Working'!!

Working!! 2 is Working!! but better in every way, even if only a little better. The animation and art improved, giving it a cleaner look. The music, especially the opening and ending, was catchier. The jokes were funnier and wittier. The character development was really solid and I appreciate how there were jokes and decisions that carried over from the previous season, like Magic Hand (although it only showed up a few times). Janet (Maya) has a lot more screentime in this season and I really appreciate that, her existence is one of the funniest bits in my opinion. The new characters are really solid ... too, not life-changing or anything, but neat additions that change up the dynamic a little. Overall, Working!!2 is a very solid comedy anime that improves on the previous season in every way.

TL;DR: Good starter anime, but even for a slice of life anime the plot is a vast nothingness

In a world filled with mediocre slice of life anime with no means of story progression this season of Working'!! seems to follow in its previous seasons issues of episodes full of NOTHING but mundane misunderstandings and frustrations of the characters inability to resolve anything in a way that doesn't get laughed off in a haha funny slice of life way. I wish I could say its a great show to put on in the background, but the show is riddled with dramatic pauses which is not a ... negative thing in most shows and can leave you confused making you go back a couple seconds just to find out it's absolutely nothing interesting 95% of the time. If I watched this show as a younger teen I probably would have been smitten due to the once again simple nature of all of it, but I'm older now and am trying to be objective here.

Characters:
After reading quite a few reviews the general consensus seem to be the characters are a big issue with the show and I can agree to a certain extent, but its nothing compared to how they portray them in the first season as annoying terribly naïve / moronic weirdos. Which is supposed to add to the charm of the show but falls short due to how one dimensional they are. I will say this season is slightly above the first in the sense that they add more side characters that could of been a bigger part of the overall story but seem to get tossed after an episode or two. Such as Otoo's manhole wife (not a typo) appearing for a short moment just as a filler tool for a specifically boring episode or Yamada's older brother coming so close to finding her 3 episodes in a row but if he did find her that would mean the plot would of actually progressed in some way. ​They even give the background female waiter some screen time this season, but once again she is as simple as it gets with her obsession to be the "normal" one on staff.

Plot:
They could have focused more on the romance aspect but that would mean something would change even a little bit in the show which goes against the very essence of the show. Every time a character is close to finding out the others "feelings" it gets a quick plot plug to nip it in the bud with a "oh it must be because of this reason!" and they move on like nothing happened. The first season at least tried to make you believe some sort of relationship would progress between the "main" characters since Inami started to like Takanashi or Katanashi (still don't know his real name) but ultimately was a ploy to get you to watch the second season. Poor Satou has it rough the most with Yashiro, but somehow that relationship is the only one that progressed even a tiny bit.

Art/Sound:
The art and character design is definitely appealing visually, since its a slice of life though the animation itself is very simple and nothing to write home about. The intro and outro songs are catchy some of the best I've seen/heard, but can not bump the show up on my list in any way. Short section I know but what can I say? Its not supposed the be the focal point of the show.

Final notes:
It's a decent starter anime for the two of the genre its trying to be. Even after all the negative things I've written about it I cant help but admit there is a charm to it and makes me hope the third season (highest rated but not by far) somehow remedies the issues I have with it. And the fact it was made 4 years after this season means something has to change right?...
Apologies for the formatting I do not write reviews often so am bad.

2011 Slice of Life Series
Co-produced by A-1 Pictures and Aniplex
Licensed by NIS America
Review from my POV (w/personal biases)
(Sp)oiler level: Medium (will take viewing S1 into account)

PROS/What I liked:
+ The background art got a noticeable face lift and the small faded coloring of the characters and lighting felt appealing. More fining detail was put into this show.
+ There were a FEW moments here and there that gave me a genuine laugh with it's deeply present situational humor (The frailness of Izumi Takanashi was hilarious)

... CONS/What I loathe:
- Again, no plot which isnt the problem. What is is that the arcs they show are kinda all over the place.
- None of these characters grow like at all (no pun intended) and most of these characters become one note/flat (Sp) Taneshima is still too kawaii, Yachiyo is still a ditzy chick, and Kyoko won't stop with the parfaits.
- (Sp) Sato and Soma still dont get proper exposition.
- New characters are introduced and just add to the chaos
- (Sp) Takanashi's personality becomes a one note joke. We get it, our main character likes small things.
- Yamada, why do you exist? no exposition, annoying AF, and you take half the F*ckin screen time. It's like Mater from Cars 2 or Jar Jar from The Phantom Menace. So irrelevant.

Final Note:
Having enjoyed the 1st season, I came into this show expecting more of the same with about the same amount of quality or even a little more...........but nah, it turns out to be the exact opposite.

Recommends to:
People who deeply love the 1st season of this show