Take A Pick Tuesday : Working The First Season

Take A Pick Tuesday- Working!!!/Wagnaria: The First Season

 

 

 

An interesting thing about anime is that you never know where you can get a show out of, so it makes sense that they would have a show about working or well at least being in the workplace. I know it isn’t the first one to be made but it doesn’t stop it from being a wholly unique experience. In need for another employee Popura Taneshima asks a young man with glasses if he would like to work at the family restaurant Wagnaria, although she’s a complete stranger that asks him out of the blue he says yes, why? That would be because of his love for very tiny cute things and she happens to be very short.

 

      So we hit the ground running and see Sota Takanashi starting at the restaurant but everyone there is similar to him that they are a bit unique for sure. His love of small things that in some terms can make him come off as being a pervert is not the oddest thing this family restaurant has to offer. There is Yachiyo Todoroki who has a fixation on her female manager Kyoko Shirafuji, who also happens to be Yachiyo’s childhood friend,  who eat or snacks I should say more than anything else, mostly this means parfaits that are prepared by her chief waitress,. Even so Yachiyo is a star waitress except for the fact that she carries around a katana with her that tends to make people just a little nervous.

 

        Another waitress and one whose largely focused on is Mahiru Inami, who has androphobia,  a phobia of men so every time Takanashi sees her he gets punched in the face. Although in truth any men is in danger which includes the other employees as well. The focus on her is as large as the various attempts made in helping her get her androphobia under control. The effort means as terrified as Inami is of all men, she takes a certain liking to Takanashi. There is of course certain other issues involving her such as with her father, a major jealous type and Takanashi having to dress like a woman, when the man comes to pay a visit.  Of course you also have the cook Jun Sato, he may be a little more normal except for the way he teases Taneshima with her height, which believe it or not she is a year older than the main character Sota Takanashi. The cook also reminds me of Sanji from One Piece if the pirate cook was less hyper to see women and a little quieter and cool as he is when Nami, Robin or any hot woman is around. He is also in love with Yachiyo but for obvious reasons he can’t tell her this considering her fixation on the manager who had saved her from being bullied and would then become childhood friends.  

 

        Then there is also Hitoomi Soma who seems to be kind of nosy and manipulative but everyone just sort of deals with it, he also works in the kitchen with Jun Sato, no one knows anything about him which he uses to his advantage so that he always has leverage on everyone else. Though occasionally in between lying to certain workers like Taneshima he’ll tip the line and comment on the unrequited love that Sato has for Yachiyo and get hit or have to be face to face with Inami and her androphoiba. In fact his fear like everyone else is if the main character Takanashi leaves then her reaction to her phobia will be taken out on the rest of the men.  The big manager Hyogo Oota whose never really there is gone most of the time searching for his wife and is afraid of Kyoko even though he’s her superior especially if he doesn’t bring souvenirs. Often he’ll have to fear Yachiyo who seems to want to kill him with her sword when she thinks that he’s trying to seduce Kyoko. This makes his visits back to Wagnaria very brief and returns to looking for his wife, though his wife couldn’t even find herself if she wanted to, with her horrible sense of direction.

 

     Although in one return Oota did bring something other than a souvenir Aoi Yamada a mysterious sixteen year old he met during one of his vast searches for his wife.  Soon after she begins to work and actually lives in the restaurant. Although she worries about her place in the restaurant want she really wants is a family, something no doubt brought on by Oota who in the second season she asks to adopt her.  Then you have the quiet Maya Matsumoto who isn’t so quiet on the fact that she is the only “normal worker” among the rest of the staff in Wagnaria, when I first started watching the series it almost seemed like the character was meant to be a joke, in the background always but never introduced, supposedly she is the normal one. Although she gets her occasional moment here and there it’s clear she’s not nearly as focused on as is the rest of the characters.

 

      The show does a fine job at being able to make its jokes without having to cross that cautious line of being old and used,  you know starting to miss the sensitive funny bone spots. At least I keep laughing at especially when Inami sees Takanashi and punches him in the face.There is also Takanashi’s  family who he tries to keep under wraps, though they show them at home. Well most of them shown in the first season anyway. As said there are various love connections in the series, though you could say it’s love that goes unnoticed mostly, something you might believe as a show that will for the most part be unresolved and shouldn’t have any expectations of connections can be something more. If nothing else they leave room by the end of the season to dive deeper on the characters relationships. Time will tell as I get on to the second season and then wait for the third season in works.

 

      The family restaurant is the center piece for the show even if they’re not in the restaurant like when they go to a hot springs trip together though a complication stops them from having a ride over there and Sato the cook happens to drive by and ends up attempting to take them to the hot springs. Though not planning on making another much longer stop he runs out of gas and they end up getting a ride elsewhere leaving him. Even a pretty big episode where two characters go somewhere else, the other characters are meeting about it at work, even though there not scheduled. One of the great strengths of the show is how the characters complement each other. Which is kind of essential in a slice of life comedy and it offers that warm relaxing feeling that brings just a simple joy to watch and may be a great change of pace depending on the show you watched before it. While this means that they also give you sufficient time to understand all the characters, you know without a doubt that there is plenty of room to explore. Though I do like how they get a grasp of each other’s niches and deal with it in everyday situations in the workplaces like Kyoko hiding the toys that come with the kids meals from Takanashi since he’s obsessed with tiny things.

 

 Definitely in some ways it feels like a 4-Panel manga and in fact it is, at least that’s what it’s based off of from the manga but that also can be misleading in the sense of it being non-linear, it definitely continues whatever the story in each episode is, there is just so much going on. Which is a good thing in this instance, especially what they managed to squeeze in on such a short episode count for these season. The charm and confidence in the show makes it unsurprising to see the popularity and attention it has. It’s hard not to feel your spirits lifted when watching it, the only surprise is that it took so long for me to watch it.  Sure enough though I’ll be following the second season with the same enthusiasm.  As well as the third season coming out this summer! It won’t take long either, the first two seasons are only twelve episodes. If anything seems obvious from watching the series is what they promote with the characters that the essence that draws them together is the enjoyment that they having in being around each other, there are a lot of anime that have settings in restaurants or more so in the kitchen these days, if you’re looking for one to start with that might be a little different than Wagnaria might be for you.