First Impressions – Working’!!

 

Fall is here so… Table for 2 please~

Working!! season two is finally around! Seems like forever since we got to watch this addictive anime. I can’t wait to get right back into the fun with Popura and Takanashi. I am wondering if we will eventually get some new characters? Hopefully we get those answers; time to join Hime for this first impressions!

Ohohoho~ you guys have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this. Working!! is definitely as addictive as Fosh said. There’s just something about it, it has that spark and genuine humor that I just can’t get enough of. Of course my beloved Jun is in it, and if he wasn’t I might not have paid this franchise any mind. Sometimes being a hopelessly devoted fangirl pays off! (rarely, it rarely does).

Appropriately, we start with a round of “Good Mornings” before everyone dives into their daily duties. Takanashi fanboys over the cuteness of Taneshima while Satou makes fun of her shortness. Yachiyo frightens customers with the katana strapped to her hip and Inami is still petrified of men, as Takanashi is unfortunately reminded…

 

KO’d!

Takanashi doesn’t realize it, but his constant fawning over Taneshima’s height, which she’s insecure about, hurts her feelings and upsets her. Inami tries to tell him this, but he deflects her and changes the subject back to her androphobia. He sets her a challenge; to resist the urge to punch the next man she sees. Still the irrepressible Otoman, Takanashi isn’t really fit to try and cure others personality flaws though, is he?

 

After some adult advice from Satou, Taneshima is able to act like a Senpai and let it go that Takanashi treats her like his junior. Inami even manages to avoid punching Souma when she’s startled by him, so there’s progress all around! Or, maybe not…

After the manager squishes a bug Takamashi is reduced to a quivering, sobbing mess by the idea of something tiny being killed. This gives the girls a chance to explain how his actions effect others, which of course he is oblivious too, remains oblivious to, and in the end doesn’t learn anything from. PROGRESS IS FOR THE STABLE-MINDED! He says Inami is “worse than a bug” which causes her to lose the challenge he set her because she punches him (quite rightly) in the face.

 

Wagnaria; where insult is the sincerest form of flattery

Souma does his usual teasing; I honestly don’t know how any of them can still trust him…and the hours at Wagnaria restaurant wind down. The guys say goodnight out in the parking lot and start to head home, all except Yamada (who lives in the shop) and Inami, who is still stuck in a funk about Takanashi saying she was worse than a bug. Poor Inami, it doesn’t seem worth the wages.

 

WORKING 9 TO 5, WHAT A WAY TO MAKE A LIVING

I’M SHORT TOO, TAKANASHI! PET ME!

Yachiyo, you are welcome to the Manager

I sense a real battle of wits here /sarcasm

END THOUGHTS:

What?! They are almost out of business?! No way! I guess we need some more cute girls to join in the fun, huh? The first five minutes were great seeing everyone back together again and of course Popura as short as ever; I agree with Takanashi she’s still cute as ever! And I can’t forget about Satou, I always thought he’s such an awesome character, thanks to Ono Diasuke’s voice of course. Although I keep seeing him as Sanji from One Piece; I think it’s the hair! Maybe a long lost brother? Well, maybe not so much as Satou doesn’t freak out over girls or drool over them ahahaha.

I liked watching Popura checking her height! Poor girl, one day you will grow tall… Well, she can keep on dreaming, as a short person myself I feel her pain. Head petting man! I don’t even know what we would call that rude or something, but they do pet Popura a lot, huh? Well it’s better than trying that on Inami or Yamada, even though it does seem really cute but I forget Popura is actually older than Takanashi. Oh man I almost forgot how Yachiyo had those day yuri filled dreams about Kyouko!

Like any other episode of Working!!, we can’t leave out the dreaded fists of Inami; I guess it’s just natural to her now and I thought she made all that progression with Takanashi… oh well. Yamada! How I really liked her in season one and she is still just as insane as ever. I couldn’t help but laugh at the virgin’s secret line LOL, nice one, Yamada! And she still lives in the attic of the restaurant, such a strange little girl. Unlike Takanashi I don’t like bugs! But that still was funny watching him break down crying over a bug like that. You can say, overall a very fun episode.

With a few series not delivering with their second season I was pretty anxious to see what had become of my beloved Working!!, but the first episode set all those fears aside pretty much instantly. It plunges you straight back into the fun as if you never left, and as usual the production quality is great. The modest style is done to perfection; everybody absolutely glows and the animation remains as lively as in the previous season. They do enough introduction so that new comers won’t be lost, and to be honest, everyone’s character traits are easily figured out anyway so you get a good sense of what everyone is like, and whether or not you will like them fairly quickly.

What is so great about Working!! is that it is filled to the brim with deeply flawed people who hilariously don’t change. I see Inami and Takanashi have regressed hopelessly back into their respective quirks. Inami is making progress though, she almost managed to hold back, but Takenashi ruined it. He’s completely tactless. In fact he’s kind of an insensitive asshole but that’s okay because he’s voiced by Jun but when Manager gave him the plushie his complete glee was so adorable and funny I couldn’t help but forgive him! Stupid kawaii Otomen…making me squee…¬¬ I’m supposed to be a bitter critic, god dammit!

I liked how they describe the dynamics of a workplace; Souma explaining that if Taneshima quits Takanashi probably would too and then there’d be no one to handle Inami, thus leaving Satou and Souma in the line of fire. It was a nice little moment of how everyone has ended up jelling, falling into specific roles and supporting each other. Okay, that’s a bit soppy…but I’ve missed this show! The entire point of any comedy is the jokes, however. So how do they hold up? Well, I think when lemonade shoots out your nose while you’re watching it they have somewhat succeeded.

Working!! has the gift of great timing, which is arguably the secret of good comedy. Also, it’s very much character based humor instead of actual jokes, so it’s the people being funny not just the animation. It feels a bit more natural than stop and start kind of puns aided by, for lack of a better word, cartoony distortions. It’s subtle but strong, and it makes me laugh much louder than the over the top stuff I’m used to seeing in anime. With all of the previous seiyuu’s reprising their roles for season 2, the only thing that seems to have changed is the director and writer. Atsushi Ootsuki is our new director, and while he doesn’t have a huge resume he has worked on episodes of FMA and DNAngel which is encouraging.

We hope to see you again!