s going on in the slightest so it’s just fun to see how he goes about doing all of this while Yokoi brings her own view into things as she tries to understand what’s going on. She does take things in a new direction here by getting directly involved herself in what he’s doing, which is only going to make things worse since it’s the start of being drawn into it more. Not that Seki appreciates it in the slightest, which could only add to it all.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.