Working!! 07 – Looks Can Be Deceiving

It’s time for episode 7 of Working!! and the focus turns to the arrival of new staff member, Aoi Yamada. She may look innocent and generally adorable, but she’s actually remarkably perceptive, blunt and manipulative. Despite these things, I do believe that I like her. More than that, though, she really got me thinking about how in Working!!, you can’t judge a book by its cover. [NB: As in my previous post, I will be using a style which focuses on impressions rather than the summary. I hope you enjoy this!]

If you think she's cute, she's already won.

The characters in Working!! don’t seem to have much in common, but there are two things which they all share. The first is (as I’ve said before) that, despite all their quirks, they’re kind and good-intentioned people. The second is that they’re not who they seem at first glance. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is Poplar, because you’re reminded of her hidden trait whenever she’s on screen: she looks 12 but she’s actually 17. As for the other staff members, we have Inami and Yachiyo, who are often sweet but can be incredibly violent; Soma, who seems like the nicest guy in the world but is actually a manipulative blackmailer; Sato, who looks grumpy but is easily one of the kindest people at Wagnaria; etc. The same goes for every other character in the series.  Now, we also have Aoi, and her ‘inner self’ becomes obvious to us quite quickly. She seems to be a rather typical young girl, but is hiding pretty much every facet of herself – her real name, age and the situation she’s in. She’s not the naive young maiden she makes herself out to be but an accomplished liar who’s able to read people brilliantly. She swiftly picks up that Sato is in love with Yachiyo (and announces it to the latter, prompting some great reactions from the rest of the gang), and even manages to gain leverage on the seemingly unflappable Soma.

I like the way this girl thinks.

I realise that I’m making her sound like an evil genius and, honestly, it would have been easy for the creators to peg her as just that. But she isn’t. As Working!! has done with every other person in the series, she’s presented as simply a flawed but lovable human being. Besides all the parts of her personality mentioned above, another of her quirks is that she seems to be looking to build a family comprised of some of the other staff members. Things get turned on their heads, though, because what could have been a touching moment of childlike idealism is turned into something very, very funny. Aoi doesn’t want the picture-perfect nuclear family for herself. She wants one like in the dramas, with enough fighting and scandal to make a soap opera writer jealous. This is made even more hilarious by the fact that, due to her bluntness, she actually asks Yachiyo and Otoo to be her ‘mother’ and ‘father’ respectively, and also for an extramarital affair to take place. I like her a lot and think she’s really funny to watch, despite the fact that I’d become so attached to the other workers that, when I saw last week’s preview, I wanted to hate her. I can’t say much more about her at this point, though, as she largely remains an enigma. Anyway, I’m curious as to whether her past will be revealed to us or whether we’ll be kept in the dark for the rest of the series. I can see potential for humour both ways.

Aoi Yamada: proud graduate of the Soma Hiroomi School of Stirring the Pot.

As for character development, I feel as though Sota has really grown. Being the “minicon” that he is, you’d expect him to be putty in Aoi’s hands. He, however, saw through her act almost instantly – initially being the only staff member to have done so – and actually responded rather negatively toward her. I was very much expecting a lot of jokes to come from him finding her adorable but absolutely none of them came. In fact, Sota’s minicon-ness was a topic of discussion that was largely avoided in this episode. I’m extremely happy for this as it keeps the series fresh and interesting, and shows that the creators aren’t content to just recycle jokes. Suffice to say, their work has paid off: this was another hilarious episode. It didn’t reach the heights of last week’s effort but, like last week, I laughed out loud a few times and was happy for the rest of the episode. Next week takes the Wagnaria crew to the hot springs, and I’m actually anticipating it. The claw-hand, regarded as one of the funniest jokes of the show, is fated to make another appearance, and Inami should also be back in full force, after a distinct lack of her antics this week. Working!! has definitely become one of the nicest shows I’m watching this season, and I’m hoping there’ll be more hilarity as it continues.