Working'!!

Working'!! is the second season of a great show, but this season in particular seems to only kick the can down the road.

I like the concept that Working!! is using, however, the relationships and character development seem to be at near stand still. The season presents perfect opportunities for relationship advancements, but the characters are either simply too dense to notice what's happening or the writers are trying to delay an inevitable ending.

Character 4/10
I give such a low score because the character relationships do not advance very much. The biggest advancement so far is an exchange of text messages between Inami and Takashi. That's it.

Art, ... Sound, Story 8/10
These three are all the same as the previous season.

Enjoyment 7/10
My enjoyment could have been a lot better, but I found the inability to enhance relationships a very frustrating thing. The awkward moments would happen frequently, but nothing really happens after that. It's like the writers are walking away from something great and having to be replaced with mediocre crap.. The show must end some day, maybe not this season, but I hope it will end the way we all want it too.

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.

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.