Conveniently Seated

Actually, It's Just Easier if I Don't Have to Draw Anyone Sitting Behind Them

When a scene takes place in a classroom, the Ordinary High-School Student tends to be located wherever is the most convenient for the author, plot, or characterisation of the character.

Often near the window, so the character can be shown looking outside in dreamy fashion. Or near the aisle, if direct personal interaction with the teacher is needed. But then still on the end of the row, with only the window seat between the character and the end of the row.

If the teacher doing his teaching is an important part of the plot, the teacher will be sitting in the middle of the classroom facing the front row, so that a shot can be taken from behind the main student cast, facing the teacher.

If the focus is on the students, they will be sitting on the back row. This way, the author doesn't have to portray everyone sitting behind them. But not too far back: In order to still give the idea that they sit in a larger classroom, the gang will be sitting on the second from the back row. Conveniently Seated also applies to settings such as movie theatres.

In anime, the second seat from the back, along the side with the windows (which is always the left-hand side of the classroom) seems to be extremely popular. It's even nicknamed "The Protagonist's Seat" ^note  there is also a good chance that the seat in question will be at the back row as seen in places like Teasing Master Takagi-san and My Neighbor Seki . When a character other than the main protagonist sits in the protagonist's seat, this usually means that they are the Decoy Protagonist, or a Hero of Another Story. This may lead to them believing that they are the "main character" (either of the actual story itself, or of life). Then again, we are all the main protagonists of our own story.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Azumanga Daioh: Sakaki is planted in the window seat and a majority of the main cast sits in the next row over, with Tomo situated on the opposite side of the room and Chiyo in the middle of the front row. Most conversations in the show tend to happen towards the back of the classroom, near Sakaki's desk.
• Bakuman。:
  • In first chapters, Mashiro sits in a row behind Azuki's, which gives him an opportunity to observe her during the class and thus draw a sketch of her in his notebook.
  • Takagi's seat is in the back row, which gives him an opportunity to observe all his colleagues and notice how Mashiro looks at Azuki.
  • Then, after Mashiro and Azuki promised to each other that they will not meet until they fulfill their dreams, a big shuffle happens (for the purpose of having boys and girls sit next to each other) which puts the two of them seated at the same desk. Cue the embarrassed looks on their faces and Takagi (who is again conveniently seated in the back row) almost bursting into laugh.
• In Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura is in the ever-popular window seat, with Tomoyo next to her, Shaoran behind her, and Meiling and later Eriol behind Tomoyo.
• Death Note: Light also gets the symbolic window seat, and it also gives him a great view to the yard where the death note gets dropped.
• Kimi ni Todoke: Sawako initially sits at the front, but a seating reshuffle in the second episode sends her to the Stock Anime Protagonist Seat, second from back next to the window.
• The cast of Kiniro Mosaic occupies both spots◊; Alice and Shinobu (circled red) in the middle of the front row, and Aya and Youko (circled in blue) at the window seats.
• In K-On! the main character Yui Hirasawa sits in the window seat in the last row of the classroom and the drummer Ritsu Tainaka sits in front of her.
• Invoked when Fate started attending school in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's. While she didn't have any special seat in the classroom in general, Arisa mentions in the supplementary manga that she was deliberately seated next to Nanoha in order to help her acclimate.
• My Hero Academia:
  • The main class of Class 1-A is seated alphabetically in Japanese. Perfect for our protagonist Midoriya and his rival Bakugo to sit on the second (Bakugo) and third (Midoriya) window seat. Bad that the class Dirty Kid Mineta is seated right behind them.
• Natsume, the protagonist of Natsume's Book of Friends, sits in a seat by the window between his friends, Kitamoto and Nishimura, and is usually shown looking outside during class time, thinking about his most recent Youkai experience.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • Sayo near the left corner window-seat so she can stare wistfully at freedom; her friend Asakura so she has a good view of the room, giving her the best ability to take pictures.
  • Chisame and Yue in the far back and middle to observe the stupidity of their class; Haruna is next to Yue because the two are librarians.
  • Ayaka in the front and middle to best serve Negi-sensei. It also gives her a commanding air.
  • Evangeline sits in the only desk that makes up the fifth row to the right - helps her sleep in class and not get called on for questions; Chachamaru in front of her to be as useful as possible; Hakase beside Chachamaru to easily repair her when necessary (in other words, the last two sit where they do to be convenient to Eva).
  • Asuna and Konoka in the second to back and middle to effectively be in the center of the room. Being room-mates with the protagonist warrants this sort of placement.
  • Zazie in the corner, in order to be on panel the least amount of time as possible, to add to her mysteriousness.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rei gets the symbolic window seat.
• In No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, when the second semester starts and Tomoko loses her back row seat by the window, she lampshades it by commenting about how lucky she was getting "the seat main characters always get in anime and light-novels" in the first period, lamenting that she now has to dwell in an awkward spot, surrounded by people.
• None of the stories in My Neighbor Seki could happen if Seki didn't sit in the back corner of the classroom behind Maeda, who is very tall. It means nobody can see him goofing off in class except the girl sitting next to him.
• Most of the lead characters from the Pretty Cure franchise sit in window seats. Though, only one of them sit in the infamous seat, the second seat from the back, along the side with the windows.
  • In Futari wa Pretty Cure and its sequel, Nagisa sits on the window seat of the third back row... the class seams to be bigger than other examples. The third main character Hikari sits on the infamous seat in her class.
  • In Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star, Saki sits in the infamous seat.
  • In Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and its sequel, Nozomi and Rin sit in the second front row, so the camera can catch them and their teacher Kokoda/Coco. Sometimes, the sit near to the window - they sit on benches. However, the windows are too high and nobody can look out of the windows.
  • In Fresh Pretty Cure! and HeartCatch Pretty Cure!, the respective lancers Setsuna and Erika sit in the last seat along the windows, while the heroines Love and Tsubomi sit next to their right side.
  • In Suite Pretty Cure ♪, Smile PreCure!, Doki Doki! PreCure and Maho Girls Pretty Cure!, the respective heroines Hibiki, Miyuki, Mana, and Mirai sit in the last seat along the windows. Miyuki's lancer Akane; and Riko sit in the infamous seat.
  • In Wonderful Pretty Cure!, Iroha takes the Protagonist's Seat, Satoru is sat behind her, and the entire left back corner is empty, allowing Mayu, Komugi and Yuki to claim the seats next to them at their leisure, with Mayu notably taking the seat right next to Iroha, while Komugi takes the seat behind Mayu, with Yuki left the middle back seat.
• In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, titular character Madoka sits in the middle of the class, at a perfect angle to see her teachers rants in camera view, oddly enough, shady Homura sits in front next to the door, though this was probably done to emphasize her ace student quality as well as to give Madoka a good angle to stare at her, as it would be awkward if Madoka spent class turned around. Sayaka is also in the same class.
• Rosario + Vampire: Tsukune sits on the second-last seat with the window on the left. Moka sits behind him, Mizore sits in front of him, and Kurumu sits next to Moka. In the following year, their seat positions are the same, and Yukari is now sitting next to Mizore.
• Sakura Trick:
  • Inconvenient seating kicks off the plot of Sakura Trick— The main characters find themselves at opposite ends of the classroom, and so feel the need to do something special to stay close even when they're forced apart. They choose kissing.
  • On a macroscopic angle this trope is also played straight. All the cast sit on the row next to the window, or the row directly next to it.
• In School Rumble, Tenma sits with Karasuma right in front of her and Harima to her right. However, it's Karasuma who spends all his time looking out the window.
• SSSS.GRIDMAN: Invoked and played with. Akane Shinjo sits in the last row of the classroom next to the window, while Yuta Hibiki (Gridman's host) sits next to her on her right. It's suggested that when she deliberately arranged the classroom as such, as Episode 9 suggests her intent was for Yuta to be her doting boyfriend thanks to them sitting side-by-side, only for the plan to be sent awry when Gridman entered the picture. The "played with" angle comes in because despite Yuta being the hero, he's actually the Supporting Protagonist while Akane is the one the story is actually about.
• In Terror in Resonance, when Nine transfers to Lisa's school, he's given the second-to-last seat next to the window, which is rather conveniently empty.
• In Tonari no Kashiwagi-san Yuuto and Kotone starts off with their desks next to each other. It's probably because of the Economy Cast that they sit in the far back, so it's easier to not include other characters. For their third year, they arran ge this themselves, when Yuuto and Kazuki switch seats, for both their benefits.
• Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai: Yugami gets the window seat and sits in the very back row by himself — until Chihiro transfers in and sits next to him.

Comic Strips

• In one Sally Forth (Howard) storyline in which Hilary was excited about a novel-writing project, she was suddenly sitting in the front row so she and the teacher could both be in panel while discussing it. This was promptly lampshaded when the teacher asked if Hil had switched seats with someone during the announcement.

Films — Animation

• In Turning Red, when Mei is seated in math class next to Miriam no one is seated in the desks right front of them despite the presence of various school supplies on said desks. This is presumably so there is a clear shot of them talking.

Films - Live-Action

• Our Miss Brooks: The cinematic series finale has possibly the only scene of the series where Miss Brooks is shown teaching a full class (as compared to being heard teaching a class on the radio, or tutoring a student or students). Miss Brooks is in front, teaching the class. Walter Denton and Harriet Conklin have seats in the back; all the better for Walter can tell Harriet about his car troubles and invite her to lunch. Stretch Snodgrass is right in the middle, so he can stand up to answer a question on double-negatives spectacularly wrong. Finally, Gary Nolan is in front, so after class Miss Brooks can upbraid him for his failing the English test.

Literature

• Durarara!!:
  • Meaningfully Named Mikado Ryugamine gets a window seat that's in the second-to-last row.
  • A minor character, Rio Kamichika, also has a window seat from which she can stare out wistfully and contemplate the world and its many odd inhabitants.
• The plot of Haruhi Suzumiya starts largely because Kyon happened to be seated directly in front of Haruhi. Haruhi, for the record, was in the center of the room, where everyone could get a good look at her when she made her famous announcement. When the seats were re-arranged at random, Kyon ended up in the second to last seat by the window, where he could stare wistfully outside...and right in front of Haruhi again. Though that last part is justified, it's unclear if it is justified because Haruhi is a subconscious Reality Warper who wanted to stay near Kyon or because the Class Representative (who had a vested interest in Kyon interacting with Haruhi) rigged the lottery to keep them together.
• Deconstructed and Played for Laughs in Is This A Zombie?. Ayumu being a zombie who dries up in sunlight, well... Good Thing You Can Heal.
• MM!: Protagonist Taro Sado is the keeper of the seat in the second row back, along the side with the windows.

Video Games

• Persona:
  • When the main casts of Persona 4 visit Gekkoukan High School, the four second years coincidentally sit on the same seats the P3 protagonist, Junpei, Yukari and Aigis' used to sit.
  • The main character of Persona 5 sits in the infamous seat with party member Ann Takamaki directly in front of him, usually to show them both whip out their phones in class. Notably, there is still one more student seated behind him, who can presumably see everything he does.
• According to a tweet by Yandere Dev, Senpai from Yandere Simulator became the Big Man on Campus because he "sat in the "Main Character Chair". From that moment onward, his fate & destiny were set in stone. "

Visual Novels

• Tomoya, in CLANNAD sits second from the back next to the window, with Sunohara next to him, Ryou is also in the same class.
• In all three main Danganronpa games, the protagonist's podium during the Class Trials is always directly facing the podium in front of Monokuma's throne. In the first game Makoto faces the empty podium that Junko would eventually use in the last class trial, in the second game Hajime's podium faces Mikan's podium, who remembers her devotion to Junko and commits murder in her name in chapter 3, and in the third game the podium of Shuichi, the real protagonist, stands directly across Tsumugi's podium, with Tsumugi being the Mastermind of the Killing Game.
• In The Fruit of Grisaia, Yuuji Kazami sits in the back seat next to the window. He's one of only six people in a classroom that inexplicably has thirty-six seats, but he still chooses a window seat. Yumiko also has one.
• Keiichi, the main character of Higurashi: When They Cry always sits in the second-to-last row, along the windows. The girls in the series all sit next to him as well.
• Yuiichi, in the more recent anime adaptation of Kanon sits in the second-to-last seat along the left windows. Three of his closest friends, including his cousin, all sit in the three seats directly adjacent to him. His seating next to the window is also particularly more convenient to the story as it allows him to see Shiori in the courtyard whenever she appears.
• In Katawa Shoujo, Hisao has the seat second from the back next to the window, which (rather conveniently) was the only available seat. Though this might be to do with the fact that Misha Mikado and Shizune Hakamichi are sitting right alongside it...
• Missing Stars:
  • The New Transfer Student main character Erik is offered a seat next to the window. He instead takes a seat more in the middle in order to seem more sociable.
  • Shrinking Violet Annaliese sits in the typical "main character" spot next to the window. She spends much of her time looking out said window.

Webcomics

• Sleepless Domain:
  • Referencing how Tessa is seated in the center of the non-window side of her classroom, the Alt Text for Chapter 7 - Page 1 says:
  Window seats are for main characters only
  • Before three fifths of Team Alchemical died, Team Alchemical had one period where they were all conveniently in the back two rows so they could whisper to each other, furthering their Establishing Character Moments.

Western Animation

• Batman Beyond has a tendency to show Terry and any other important character (Max, Dana, Nelson, etc.) in the front row, no matter how improbable it is that they would choose to sit there. Perhaps assigned seating?
• Beavis And Butthead sit in the middle of the back row in every class, with nobody else in that row and their desks out of line with the rest of the class. It saves a lot of trouble having to constantly animate people around them, presumably. Could be explained by nobody wanting to sit near them.
• The Fairly OddParents!: Timmy Turner sits in the first row (along with his two best friends) right in front of Mr. Crocker.
• The Simpsons:
  • Bart Simpson generally sits in the middle of the class, but sometimes sits by the window if he's supposed to get distracted by something outside.
  • Lisa generally sits in the middle of the second row from the front.
• Voltron: Legendary Defender: In separate flashbacks, Keith and Pidge are seen in their middle schools, gazing outside in boredom from the seats next to the window.

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