APADFTMOM Day 11: Tonari no Seki-kun, and Comedic Structure

Comedy is subjective and writing about it is hard. Everybody has a different opinion of what’s funny and what’s not, which makes trying to convince somebody to read or watch something a complete shot in the dark. On top of that, there are only so many ways to say something is funny or unfunny. That sounds challenging and I’m down for a challenge this month so let’s look into why Tonari no Seki-kun is funny.






Disclaimer: Normally I refer to characters by their first names as they are commonly referred to within their series, but today I will be referring to characters by their surnames due to that being common in this series.




Tonari no Seki-kun by Takuma Morishige is a comedy series based around the antics of a boy named Toshinari Seki as observed by his classmate Rumi Yokoi. Seki is a master of goofing off in class in absurdly complicated ways that only ever seem to be visible to Yokoi. These antics range from playing with toy robots to throwing paper airplanes down a runway set built in the back of the classroom and each game serves as a lengthy distraction for both Seki himself as well as Yokoi.




Seki’s character is modeled after a stereotypical small child. He likes goofing off and playing make-believe games, and he has a minimal sense of responsibility with his toys. Seki’s toys and games frequently get destroyed in one way or another, whether by his own hand as part of some elaborate development he’s crafted or accidentally due to carelessness. His creativeness cannot be understated as it is the driving force behind the whole series. It is also worth noting that Seki does not speak on a regular basis. He remains silent for the majority of the series but is still capable of speaking when addressed by a classmate or teacher.




Yokoi is the straight man to Seki’s funny man and serves as the main character from whose perspective the audience sees. Yokoi is a hard-working, no-nonsense girl who values learning and prefers to focus on class rather than trying to find ways to pass the time. While Yokoi is regularly drawn in by Seki’s antics, she does not fully support what he does and has a bit of a vindictive streak that comes into play when Seki’s activities do not go the way he expects. Yokoi is not only book smart but is also has incredible observational skills and common sense, allowing her to piece together Seki’s more elaborate schemes without having been given a single detail about them aside from what is visible.




There is a very basic plot structure used for each chapter of Tonari no Seki-kun. Yokoi will notice that Seki has something ridiculous on his desk. Seki will then use that item to set up the initial scenario for that chapter; For example, he may be following along an instructional booklet for massaging his pressure points. The scenario will then take on more and more absurd details with Yokoi trying to guess what the endgame is before finally realizing it and either seeing how it plays out or actively trying to interfere with it. Each chapter ends with its own special conclusion, a lot of which rendering the game unplayable for future classes.




Nothing ever feels stale in Tonari no Seki-kun. The vast majority of games are limited to one chapter with each chapter being anywhere from eight to twenty pages depending on how intricate the scenario gets. Recurring jokes are kept to a minimum and are flexible enough to serve as foundations to build new jokes. A tight page limit ensures that each setup is straightforward and leads to its punchline before continuing to the next punchline, but the number of punchlines is inconsistent so there is no specific pattern. There are also very few series-long plot threads, and each one is passively built upon just by having Yokoi being the sole person to bear witness to Seki’s actions.




A lot of the comedy in Tonari no Seki-kun is based on how Seki’s mind seems to work. Each of his games starts off simply but progresses to more and more ridiculous stages as Seki puts new twists on seemingly completed scenarios. Seki cannot just pretend to be a doctor for stuffed animals; He needs to be a corrupt surgeon who plays favorites with his patients and takes their belongings as payment. Yokoi further adds to this through her attempts to either help, obstruct, or expose Seki, but this only helps to highlight Seki’s improvisational abilities as he adapts his games to keep them going.




Yokoi serves as an excellent narrator to help showcase the absurdity of what Seki does. When she is not attempting to take an active role, she exists as a bystander whose imagination helps to illustrate Seki’s toys in the scenes that Seki puts them in. Yokoi is prone to getting caught up in her delusions as she spirals down her self-made path from point A to where she believes point B is, and this is often a driving force that causes her to interfere in Seki’s games. There are occasionally times when Yokoi believes Seki’s situations just as much as he does and attempts to step in as the light to his darkness in order to save his toys from his cruel acts.




A lot of Yokoi’s delusions demonize Seki but do not need to go far in order to do that. Seki sees himself as a higher being than the toys he plays with and puts himself in the role of the god of his own personal universe, often acting out situations where the focus is on a toy’s suffering. Seki can be seen taking a sick pleasure in this as he makes it unfold, and typically in these circumstances there is no hope until Yokoi shows up.




Overall, Tonari no Seki-kun draws its comedic energy from twisting the straight man/funny man routine into a larger battle between good and evil over increasingly silly situations. It has that same vibe of over-the-top absurdity in a mundane setting that Nichijou has, although not nearly as hyperbolic. This series does indeed have an English release under the name My Neighbor Seki and is published by Vertical. There is also an anime series which I happen to own on blu ray and am only bringing up because I’m a braggart.