Ranked #2093

Hataraki Man

Characters/Development
Begining with the flow of things, it was done quite well within the eleven episodes there are of the show. Each one basically focuses onto certain problems the characters must deal with, or a certain task set that needs to be done and the issues that arise while doing so. The characters emotions and hardships of work are displayed during these times, and also focuses on some of their lifes out of work. Some of the character development is done through thoughts, showing off their stress during work or sometimes questioning themselves why they actually work so hard. On very few occasions we get some flashbacks to explain why a character has views and feelings that you see within that current episode.

The relationship between Hiroko and her boyfriend is first shown as a simple one, something rather typical and quite relaxed, which soon develops into something quite different as the pair begin to focus more on their work rather than the relationship between the two. Dates are missed, and long periods of romance lacking days await in the latter episodes which has some effect on the pair and causes more problems to arise within the show. Not all the episodes however focus on the main character, but instead explain the roles and personality of the other characters, the jobs they do and any emotion involved. Talking about the character though, each one is unique within the workplace and rather likable and you get to know them more. You’ll somewhat learn their role within the company sooner or later, and attitudes involved, each with dealings of their very own problems.

Animation/Scenery
Artwise, everything has been done pretty well. Character designs are brilliant as each one has their own distinctive looks making them more appealling and realistic. Such details from their clothes and makeup they wear, facial structure, hairstyles and even the eyes give them the unique touch between them all for both the males and females, unlike some shows where female characters can usually look the same.

Colours are vibrant and pretty bright throughout the series, which blends together quite ncely. Nothing really stands out of the ordinary and the colours are balanced between each other with some smooth transitions and shadings with make the art work visually look well made and appealling. This even flows perfectly well into the background art with some realistic looking structures and designs for both interior and exterior locations, where lighting and shading helps a great deal for depth using beautiful tones. The bright colours can look quite exotic during those sunny days during the series, while night life is approached will with plenty of darker tones with some hints of dark blue in them, while the other city lights add more light to the scenes. Foregrounds and the characters are also quite bold in appearance, while having some smooth, light lines between them and the backgrounds while looking great.

Animationwise, is surprisingly decent for this type of show, where the general themes aren’t of sword fighting or gun shootouts, but of pure drama and emotional life events that take place. However this is one of the shows highlights which keeps a more modern and realistic feel to the series, and a job well done in that area.

Audio/Music
This isn’t a strong area of mine to comment and discuss about so I’ll be brief. Voice acting is generally well done throughout, with a well chosen actor per character of which have fitting voices and can reflect their personalities quite well especially the stress and emtion that goes through Hiroko which Rie Tanaka does a good job of. Other such sound effects are pretty moderate, used and timed well so no complaints in that area. Can’t exactly remember any of the background music so I guess it’s quite moderate with nothing really rememberable. I did like the music themes in this one however, especially the opening which has a good sound and tune to it, flowing pretty well with the sequence.

Conclusion
Good approach to the hardships of having a career while keeping a relationship strong and the types of problems involved. Good flowing story with some interesting characters and developments between them. Decent visuals and animations throughout which remain appealing. This show isn’t for everyone out there and best watched with an open mind about life with some decent drama and emotion involved. An enjoyable watch for eleven episodes. read more

Often the slice of life genre has been branded as for those who like it, relaxing, and as for others, boring. As so this is true, garnished with drama, and you’ll get the usual slice of life which others love and vice versa. Clichéd as the masses view it, it is very unlikely to be pathetic, as it always seemed to be successful. As that might be the case, there are still those titles which skip on the melodrama, and simply strives on being real. Hataraki Man is one of those.

Usually, when slice of life is heard, green fields with a gentle brush of cool breeze and soothing warmth of sunlight will immediately come to mind. At most would be a high school setting where characters just chillax, fell in love, have fun, and cry when needed to. Such ideas about slice of life is undeniably very true as most of the time, people would think slice of life is directly synonymous with relax… but then Hataraki Man is none like those. Hataraki Man is indeed a slice of life but it aims not to be light-hearted, relaxing or something dreamy, instead it serves as a wakeup call to see the reality in common people’s lives. People as common as they are, don’t really need to stand out to be someone to look up to, in fact the commonest of the commons are the ones who somehow make a difference. With two feet grounded to reality, Hataraki Man delivers its messages absolutely, never backfiring or weakening. As for the usual high school setting, Hataraki Man was nowhere near there, rather than observing a teenage girl enraged by pheromones, it was set in an office with mature problems as the focus. Having an office setting of course could only lead to one thing, work, work, and truckloads more of work.

Job compliance, overtime, meeting deadlines, pleasing the boss, arguing with a co-worker, preferring work over love, sleepless nights – that’s what Hataraki Man’s all about. As an anime having an episodic style of storytelling, it looks more of an office sitcom rather than a continuous story. Introducing an interesting bunch of characters, with each episode, we get to see them unshadowed one by one. As an anime solely focused on its characters, at first, characters were foreseen as shallow or 2-dimensional, but with an amusing way of character development, the backstories gave them their own identities, setting them apart from the rest. Though simple and familiar as characters may look, none of them falls into basic archetypes. Each of them has his/her own trait that makes them stand out, unique, loveable, and especially believable. As the catalyst who interacts and further on exposes the reality of the character, Hiroko Matsukata is the center of Hataraki Man. As the side characters mature within a single episode, Matsukata changes gradually, along with the side characters, through the span of 11 episodes. Along with the side characters interesting backstories, Matsukata never falls behind the shadow of other characters instead with great chemistry, they uplift each other hand in hand not dragging away from the anime’s main focus.

If there would be such a fitting word to describe Hataraki Man then it would be upbeat. Always jolly and optimistic even facing challenges, looking forward to the better future, that’s what Hataraki Man is. Even the soundtracks as well as the opening and ending songs were upbeat. Cool and happy tunes were played to add up to its upbeat atmosphere. The opening song is a funky and a wacky song done by the duo PUFFY backed with a video showing how strong-willed and determined Matsukata is; and the ending song is done by the band chatmonchy, and if you somehow know the said band, it is a given that their song which is jolly and sugary-sweet would perfectly fit an anime such as Hataraki Man. As for the voice acting, with a cast of very talented seiyuus, the voices were just as great.

Being a josei anime, the animation of course, is well, josei. The character designs look mature. Male or female, they look nice. Females were greatly detailed with feminine outlines while males look classic, and not like those worn down overused male character designs. There were quite a bit of inconsistencies though especially with the facial movements and the background designs are of belonging to the generic background picture gallery. Also, the camera movements were rather simple, and as well as with its animation. Still, if you can see past through that, you’ll soon realize that art has very little to offer with the total enjoyment you can get from watching Hataraki Man.

When all is said and done, Hataraki Man is a very inspirational anime filled with simple yet meaningful messages. It is a down-to-earth anime in which most of the situations presented could actually be applied in real life, not only in the office, but in daily living also. An anime that is very moving while not obsessing on the melodrama. It is a different take in the slice of life genre. For those who are fans of slice of life, you should not miss out on this; and even for those who are tired of the same old melodramatic slice of life, here’s Hataraki Man to prove that not all slice of life are meant to be boring or relaxing, they could also be hectic and hyper, yet inspiring.
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