Synopsis - Takanashi is a 16 year-old who is recruited by Popura into the restaurant, Wagnaria. Witness the zaniness of the workers in this otherwise *normal* restaurant.
Review - What a watch. My friend kept mentioning this show to me, and I was getting sick and tired of not knowing what he was talking about. So after he gave me some files, I went to work and watched it on my new Western Digital HD media player. BITCHIN~!
At first, I thought that this show would have been your run-of-the-mill work environment style of show. Thankfully enough, it was not. This show has subplots and character developments that make this, at the very least, stand out next to the other slice-of-life shows.
Speaking of characters, like Slam Dunk, the best part of the series behind this series is the characters. (I know, I mentioned that already)
Popura is a really small 17 year-old who gets peoples' names wrong. For example, she gets Takanashi's name dead wrong by calling him Katanashi (?). To her defense, she does try very hard to please everybody, even when it is virtually impossible that consolation will fix the problem.
Takanashi isn't your normal cookie-cutter main character who is shy around girls and has no spine. Even he has something weird about him. He won't give two craps about you if you above the age of seven. Yeah. If I can be perfectly honest, I actually like that aspect of his character. It is what made many of his earlier scenes memorable, and for that alone, he is a winner.
Imami is a special character I will say. At first, she comes across as pure, sweet, shy, and if I can be honest, kinda cute. Except....
She has Androphobia, a social phobia, except that she is mostly scared of guys. Sota tries to make her more accepting of males and every time, he is left lying on his back. Poor Takanashi.
Kyoko Shirafuji. The manager. Whatever she says goes. Too bad she doesn't do any of the work. Granted, I love the fact that she isn't above violence in the workplace when someone gets on her bad side. You know what, maybe she is doing work...
Yachiyo, like Imami, is a great woman at first site. She is nice as anyone, and unlike Imami, she is very social. Except that she carries a katana everywhere (why didn't she get arrested yet??). On top of that, she is a bloody stalker. She is borderline in love with Kyoko, and if you talk bad about her, well, I won't finish that sentence.
And of course you have Sato and Soma. Both are great characters in the show, though I am more favorable towards Sato. His chill demeanor and tendency to tell you what he thinks is what makes him such a great character.
The theme song is catchy as hell, to be honest. I recall some time before watching the show, someone playing that song on my car stereo (through his ipod), and me tapping my fingers to it. That "someone-one-one" at the beginning the catcher for me. The music throughout the show itself is fine as well, and fits with the show's mood.
The voice acting, art and animation of the series is what one would expect from a series like this in 2011, so I wont go into much detail here.
Overall, the show is an absolute laugh. Like The Office, this show is pretty much a silly look at how one would run and work at a family restaurant, and it delivered in spades. Now, many of you may ask, "Hey Jean, if you liked the series so much, why don't you talk about your favorite joke in the show?", so I will take a whack at it. When being advice about relationships in the workplace, Takanashi mentions how Popura is cute, helpless, and small, like a kid, or a Daphnia. I don't even get how Popura and a daphnia correlate, but okay!
The show deserves all of its plaudits with its zany cast and kooky humor. Definitely place it high on your priority list, especially considering the second season or so just came out.
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Story - 7.5
Characters - 9
Content - 8.75
Animation - 8
Music - 8.5
Overall - 8.75
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12:54 AM
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