Working!!

With the coming of an Anime with just about no plot, one wonders how good something like Working!! can actually be. To my surprise, what was supposed to be a filler series to pass the time for me ended up being one of the most enjoyable of spring 2010.

There isnt much of a story really. Takanashi justs goes to work at a family restaurant full of weird and unique co-workers and takes it from there for the rest of the series. However even with the lack of a real story, Working!! makes up for easily with their characters. Even with the lack of plot, a ... handful of the characters were well done in the sense that they achieve what this anime was ment to do, to make us laugh. There were quite a bit of running gags, but still has more then enough to keep you watching.

For an anime with very minimal plot, it does a very outstanding job in entertaining its viewers and is definitely worth watching.

Working!! is an example of an anime that’s been done countless times before and will be again. Admittedly I was expecting this but was attracted to the series cute looking characters and the slice of life pacing. While the series gets off to a slow start things did manage to improve greatly only to end in the dustbin of history thanks to the douchebaggery of its narcissistic cast of asshats.

The premise of Working!! puts us into the inner workings of a family restaurant. The employees run the gambit of strangeness and mental issues to setup all the outstanding and original comedy ... that awaits us. That’s sarcasm by the way. At the start of the show the restaurant is shorthanded and the search for a new part timer to help out ends with our typical over burdened high schooler, this time named Souta Takanashi. Apparently the financial distress of Japanese families is quite high and even though he lives in a modest house with three working age sisters and an alleged mother (I am assuming she existed, they said she did kind of like my Papa told me Santa Claus lived in the North Pole when I was five...) that they must put their high school younger brother to work to make ends meet. It’s such a romantic setting that can only occur in Asia apparently. The bastion of child labor and exploitation... oh wait I was talking about our lovely heartfelt slave err labor anime!

From the very beginning the show is decidedly unimpressive. The cast comes off completely stereotypical and clichéd from the start. Every character type is represented there has ever been there, in all their glory. Now this isn’t exactly new ground here, we see this in practically everything and at this point there basically are no original characters anymore. But these characters for the most part come off as bland copies, devoid of personality and psychotic misfits I would sooner see hauled off by a van with padded walls driven by guys in lab coats.

However, this starts to change and by mid series things start to actually get pretty fun and amusing. Characters which are annoying take a back seat and others which initially were the worst actually develop into pretty solid and interesting personalities. I found it unusual that I could have such a completely different opinion of certain characters in such few episodes from the beginning to the end of the series.

Things really fall apart though in the last episode. I was well on my way to having an average to above average experience with this anime until once again the characters that made watching this show such a pain in the beginning, bring it down into the sewer. I always find it strange how people who claim to all be "friends" in some of these shows can do the things they do to each other, even in fun and for their own selfish amusement. There are some lines that just can’t be crossed however and over the years I have found I have grown tired of humiliation and deviant behavior being used for laughs.

The cast is ripe with love and hate characters. On the positive side is our lead, Takanashi. At first I found him to be an initial source of annoyance as he looked to be your typical lolicon. Thankfully this wasn’t the case and he manages to develop into a pretty nice leading man and one whom the viewer can relate and root for. He is a bit strange in his own right, which is love of cute things but this is mostly harmless and for the most part is the only voice of reason and sanity.

Next to him would be another character who I thought would be irritating, Inami, who contrary to what the viewer might think from the start is actually the lead heroine. She suffers from a fear of men which makes her want to punch any man she sees. This of course causes a lot of problems in a working environment populated by both men and women and results in quite a few punches to the face of our unfortunate leading man. Despite this, as the reasons for her fears is revealed and her struggles with conquering them makes her ultimately a very interesting and satisfying character.

The bad would be pretty much everyone else. Characters initially amusing like the cute and adorable Taneshima become narcissistic perverts and contribute to my eventual disdain for this title. Others are just completely boring and unamusing. This would include characters such as the one dimensional restaurant manager, head waitress, and kitchen staff as well as Takanashi's useless sisters. While there are a few laughs with them along the way, they’re totally devoid of likability. Their contribution, through their selfish behavior, to ruining what should have been a touching final episode and the culmination of the series makes me despise them even more.

One of the real positives though is what initially attracted me to Working!! The artwork is really good. Despite my negative feelings for many of the characters, their designs were very good. I thought the humor was expressed very effectively through the animation when it was actually funny. The OP animation was also really cute and charming, even though the music itself was a bit ordinary. Vocally the acting is pretty average all around with nothing exceptionally bad or good.

Overall, Working!! is just too uneven an experience to be considered even average. Was I too harsh with this? Perhaps, but at this point I feel I have grown tired of certain anime fetishes. Incest, psychologic trauma from horribly inexcusable parenting, and cross-dressing are just a few. While there is nothing incestuous in this the other two are on display proudly. Is Working!! worth watching? I think that depends. If you’re a relatively new or inexperienced anime viewer this will likely be amusing to you and the things that stand out as clichéd won’t seem so much so. Anyone else should give it a pass, I sure wish I had.

Uninspiring and rather dull.

Working!! (please note the two exclamation marks) is a slice of life, comedy show about people who work at a family restaurant, you know, one of those restaurants that serve mediocre food. It is only befitting that this show is as bad as the food presumably served at the mediocre restaurant.

With no plot whatsoever this anime is as episodic as it can possibly be, yet it's not. It's not episodic because in an episodic anime there would be a plot outline for each episode, or for the episodes included in an arc. In Working!! there exist no plot whatsoever. I honestly believed ... that the male phobia thing that one of the female protagonists suffer from was a gimmick, a passing feature used for some comic relief in an otherwise rather un-comical show. I was mistaken. It's the main focal point of many of the events that take place in many of the episodes in this anime and it's just..., uninspiring.

A few points of interest were to be found though, the supporting character Yamada is the most entertaining character in the show and there is no competition. Most characters were dull and the producers really tried to make them more interesting with some eccentric appealing attributes, it didn't work though. I understand that this anime was supposed to be a bit parodical, a bit sarcastic, a bit funny, but the problem is; it's not. Somewhere along the way of production they got a serious case of carebear flu and decided to take the production seriously.

Halfassed, fake and poor screenplay for the most part with no plot summarizes this stellar production from A-1 Pictures Inc.

Haters gonna hate.

Working!, a popular anime adapted from a 4koma which is riding on the "moe" wave was one of the better shows of the Spring 2010 season.

We start off the story with a young man named Souta Takanashi or more commonly known as Shinra or Lelouch. This young man is looking for a job to support his dysfunctional family filled with eccentric women. He is forced to help put food on the table for his underprivileged family and begins working a restaurant called the Wagnaria (Denny's) and meets a large array of hilarious characters. Takanashi needs to support his family because of the troubles at home. ... His mother works long hours and his father is dead yet due to his mother being an office lady she doesn't make enough to feed the family. Takanashi must take care of his 4 eccentric sisters by working at the restaurant. His oldest sister, Kazue, despite being a lawyer and in her 30's lives at home after going through a divorce and losing custody of her kids because she got home late and beat them. It's a miracle that she still can practice law and beat her kids but that's Japan's problem. Takanashi also needs to support his depressed siste, Izumi, who's liable to kill herself at any given moment and is too depressed to walk. Despite being nearly 30 she still lives at home and complains about the colorful world and keeps to her dark room. (If I could pick a girl from the show to be my wife, I'd take her..she'd fit my dark and brooding vampiric lifestyle perfectly). On top of that he has to take care of his drunken sister, Kozue, who despite somehow holding down a job spends all of her money on liquor and abortions for all the times she has unprotected sex with various men. To top it all off Takanashi's youngest sister Nazuna is manipulative and a dominatrix despite being in elementary school. As you can see Takanashi's family circumstances are very dark and upsetting which is the undertone for this series. I personally found the darkness and depth of this show to be excellent since I am a dark person myself and I like to sit in a dark corner at Starbucks and drink black coffee.

While at work Takanashi's life is just as hard. He has to deal with a group of mentally unstable and eccentric people that are most likely on drugs (it's just like Denny's here in the US, the one by me was shut down because they were cooking meth in the basement). Takanashi is repeatedly beaten and abused by Mahiru Inami, a self proclaimed "androphobe" but in reality is just tweaking from her lack of meth at work. He also has to deal with the two strongest men in Ikebukuro, Satou and Souma who happen to the cooks. They do nothing but troll him and make fun of him and offer little consideration for Takanashi's home issues. He also has to work with a mentally challenged yet well endowed short girl named Poplar who can't do anything right yet somehow still has a job and a Zange clone who's also mentally challenged named Yamada. To top it off there's the two lesbian crew leaders named Kyouko and Yachiyo who service each other throughout the day. As you can see Takanashi's working life is not much better than his home life and the eccentric and most likely drugged up people he works with don't help his situation.

The character depth and story of this show is very good and it gives off a very dark and deep theme. I like that in a show and I like to watch Takanashi suffer in his daily struggles that are shown in the show and to watch my 2d wife (waifu) Izumi. I give the story and characters an 8/10 because they were dark and depressing. However, there was too much fun in the series and it could have been better if there was more dramatic moments and if there were some tragedies.

The sound and art was good so I give them a 9/10..they could have been drawn in a much darker setting but every Denny's I've been to is very bright to show off the cockroaches anyways.

Overall I rate this show an 8/10..I really enjoyed the characters and their back stories and I really liked how the show related to a dark and foreboding creature like myself. I would definitely watch this on my windows powered laptop at Starbucks and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a dark and depressing show mixed with some comedy for extra enjoyment. I feel this show is the highlight of the spring season and I like the direction Japan is going with these depressing, vampire orientated shows as of late. However, this show was not without flaws..there could have been some gore added to it like with Satou and Souma in the kitchen having accidents and Poplar accidentally impaling herself on a broken glass shard. A little blood in a dark show like this goes a long way and I feel that it needed some sanguine goodness to be a 10/10.

Looking at what I should expect for the Spring 2010 anime season through a calendar released by a source I don't know, one particular show had caught my interest. The little plot summary read, "The story is set in a family restaurant named "Wagnaria", in the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido. Sota works part-time there among the restaurant's high-spirited and strange staff." Reading that and looking at the picture of that anime had made me want to watch it. After watching that first episode, I knew that I'd enjoy Working!!

Story: After reading that little plot synopsis, you would think that ... there's an interesting story behind Working!! Unfortunately, there isn't, but that's what made Working!! enjoyable since it IS a Slice of Life anime. The story kicks off with our adorable busty loli, Poplar Taneshima, greeting some customers on a normal work day. Unfortunately, the restaurant is a bit short-staffed, so it's up to Poplar to gather some new recruits since the manager, Kyouko Shirafuji, is as lazy as a sloth. After asking many people to see if they would like a part-time job, but only to get that offer rejected, she suddenly bumps into our main protagonist, Souta Takanashi. Though he thinks Poplar is a small child and is lost, Poplar retorts saying she's 17 years old and is looking for part-timers for her job. Knowing that he'll work with Poplar since he believes she's cute, Takanashi gladly accepts. From there on, Takanashi's life has became a bit more crazier now that he's working at Wagnaria.

Art: The art is nothing too extraordinary. Colorful and sharp, the art is nice to look at. Looking back, it feels like art you would expect from a Comedy and Slice of Life anime.

Sound: About everyone who's watched Working!! will always know the first few lines of the opening by heart. It is honestly one of the most catchy and probably addicting openings I've heard. The ending sounds great as well. The voice actors do a terrific job in playing their character. The male VAs, to me, felt it was like an ensemble cast. With Jun Fukuyama (DRRR!!, Geass), Daisuke Ono (DRRR!!, TMoHS), and Hiroshi Kamiya (DRRR!!, SZS) as Takanashi, Satou, and Souma respectively.

Characters: The characters, to me, were the main enjoyment of the show. Like what the little plot synopsis said in the beginning of this review, "...high-spirited and strange staff.", strange is the key word.

First off, Takanashi may look like a normal person, but the truth is that he loves small and cute things, ranging from little children, animals, and toys, which is pretty much why he started working due to Poplar being small and cute. When he revealed this information to Satou and Kyouko, they thought that he was a lolicon which Takanashi strictly objects.

Next we have the highly eccentric and adorable Poplar. Again, you would think she's normal, but it's revealed that she has a very strong desire of becoming taller. Because of her small height, she is easily mistaken as an elementary or middle school student, thus making her very sensitive whenever her height is discussed.

One of the strangest characters in Working!! is the timid Mahiru Inami. Inami is introduced as an androphobic (fear of male) girl. Whenever a male approaches her, she punches them without hesitation due to a belief that every man is ready to attack her. Though she has this condition, she is still able to work at Wagnaria, but only serving the female customers.

Kyouko and Yachiyo Todoroki are what I consider the yuri couple of the show. Kyouko, as we know, is the lazy manager of Wagnaria, who does nothing but eat, usually the parfaits that Yachiyo brings her. Yachiyo herself is strange overall. She is always, and I mean ALWAYS carries with her a katana, which many are intimidated by that. She also has a deep connection with Kyouko. If Kyouko is away or is taken away from her, she gets sad and angry to a point where she would kill the person who took her away from her with her katana.

Next up are the chefs of Wagnaria, Jun Satou and Hiroomi Souma. Satou is probably the more sane one out of the main cast. He's known as an intimidating, yet helpful individual. However, he is in love with Yachiyo, but does not show it. He also enjoys teasing Poplar, usually concerning her height or messing with her hair. Though he may look always cheerful, deep down, Souma is the most deceiving of the cast. He enjoys teasing some of the staff, with the exception of Inami, and somehow always gets his hand on some sort of information that is secretive to some of the staff. Ironically, both characters remind me of Shizuo and Izaya of Durarara!! Both are voiced by the same actor and both almost have identical personalities, with Satou and Shizuo being intimidating and having blonde hair, and Souma and Izaya being very deceitful and are always able to get their hand on some information.

Lastly, we have Aoi Yamada. Though she's introduced late in the series, she appears regularly throughout the show. She's usually unhelpful and clumsy when it comes to work, but very curious as to what happens in and out her workstation. She also has a strong desire of having the ideal family.

Enjoyment: From beginning to end, I enjoyed Working!! Whether it be Takanashi "trying" to cure Inami's androphobia, the strange diversity that occurs in the Takanashi household, or the usual, but sometimes, strange happenings inside Wagnaria, there's always something to enjoy when watching this anime.

Scores-
Story- 7
Art- 8
Sound- 8
Character- 10
Enjoyment- 10

Overall: I really enjoyed watching Working!! It was an unexpected hit for me for the spring season. The opening just sucks me in and prepares me for something that I'll enjoy from beginning to end. With just only 13 episodes, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't longer since I found it to have a lot of potential, but nonetheless, those 13 episodes were great to watch. If you're considering watching Working!!, be in mind that it IS slice of life, meaning that it has almost no plot, and if you're one to watch for plot or just don't like slice of life, then Working!! isn't for you. For those that enjoy slice of life, Working!! is definitely worth looking into.

It's sad how something that started out looking so promising became watching endless eight with slight variations to each episode.

What happens in every episode is as follows:

Takanashi likes something cute, like Taneshima, and goes into trance mode upon seeing it.
Inami resists punching guys, but punches Takanashi anyway.
Taneshima mispronounces Takanashi.
Kyouko sits there waiting for Yachiyo to serve her.
Yachiyo goes gaga over Kyouko, and complains to Satou, who has romantic feelings for Yachyo, and thus gets jealous.
Yachiyo draws her katana and threatens to cut anything that gets in the way of her and Kyouko.
... Souma gets dirt on everyone and blackmails them to do his work.

There are other factors that might be added in, like the addition of Takanashi's family, the long lost manager of the restaurant that went out looking for his wife, and, more recently, the addition of a runaway who tries to get her perfect family.

Now, I am a great fan of episodic anime. Just take a look at my favourite list (Aria, Hidamari Sketch, Lucky Star). The major problem is that, without a plot, what needs to be done is to create likable characters and situations that one can really enjoy. I initially liked what they did with Inami, that her man-phobia is affecting the entire restaurant, but there comes a time when a situation gets overused. Yachiyo started as my 2nd favourite character, behind Inami, but, as above, she does nothing different every episode.No one likes to see an overused plot element. It's boring, repetitive, and it makes even 24 minutes weekly a drag to watch.

That said, which other characters are actually likable? Taneshima was supposed to be the lead female, but, obviously, she has been pushed aside by Inami. So, what does Taneshima actually add to the story? She is the most boring lead I have ever seen. Usually with leads, you either like them or hate them. Taneshima does next to nothing each episode, so people can't actually decide if they like her or not. Same goes to the non-main males in the series. For example, the only thing we know about Souma is his blackmailing intent. How interesting does that make a person? We only know ONE thing about him. There is absolutely no character development.

Sound wise, I skip though the opening every week. I mean, seriously, that opening is even more annoying than K-ON!!'s (the 2nd season, btw). Nothing special in terms of voice acting, and art is pretty dull for a 2010 anime.

Granted, Working!! does have its entertaining moments, but unless you really have nothing better to do, or watch it in fast forward like I do, my advice is not to watch it. There are plenty of better episodic comedy/slice of life anime out there. Repetitive attempts at humour really makes this a poor anime.

What would it be like to be suddenly dragged in a diner to work with a 17-year old that seems only 5 feet tall, an asst. manager that has age issues, a girl that carries a katana/sword thingy, two "ordinary" guys and an androphobic girl that makes your everyday life a caution for death?

That's what Souta Takanashi's in for in the start of this "looks promising" anime. Watching the very first episode of ... this anime, I can already conclude that this won't be another failed attempt of comedy anime. It starts out with a very non-comical tone that makes the show more unexpected. Then Popura shows up like a gradeschooler and then it suddenly gave the show a hilarious kick.

I don't judge anime on how majestic it is but rather how it works in its chosen genre. So far, I give this show an 8. It really has this intelligent sense of humor that's a little far from Baka to Test and K-On that features a lighter sense of humor.

Rating:
Story - I've only seen 1 ep so hahah not yet :) but the idea of a guy working in a diner w/ a bizarre staff, I'd give it an 8

Art - 9 - really good art, as expected from the people who made Sora no Woto

Sound -7 - so far, I can't really decide the score so an ordinary 7 for me. Not yet sure about the opening

Character - 8 - A nice bunch of characters that's not in the moe fandom. A loli that for once isn't a tsundere( jk exaggerating), a boss that isn't drunk or a loli/shotacon, a simple girl with a SWORD AND a girl that's super AFRAID of men hahah for me, the characters are pure genius

Enjoyment - 8 - A comedy but really with sense. A good ol 8

Overall - I give it an 8.

If you're up for a fresh new comedy anime with more unusual characters and seemingly good story. You should watch this

'Working!!' is flawed. If I had to guess, a lot of people will lose interest and move on after trying a few episodes. This is because your enjoyment of 'Working!!' will almost entirely depend on whether you enjoy seeing its various characters interact. In fact, I'm very glad that the opening song is so damn addictive - because that's the reason I stuck with the show long enough for it to actually begin growing on me.

For better or worse, 'Working!!' introduces its characters slowly and gradually. Better, because getting to know these people feels very organic and natural, and worse, because in the beginning, ... you don't know anyone and many of the characters (especially at first sight) seem like stereotypical archetypes, and will come across as cliched - even annoying. For example, Popura seems like your generic busty loli. Satou seems like the usual scary-eyed dude with a golden heart.

And Inami - oh Inami. She's genuinely annoying and even frustrating to watch. At least, until you get to know more about her character. Her 'condition' is often used as a joke, and initially seems to be nothing more than a cheap way to include slapstick in the show. But later on, this begins to actually influence the plot. And that's when her condition, and Inami herself, get interesting. Something similar happens to all the characters - to some extent, at least.

The thing is, the show is slice of life; and because of that, you only learn about the people when some event happens and you're around to see it. They don't just open their mouths and let their life stories pour out on you. There's a constant sense of discovering new things about the various people. The problem is, I get the feeling only some viewers will reach that point.

Time for some specifics:

STORY: 6
The show is slice of life, so it doesn't have much of a story to speak of. People work at a restaurant, and stuff happens. You may or may not care.

ART: 7
The visuals are appropriate; the art is crisp and colorful, and easy on the eyes. They don't do anything to wow you, but there's also no need to. The art isn't the star here, and for what it's worth, it does what it needs to do.

SOUND: 8
The opening song is audio-crack. I'm not usually a fan of such energetic and cutesy songs, but this particular one's so damn charming that I immediately became hooked. The voice acting is great and hits all the right notes, and all of the characters sound spot-on. The BGM isn't too memorable, mainly because the story isn't very dramatic. Although, at one point, it did sound completely appropriate (near the end of episode 9).

CHARACTER: 8
This one's highly subjective. If I'd written this about a month ago, I would have scored this much lower. At least for me, the characters grew on me over the episodes, and rather well. I actually began to enjoy watching Popura, even though I hate most characters in other shows that look and sound even remotely like her.

ENJOYMENT: 7
Also highly subjective. I tried to balance the fact that not everybody will enjoy this show. If the characters hit the right notes in you, you'll laugh with them. If not, you'll scoff at their futile attempts at making you care. Another factor is whether you enjoy slice of life in general. If not, you'll probably be bored rather quickly.

OVERALL: 7
In the end, the later episodes of 'Working!!' are much, much more enjoyable than the earlier ones, because of the simple fact that you feel like you know about these people - and when stuff happens to them, you actually give a crap. The jokes get funnier, the events have more significance, and the interaction between characters is no longer boring and meaningless. But again - that's only if the people grow on you. If they don't, you probably won't find much to like.

Since this is a new anime and only four episodes are out so far, it's a little hard to write a full blown-review. But it's a funny show, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Basically, the only relatively normal characters in the story are Takanashi and Sato, and the other blue-haired guy who's name escapes me. Takanashi is actually very funny to watch, his reactions to the other employees (Such his fear of Yachiyo and his annoyance towards Inami and her brutal ways) is most of the comedy anyway. Taneshima is cute and bubbly and really does remind you of a middle-schooler, which ... is sad considering she's 17. Yachiyo seems like a bit of an air-head but it's semi-tolerable, but then again it's part of the wackyness of the show. The only character that really annoys me is Inami. I just want to punch her (hehehe).
Overall, the show provides a good set of main characters and eventually, each character gets a bit of story time and they get developed, although if you're expecting a whole lot of depth and character development, you're watching the wrong anime.
The comedy is oddball and it can be VERY funny at times, but it can also be very annoying. Overall, I enjoy it as a slice-of-life and it's really a nice distraction where you can just enjoy it and let the time pass you by.

Art: 8- Very good, consistent.

Sound: 6- Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Characters: A good well-rounded cast. I'm sure you'll find a character to like, one to hate and one that you're on the fence about :D

Story: 7- Basic slice-of-life with odd characters. Don't expect anything with depth.

Enjoyment: 7-8- If you're into slice-of-life comedies, you'll enjoy it. Again, the humor is a bit off sometimes, but overall, worth watching for a easy, feel-good time.

Caution: Will Update After More Episodes Are Out.

So i will start of saying that this anime resembles alot like "seitokai no ichizon" but no ecchi as far for now for those who watched that.

Story: Well story is about a Restaurant which has alot of strange people working there and there is our Protagonist Takanashi, Souta who got dragged into this strange restaurant by this high school girl Taneshima, Popura who looks like middle school student in Takanashis eyes shes grade school student even thought she is His Sempai. So apparently Takanashi got dragged into this job because of his affection towards "Cute and Small ... things" referring to Taneshima ... because he dislikes old people. Whole story mainly takes place in this Family Restaurant which has alot of strange employers starting from ones who carry katanas ... going on to violent type ... phobia type ... easygoing and so on... Takanashi gets used to the job very fast because of the friendly atmosphere but it ain't going to be so easy to work there as it seems.

Art: art is pretty new school no exaggeration with women bodies and such jsut normal atmosphere.

Character: Well as i said before alot of different people from ones with weapons , easy going till the violent type and phobia.

Enjoyment: As for 1st episode i enjoyed this anime really much because of the warm atmosphere good anime to get off ecchi season :)

Overall: As far as i see its should be a good anime if they won't ruin it halfway.

~ Work it off! ~

A relaxing anime that attends to the plights of the working lifestyle, by making light of them...

Working!! is an uplifting, quirky, and goofy documentation of everyday working life. It's a
dedicated slice of life anime with no trickery whatsoever, and as such: it embraces a very simple concept.
Contrary to being escapist, everything about Working!! is refreshingly realistic and down-to-earth. It
goes without saying that "minimalist-styled" titles such as Working receive very conflicting responses, as
many fail to/refuse to acknowledge the technical merit within; just because "there's no story": which in itself is a common misconception. Therefore, the audience that can appreciate the relatability aspect ... of this 13 episode series are likely to enjoy, while those craving a more far-fetched form of escapism might want to look elsewhere.

It's questionable why people find such pleasure in watching something as down-to-earth as Working!!, while one of the main pull factors of anime as a medium remains: escapism potential - usually entailing distant worlds and superpowers etc. I'd like to think it's because the relatable nature of a show like Working!!, brings about a whole new form of escapism...

In spite of the premise and the entire vision behind the show, Wagnaria is far from an ordinary family restaurant. It's interesting, it's fun, it's entertaining, warming, and cosy: everything that working in the real world ISN'T. It's not often that i can say so about "ordinary life" documentaries, but Working!! is actually rather innovative in the way in which it brings all of these cosy escapist fantasies to life, to something that the mature majority of us can relate to: working life - which makes evident that the show's target audience is beyond 15 (approximately)

While catering (get it?) primarily to the relatable experiences of adults, Working!! retains its innocent and goofy charm to awaken the child within. It has extremely heavy ties to the very ordinary working lifestyle most of us are fed up with at present, and so by exposing the entertaining side of such a systematic routine... It not only makes light of the situations that arise at Wagnaria... It makes light of life as a whole, and proudly emanates a carefree vibe that makes the show a great way to wind down. It is therefore essentially:, escapism into an optimistic life perspective...

Those who desire to indulge in the sugar-coated viewpoint that Working!! brings forth, are unlikely to demand a gripping plot line, and this is appropriate as it would only contradict the show's uplifting, and enjoyably carefree aura. The premise is therefore as simple as possible: Souta (our male protagonist) begins working at Wagnaria - a friendly family restaurant. Throughout, nothing threatens to dramatically shape this plot-line and so the show is infinitely more invested in the character development, which leads me swiftly on...

The character development is EVERYTHING to a dedicated SoL such as Working!!, and so the consideration in this department scales closely to the show's overall quality. Thankfully, Working!! delivers on this front by introducing us to a wide variety of vastly differing personalities that make Wagnaria the unique place it is...

While the design of our protagonist: Souta has his amusing quirks, he is the POV character to act as the gateway into the audience's reliability. Therefore he's a relatively blank-slate compared to his co-workers. Which helps to document the rest of the characters, as he maintains a relatively impartial social standpoint.

From Souta's viewpoint, we're introduced to a colourful selection of personalities...
From the androphobic antics of Inami, to the hilariously flawed management personal of Wagnaria. Often such diversity leads to more interesting and unpredictable interactions, and so Working!! gave itself a head start through character design: to make the personalities as individual and interesting as possible. In turn, this gives the whole show an unbeatably natural and yet appropriately intreeging chemistry that makes it an entertaining watch, despite its simplicity. The unique nature of each character comes with a few prominent quirks which make the employees all very charming and likable. This is paramount obviously to Working!!'s success, and gives each character an amusingly emphasized and familiar "presence" that the viewer can immerse themselves in.

Working!! actually undertones a lot of drama as well such as androphobia and love interests. This furthers the depth of the characters with a more conventional "backstory" style, and while it's not ALL fun and games when it comes to these matters... Working!! maintains a balance between substance, casual and comedic interactions, to make it into a happy outlook on working life, while being as unpredictable as possible - in spite of the repetitive nature of employment. It's varied, and therefore a bit chaotic at times, as is representative of real life - another point to serve its relatability aspect...

The presentation is very expressive in terms of comedic visual effects, and the overall standard of the animation is high. In the sound department, we're greeted with a calming and very "family workplace" feeling atmospheric score, which accurately conveys the show's carefree atmosphere. To accompany this, an OP and an ED track that really emphasizes the "fun" of the character chemistry., and therefore couldn't be more appropriate.

Downsides?
From a critical point of view, i must say that it's obvious how there's no interesting plot line to accompany the show. Furthermore, the art is very generic, which isn't helped by the highly excessive usage of cliche anime comedy visual effects, which become more tiresome than expressive or powerful after a while.

Working!! is undoubtedly a very cheesy setup, but it's an example of pure SoL splender that stays true to its branding. It's highly considered anime on most fronts in my opinion., and I found it to be an entertaining and calming outlook on working life - that really lifts my spirits and removes my stresses - the realistic and yet entertaining character chemistry being the strong suit...

~ From far away I can see a small distant utopia ~

What do you get when you mix a lolicon, a loli, a violent androphobic (man-phobic), a sadist, a lesbian, a lazy manager, a run away, and a bully( for lack of a better word).

Apparently something really funny, because that's what we get in Working!!, a show about... well these eight characters working at a family restaurant.

Before I get into the rest of the review, a small warning: if you do indeed decide to watch this show, and get specifically annoyed at the interactions between characters, especially Takanashi and Taneshima or Inami, stop. You almost definitely will hate the show.p It's the main source of ... comedy in the show, and you will see it repeat over, and over, and over....

So Working!! is really a hit or miss; try at least 2 episodes (3 is better) if it sounds promising.

Now on to the actual review:

So, we're at the family restaurant Wagnaria, where most of the early story will take place. It's overall a fairly good story. It's not really what you watch the show, and very little happens over the course of the show, but it still is, in the end, a fairly good story..

So, what is the story? Well basically, it's just developments between all of the character (with very little else changing)so again, stay away if you end up not liking them. We see, as we get to know all of the character, different sides of them, and we see these sides interacting, pushing their relationships forward.This show is not about conquering the world, or even a city; it's a simple interaction between some... interesting character, as we watch their bonds of relationships (not all romantic) bloom.

As you can see, the real strength of this show lies in the characters. We get to see very many different characters, and we learn about them as the show moves along. In this regard, the show is outstanding: we get to see a lot of characters, whose types are often quite original, interact in very believable ways. While I won't say all of the characters are miraculous creations, they all really bring something special to the show and are able to complete its full comedic scene.

The characters were all also played very well: their voices matched up perfectly with the emotions that you would think that they would feel in any situation. This was another great aspect of the show: all of the voice actors were able to capture the complex emotions that some of the characters would have been feeling for moments, and then were again able to change back instantaneously, as if they were actually in the scenes themselves. The sound effects weren't quite as good, but we do still occasionally here a shattering plate, running water, or the expected chorus of murmurs that would fill a restaurant.

If we combine these aspects of the sound with what I think is one of the best OPs of all time, and an ending amazing in its own regard (though not as good), I think the sound is great.

Moving on to the visual part of this audiovisual feast, the art was, well good. There wasn't anything that really set it leaps and bounds apart from other anime, but at the same time, the characters were well drown, and our scenery usually had believable people in a restaurant, acting, well believably. So, overall, the art wasn't great, but it defiantly was still good and did not detract from the general experience of watching Working!!

Speaking of general experiences , mine was great! I personally thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters, their interactions, and everything about the show. You'll probably be similar to me if you like the first couple of episodes, or like the character types.

So, in summary:
if you don't like the characters after the first few episodes, DON'T WATCH THIS. I can't stress this point enough. But at the same time, don't can this show if anything in it sounds at all interesting. There's a huge chance you'll really love this show if you don't get annoyed by the characters. So, give it a try, watch a few episodes, and see if you find the characters interesting: it's a really well done anime, and again, if you like the characters, you'll like the anime.

Briefer Summary
Story: Good (7)
Art: Good (7)
Sound: Great (9)
Characters: Outstanding (10)
Enjoyment: Great (for me) (9)

Bye Working!! I really want to see more of you!!

Slice of life has to me always, always been a rather interesting genre of anime. Since life is comprised up of many aspects, the amount of possible interpretations of life for an anime are almost limitless. Today, i will be reviewing an anime that talks about the high-school part time job, in the most literal title of all time, Working!!

Story (7.00/10): The story of working!! is pretty much how it sounds, working. Our main protagonist Takanashi Souta is stopped on his way from school by a small little girl named Popura (that's how you spell her name in Romaji, don't try ... and tell me otherwise), urging him to come to the place where she works and help out there as a part timer. After some rather simple convincing, our main protagonist does come and work at the family restaurant known as Wagnaria, where he meets a bunch of oddballs.

As a base concrete idea, this story has really no originality. Throughout all of anime, the idea of a main protagonist meeting a bunch of oddball characters has been explored many times by other anime. That's not to say the idea is stale and bad, as many shows, like this one, have actually made use of the idea in a beneficial nature, but the fact remains, that the idea is overused and quite common in anime overall.

As far as a plot line, this anime surprisingly has one. Not a very noticeable one that you notice straight from the beginning, mind you, but a plot line nonetheless. The anime does this weird sort of set up, where practically the first half of the show is built in an episodic format where the topics and plot points of the show scatter around depending on which episode you're watching, and then ending off in the second half with a cute, but somewhat unnecessary romantic plot line. While I am a huge fan of romantic subplot and romantic storylines, focusing quite a substantial amount of screentime on it felt a little off, as I felt like I was watching a completely different anime altogether.

Overall, I felt like the story of Working!! was enjoyable, even with its slight story flaws and overused base story idea. Nothing felt rushed into terms of story pacing, and the anime did a great job at exploring the main characters by giving most of them a episode that was practically devoted to them in the first few episodes, which I felt was a very good way at giving the audience a way of knowing who the characters were and what they had that was unique to them. For an ending, it could be better. There wasn't really a resolution I felt to the series, and nothing really stood out as extraordinary when the series ended.

Overview:
+ Introduction episodes for main characters
+ Good story pacing
- Bland base plot idea
- No real resolution in the end

Characters (8.33/10): For most slice of life's, good and memorable characters are usually required to make the show interesting and overall a good show in general. And Working!!, certainly has that.

For the main cast, we vary from all different ends of the spectrum. We have the main protagonist obsessed with cute things, Takanashi Souta, Taneshima Popura, who is ironically nicknamed Poplar, given her size, (Poplar trees are quite tall in nature.) and Mahiru Inami, which to me, has a personality who reminds me of Arashiko from MM! (Basically, she has a fear of men, and instinctively punches them in the face if they get too close.) As well, as a whole other smorgasbord of characters of whom all have quite interesting and memorable personalities.

In terms of supporting cast, we don't have as large of a cast as other animes, but for what we do get, we get characters who are quite memorable to some extent. Character's like Souta's family of four sisters, Inami's parents, and some random ones that appear for periods of time.

The show uses its characters well, making its bland plot idea very flavorful and colorful due to the fact that the characters that live in this world are very out there in terms of personalities, and create some great and wonderful funny moments. The interactions between these characters are very prominent in the series and as such, make the series what it is.

There are however, some downfalls. The biggest one I see, is the fact that the anime sometimes doesn't do a good job on utilizing its main characters to their fullest capacity. What I mean by this, is the fact that they don't use all of their main characters as well as they could. Towards the end, the story rather than focusing on all 8 of the main characters as they had done previously, only really focused on 2 characters, making everyone else feel somewhat obsolete and pushed into the supporting character roles. To say that they didn't get any proper screen time is an overstatement, but I would've personally liked to have seen more of the other characters rather than the two that the series focused on at the end.

Overview
+ Memorable main cast
+ Good supporting cast
- Little screen time for most of the main cast towards the end

Art and Sound (7.34/10): Working!! was animated by A-1 pictures, who you may know for animating anime such as Anohana, Oreimo, and the ever debated Sword Art Online.

In terms of art, the anime gives off a light feel to it. Everything from the background to the actual characters themselves are drawn in this semi-neon color palette where everything gives off a shade of white. Everything looks rather simple, which for me, fits perfectly with the simple and easy storyline that the anime is following.

On the other hand, we get chibi moments for whenever the comedy occurs. All of these parts drawn in this style have your ordinary chibi feel to it where they all have a rather simple style to follow. Not to say it's bad, but it doesn't really look out of this world amazing.

In terms of sound, the anime features some pretty energetic and surprisingly catchy and memorable tracks for their opening and ending songs. Their not bad in terms of listening to them, as they are quite catchy and energetic, but on the wow factor of anime songs, there are certainly more well known tracks out there to listen to. But for what it's worth, they are good songs.

Overview:
+ Good light colored art
+ Catchy songs
- Somewhat generic looking chibi art

Personal Enjoyment (8.45/10): For slice of life's, I always look for something unique to really grip me into the show. There has to be something great and memorable to watch, if I'm going to continue watching it. For this show, it was definitely the memorable characters.

To say that I loved this show to death, is an overstatement. To say I liked this show? I'll give it that. It's not a complicated show and it's not too simple. Working!! has that very simple idea of slice of life animes that I like, combined with a more deeper connection between characters that you get more out of most slice of life animes. It has that very nice feel good feel to it where you can watch one episode or two at a time, then continue it without problem some other time. It's not complex, it's not simple, it's just a very charming little show that talks about the ins and outs of people at a workplace.

Overall Score: (7.73/10)

Working!! is a rather simple concept anime series. It is grounded on a set amount of characters and their interaction in and outside the workplace. I honestly thought this was going to be one of those more forgettable series as the premise of people working in one place with little plot development didn’t intrigue me. This series however flipped all my expectations around with its shear simplicity and honesty.

Firstly I would say the characters in this series are unique which gives the series its anchor. The interaction between these characters are very naturally presented that it was a pleasure to watch. All characters in ... this series are great and well developed from the start thus even with the lack of character development throughout the series it was still enjoyable to watch.

The story is as it is stated in the synopsis and it is just as simple as that. It is just things that revolve around the daily lives of the characters. The art was decent it isn’t significantly great but it isn’t bad either. I honestly don’t have anything to complain about the art as it served its purpose well.

The music for this series was really really good. The opening theme and ending theme fit the show perfectly! It was a real treat to listen to. This is one of the few series where I don’t skip the themes because it is so enjoyable. The instrumental music inside the show was also really good it was well composed and is a great standalone listen. I am very picky about music in general but this series hit all the right notes.

The enjoyment factor of this show for me was very very high. I thoroughly enjoyed watching every single episode and laughing at all those jokes/ slapstick/ impromptu moments. This show was a true enjoyment to watch and I salute the writers and the directors for this aspect as it isn’t easy to pull off a non plot driven show.

This is my first review and I decided to write it as I truly enjoyed this series :)

The story starts with Sota Takanashi, a sixteen-year-old high school student. He is recruited by Popura Taneshima, an adorable but extremely short seventeen-year-old high school student, to work at the family restaurant Wagnaria, hence the American title. Takanashi accepts her request but is dragged into unforeseen working conditions. Wagnaria is just a normal family restaurant, but the employees aren't exactly what he expects them to be.

Wagnaria's employees act as a dysfunctional but comical family. Popura is small enough to be mistaken as an elementary school girl, which is ironic because she was named after the poplar tree so she would grow tall. There's Inami Mahiru ... who appears to be a normal seventeen-year-old girl but has sever androphobia. Her androphobia will cause her to punch any male that comes near her regardless of species, which tends to be, for better or worse, Takanashi. The Manager, Kyoko Shirafuji, is rather apathetic towards anything in the restaurant besides eating parfaits and whatever Wagnaria serves. Then there is Yachiyo Todoroki who has an obsessive admiration of the manager and carries around a katana while serving her customers.

For Takanashi's fellow male employees, there's Jun Sato, and Hiroomi Soma. Jun Sato has a threatening appearance and acts quite intimidating, but is actually a very helpful guy. He often finds creative ways to tease or play pranks on Popura about her height. On the other hand, Hiroomi Soma may look like an easygoing cook, but he tends to blackmail his fellow co-worker into doing his job. He has a knack for getting information about others, and is curious about what his fellow workers are doing.

Takanashi's fellow co-workers may seem like an odd bunch, but Takanashi himself is unaware of his own strange behavior. One thing I applaud of this series is that they introduce a new term for those who are misinterpreted as lolicons. What Takatsu introduces is the new term "mini-con", which is someone with an obsessive preference for anything that is small like puppies, kittens, children, and even water fleas. Takanashi adds more variety to the Wagnaria oddity.

The thing that I loved most about this series is the voice actors. Coincidentally, or maybe not, all three male characters are voiced by seiyuus from Durarara!! in practically the same roles. We have Jun Fukuyama acting as Takanashi, who has that same perverted role he did for Shinra, Hiroshi Kamiya for Soma, the sadistic and know-it-all type as Izaya, and Daisuke Ono who plays the silent giant similar to Shizuo.

The seiyuu for the female characters aren't in the same situation as the males, but I have to say they were very amusing. We have Kana Asumi for Popura, who nearly has the same lines as Yuno in Hidamari Sketch. She provides this cute mascot-ish feel to Popura, making her action more adorable. Kumiko Watanabe performs Kyoko Shirafuji whose attitude is completely different from her performance as Keroro from Keroro Gunso, which surprised me. We have Eri Kitamura for Yachiyo Todoroki, which was quite new to me as I usually see her voice acting characters that are more energetic or youthful. Kitamura plays a more lady-like and mature role for Yachiyo, showing Kitamura's new and interesting voice acting talents. Saki Fujita, who voiced the virtual idol, Hatsune Miku, plays the role of Mahiru Inami. Fujita does a great job switching from a shy and timid teenager to flustered, and sometime violent, androphobic.

What I enjoyed most out of this series is that it made me actually want to work in this kind of environment. I kid you not, I wouldn't mind cleaning up the messes these characters bring as long as I got to mess around with them. Last time I checked, family restaurants, or any other type of restaurant, don't have cute midget waitresses, katana-wielding waitresses, or even a blackmailing cook to serve people. I enjoyed Takatsu-sensei's sense of comedy which, to me, wasn't annoying or unbearable to watch, but was actually nicely done and didn't really offend anyone. I also loved how Popura keeps on saying "I'm not short!" throughout the whole series, despite her own humiliation when she contradicts herself.

Another thing I liked was the character designs by A-1 pictures. The character designs by Takatsu-sensei were simple and sketchy. For an anime, the characters would need details to make them alive, but at a minimum to stay close the original work. Looking at the manga and anime, I wasn't disappointed in the design and was really happy to see them being animated. I really compliment A-1 for the character designs and making Takatsu sensei's work come alive.

If I had to pull out something I didn't enjoy about this anime, I would say it was the tempo of each episode. Although the manga was a pretty simple 4-koma anime, I felt that this series took too long to develop. I felt like the anime took its time to fill the gap between each 4-koma of the manga so that the story would make sense. 4-koma manga are usually fast paced and need to shorten its storytelling to get to the point. Although I felt the anime's storytelling was time consuming, it was something that couldn't be helped when you're transferring several short chapters from a six-page manga to a full 30 minute animation.

There is just so much more I could talk about that makes the series both hilarious and charming, but I'll resist spoiling it. I would recommend anyone, literally anyone, to watch this anime. I would have to say this show was one of the funnier and entertaining series that aired in spring 2010. If you're interested in something with a story, you'll likely find what you're looking for around the last few episodes, but I would say the giggles packed into the anime will make up for it. There are even more characters to come in this series that will make Working!! more fun to watch. If you're into slice-of-life type storytelling, get yourself to watch Wagnaria!! now! I would overall recommend this series to anyone looking for a fun show bundled with laughs.

This is my first review so please be gentle, take it easy, etc. etc etc.

From the director of both Sketchbook, Kaleido Star and Aria comes Working!!, a story about a relatively normal dude named Takanashi and the crazy shenanigans of his equally crazy co-workers playing out at the family restaurant Wagnaria.
Other than that there's not much to say about the story of this anime; yup, it's just another light-hearted slice-of-life, again.

Presentation-wise Working!! is excellent, A-1 has done a great job with both animation and sound. The music of the show fits like a glove, and the OP is incredibly catchy (WAN WAN), the ED... not ... so much, but who cares. Most of the seiyuu also do a great job voicing the rather large cast of likeable characters.
This isn't really related, but Kamiya Hiroshi (Souma) and Ono Daisuke (Satou) do roles in Working!! which are incredibly similar to the roles they do in DRRR!! as Izaya and Shizuo respectively. I'd always humour myself with the thought of Izaya and Shizuo working out their disagreements after each episode, and then go to their part-time job at Wagnaria.
Also, double exclamation marks seems to be a trend in anime titles these days.

But I digress, let's just take a look at Working!!s problems, namely the script. It's sad when a bad script ruins what would usually be a much better anime. What is the problem with it? Well, the comedy of the show mostly depends on the quirks of the characters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, but when you get the nth "ZOMG SHE HAS A KATANA WITH HER AT WORK"-joke it gets kinda tiresome, there's a lot of crummy slapstick too. Furthermore, the later episodes mainly focuses on the romantic relationship between two characters whose names shall not be revealed in this review, which is rather badly done. Fortunately, the characters and quirks are many, and the romance episodes are relatively few.

All in all Working!! is a enjoyable series with excellent presentation, a nice cast of characters, and a rather lacklustre script which is partially saved by good direction.
People who like slice-of-life will probably enjoy this, and vice versa for people who dislike it.

Sigh, i thought this was about a hard woking MC that has to work hard to improve and get what he wants, not about a MC that is beaten constantly and doesn't do anything about it because the explanation is that he is trying to ' heal ' a girl with a male phobia. This girl in question has been hitting males for over 10 years with no improvment but we are expect to believe that hitting the MC will improve her (it doesn't).

Episode 9 was the hit on the nail, shows how the author of this work really hates the male population in ... general ( perhaps she has the phobia ) and have no clue about human behaviours. Not only the MC gets constanstly bullied and doesn't do shit about it, as usual, but he even enables this girl's lies by putting up a facade and gives up his self pride by dressing up as a female ( he vowed to never do it after this traumatic childhood ) to present himself as herself to the father of this girl, a father that, not only is shitty, but hasn't been there for 10 years, so why does the girl care about him at all? We discover at the end of the episode that she doesn't and, not only this, but the author also mocks the viewer by actually making a character say another logical solution to what they should have done instead of making the MC dress up. It was potrayed as a gag, but there is nothing to laugh about abusive manipulation. There is being gentle and there is being submissive... The MC in question is submissive.

There is no story to this work, at first i thought it was going to about the MC helping these girls on their anti-social problem and improving the restaurant, but nope, it is a repetitive anime that works on this formula again and again and again... And how the restaurant actually manages to go on is a mystery.

Here is the same formula repeated:

- MC is hit for 1/6 of the anime by the girl that has no improvement whatsoever in these 13 episodes
- MC is bashed for 1/6 of the other anime/forced to do something he doesn't want
- Staff is a willing slave to the restaurant director (who does no work and only eats)
- The cook that likes the previous point girl is annoyed whenever she is serving the director and takes it out with the short girl of the staff
- random deus ex machina girl (yamada) has everything that is needed to make fun of the MC

What i get from this anime is that the author might have been rejected from someone like the MC of this anime and is taking revenge in fiction.

I reviewed this when i watched only 11 episodes, i am at 13 and it only got worse.

From 3 -> 1

This anime is you slice of life anime, where the main character isn't the only strange person in the story. Every character has its individuality that makes it unique. I laughed so hard during this anime that I couldn't breathe!

The main character Sōta Takanashi, is a 16 year old boy who is infatuated with cute things, and while walking to home one day, he bumps into a small girl who happens to be one year older but has the appearance of a elementary schooler! Her name is Popura Taneshima, and she is handing out flyers for hiring employees to help at the restaurant she ... works at. He accepts her offer since she is cute and small, but soon finds out there is more to it than meets the eye.

He meets his fellow coworkers, Kyōko Shirafuji, an ex delinquent boss, who is now the Manager of Waganaria, the name of the restaurant. Yachiyo Todoroki, a 20 year old girl who carries around a katana and has an almost lesbian-like love for the manager. Jun Satō, an imposing 20 year old who is secretely in love with Yachiyo, but knows that Yachiyo likes Kyoko. Hiroomi Sōma, a laid back character who often blackmails his fellow coworkers to do his work, but does it kindly, not menacingly. Mahiru Inami, a girl who has a severe case of androphobia, fear of men, and often hits the main character on a daily basis. Other characters include Hyōgo Otoo and Aoi Yamada, Otoo being the head of the place, and most of the time out looking for his missing wife, and Aoi being a young girl who ran away from home and was found by Otoo, altough through entire story denies she has.

The story is your average slice of life theme with a few twists that make it more original. Art is so good, I have no complaints! I sometime here random beeps and whistles in the anime, of which i don't know the source, but it doesnt happen often, so I usually ignore it. The characters are good, but sometimes i wish Sota would just hold back a punch or dodge one at least! I laughed so hard I almost crapped my pants, so enjoyment is awesome! my overall would be a 9.5/10

Review: Working!!

"Why is this rated a 7.82!? This anime is great!"

Story (7/10): Concerning of plot, the story has no framework. The anime just revolves many main characters and involves their everyday lives of 'working' in a restaurant. Besides that point, each of their personalities pale in comparison from each other. As a result their personalities mix in oddly well making their everyday lives pleasantly humorous to watch. If there was a framework to follow on however, it isn't until one of the the main character steps into play. Her androphobia, and the cause behind it. Androphobia is the fear of men and the fact of ... the matter is, she has to constantly have to deal with it with everyday life. Despite her fear of men, she works at Wagnaria where it is inevitable where there may be men at. With the help of main characters however, they push her to get over her fear of androphobia. Through hilarious trials and consequences, the main characters help her inch away out of her fear of men. Even though there may be a little to no plot, the anime is enjoyable to watch nevertheless.

Art (8/10): Like the name clearly states, A-1 Pictures. Nothing is better than A-1 really. The art direction for the opening theme coming into this anime is eye-catching and amusing to see. That can be said with the ending theme following of the anime. To mention, A-1 did a excellent job in catching every detail that it had to offer to the character designs to the scenery. With this particular anime being the based on a 4-koma manga, the animation is grand and the manga pales in comparison. That's all I have to say!

Sound (9/10): Ono Daisuke, Kamiya Hiroshi, and Fukuyama Jun are all in one place as they voice all the male main characters in the series. With that being the case, it is particularly interesting to hear their voices. Since they are known voicing many characters from all different series people all know and love. I can quite say all the voice actors did their voice roles well. Especially, when it came to one of the main heroines, Taneshima. To mention, her voice is irresistibly cute. For the music however, the opening coming into this can compare to opening themes such as Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu and Nicjijou. Catchy and up-lifting. For the the ending theme however, the ending theme is soothingly jazzy hearing all the male 'seiyuu' mentioned above sing the ending theme at each episode which was a highlight of this anime. The music was one of its strong points as it created a 'fun atmosphere' for this anime to watch.

Character (9/10): The character lineup was definitely bizarre and large in comparison to some anime. Not to mention that one character looked like Sanji out of One Piece. It refreshing to see some characters were not being used out of the anime trope. However, there were a few characters that used the anime trope, but weren't overused to the point it became a nuisance. They were original as each of them had a quirk or trademark to remember them by. The large lineup and the liveliness of the characters is also one of its strong points making the anime enjoyable to watch.

Enjoyment: (7/10): Managed to binge-watch this anime throughout one go. It's easy and fun to watch since it's a refreshing anime to watch. There wasn't a boring moment when it came to this anime. Definitely humorous and laughed out loud.

OVERALL: (8/10): Season two will be on a look out since this was a refreshing anime to watch. Despite the story, the characters and how they interact with each other in their everyday life is amusing. Each character and their own little quirky personalities are rememberable despite having so many characters. It's what this makes this anime look forward to. The art direction from A-1 Pictures could not have been better as the character designs and scenery had little to none flaws at all. With Ono Daisuke, Kamiya Hiroshi and Fukuyama Jun singing karaoke at the end at each episode and the comedic relief this anime comes out with is relaxing. Overall, this anime is perfect if done with watching a favorite anime, having a bad day, or have an anime to watch on the weekend! Definitely recommend this anime to watch!

RAW SCORE: 7.8/8.0

OVERALL SCORE: 8.0/10.0

Working!! is a slice of life anime. And like most every anime, it would be most fitting to throw a "bizarre" somewhere in that description. So Working!! is a "bizarre" slice of life anime. It follows a small, somewhat dysfunctional group of characters running a restaurant together. Each with their own little quirky personality.

The big idea with this show is the plot never really goes anywhere. We simply get taken through some time at the restaraunt. And that's fine. No one says there needs to be a big developed plot. One of my favourite anime (School Rumble) has hardly any closure in it's story ... for 2 full seasons! But without some grander goal, the job of entertaining and captivating the viewer is on the dialogue and interactions of the characters. And this is where I run into my problems with Working!!

As I said, everyone's got their little quirk. There's the lolicon, the loli, the irrational fear, the deceivingly kind, the calm and collected, the... well you get my point. It's literally a shmorgusboard (that is totally how you spell that word) of archetypes all crammed into one dysfunctional restaurant. But surprisingly, despite what seems like an effort to appeal to all audiences, they manage to fit everyone together fairly well.

So where do I have a problem with Working!! if they do everything well?

This anime is just filler to me. It's just a bunch of episodes which are fairly amusing, and I know if I watch it I'd laugh and enjoy it. But I found it really hard to motivate myself to watch all of it. It just doesn't provide that kind of drive, and is (in my opinion) difficult to marathon, despite only being a half series. The comedy is textbook, so much so that anyone who's watched their fair share of anime can predict the plays before they happen. Some of the jokes get repeated a bit too often, and lose their punch (even the punches lose their punch, baha! You'll get that if you watch it).

Honestly, the show itself is fine. And I don't feel bland is the appropriate adjective for Working!!, as it is genuinely entertaining. It's just a bit mundane is all.

That being said, you could devote ~280 minutes of your life to far worse than Working!!