Working'!!

Anime sometimes appeals to action, adventure and over-dramatic plots to keep people watching the series...after all anime series before it, very few revolved around real life and work places. Well, Working'!! is one of them, and though the story is mostly nonexistent, all the humor around the episodes will draw your attention to it. It's on the same base as the original Working!! anime, but with new characters and more of the anime restaurant we begin to love so much.

--Story--
How everything begins, and why everything happens. (Skip if you already read synopsis)

Following last season's end, Takanashi continues to work on Wagnaria with his fellow ... co-workers and bosses, dealing with his own family affairs meanwhile. Here, the relationship between co-workers goes slightly better, but just enough to not involve any serious romance affairs, but also to make new gags to crack a laugh from time to time.

--Time exploitation--
Some animes makes time pass faster when watching them, and some do the opposite.

Oh, it's good. Believe me. As I said, it doesn't have a concrete story or goal to archieve on each episode, but even so, you'll get dragged in one of the many sub-plots, normally involving 2 characters, and you'll eventually worry about them, sympathize with them, or simply laugh as the situation gets incredibly awkward to one of them.

Every episode has about 3 "semi-stories" in it, so you'll never get stuck in something that doesn't go on or simply get the feeling nothing's really happening there.

--Story and Characters Evolution--
Story (usually) grows as time passes, but how about the characters?

Hard to say, actually. Comparing to the last season, most people is basically the same, with their same strange habits and same unrequited loves. But, during the season, things change a little. Inami, as she gets better at controlling her androphobia, Takanashi begins to deal better with non-chibi woman, Yachiyo starts to get closer to Satou, and so on.

--PERSONAL Opinion--
Exactly what it means. What I think about the anime ^^

Some people says watching an anime without a story is like reading a book about a normal old man: you get nothing out of it....well, half true...but does it really matter? Really? I watched this anime just a couple of months ago, and I laughed every 4 minutes of it, and just because of this little fact I became so addicted to Working. Indeed, most animes have their gag scenes and phrases, but on Working, it never gets old or repetitive, and even on apparently normal scenes, it throws something all of the sudden just to make you laugh.

The visuals are gorgeous as always, the soundtrack is pretty much the same, the new characters are just as complex and well balanced between crazy and realistic as the others, and of course, you'll have lots of fun watching the anime

-- Score and Recommendation--
Final score to me and to what people I would recommend.

8,0/10

If you don't care about story and just want to go in to meet crazy characters and a little of their lives, welcome in. Otherwise, better go watch some other anime.

Working’!! is exactly like Working!! but with an added apostrophe to confuse you. It has the same thirteen episode set up with the same characters, same restaurant, and same jokes. What I’m trying to get at is the fact that this review will be fairly tiny because there’s really not a lot that can be said about this second season of the series that I did not say in my previous review of Working!!.

The story is the same as before with Souta helping to cure Mahiru’s androphobia while working at a family restaurant operated by a big group of misfits. It runs in a somewhat ... episodic way, with some overflow into the future episodes. That said, that’s about all I need to say. There is not a lot of story being dished out, or anything too complex anyway. Each episode ranges from fun and entertaining to boring and slow. These are especially prevalent around the points with Mahiru, who I complained about previously, and I shall complain about again. While I must commend the series for not making her the focal point and showcasing the others a lot more, she was still really prevalent and out of all the characters she is one of the worst. Thankfully, my prayers were answered and the cute romance between Jun and Yachiyo gets a lot more screen time and, while not going anywhere (just like every romance and major plot point of the series), still gives the characters added depth and a much more realistic feel than any of the others. The biggest plot aside from the androphobia concerns a guy looking for his sister. He’s not a particularly interesting or funny character, and this plot goes nowhere. Which is the problem with the series is that it just doesn’t develop. And there is a reason for this, that being Working!! is based on a comic strip which is the reason they use the same gags again and again and the characters never develop. So I guess I can be somewhat lenient based on that fact, but at the same time I feel that somebody should have taken the initiative and said something about tying up the romances or plots and at least ending the series with a bit of a bow on top. Instead it ends like any other episode and hopes I’ll return. Does this mean I can expect a season three called Working’,!! or is it just a tease like most anime endings? Time will tell I guess.

The animation is once again pretty unsubstantial. It’s good, but it’s not anything that will make you say “wow”. Character designs aren’t that fantastic and memorable.

The sound is okay. The theme song for this season is not as catchy as the previous one, and the ending isn’t as great either. The sound during the show fits perfectly fine.

For more on characters, please refer to my previous review. Which makes me sound lazy, but I’d feel lazier if I copy and pasted the exact words about each of the characters in this spot. Everyone is the same. There are no differences and no character development so you don’t have to worry about me saying anything. Once again, Maya Matsumoto, the self-proclaimed “Normal girl” returns with lines during the last episode, but remains a mute throughout, though can be seen in the background. She actually works with the crew in the last episode and seems to have some sort of relationship with all of them, but yet she is never used throughout to instill a sense of normality in the show. It doesn’t feel right for a character who has been there to magically have lines the last episode and become part of the plot. It’s like someone forgot about her up to that point and then quickly wrote her into the script.

Yeah, this review is very short by my standards, but it’s the best I can really do without copy and pasting my review of the previous season. If you liked Working!!, you’ll love this season. It’s not really an improvement, though the shift of focus from androphobia is a big part of what makes this season slightly better, but it is a good addition to the franchise. Will there be more episodes? Who knows. Will I welcome them? Sure I will, but I don’t know how willingly. While I enjoy the occasional comedy/slice of life adventure, there has to be some development and growth and Working’!! doesn’t provide either. As it progresses, it grows staler with the same brand of comedy and the same pointless romances that go in circles. It started off fun and felt like it may go somewhere and continue to entertain, but the problem is it starts to flatline. With the occasional good episode and the typical average ones, it never seems to find its stride and only occasionally makes a joke that is laugh-worthy, because all the others we have heard previously.

Overall, Working’!! is a step in the right direction, but the entity taking that step is growing old and tired and needs to be rested before it can go any further. If there were to be a third season, there would have to be a sense of freshness that this anime rarely provides.

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