So now we are at Season Three of “Working!!!” and a lot of the resentment that boiled over from Season Two is spilling across this offering. It feels like the time has come to fish or cut bait. The cast (left to right):
Maya Matsumoto (she has been around for a while, but she is more the ‘Double-Take Girl’)
Kyōko Shirafuji, shift manager
Yachiyo Todoroki, lead waitress
Hiroomi Sōma, cook B
Jun Satō, cook A
Sōta Takanashi, seasoned veteran
Popura Taneshima, short and cute
Aoi Yamada, hopeless and hapless
Mahiru Inami, fears men
(Mr. Otoo, Mitsuki and Yōhei Mashiba missed the group shot this go-around)
However, it appears they may have learned some lessons from a rather mean second season, as some stances have been softened and they are back to their off-kilter selves rather that a session of “Can You Top This?” Also, a series of previous concerns appear to be resolved, but the way this show works, it’s never a guarantee that it is fully fixed. And remember that nature abhors a vacuum, so a resolved problem is replaced with a new one that occupies our time. Personally, I would have liked to see more of Maya, as she is the true ‘normal’ one, but that eventually worked against her as she tries so hard not to be weird, she becomes weird.
The series builds off of the problems that came up in season two and takes a bit more somber approach to things, even though everyone in the cast is askew or in the basement or zoning out. However, we try to be a tad more realistic in things as everyone confronts the demons that lurk in the corners of the room. The biggest arc is the Yachiyo-Jun tale, where confessions are confessed and revelations are revealed and lives get lived…uh, complicated. It is like a pond and you fling in a stone. The ripples radiate outwards and affect all that it touches. This means when we get to the end of the series, the problems are not fully resolved, but are going to be….NEXT season.
Yes, the show proudly blares that Season 4 will be the concluding season of “Working!!!!” and all of your questions and concerns will be answered as everyone goes on their way in some caliber of contentment. This season certainly ends on a very strange note, one I am loathe to reveal, as I assume it opens up the Season Four premiere. It’s just that if you have gotten this far with the run, you might as well see things through to the end.
On a scale of 1 to 10:
Artwork 7 (Same as it ever was)
Plot 7 (Same as it ever was)
Pacing 7 (It runs all over the place)
Effectiveness 7 (Things are focused better than last season)
Conclusion 5 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended, but a promise that it will)
Fan Service 0 (A similar show would be “Honey and Clover”)
Overall 7 (We are pointed in a firm direction)
And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. What IS going on?
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