Manga Review: My Neighbor Seki, Volume 6, by Takuma Morishige

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Vertical Comics

Release Date: January 2016

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 5. 7.

Goodreads Synopsis:

School Day Shenanigans

Seki's complicated games manage to distract Rumi... even when he's absent from school. Not only does Seki try to literally rewrite history, he performs surgery (on stuffed animals), and brings live creatures to cooking class. Meanwhile, Rumi focuses on saving the Earth itself.

Review:

I do enjoy this series quite a bit, though it’s more of a fun one-off to pick up for a little fun reading. There’s not an overall plot to follow. It’s a reprieve, really.

Seki is causing more and more trouble to Rumi, as she keeps getting caught up in the game that at this point she’s barely paying attention to class either. I enjoy the ongoing jokes and themes, like the robot family that Rumi is protective of. Rumi’s friend in class is still believing they’re having a love affair, and is even worried that Seki is bad for Rumi. Seki’s sister visits class, and Rumi tries helping, while we get to see how similar the siblings really are.

I don’t really have much to say about each volume of this series. It’s fun and easy, what you should be looking for when you pick it up.

Manga Review: My Neighbor Seki, Volume 3, by Takuma Morishige

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Vertical Comics

Release Date: July 2015

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: Yes.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Quiet Storm

After putting up with so many distractions from her classroom neighbor Seki, Rumi Yokoi quietly begins to assert her will on a number of Seki's games.

Review:

This series is so fun.

Seki is, of course, continuing his game antics in class. He creates more in-depth war games with chess pieces, tries palm-reading, goes fossil and gold hunting in his desk. He tries driving a car on his desk, even making detailed licenses; has a tea ceremony; makes a soundtrack to a book he made. We see the robot family that Yokoi is protective of.

Now more people are getting dragged into it. One of their classmates still thinks him and Yokoi are in a serious relationship. Then a classmate inadvertently barges in and ruins something Seki had made. They get in trouble by the teacher.

They’re doing more things outside class, too. They have a fight in the snow, where Yokoi protects a bunny Seki made. And Yokoi meets Seki’s little sister, who wants his attention. His little sister is going to turn out just like him, too, clearly.

This is a very light-hearted, episodic school-life comedy. It’s fun to read, and I enjoy finding out what Seki is coming up with in each episode. The amount of work he puts in his classroom shenanigans are impressive.

Manga Review: My Neighbor Seki, Volume 2, by Takuma Morishige

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Vertical Comics

Release Date: April 2015

Volumes: 7+

Spoilers?: Minor.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Volume: 1. 3.

Add on Goodreads 

RightStuf Synopsis:

Every day is a new surprise at the back of Rumi Yokoi's classroom. And she is consistently being inconvenienced by her neighbor Seki, at least he hasn't been caught... Or so she thought. Apparently someone else has noticed Yokoi and Seki back there, and this person can only imagine what that pair are conspiring.

Review:

This series is so fun and so adorable.

Yokoi and Seki are getting into lots of classroom antics again. Seki is blindfolding himself while creating a face on his desk. He’s making armies out of his food and boardgame pieces, trying to win jenga. Challenging himself to think of funny or sad memories. On a fieldtrip, he tries hiding his past games, inadvertently getting Yokoi to help. When he brings out his robot friends at the pool, Yokoi gets motherly and steals them again.

But they’re not the only ones anymore. The girl sitting behind Yokoi, not seeing what Seki is up to, starts thinking that they’re having a love affair. When Seki tries making a game involving the guy in front of him’s back, he’s almost found out. He’s almost caught by a teacher in the yard.

This series is so fun, and I’m always looking forward to reading the next one.

Manga Review: My Neighbor Seki, Volume 1, by Takuma Morishige

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Vertical Comics

Release Date: January 13, 2015

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads

RightStuf Synopsis:

Toshinari Seki takes goofing off to new heights. Every day, on or around his school desk, he masterfully creates his own little worlds of wonder, often hidden to most of his classmates. Unfortunately for Rumi Yokoi, his neighbor at the back of their homeroom, his many games, dioramas, and projects are often way too interesting to ignore, even when they are hurting her grades.
Story and art by Takuma Morishige.

Review:

I’m so glad I picked this up, as I almost didn’t. But it was a good price, and it sounded cute. And now I’m definitely on board.

This series consists of short chapters, where Yokoi tries to study and pay attention in class, but consistently gets distracted by her classmate Seki, who is goofing off in extreme measures at his desk next to her. Seki makes a game of chess into a tyranny play, and Yokoi gets very invested. He brings in cats. He makes a thousand cranes, only to have an origami frog eat them. He makes a crochet cactus, only to take it apart when Yokoi falls for it. There are misplaced feelings, and looks of hate exchanged.

This volume was adorable. The way Yokoi gets so invested, how they both make this huge story of what he’s making, without a single word exchanged, is lovely. And then when one thing gets messed up, and one of them glares at the other.

I did have a hard time figuring out what grade they’re in. The way they act, and the things they do, make me think they’re in middle school, maybe, but then Yokoi will be drawn with large breasts, and that makes me think they’re older. The two things don't seem to fit together all that well. I don’t know if it says and I missed it (possible), but it’s bothering me.

Still, this was a fantastic little volume. It was very cute and very funny, and I will definitely be picking up the next one.