Working!!

Due to his love for small, cute things, Souta Takanashi cannot turn childlike Popura Taneshima down when she recruits him to work for Wagnaria, a family restaurant located in Hokkaido. Takanashi takes particular joy in doting on the older Popura, which only fuels her complex over how young she looks. He also quickly learns he must stay on his toes once he meets the rest of his colleagues, including the katana-wielding floor chief Yachiyo Todoroki, the intimidating head chef Jun Satou, the dangerously well-informed and subtly sadistic sous chef Hiroomi Souma, the adamantly lazy manager Kyouko Shirafuji, and the waitress Mahiru Inami who has a "painful" fear of men.

Powered by an eccentric cast, Working!! is a unique workplace comedy that follows the never-dull happenings within the walls of Wagnaria as Takanashi and his co-workers' quirky personalities combine to create non-stop antics, shenanigans, and hilarity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Inami, Mahiru Main

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Yamada, Aoi Main

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Taneshima, Popura Main

Asumi, Kana Japanese

Satou, Jun Main

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Souma, Hiroomi Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Todoroki, Yachiyo Main

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Takanashi, Souta Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Shirafuji, Kyouko Main

Watanabe, Kumiko Japanese

Takanashi, Izumi Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Takanashi, Nazuna Supporting

Saitou, Momoko Japanese

Saitou, Shunsuke Producer

Shimizu, Hiroyuki Producer

Saitou, Tomoyuki Producer

Hiraike, Yoshimasa Director, Series Composition

Reviews

Aug 28, 2025

Bruce_lightener

Recommended

A very fun watch, starting with a banger of an opening song and ending with the some tone! The characters are great too however they lack development throughout the series, yet in the premise of the series they work like a charm.
The standout character has to be Aoi, even with a late introduction which in itself was hilarious really gave the series a solid boost. While introducing a new character at the very and seems like a questionable more but it was a nice touch considering it has several sequels. Ending does a good job making the viewer wanting for more of the silly fun!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 7, 2021

TheRunawaySavior

Mixed Feelings

This first season took me over a month to complete, not because it was especially bad or I didn't have the time... but because it was so... average. There were things that I truly enjoyed about 'Working!!', but each one was counterbalanced by a bad decision that left a disappointing taste in my mouth. This is the first time I've experienced the anime equivalent of an equally balanced scale, equally bad and great.

The story is your run-of-the-mill slice of life, which to give it credit, was what I was looking for, and what I got. After several heavier series I watched this year such as ... Steins; Gate among others, I just wanted something with a bit of charm and took things nice and easy. The overall cast, while varying in my affections, had some real standouts in both characters and voice performances that kept me coming back, and will most likely keep me going to the rest of the anime to find out how their stories conclude.

Speaking of the cast, my personal favorites were Satou and Todoroki, both with simple personalities that get fleshed out and have a lot of interesting scenes as the series progresses. Sadly though... they aren't the main coupling this series has to offer, with that esteemed title going to Takanashi and Fujita. Takanashi has an absolutely god-awful design, with these glasses and greasy, parted hair that makes him look more like an alien than a male protagonist. Fujita, on the other hand, had such a frustrating personality that I guessed her quirk right from the introduction: that she impulsively hit guys, and that it was supposed to be some kind of gag.

While I could see a world where a character like Fujita is done correctly, the lack of explanations as to why she acts the way she does, and the ridiculousness of the situation that she's in, combines into me having absolutely no sympathy for her, and respecting the main character's position that she's more like a one-trick dog than a romantic interest, a position I'm positive I wasn't supposed to take based on how the show's produced.

But what's good about this slice-of-life style is that the cycle of characters is always revolving, and even if I don't like what is happening in one scene, I have the next one to look forward to for a new surprise. It's as simple as anime comes, but the comfy nature of the 'Wagnaria Family Restaurant' and the familial staff working together to deal with their own problems and insecurities is as endearing as it could be for not being ambitious in the slightest.

My props do go to some cuts of animation, and the opening and ending themes. While the songs are both cast sing-a-longs, the voices aren't too bad and feel like the characters have gathered together for karaoke more than anything. And the animation is better than I was expecting, with scenes going out of there way to showcase characters in fun poses or faces.

Overall it didn't have me on the edge of my seat like some of the best comedies I've watched, or tearfully-engaged like some of the best slice-of-life shows I've watched, but it wasn't poorly-produced or lacked any heart in production. It just lacked ambition, and with so many adaptations coming out these days, I couldn't really blame it for not comparing to some of the greats when it wasn't trying to be. Right in the middle of the road is the rating I'd give it, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a watch: just know what you're getting into if you've watched some more mature or fleshed-out anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 27, 2025

Userman

Not Recommended

Sigh. I thought this anime would focus on a hardworking protagonist striving to improve and achieve his goals. Instead, it revolves around a main character who is constantly beaten and does nothing about it, with the justification that he is trying to "heal" a girl with a male phobia. This girl has been hitting men for over ten years with no progress, yet we're expected to believe that attacking the protagonist will somehow help her recover, when it clearly doesn’t.

Episode 9 was the tipping point, revealing the author's apparent disdain for male characters (perhaps she herself has a phobia) and a lack of understanding of ... human behavior. Not only is the protagonist relentlessly bullied without standing up for himself, but he even enables the girl's deception by putting on a facade. He abandons his self-respect, despite vowing never to cross-dress again due to childhood trauma, and dresses as a woman to meet the girl's father. That father, by the way, is neglectful and absent for ten years, so why does the girl even care about his opinion? By the episode’s end, we learn that she actually doesn’t. Worse yet, the author mocks the audience by having another character suggest a more logical alternative to the protagonist cross-dressing, but presents it as a joke. Manipulation isn’t funny. There’s a difference between being gentle and being submissive, and this protagonist is unquestionably submissive.

The anime lacks a compelling story. Initially, I thought it would focus on the protagonist helping the girls overcome their antisocial tendencies while improving the restaurant, but instead, it simply repeats the same formula over and over again. How the restaurant manages to survive remains a mystery.

Here’s the formula, endlessly recycled:
- The protagonist is physically hit for one-sixth of each episode by the girl who has shown no progress over 13 episodes.
- He is verbally bashed or forced to do something against his will for another sixth of each episode.
- The restaurant staff willingly obeys the director, who does nothing but eat and contribute no real work.
- The cook, who has a crush on the aforementioned girl, gets annoyed whenever she serves the director and then unfairly takes it out on the short-statured staff member.
- A random “deus ex machina” character (Yamada) conveniently appears with all the tools needed to humiliate the protagonist.

Overall, this anime gives the impression that its author might have been rejected by someone like the protagonist and is using fiction as a form of revenge.

I originally reviewed this after watching 11 episodes, but now that I've reached episode 13, it has only gotten worse.

Rating Change: 3 → 1

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Working!! Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Jacut - Apr 25, 2010	128 replies	by Alvie48xi »» Dec 15, 2024 11:44 PM
	Poll: Working!! Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) tsubasalover - Jun 27, 2010	269 replies	by dspr »» Sep 12, 2024 2:17 PM
	Poll: Working!! Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) tsubasalover - Jun 20, 2010	113 replies	by dspr »» Sep 12, 2024 1:39 PM
	Poll: Working!! Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) chalco - Jun 13, 2010	126 replies	by dspr »» Sep 12, 2024 12:53 PM
	Poll: Working!! Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) chalco - Jun 6, 2010	100 replies	by dspr »» Sep 9, 2024 6:32 PM

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