The everyday antics and documentation of life at Wagnaria continue into this sequel installment to the first season of Working...
----------
Introduction / Context...
----------
As a direct continuation, "Working'!!" or "Season 2" as i will refer to it to avoid confusion, picks up where "Working!!" left off. The prior season of 13 relaxing episodes, was a "minimalist-styled" depiction of everyday life within our favourite family restaurant. It embraced its identity as a heavily slice of life oriented production, and so favored character development, over complicated plot development; hence the "no story, no good" argument used by those who generally dislike the SoL genre. Prior to Season 2, the "Working" franchise has indeed proven itself to be: "escapism into an optimistic life perspective" in my books; as you can read up in my corresponding review. And while being such a carefree and often comedic show, I've always felt that its emitted a unique, cosy, warm and "family-like" character chemistry, that's not only entertaining to observe, but sets the overriding tone beautifully. "Working!!" set the series up rather well by injecting a lot of personality into what has become a particularly memorable cast. It under-toned some dramatic situations, and conversely broke up any heaviness with plentiful laughs to stay true to its strengths. Most importantly, it allowed us to get a decent sense of each character's quirky personalities, and get to know them personally from the intimacy of their thought processes. Except one...
----------
Actual Review
----------
Aoi Yamada, has always seemed a little distanced from the rest of the cast as viewers of the prior season should be familiar; given her rather mysterious and late appearance.
There's only so much you can do with 13 episodes, and while I maintain that the "Working" series is a well crafted one, the development of this purple-haired, "Otoo-crazed"
employee is perhaps the single hole in the prior season's development; given the required comprehensiveness of the character development, contrasting with the seemingly non-existent story line. Interestingly enough, I initially failed to pick up on the fact that this was indeed a hole, and i'm sure i'm not alone in this, but the awesome people at Aniplex blessed us
with a second season anyway...
Far from "improving", Season 2 fills the hole of Yamada's development with ease, and then quickly goes above and beyond the call of duty to further almost every aspect of the show.
Season 2 is essentially the refinement: an advancement of the prior, that goes to the lengths of polishing up and adding to already near-faultless piece of work - in regards to the way the franchise "intends" to be received.
First and foremost, allow me to put fans at ease by mentioning that this sequel season retains the entirety of the signature "Working!!" charm of the prior. Unlike some other anime franchises, it hasn't tried to change itself in order to appeal to a new audience, and instead has stayed loyal to its methods, therefore its branding. It's still casually presented, and down-to-earth with none other than an "everyday" plot to keep up the relatability aspect. It still brings forth a lot of depth when it comes to expanding on the personalities of the characters; and so it continues to give the viewer an intimate insight into the working lives of the people who make up Wagnaria. It still documents the subtle growth of the characters, as they surpass (or not) an array of appropriately plausible plights, which is sure to withhold the realism of the show, and in turn keep the audience connected; losing themselves in the vivid picture of the family restaurant "painted" in front.
As I mentioned, Yamada's presence becomes more prominent in Season 2, and we learn more not only about her, but the rest of the cast through the mysteries her background proposes as well; a sort of ongoing development "arc" if you will. Nevertheless, she is no longer a stranger come Season 2, and so it's great that the character development of the original cast reaches a point of complete coverage during these 13 additional episodes.
Aniplex could have stopped there, and had the show come to summit of its success, a flat line from which it can only fall. Fortunately they persisted though in adding new content...
Season 2 brings about some new faces: from the bizarre antics of the Mashiba siblings, to a long lost relative of Yamada. There's evidently never a dull moment in Wagnaria, which in my opinion is the reason for its success. It refuses to be "the lake that dries up", and instead retains the refreshing vibe it started out with; never running out of new revelations, and instead having our admiration of the cast mature, as opposed to stagnate...
There's more "maturing" than you would think going on in the "Staff-only" area, as Season 2 brings about: new challenges to test the resolve of Inami. New things for Yamada to help fix. New heights for our "Senpai" to reach, and even fears for Takanashi to overcome. Everywhere... The awkward relationships are maturing (with no help from Souma), and Kyouko is hungrier than ever. So yes, life at Wagnaria continues to blossom seamlessly following the previous season, and progress steadily as if the " " to " ' " transition never occurred.
Season 2 also seems to work on controlling the visuals better...
capping the expressive cliche/abstract/chibi presentation, if not just a bit: to make the emotive and comedy scenes more punchy, which in turn had me laughing considerably more.
No longer does Aniplex accompany every emotion with "frustration lines", like in the first season it fortunately seems.
Some drama, a healthy helping of comedy, and a tonne of character-based charm...
Which is confirmed to be leading towards a third installment, and so I won't criticize the extremely late formal introduction of Mayu as of yet...
Audiovisuals?
These are for the most part: the same, high, colourful and uplifting standards, as can be seen in the original season. We get a new OP (which i love), and a new ED (which is also very appropriate), the show is throughout still accompanied by a carefree piano-based score...
Downsides?
Asides from the limiting factors of the "everyday" premise and branding, from a technical perspective (at least in my mind): I don't see anything fundamentally wrong about this follow up season. It is therefore, ultimately, a straight-up elaboration/advancement to the "Working!!" of which you're familiar, and so i have no doubt that fans of the franchise will enjoy...
~ Yama-Dash! ~
