Recently I stumbled upon a Manga called Tonari no Seki-kun: Junior. It's a sequel to a comedy Manga I loved when I read 2 years ago. Tonari no Seki-kun. I then remembered something similar happening to Takagi-san Manga. So I want to write about this new Genre I discovered of Romance-comedy!
Tonari no Seki-kun (meaning My Neighbor Seki) follows the overly imaginative Rumi Yokoi and her classmate Toshinari Seki. The boy always ignores the class playing games, and she tries to make him focus only to waste time with him instead.
The story of the series is very basic. Every chapter features a different idea but it boils down to Seki being cruelly playful and Yokoi being the unneeded voice of reason/humanity. Like the time Seki played a Chess-like board game and gave one side the advantage. Yokoi tried to make the other side win because it's unfair. It's stupid. It's relatable... It's hilarious!
In the sequel I mentioned, turns out they got married in the future. The story now follows Yokoi Rumi as a mother. She notices that her 2-years old boy (I'll call him Seki Jr.) takes after his father, so she tries her hardest to not let him grow up to be like him. I never been a parent but the story feels like something any parent could go through!
What makes it mire interesting, is that when I read it I feel Seki Jr. takes the worst of both of his parents traits, while counterbalancing them with each others good points!
I find myself liking this type of Manga. When I decided to write this article, I remembered the idea of a sequel like this, being used in another series: "The Ultimate Teaser Takagi-san."
Teasing Master Takagi-san is a psychological comedy between the protagonist Nishikata and his classmate Takagi. The girl likes to tease him and make him blush and he tries to get back at her. His complicated plans always fail just because he tries them, implying that Takagi knows exactly how he thinks all the time.
While Takagi-san is being serialized, a spin-off Manga that takes place in the future and features them as parents: Moto Takagi-san is also serialized. Their daughter now taking her father's role of being teased.
Both series are lovely. I think the Moto series is better because it accomplishes the same thing that the main series does in less pages. I believe Takagi-san is the most popular Manga of this genre at the time of writing, so I'm sure the Moto series is well-known as well. The daughter also has her own Manga following her story as a teenager.
The final Manga of this type that I've read lately is Sukinako ga Megane wo Wasureta. Title means The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses, which describes the whole story.
The protagonist's classmate in middle school tends to forget her glasses all the time. It includes forgetting them at home, breaking them, taking her father's instead or just getting lost. The protagonist has crush on her but he's too shy. They develop a special bond through the story and it's both heartwarming, funny and sometimes frustrating to see their interactions.
This series is still ongoing, though I don't know for how long the author will still be able to come with creative ideas for the heroine to forget her glasses. Other than that, I don't recommend this manga unless you're interested in a shy, slow romance. There's nothing else in it.
I know there are other Manga of this genre being published but I didn't read them, if you liked this, do you have any recommendation? I'll put 'em in my to-read list!
