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REVIEW: My Neighbor Seki GN 1




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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 12:39 pm Reply with quote
Going forward the formula mostly stays intact, although the number of times the final punchline is Yokoi getting in trouble drops off rapidly. It becomes more about the increasing absurdity of Seki's antics and the depth of Yokoi's reaction. There also start to be chapters outside the classroom a little more often, and some new characters. The robot family also become recurring "characters".

I find it pretty charming myself.
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Utsuro no Hako



Joined: 18 May 2012
Posts: 1034
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:18 pm Reply with quote
I find the series works best if you think of it as a sequel to Calvin and Hobbes told from Susie Derkin's point of view.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 2:10 pm Reply with quote
Caught the anime version on CR, and it works better as dialogue-free anime short (except for Yokoi's "narration") than in a static panel format.

Seki's deadpan just plays up the parodic "epic" quality of his ideas, and Yokoi's slow-burn is a little more sympathetic.
We get the 70's-style Robot Family theme ("Roboto...Roboto...Roboto Fa-mi-lyyyy") whenever he pulls out the Transformers figures, which gives it more of a pop-ref gag feel.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1790
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 2:52 pm Reply with quote
Funny you mention the notion that it can get stale because while I'm positive that will be the case for several readers, I never really had this issue even when reading several chapters straight. It's a shame to hear about the translation not being up to snuff but I personally got a lot of enjoyment out of this series so far, even with taking into consideration that I've seen much more if the early chapters had nothing to them I wouldn't be as far in as I am now.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2606
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 4:20 pm Reply with quote
Utsuro no Hako wrote:
I find the series works best if you think of it as a sequel to Calvin and Hobbes told from Susie Derkin's point of view.


You just made my day. I love this idea and when I get done re-reading the strip drawn realistically where Susie and Calvin are playing house, I'm going to re-read volume one with that in mind.
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tcdelaney



Joined: 05 Oct 2011
Posts: 169
Location: Mittagong, NSW, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:31 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
some of the stories are very funny, but there's also an odd sort of sameness to this book as it goes on that makes me think that it must have been a lot more fun to read in a monthly magazine than all at once in a compiled graphic novel.


This is exactly how I felt while watching the anime. The first couple of episodes were fun, then it became "this is just more of the same" and I stopped watching. Even a week between them wasn't enough to make the new episodes fresh.
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Sven Viking



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 1039
PostPosted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:12 am Reply with quote
Thatguy3331 wrote:
Funny you mention the notion that it can get stale because while I'm positive that will be the case for several readers, I never really had this issue even when reading several chapters straight.

Same here -- I was constantly surprised by the amount of creativity that went into preventing it from becoming boring.
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1657
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:39 pm Reply with quote
Utsuro no Hako wrote:
I find the series works best if you think of it as a sequel to Calvin and Hobbes told from Susie Derkin's point of view.


I actually want to give this series another shot because of this.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 4:37 pm Reply with quote
Fronzel wrote:
Going forward the formula mostly stays intact, although the number of times the final punchline is Yokoi getting in trouble drops off rapidly. It becomes more about the increasing absurdity of Seki's antics and the depth of Yokoi's reaction.


Also, unlike most "wet-blanket" normal-observer characters, Yokoi's actually sympathetic--

Seki's unholy power is that his Shoji games and Robot Family scenarios are elaborately conceived enough to completely involve Yokoi, and she pays the price for giving into the lure of her inner geek.
She's constantly the victim of it, but it keeps her slow-burn at Seki's antics from being a snotty Japanese affirmation of following the rules, as a few series have made their "normal" characters.
(Even Azumanga Daioh's Yomi has to walk a careful fine line between humorless wet-blanket critic and comic-victim.)

And, yeah, she's kind of cute about it, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pboAwymoStc
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