YMMV / My Neighbor Seki

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Given Seki is constantly shown to be an expert in more areas that the average student would be expected to be, one possible interpretation to his antics is that he's a Teen Genius that doesn't pay attention to classes out of not finding them challenging enough, so he plays with whatever he can find. Chapter 46 seems to support this interpretation, as he spends the entire chapter playing with a labyrinth but in the moment Yokoi threats him to break the egg with which he was playing, he quickly makes a pretty good portrait of Gotou.
  • Is Seki an Elective Mute, doesn't talk to avert getting attention directed to him while he is in classes or just doesn't like to talk with Yokoi?
  • Does Seki deliberately create his games with the intention of Yokoi getting involved or does he attract her by accident? In some occasions, he seems annoyed by Yokoi getting in the way, but some of his games were clearly made with the intention of a second person getting involved, for example one of the Shogi games has a piece of a amnesic father that Seki was trying to avert getting involved in the game, but he was still the one who made it, so the only reason why would he even consider making that character would be as bait for Yokoi.
  • Does Seki-kun not care that his games cause issues to Yokoi or to the other students, or is he so into them that he doesn't notice? Or does he do it intentionally out of revenge for her interfering with his stories or trying to bust him?
  • Chapter 55 adds new questions about Seki. He gets a poor grade in a important test out of getting bored in the middle of it and starting drawing a Chess board in the table, then a new test is made which those who fail will being sent to detention. In the test, he uses methods to get random potentials answers, including dices, roulettes, Radiestesia and hypnotizing himself, and he gets an 95/100. Is he Brilliant, but Lazy and he was just playing around while he answered the test or was pure dumb luck?
• Aluminium Christmas Trees: There are actually many variants of shogi that include many additional pieces not found in the standard game, including "queen's shogi", which introduces a 'queen' piece. The character used to abbreviate it can mean 'princess'; however, it is a different character than is used in the series, making it a partial example.
• Awesome Music: Episode 6 of the anime ("Disaster Drill") has "Harmony! Robot Family", performed by Ichiro Mizuki with just as much passion as his themes for shows like Mazinger Z.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The robot family. Sure, they're Seki's toys, but Seki puts a lot of effort into creating their stories, and they're certainly real enough to Yokoi. Plus, they get their own theme song (see above). They are also Ensemble Dark Horses in-universe given they are a favorite among Seki's toys for Yokoi.
  • Within the Manga, Seki's Mom and his little sister Jun have quite a following, often being mentioned as highlights in reader reviews. Impressive since neither character was in the anime version and even in the manga neither one appears very often.
• Moment of Awesome: Most of Seki's feats of craftsmanship are examples of this trope, but one standout example is when he manages to hide the robot family and all his other contraband during a surprise bag inspection that he wasn't warned about in advance.
• Values Dissonance: Yokoi is often hung up on what's appropriate for boys and girls to do, with one example being the Acceptable Feminine Goals and Traits entry on the main page. This is the product of Japan's more strictly defined gender roles, but may rub some Westerners the wrong way.