A bit of good fun, and with a dash of ecchi humor, TURNING THE TABLES ON THE SEATMATE KILLER v1 is best read casually. The narrative is familiar enough that readers can predict much of the novel's twists and turns (e.g., big brother complex; interfering elder sister), but not so rote as to deprive one of a few delightful disruptions. Generally speaking, changing seats at school can mean saying goodbye to a classmate you’ve might’ve befriended. But for all intents and purposes, for one particular class, having your seat changed to sit next to the “Seatmate Killer” is not good. Yuuki Narito is the one who has to sit next to said “Seatmate Killer,” Yui Takatsuki, who supposedly strings the hearts of young guys along, and when they fall for those charms and then confess to her, she turns them down. And with her bubbly, outgoing personality and good looks, once she does show up, it’s easy to see why Yui has caught the hearts of boys throughout her school years.

Most of this is just Yui trying to be nice or get her feelings across and Yuuki just saying something to calm her down because he’s being a different type of presumptive jerk from the other guys Yui has known. That’s some noble gas level chemistry right there.It was only a matter of time before Yuuki fell victim to the overly friendly Yui, but little did she know that he was as clueless as they come! The tables have suddenly been turned, and the hunter will soon become the prey. The MC Yuuki is your typical kuudere. There is nothing remotely interesting about the guy. The author seems to feel the same way because after another girl (not FMC) named Rio becomes relevant to the story, Yuuki is almost constantly drawn TURNING THE TABLES ON THE SEATMATE KILLER v1 is a densely written, yet ultimately very casual jaunt into the world of high-school anxiety. Getting along with seatmates feels like a life-or-death event. But in reality, it's only as complicated as one makes it. This rom-com is off to a bumpy start as a now-determined Yui takes it upon herself to get her revenge!

The manga seems to be self-aware about how awful it is with it's plot lines and pacing. Poking fun at the forementioned Rio for wasting a bunch of time. Which she did. Her entire arc served literally no purpose. Also several times where they just mention some shit about wasting entire panels. Tonari no Seki ni Natta Bishoujo ga Horesaseyou to Karakattekuru ga Itsunomanika Kaeriuchi ni Shiteita That Yui falls in love with the regularly invisible Yuuki is not a surprise; the surprise (and the fun) is that when Yui realizes she's in love, she goes all in, damning the consequences. There's a genuine effort to make the series' very inconsistency one of the cornerstones of its humor. Characters change at the drop of a hat, the manzai gags from the first volume go away, and pretty much all that remains consistent throughout is how deliberately goofy the whole thing is. Themes of feeling displaced in a relationship do ground the story more than you might expect, which is interesting, because it could be argued that the entire plot begins with Yui feeling like she doesn't belong in her class and taking some highly questionable advice from her older sister. Awkwardness is the root of everything, whether that leads to oblivious actions or feeling left out, and that feels remarkably true of a lot of human interaction. Yuuki barely exists amongst his other classmates and he likes it just fine. The best-laid seating plans of mice and men, however, see him sat next to Yui, the notorious Seatmate Killer. She lures guys in and then rejects their confessions, but has she met her match in the immovable wall that is Yuuki?This manga, like many others caught my attention through it's interesting main concept. Of said manga, the good ones will build upon their main concept and use it to propel the story further. This manga did a good job at that for the first 10 or so chapters. The last 15 are some of the most disappointing chapters I've read in quite a long time. Of course, Yuuki’s the one with the real trauma, having lost his mother and having to be as stoic and supportive as possible for his sister, Mina. Which isn’t a bad narrative hook, until Mina enters the equation.