OP Sequence

OP: 「NOW!!!GAMBLE」 by Taneshima Popura (Asumi Kana), Inami Mahiru (Fujita Saki), Todoroki Yachiyo (Kitamura Eri)

“Waganaria – No Front Line Incident”


「ワグナリア戦線異状なし」 (Wagunaria Sensen Ijou Nashi)

Returning to Wagnaria:

It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since the second season of WORKING!!. Time really has flown by, but I’m happy to report that nothing has changed. Sometimes it’s good for something to be just as you expect it, and WORKING!!! did just that. It feels so good to see these familiar, loveable faces again. I’ll admit, I had forgotten a few of the details explored in the second season, but this first episode did a great job re-introducing everyone, making sure we’re familiar with their quirks and their current situations right now. I had a few ‘Oh yeah, I remember that!’, so now I’m ready for some pay off for those overarching plot lines – not that anyone should watch WORKING!!! for the plot, but this is the third and final season, so I suspect it will complete the manga adaptation and hopefully resolve some of the storylines carrying over.

“Isn’t Yamada Amazing?”:

Yes. The first line of WORKING!!! is “Yamada” followed by “Isn’t Yamada amazing?”, and I think that summarises how amazing Yamada (Hirohashi Ryou) is. 14 seconds in and I’m already laughing. God, it’s good to have this show back, and any scene with Yamada in it is instantly hilarious. Whether it be her working diligently and without making much noise, or just goofing off and doing her own thing, or professing that she wishes she was getting the same affection as a cute little girl – everything Yamada does and says just makes me smile. I do love every member of the cast, but we all have our favourites. My first favourite is Yamada, followed by Yamada, and then Yamada, and finally, Yamada. And then maybe Popura (Asumi Kana).

Hilarity Ensues – A Housewife in the Bushes:

I found a housewife in the bushes!” has to be the best line of the episode. It was one of many laugh out loud moments, and the fact that it really was Ooto’s wife makes it even more hilarious. It’s great to see these characters back in action, doing what they do best. Souma (Kamiya Hiroshi) is still teasing Satou (Ono Daisuke) about his love for Yachiyo (Kitamura Eri), who can’t stop talking about Kyoko-san, Kyoko-san, Kyoko-san (Watanabe Kumiko). Everyone provides the same gags as before, and where it may feel stale and rehashed in some series, with WORKING!!! it just feels like a lovely welcome home party. Will Popura get more head rubs from Souta (Fukuyuma Jun)? Has Inami (Fujita Saki) overcome her phobia of men when it comes to Yamada’s secret brother, Yamada (Hino Satoshi)? All these characters interacting with one another is equal parts cute, funny, and endearing. More please!

Overview – What’s Next?:

A very nice re-introduction, since I had honestly forgotten about some of this quirky cast after the four year wait break. It’s been a long time due, but it’s finally here, and Yamada is back, so I’m over the moon. I hope they find that disappearing housewife again, and tie all the other hilarious loose ends that are just waiting to be addressed head on. But WORKING!!! is the master of getting it’s humour from awfully timed circumstances, so we may have to wait before we get answers to the long-standing questions. For now, let’s just laugh!

Note: I’m planning on picking up another show this season, but I don’t want to decide before I’ve watched everything that’s on offer. WORKING!! has always been blogged on RandomC, so it’s be a great shame if it was missed in its final season. Who knows, you may see another post next week. Let’s see how this summer season shapes up – so far it’s looking very promising.

Preview

32 Comments

    1. I can’t remember the last time that Inami didn’t punch any guys during an entire episode so this is definitely one episode to remember. It’s good that she is making progress.

      Zhinvu
    2. That was the reason I originally hated Inami. Physical abuse is not funny, regardless of gender. I don’t care if she has a backstory to explain that, it became old and annoying really fast.

      I still don’t like her much, but it’s good to see she has some development.

      Seiji
  1. It’s great to have Working!! back and it’s still so much fun to watch. And they actually brought back that lost little girl from Season 2. Here’s hoping to see more of the Takanashi household, especially Izumi-neesan. I wonder too if Matsumoto Maya is still going to stick to the background like before.

    Also, I just want to clarify this too but Yamada was an anime original character right?

    Zhinvu
    1. Also, I just want to clarify this too but Yamada was an anime original character right?

      She’s not. Just like the rest of the recurring characters, she is also in the manga.

      Firelord
    2. Oops I should have clarified that one. I mean what I heard was she was an anime original character in the first season and was eventually added as a regular character in the manga. As far as I know Kyoko’s two underlings Mitsuki and Youhei were also anime originals in the second season.

      Zhinvu
      1. There are no anime original characters at all. All of the characters introduced so far were introduced before the first season of the anime began airing (the Mashiba twins were introduced in chapters 101/102, which is sometime in 2009). Even Matsumoto Maya, the resident cameo character, appeared as early as Chapter 4. Although apparently in her case, the author drew her once and forgot about her for quite a long time until a reader brought her attention towards it. And then she decided to invent Maya’s quirk of “wanting to be normal” to explain her extended absence in the manga!

        Glacierfairy
  2. This show, while I know beloved by many, just doesn’t do it for me. Past the first season its formula of constantly rehashing and reframing a stable of several running jokes over and over again (Taneshima’s height, Inami’s fear of men, Yamada’s klutziness, etc.) has simply bored me. Even watching episode one of this season after a 4 year hiatus I still can’t get into it. How the author is able to reframe each running joke within the context of new scenarios over and over is clever- but the fact that the essence of the jokes remain the same sucks the humor out of them for me. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on this but well, humor is a subjective thing I suppose…

    Zen
      1. Well, since lots of people like this show and since I thought it likely that my tastes had changed over the last 4 years I thought I’d give it another chance and tried watching this episode. Furthermore, this may surprise you, but I really liked the first season when all the running jokes were still fresh. It was only from season 2 onwards that things started to feel stale and this show became unwatchable for me.

        But evidently, although I’ve changed as a person in many ways since this show was last on, what I do or do not find funny hasn’t. Still feel the same way about this show now as I did back then- so just reiterating…

        Zen
    1. Satou and Yachiyo ftw. Those two are the main reason I love this show.

      Also, Inami doesn’t punch Souma the whole episode? Something is rotten in the house of Wagnaria.

      celebrinen
  3. Well, that’s one way to reintroduce the ENTIRE main cast (quirks included) and ~75% of the secondary cast…

    Not too bad I guess, though the new-to-the-series viewers may find this to be a better first impression than the series veterans.

    info600
  4. So because I had little else to watch over the last couple of weeks, I watched the first two seasons of this show based on what people were saying about this third season in the previews.

    It’s a lot of fun and I’ll keep watching.

    That said, there are a couple of jokes I find kind of off-putting. The housewife thing is not really that funny to me, it’s actually quite sad. The idea that Otoo-san has been searching for his wife for, what, years? That is tragic and I have a hard time particularly laughing at that. Inami’s abuse is also a bit screwy, but the show faces that head-on and she is getting better so that one doesn’t bother me much.

    The rest is pretty much hilarious. Kyouka, Satou, Popura, and Yamada are all pretty amazing. In general it’s good, fun comedy.

    KaleRylan
  5. Oh damn… When Yamada was first introduced, I really got pissed of how clumsy and grating she was.

    Now come season 3, Yamada’s growing on me… Maybe because everything will finally be resolved this season (hopefully). Maybe because of the 4 year wait. I just missed them especially Popura-chan’s voice.

    And it’s really great that Inami doesn’t punch guys anymore. Though its too bad. That means we will not see the crossdressing Souta anymore.

    Reikakou
  6. I just finished the manga and I can confirmed that there’s no way in hell they can adapted all of the materials left in 1 season.

    Lots of side chapters gonna get skipped.

    Rule of Nature

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