WWW.Working!!

Disclaimer: I’ve never exposed myself to the Working!!! franchise in any shape or form prior to watching WWW.Working!!! I picked this up when this started airing on a trusted friend’s “recommendation,” who’s somewhat of a fan of the original series. I was told by this friend that it is completely possible to watch this without any experience with the original series, and after watching all 13 episodes I can confidently confirm that statement.

WWW.Working!!! is a gag anime and nothing more, so it’d seem a bit disingenuous if I graded it in any other area other than its humor. I don’t think it’s fair for people ... to grade gag anime with “story” or “character” as a metric as so many reviewers are privy to doing. A gag anime/manga should be judged simply by one thing alone (plus or minus a few complimentary factors), and that is how funny it is.

WWW.Working!!! is not funny.

The reason for this is easy to point out, and it’s really the trap that dooms so many of these gag anime into failures. While the initial presentation of the jokes in the show are funny (Adachi being poisoned by Muranushi’s smile, Saiki being unable to speak Japanese, etc), as the show progresses through its 13 episodes, the same jokes end up being recycled over and over again with little variation in the premise and the punchline. While it’s endearing and charming at first, listening to the same joke gets tiring no matter how funny or cute it is to begin with. The worst abuser of this is the chocolate gag between Higashida and Miyakoshi. Not only is the initial presentation not very funny (the joke uses the tired “poisonous cooking” trope that you can find in various comedy anime like Nisekoi and pretty much any romcom) but you are forced to sit through the same variation of this joke for what feels like more than half the show. While this gag is the worst victim of this instance, almost all jokes in the series follow this main flaw to varying degrees.

Part of the reason why the jokes are repeated so often in the same manner generally have to do with how inflexible they are to begin with. Each of the premises are so specific it’s honestly not surprising that the jokes couldn’t push themselves farther from their initial mold. Too often the punchline ends with the premise more than it highlights the process. Lots of comedy anime like Handa-kun tend to share a similar fate of driving a joke to the ground dude to how specific the set-up is (though some manga/anime tend to pull it off brilliantly like Kaguya). The jokes do eventually branch out in new directions, but not until the last few episodes of the series where the jokes and character are given actual development; the episodes in between are still devoid of any creativity.

That’s not to say that the problem couldn’t have at least been mitigated, but unfortunately WWW.Working!!! Did not use all the tools it had in its disposal. For example, WWW.Working!!! Boasts a wide cast of interesting and quirky characters, but instead of letting them expand their repertoire and utility, each character is inflexibly paired with another to set-up each joke. Very rarely do any of these pairs mix and exchange with each other, ruining the possibility of any creative comedy and chemistry that could otherwise have been formed. In other words, much of WWW.Working’s inflexibility I would argue comes from not diversifying itself when it had many opportunities to do so.

Some jokes simply aren’t performed well either. Saiki’s inability to speak Japanese is an extremely creative and hilarious premise that could be utilized in many ways. However, the VA for Saiki can barely speak English himself, and it ruins the immersion and novelty of the joke. I will admit that I don’t know much about Japan’s VA industry, but I do know that positions for VA’s are often influenced by the status and renown of the VA (i.e. the influence of the studio that owns the VA) just as much as how much they fit the position. Now, I don’t know about the relative abundance of dual-speaking VAs, but I watched an anime that aired recently (Koutetsujou no Kabaneri) that had an English-speaking VA by the name of Maxwell Powers, so at the very least I know it’s possible to obtain such an actor to some degree. If it was possible to have an experienced dual-speaking VA hired, then the onus is on the staff for not doing their best to find the most suitable VAs for the job.

In conclusion, I have to say I was disappointed with WWW.Working!!! While it had a very charming and entertaining initial presentation, it suffered from lack of creativity and variance to really be worth your time. It simply isn’t consistently funny. I’d like to check out future seasons though to see what they can improve upon, since the quality of the original Working!!! from what I’ve heard suggests that a funny and effective season of WWW.Working!!! can be done.

WWW.Working!! An sequel of sorts that can be classified as a spin-off of the original "Working" franchise, the setting maybe in the same location (A different Wagnaria) the characters maybe new, quirky and funny. So, really, it was a spin-off since there were some parts that were the same, but there were some that were a reversal of the original. So:

Storywise, I've rate is a mediocre 5, since the genre was still the same and the gags and plot doesn't differ from the original, in fact the only thing they did was use the same stuff it has with the original and reverse it ... a little bit one example was how the main character got to work in Wagnaria, were we see Takanashi who was recruited to work in the said place cu'z Popura beg him, here Higashi is the one who applied for the job, cu'z of financial difficulties.

Art, I gave it a decent 4, since we don't get to see any ecchi here, except of course the usual Waganaria Uniforms that the staffs wore, no quintessential Zettai Ryouki to be seen around here. Though, Kyouko's counter part Kisaki should be wearing a more professional look instead of sporting the same attire as that of her younger co workers, it kinda makes her a cosplayer than one of the waitresses of the restaurant. Basically I really wonder as to what the fuck is going on in the mind of this anime planner Iwakami, Atsuhiro for making Kisaki spot such attire given that she a single mom, in her 30's (I think) really doesn't fit in the setting of the anime.

Sound, I gave it a Poor 3, cu'z the seiyuus who did most of the characters here don't fit in anymore, given that they sounded more mature than the younger characters, like Tomasu Haruka, who didn't have that youthful tone anymore to play Miyakoshi, Nakamura Yuichi who voices Higashi sounded as old as the character's daddy. Also Hikasa Yoko who voices Sayuri, her tone was simply very much of that of Rias Gremory.

Character, I could say that they're the usual, but let's not forget that on a personality and role level the characters themselves were an alternate reversal of the the characters from the original, let's go over some of them:

Daisuke " Higashi" Higashida- Here, he replaces Souta Takanashi, but unlike Takanashi, he is a tsundere here, who sometimes does some tsun tsun on Miyakoshi.

Miyakoshi Hana - Who replaces Inami Mahiru, is a complete polar opposite of the latter, who has a bad case of Androphobia and would not hesitate to do some violent tsun tsun on Takanashi. Here, she the aggressive dere dere to Higashi, she also happens to be the office (Wagnaria) bimbo, given that she doesn't do well with her studies.

Kamakura, Shiho- Is Todoroki, Yachiyo's replacement, given that she is the scary one here who happens to have a murderous Yandere intent on Shindou, Yuuta.

Shindou, Yuuta- can be consider as a replacement for Yamada Kirio, but only in a personality level, not on a role level, same thing with Nagata, Rui who can be considered as a replacement for Popura Taneshima, Yanagiba, Miri who can be considered as a Aoi Yamada replacement, but with some differences, since Yamada is lazy, annoying and clumsy, now Yanagiba , can also be considered as lazy, and clumsy, but she also sickly who just like Aoi would prefer to loiter around than do any work or go to school.

Now, Muranushi, Sayuri has something in common with Taknashi's sister, Takanashi, Izumi from the original Working, whom, were both odd and mysterious in a personality level but not in a role level since Izumi was a writer while Sayuri is a college student and one of the part-timers at Wagnaria, also Izumi has a some level of brocon with her little brother Souta, Sayuri on the other hand is in a relationship with Adachi, Masahiro who replaces Sato Jun on a role level , but on a personalty level he is a complete opposite of Jun. same can also be said about Adachi's fellow chef, Kouno, Takuya who replaces Souma, Hiroomi whose personality was cheesy unlike Kouno who is really a joker who can deliver.

Saiki, Kouki, unlike the rest is Matsumoto, Maya's replacement only on the gender level, since both of their roles weren't that different at all.

Kenichirou Sakaki whom also unlike the rest , replaces Otoo, Hyougo, both their roles and personality were pretty much the same, the difference, are their age, one is younger while the other is older.

Also, Kondou, Kisaki, in terms of personality, replaces Shirafuji, Kyouko, but on the role level , Kisaki is one of the part-timers while Kyouko is the manager.

Now all that was said, I'm giving this category a fair 6, since as alternate replacements, they can be consider as a band of their own, but only in a slight way.

Enjoyment, I'd say it's a good 7, thought , it's good, I'm starting to already get tired of the same comedy and slice of life being use here.

So overall, I'm also giving it a good 7, since this spin-off does have some character development when it come to the romance. So I hope Studio A-1 Pictures doesn't come up with another season of this spin-off (if we can call it that way) cu'z such sequel would violate the development that has already occurred with the characters.


Happy New Year to all.

This review contain some info for old Working series. It's strongly advised to watch that beforehand.

It cannot be helped that this will be compared to it's predecessor. I've just marathoned the franchise the other time so I'm still fresh about it. I think I'll list the strength and weakness over it's predecessor.

One of my gripe about the latest installment is that the character are mutually exclusive to each other rather than the more dynamic old cast. In here they are to grouped with their respective partner and didn't interact much with other. Couple with their romantic interest and friend with each other. They are rarely ... interact with one another unlike in old series which is more rounded like Yachiyo with Kyoko, Yachiyo with Satou, Satou with Popura, Satou with Souma, Souma with Aoi, Aoi with Souta, Souta with Popura, Souta with Inami. There are more than one relationship chart either friendship one or romantic ones.

Other thing is that I feel several character are wasted here because they lack any partner. I think Kouno got it the hardest if I'm reflecting on old series. Because the dynamic between Satou and Souma is so great I think just being a boke on a part of manzai duo is severely lacking as character. Because his only partner is Adachi when Adachi is not on the picture or is together with Muranishi he is being left out. Even if there is some build up at the beginning with Yanagiba that also is swept under the rug when Yanagiba is more often seen with Nagata. There is also Kisaki which I feel overshadowed by Daichi a character that are introduced at later point in the story.

On the bright side this series still retain the spirit of the old series. The weird quirk of character and the dysfunctional workplace romance along with the gag is still can held it's own. Another thing is the progress of character relationship is fast here. Though at time it can also feel too fast it's still not on the point of being annoying.

Overall even with it's downside compared to the original series WWW.Working!! can still held it's own as a series. While you can watch this without watching the original it's still advised that you are watching the original first so that you can capture the series charm properly.

I'm giving this 7.6 overall and rounding it to 8 on MAL scoring standard.