My Neighbor Seki

Characters

Rumi Yokoi (横井 るみ, Yokoi Rumi)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese); Monica Rial (English), Fumika Shimizu (live-action)Rumi is the viewpoint character and narrator of Seki's games. She continuously attempts to pay attention in class but is almost always distracted by her neighbor's antics. She sometimes tries to make Seki concentrate on class by sabotaging his projects, but usually finds herself joining in on them, though Seki misunderstands these attempts.

Toshinari Seki (関 俊成, Seki Toshinari)

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono (Japanese); Blake Shepard (English), Yutaro Watanabe (live-action)Normally referred to by his surname, Seki is Rumi's classmate, and is a cheerful but mysterious character who is always playing games at his desk, which at times, include some elaborate setups. His activity bothers Rumi to no end, although he is almost never caught in the act by the teachers. In his desk is a complex array of objects that, if disturbed by anyone but himself, are impossible to put back together.^[ch. 9] He rarely speaks, but is sometimes seen chatting with his friends. Despite his normal demeanor around his fellow students outside of the classroom, he is occasionally shown to have a dark and sadistic side. This comes through his destruction, sometimes wantonly, of his games and toys. He is also slightly superstitious, as is shown when some of his projects become so intense for Rumi that she secretly gets involved, scaring Seki out of his wits and his flippant behavior towards education.

Supporting characters

Sakurako Gotō (後藤 桜子, Gotō Sakurako) sits near Rumi and Seki during art class and becomes Rumi's friend. She assumes Seki and Rumi are lovers because of the way they interact in class.^[ch. 22] Voiced by: Satomi Satō (Japanese); Caitlynn French (English). Portrayed by Rika Mayama in the live-action drama.

Tomoka Hashino (橋野 友香, Hashino Tomoka) is Rumi's classmate with glasses. Voiced by: Kokoro Kikuchi (Japanese); Jād Saxton (English)

Akiyasu Uzawa (宇沢 明康, Uzawa Akiyasu) is a laid-back classmate who is easily bored and often gets in the way of Seki's activities.^[ch. 36] Voiced by: Minoru Shiraishi (Japanese); Corey Hartzog (English)

Takahiro Maeda (前田 高広, Maeda Takahiro) is a classmate who sits directly in front of Seki. Because of his height and large build, he blocks the teachers from noticing Seki's activities.^[ch. 20] Voiced by: Shigeyuki Susaki

Yū Nakama (仲間 由宇, Nakama Yū) is Rumi's classmate and friend. Voiced by: Mami Shitara (Japanese); Carolyn Medrano (English)

Manga

Written and illustrated by Takuma Morishige, the manga began as a one-shot published in the August 2010 issue of Media Factory's Comic Flapper magazine, and later started serialization in the magazine's November 2010 issue. The first tankōbon volume was published on April 23, 2011 and the ninth was released in August 2016. Vertical licensed the manga for North American publication under the title My Neighbor Seki, and has been releasing volumes since January 2015.

Anime

A 21-episode anime television series, directed by Yūji Mutoh and produced by Shin-Ei Animation, aired in Japan between January 5 and May 25, 2014 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll under the title Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time. The fifth manga volume was released simultaneously on January 4, 2014 with a limited edition, bundled with an original animation DVD containing two additional episodes. The series was released on DVD in two parts on May 28, 2014, with a bonus episode on each disc. The opening theme is "Meiwaku Spectacle" (迷惑スペクタクル, Meiwaku Supekutakuru, "Nuisance Spectacle") by Kana Hanazawa, and the ending theme is "Set Them Free" by Akira Jimbo. The music in the series is composed by Akifumi Tada.

Live-action

The series was adapted into a live-action show where it was paired with another live-action adaptation titled Rumi's Phenomenon. Both programs involve a main character named Rumi. It premiered on MBS and TBS in July 27, 2015 as Tonari no Seki-kun to Rumi-chan no Jishō (となりの関くんとるみちゃんの事象^?) and ran for eight episodes. Morishige said "I feel a sense of odd destiny that the heroines' names are coincidentally the same."

Reception

Over 2 million copies of the manga have been sold as of January 2014. The manga was one of the works nominated in the fifth Manga Taishō awards in 2012. My Neighbor Seki was listed on YALSA's 2016 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first volume of the manga an overall grade of C+. Karen Mead of Japanator liked that the anime put the detail into Seki's projects rather than the characters, and that while the show could have worked as a three- to four-minute short, that it gets stretched to eight minutes with opening and ending themes gives it a chance to build atmosphere and tension. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku called it "the most basic, yet perhaps most entertaining, anime of the season."