Finishing up fall ’11 reviews: Working’!!, Fate/Zero, and Haganai

Before the year is over I want to review the three one-cour fall ’11 series I recently finished watching. I don’t have a ton to say about each so I decided to put them all on one post…


Working’!!

If you enjoyed the first season of Working!!, the second season is more of the same. I think it’s better than the first, actually. I found the episodes more memorable and the jokes funnier, perhaps because I’ve already grown to know the characters and their little quirks from season 1. There were some very hilarious episodes this season, such as the episode featuring Takanashi’s reclusive sister Izumi finally spending a day out, and the episode where Inami gets extremely flustered with using her new cell phone. There are some good new characters, too. Kyoko’s juniors Yohei and Mitsuki were very entertaining, and the elusive Maya, who’s only ever been seen as a background character in previous episodes, had some surprise scenes in the final episode. In addition to more laughs, there were good relationship-development episodes for Satou and Yachiyo, Souma and Yamada, and of course, Takanashi and Inami.

The only thing I can complain about in Working’!! even within the show’s silly atmosphere, is the whole thing with Otoo searching for his wife and Yamada’s brother (also called Yamada) searching for her. It’s just ridiculous that they haven’t been able to find them when they’re right in the same town. Do police and search and rescue squads not exist in the world of Working’!!? Because it makes no sense that Otoo can’t find his wife and Yamada can’t find his sister if they were seriously looking for them as missing persons. Nor does it make any sense that the wife and Yamada themselves could just easily go to the police station and find their way back home since they’re all living in the same town. And how has Otoo’s wife been surviving all this time if she’s so “lost,” and why is only Yamada’s brother looking for her and not her parents? Well, I know it’s just supposed to be a running gag in the series and not meant to be examined like this. But still, even for a comedic show, I feel it’s asking us to suspend our belief a bit too much with this particular gag.

All in all though, like the first season, Working’!! is great if you like fan service-free slice-of-life comedies that are always light and never get too serious. It has a cast of fun, quirky characters and refreshingly takes place in a restaurant rather than a high school. Its humor relies on correctly timed gags and poking fun at character flaws, which it executes great in my opinion. Bright and pleasant animation courtesy of A-1 Pictures and a very catchy opening song help it along, too. Not the best but certainly a good show for its genre.

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Fate/Zero

As I mentioned previously, I’m one of the few who watched Fate/Zero without having seen Fate/Stay Night. I decided to watch it after reading good things about it and hearing that you don’t need to have seen Stay Night in order to follow Fate/Zero. After watching the extra-long first episode, I was immediately engrossed by the high-budget animation and extremely detailed fantasy exposition. Now that I’ve finished the series (the first part at least) I don’t think any particular episode stood out to me, but I certainly enjoyed it as a whole. I usually have trouble following complicated fantasy in anime, but for some reason I didn’t have that much trouble with Fate/Zero despite the myriads of fantasy terms and subplots it has. So to me, it was paced and written well.

The plot revolving around a magical war for an enigmatic object that can grant wishes is certainly one with potential. Together with a diverse and overall “cool” cast of characters, as well as an interesting juxtaposition of the modern world and ancient magic, you’ve got the stuff of a great fantasy epic. Even in just thirteen episodes, I feel like equal attention was given to developing the large cast of characters – even Rin, who doesn’t play much of a role in this series, got her own starring episode. Even though this first season ends on a cliffhanger, I feel like I got to know all the Masters and Servants well. I like the fact that they’re all so diverse – in age, background, social status, lifestyles, war tactics, and personality – from the psychotic killer Caster, to the noble and chivalrous Saber, and the carefree, reckless Rider. Being the kind of show that it is, it’s not surprising that Fate/Zero can be dialogue-heavy at times (it is based on a visual novel) and it’s also very serious, with little to no humor at all. Probably the reason Rider and Waver seem to be the most popular characters is because they add that bit of levity and comic relief we tend to miss.

Just as Working’!! is a prime example of a slice-of-life comedy, Fate/Zero is a prime example of a fantasy series, and whether you like it or not depends on how much you like that genre. If you’re at least okay with complicated anime fantasy that takes itself very seriously, I’m sure you’ll like Fate/Zero. Engrossing plot, interesting characters, good animation and pacing, and a memorable opening and ending perfectly fitting for an “epic” series like this. I look forward to season 2 in April =D

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

I decided to watch this series because I heard the light novels were very popular. Little did I realize that it was, plain and simple, a harem comedy not afraid to rely on fan service for some of its humor. But as harem comedies go, was it really that bad?

The vague premise that the show revolves around is that the characters are in a club for people who don’t have friends in the hopes of making friends. Like other slice-of-life/harem comedies, it revolves around mostly episodic stories with the male lead, Kodaka, and the girls having various misadventures that bring about humor, fan service, relationship developments, misunderstandings, and all that fun stuff.

Even though I don’t like fan service, I have a certain amount of tolerance for it and Haganai didn’t quite push me over my limit. Yes, all those scenes emphasizing Sena’s boobs made me cringe, but for some reason the show kept me interested enough anyway. So what did I like about it that made up for all the fan service? First off, Kodaka is a likable male lead – nothing great about him but at least he’s not an unassertive wimp like most others. And I actually grew to like the girls themselves and found them pretty entertaining. I like Sena because she thinks she’s all that but she’s really quite naive, Rika’s unique fujoshi obsession with mecha yaoi is just so over-the-top hilarious, Yukimura is a sweet, potentially interesting girl who I wish we could have seen more of, and Kobato’s “vampire versus church” thing with Maria is actually kind of cute (they are kids after all). I usually like the main girl, but oddly I didn’t particularly like Yozora. I think she was a bit too mean to Sena at times, though she did get some funny scenes. Speaking of funny scenes, I did find some of the humor in Haganai funny enough to keep me watching. I don’t mind fan service if it actually works in terms of humor, and it did sometimes in Haganai.

One thing that would have made Haganai a lot better in my opinion is if we had more scenes with the girls interacting with each other rather than just with Kodaka. The only girl-girl interaction we get is with Yozora and Sena fighting (which made me nostalgic about Ryoko and Ayeka from Tenchi Muyo! for some reason) and Sena kawaii-ploding over Kobato. I would have liked to see them build relationships with each other rather than just with Kodaka, but it is a harem series and obviously it intends to be just that. And yes, the thing with Yozora being Kodaka’s childhood friend was made painfully obvious. So obvious in fact that I didn’t care about it one way or another since it didn’t really affect anything until the last episode.

While I wouldn’t say Haganai is a great show even for its genre, I was invested enough in the characters and had enough good laughs to keep watching it despite fan service turning me off at times. If a second season ever comes along, I’m sure I’ll check it out.

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And just to note, I’ll be back very soon with another new post…sometime on New Year’s Day actually, I plan to post my “moments of anime” list. See you all then =)

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Cytrus says:

    Fate/zero’s original is a light novel series by Gen Urobuchi, not a visual novel (despite the very first installment of the franchise being a visual novel).

    Not much into Working, but what police officer would take a missing person report seriously if said ‘missing person’ still lives in the city and is regularly sighted without people actually searching for them? Yamada’s case would justify action if the parents were the ones to file a report, but that’s not the case, so…

    Haganai was worth watching for the first three or so episodes when the club only had three members and all of them interacted on equal terms. Later on things turn gimmicky, as you noted.

    While neither Working nor Haganai kept my attention, I still think it was good to have those light comedy shows for the variety.

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks for the correction on Fate/Zero.

      LOL, I guess the whole missing person idea itself is too silly to even think about bringing the police in, so that’s why it was used just as a gag in the series. Still thought it was a bit too silly even for Working’!! though XD

      Yeah, Working’!! and Haganai were great as doses of light comedy after I’d watch something complex, like Fate/Zero, Shana, or Mirai Nikki.

  2. Relic says:

    As for Boku Wa Tomodachi, I fell victim to the manga and then after that the anime sucked me in with that art. Plus it managed to avoid what I usually hate in a harem-y(where a dude is surrounded by chicks) type shows. It seemed less aggresive from that fan service perspective, and when used drove plot, with more a focus on a guy surrounded by misfit women(plus a trap), like himself, and him just trying to get by with as little trouble possible even though he knows deep down he loves having friends and something to do, reminiscent of what I liked so much about in the show Haruhi. Albeit, Haruhi has a far more complex and intriguing plot line and over-all execution. Still I found remnants of what I loved. While this shows fan service was far less subtle compared to Haruhi they both had the well endowed girl for fan service and hijinks between characters and the stoic male that ACTS indifferent and the female love interest that is somewhat rebellious… That similar formula piqued my interest and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed and found it enjoyable till the end. I hope a 2nd season comes my way. I hope for a season 3 of Haruhi or another movie even more though now that I think about it lol.

    • Yumeka says:

      Interesting comparison between Haganai and Haruhi. There were actually some moments in Haganai, especially in the early episodes, where I did get a bit of Haruhi reminiscence, especially in the interactions between Yozora and Kodaka in the first episode. Though I couldn’t say it lasted later on when all the other girls were brought in and the fan service cranked up. But yes, the two shows do have some similarities.

      I’m holding out for Haruhi season 3 too~

  3. Cirris says:

    Boku Ha Tomodachi was really good at not being overly cliched while still using plenty of cliched tropes. If that makes any sense to you, thank you. Fanservice was there, but actually it wasn’t too bad, and thank god, Kodaka didn’t get waterhose nosebleeds. He was rather gentlemanly about things. I sorta felt like he made the show five times better than it was because he acted NORMAL.

    Tomodachi didn’t have a great story behind it though. It was a bit bland and didn’t have much to offer. While they avoided looking overly cliched, they still did a lot of mundane cliched things. The only major thing that was resolved was Taka finding Sora. That was the extent of the show’s REAL development. That’s not good enough. There needs to be more.

    I think when the show lacks a great story you tend to resort to keying in on the characters themselves. This is where I think the show did a great job. Almost all the characters were pretty fun and amusing. Even when they had their annoying moments they still seemed interesting to watch.

    I hope they continue the series with more character developments and plot.

    • Yumeka says:

      Good call about Kodaka being a “normal” male lead and not overly prone to nosebleeds and panty viewings.

      Yeah, even though Haganai brought up the sort-of plot about forming the Neighbors Club, it was really just them doing everyday high school stuff like most other slice-of-life comedies (the fact that they’re in a Catholic school didn’t affect much either). The Sora and Taka plot was hinted at, but didn’t really come to surface until the last episode. I too hope that if there is a second season, there will be more character and plot development.

  4. Myna says:

    Only watched Fate/Zero as you know. Glad to hear that you liked it!

    The really love Fate/Zero’s diverse cast. It’s great seeing so many adults. I would’ve liked to have seen maybe some more Archer. Anyone but Saber and Irisviel. But Rider is hands down my favorite character (of the year).

    (Honestly, I thought Fate/Stay Night was a piece of crap. It’s a shame you have to go from epic ufotable animation to DEEN.)

    • Yumeka says:

      I would have liked to see more Archer and Lancer…but there’s always next season ;) I didn’t think much of Rider at first but he ended up being a great character. Not only did he bring out the only bit of levity in an otherwise serious show, but he also brought out a lot of good development for other characters, like Saber, and of course, Waver.

  5. Kal says:

    I’ve only watched fate/zero, and I agree. It is really well made. I did watch the original fate stay-night. but I still found the pacing and explanations in fate/zero quite good. I think they did do a good job telling the story on that one. Waiting for the next season as well :)

    I have not seen the other two, but have heard about working multiple times. I’ll see if I can find it and check it out :) The other one, I saw the descriptions for it, but did not attract my attention much. And reading your thoughts about it, might as well skip it. Let’s see how the next season lines up!

    • Yumeka says:

      Glad you enjoyed Fate/Zero so much =D

      I think you’d enjoy Working’!! too, but yeah, Haganai is very skipable if you don’t have a certain amount of tolerance for fan service.

  6. Everything on your list sort of meet my expectations. Fate/Zero was good at first, but it near the end to this half, Ufotable was just getting too theatrical for my taste. Didn’t mind them going off on tangents for fleshing out the characters, but they can tone down the overexert flair next season I will be fine. Working on the other hand seems to be up for another project if I read ANN right, so it will be interesting seeing where that goes, even though I was satisfied with this season.

  7. Savo says:

    Only one on your list I watched was Fate Zero. I agree with your thoughts on it, the series consistently managed to impress me. Like you, I have not seen the original, so I went into the series with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised by the almost movie quality animation and the mature tone to the storytelling. I am very much looking forward to the second season next spring.

    • Yumeka says:

      I was impressed by Fate/Zero’s animation too. And after hearing that the animation in Fate/Stay Night is not very good, watching Stay Night will be a step down for me, while most others went a step up with watching Fate/Zero XD And yes, the mature, serious tone was refreshing as well. It proves that a show doesn’t need to insert unnecessary bits of humor just to keep the viewers’ attention – if a show is genuinely good, such a thing only brings it down.

      • takashid says:

        I would recomend not watching the Fate Stay Night anime actually. Studio DEEN really screwed up big time with that. I watched the anime first, and thought it was just a decent series, not that impressive. Then i played the visual novel and was like “Whoa!”. The original VN is very impressive and compelling, on a similar level to Fate Zero. The problem is that most people only know FSN through the crappy anime DEEN made, which cut out lots of character material just to get to fights, so i hope that ufotable (since they are doing such a good job with Fate/Zero, and did an amazing job with Kara No Kyoukai) will make a remake of the Fate Stay Night anime. In short, don’t watch the FSN anime, try to play the Visual novel.

        • Yumeka says:

          Is the visual novel available in English? I don’t know if I’ll find the motivation to play through it but I’m just curious.

          • Cytrus says:

            Yeah, you can find an English translation patch for the game somewhere on the net. I can’t recommend the novel though, as it feels slow paced and I only ended up finishing it for the Kirei development, since I love the guy.

            Another issue is that F/SN is possibly the greatest insult against womankind I’ve ever read. Stay in the kitchen, king Arthur. I’m a guy and still I couldn’t help feeling outraged at both the main character and the storytelling in general.

  8. Nopy says:

    I actually think it’s a good thing that you haven’t seen Fate/Stay Night since it spoils the ending of Fate/Zero. I know I would enjoy FZ a lot more if I didn’t know who would end up dying and who lives.

    As for Haganai, I actually found the jokes to be more entertaining than the characters themselves. One of my favourite scenes was when Yozora wished the characters in Sena’s game would get eaten by a shark, and they did XD

    • Yumeka says:

      I thought I heard that Fate/Zero spoils Fate/Stay Night? Ah well, from what I’ve heard about Stay Night, I’m glad I’m watching Zero first, whether I decide to continue the story with Stay Night or not.

      Glad you liked Haganai. I enjoyed the scenes with Sena’s gaming too XD

  9. Cirris says:

    I just did a marathon Fate Zero. I have to say the first half of the series started out pretty good. But after the mansion battle sequence the show has become painfully slow. They even added a “loli saves her school children friends” filler episode into the story.

    The other thing that got to me is that nothing is really solved yet. Even when you thought two of the groups were out of the competition. Nope, they get saved by the “ever bending” rules of the game.

    Since everything is stalled with nothing being decided til the split second season. It feels frustrating to me at this point. I don’t like cliffhanger seasons let alone cliffhanger episodes.

    I’m working on working!! right now. :D I just watched the first season. not too bad. I’m going to do the second season shortly. I hope to god Imani can at least touch the guy she loves without resorting to punching his lights out. I do find it a bit contrived that Takanashi hasn’t given up. There’s a limit of how much abuse a person can take. Though it seems like in most japanese anime, it’s quite a lot apparently.

    • Yumeka says:

      I agree that Fate/Zero can be a bit slow. But I personally enjoyed the intricate fantasy elements and character exposition as much as the action. Like I said, I’m not usually good at following complicated anime fantasy, so when I’m finally able to do it, I feel good XD And I don’t mind cliffhangers if I know a second season is right around the corner.

      Glad you’re liking Working!!. I won’t spoil anything for season2 but I will say that Inami gets better in terms of her male phobia =)

      • Cirris says:

        I just finished Working’!! (second season)

        Yeah, at least Inami isn’t punching him every time she sees him now. Still was hoping for more progress than that. But it’s one of those shows that I think they’re going to milk for a couple more seasons; so developments will be rather slow. This season of Working` it seems like a lot of possible developments were setup, but none of them were triggered.

        The jokes and skits seemed to get a modest upgrade this season. But they still seemed low key in delivery. It seemed liked the show was designed to be mildly amusing rather than being hysterically funny.

        Would have liked to see more sisters stuff. I think their eccentricities are about as amusing, if not more amusing, as the Wagneria staff.

        Overall it’s a decent series. It’s not overly entertaining. I really don’t think it’s a type of show that I could watch 4-5 times and still find it fun to watch, which is my benchmark of a “great” anime.

        P.S. Oh, on a side note. That damn OP is friggin` stuck in my head. “pan pan pan pan” “mon mon mon mon” dear god, the horror.

    • Telomeresis says:

      Can’t really blame em’ for trying to stick to it’s source material. In fact, the original guy who wrote the Light Novel is being involved with the show’s production. Hence, the fact that loli-rin saves the day… was a a slight alteration to the Light Novel’s version of events (Where everyone cept’ her died.)

      But have no fear, for Season 2 will rapidly pick the pace up, with most of the development and exposition already done with in Season 1.

      ***…There’s a good reason why there’s a preview of an F-15 towards the end, and the fact that there’s a figurine of Saber on a bike being released. Oh, and did I mention who Kirei’s servant is in Fate/stay night?***

      PS: They are re-airing the uncut version of Episode 11 today (2nd of January) on Tokyo MX. You should… get to it.

  10. Shikon says:

    I originally watched Fate/Stay night many times over before i started watching Fate/Zero. Whichever order you watch them in is kind of irrelevant. In either order you get to see both series with more depth and in another light. One thing about Fate/Zero that blew me away was the spectacular animation and brutal combat that ensues within the series, Fate/ Stay Night was good but the animation pales in comparison to Fate/Zero and even the movie: Unlimited Blade Works.

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