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JoinedNov 5, 2014

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Dec 22, 2014

Tonari no Seki-kun (Anime) add

Recommended

Tonari no Seki-kun: The master of killing time is a charming collection of 7 minute comedy episodes revolving around, as the title suggests, Seki-kun and the mischief he gets up to in the attempt to kill time.

Rather than the story following Seki-kun, it is instead told through the eyes of his classmate Rumi Yokoi who sits next to him in class and this greatly works to the shows benefit. A large portion of the humour of this show comes from Rumi’s interpretation of what Seki-kun is doing rather than what his own thought process is. The ‘Shogi’ episodes in the series highlight this ... perfectly as Rumi creates her own story around the way Seki chooses to play the game and she subsequently tries to intervene with the game in order to ‘save’ the characters she made up. To this extent Tonari no Seki-kun is able to do a lot with short episodes and limited dialogue and I find the simplistic yet well implemented animation gives both Rumi Yokoi and Seki-kun fantastic personality without really having an overarching storyline or conclusion.

Initially Rumi and Seki-kun seem like polar opposites, with Rumi wanting to focus on her studies but Seki-kun more interested in passing the time. As the show goes on and Seki-kuns antics are explored further you find that they are not so different after all and many things she accuses him of are things she is guilty of as well, which is subtly conveyed to the viewer not only in the episode but also in its wonderful OP/ED which perfectly epitomises the relationship between the two characters. Both the opening and the ending themes are super catchy and had me watching them each episode even though I had the option to skip. I seriously suggest you watch them if you are unsure about this show as they will give you a decent idea of what to expect from it.

The musical score in episode is not really memorable but it was used when appropriate and to good effect, so it certainly does not outstay its welcome nor will it make your viewing experience worse. One thing that is of note however is that many of the concepts introduced by the show such as the Shogi games or ‘Robot Family’ gets reused multiple times. With such short episodes and the series totalling at 21 episodes overall I can’t help but feel like this anime would have been better if a wider variety of ‘time wasting challenges’ had been used. That is not to say the Shogi or Robot Family episodes were poorly made, in fact they are some of the best in the series, however reused concepts in such a short series comes off as somewhat lazy to me.

Overall I loved this anime and it is just as easily enjoyed regardless of whether you watch an episode a day or binge through it all in one go. Tonari no Seki-kun is not the gods gift to humanity; it is however a delightful little show that offers a lot in a short space of time. Try it and see because who knows; maybe you will get the same enjoyment out of as I did.

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Dec 16, 2014

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! (Anime) add

Recommended

Now I want to preface this by saying I'm not strictly reviewing the series. I find it hard coming from my perspective to be able to objectively rate the show overall. This is because I believe that whether you like or dislike this show heavily depends on how much you can relate to the main character, therefore your mileage my vary.

**The impressions I give do contain some minor spoilers however I do not believe they effect your enjoyment of the show**

The reason I really like Watamote is because it takes a particularly dark and depressing condition and gives it a light-hearted twist. See many people ... seem to misinterpret Tomoko (the MC) as being introverted, however I have to respectfully disagree. Being introverted does not mean that one is socially inept, as Tomoko is. Instead it means that the introverted person in question is energized by doing things by themselves but are quickly tired when participating in things involving a group. While it can be somewhat true that those who prefer to spend time by themselves are not as socially able as extroverts, it is not the 'default' for an introvert to be bad at conversations or unable to recognize social ques.

As someone who has experience with social anxiety in the past I can tell you that Tomoko most certainly suffers from social anxiety herself based on her actions throughout the series. Indeed her main goal through the show is to have lots of friends and be the interest of all the boys. If she was truly an introvert this would be in conflict with the idea that she wants to be the center of attention and be at the social peak of the high school she goes to. I feel like this needed to be explained because some dislike towards this show comes from people perceiving her as being an introvert and then subsequently stating that her behavior is unrealistic and exaggerated because 'introverts aren't like that'. Your enjoyment of the show will be enhanced if you can recognize that she has social anxiety, she is not introverted.

With that in mind I want to say just how accurately the show depicts social anxiety at it's worst. Tomoko frequently struggles to even say 'Hello' or 'Goodbye' to any of the characters in the show despite them actually being more than willing to interact with her. This really is an accurate representation in my opinion. For someone with social anxiety just saying things as simple as hello and good morning are monumental tasks. Since I can relate to this it is one of the main reasons that Watamote resonates so much with me. See Watamote takes this experience and others like it and utilizes the animation and sound to make it comedic, so that I can sit back and watch this show and laugh at all the unfortunate things that happen to Tomoko. It makes it so I can laugh at my own experiences and that really is relieving. It's nice to see such a condition portrayed in anime and not instantly be depressed by it which is a challenging thing for an anime to achieve and it adds a whole new level of appreciation for me towards Watamote and what it does. On one hand it gives an oddly realistic and mature look into the life of someone with social anxiety while simultaneously parodying it, which is fantastic.

In addition to this I really loved the fact that Watamote did not show Tomoko overcoming her social anxiety. One major criticism held against the show is that it does not have an overarching plot and the status quo that is set in episode 1 is still there by episode 12. While a series being too episodic is a valid complaint with many anime shows in recent years, I feel that Watamote is one of those anime that actually really benefits from being episodic. See social anxiety is not something that can simply be overcome in the period of a school term, shyness maybe, but social anxiety no. I feel like if Watamote had shown serious progression or even Tomoko outright beating her condition then it would have been unrealistic and immersion breaking. So for that I commend Watamote for not going down the idealistic route and instead sticking with the 'status quo' it portrays of Tomokos life. It really adds to my enjoyment of the show on the whole.

Like I mentioned earlier your enjoyment of this show may heavily depend on how much you can relate to the experiences of Tomoko. If you can, then I highly recommend this show for you. If you can't, then you may still like it for its charming animation, good use of sound and quality 'cringe' humor. Equally however you may dislike watching a show that is basically about someone who can never do things right and is constantly messing up because of her warped view on events surrounding her. It's certainly not the best anime out there nor my favorite but to me it really had an emotional impact unlike any other anime I've watched making it worth noting for any anime fan.

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