Working!! 13 – Sayonara, Wagnaria (With Added Sentimentality!)

The finale of Working!! was extremely similar to every other episode of the series, and it delivered exactly what we’ve come to expect from the show. It had clean, character-driven humour, with some slapstick and development thrown in for good measure, topped off with fun music and solid production. It was these similarities along with a distinct lack of closure that made it feel like the show really didn’t want things to end. We were even introduced to a new character! But I’m not complaining. (After all, since I’ve loved the rest of the series, I suppose it’s only natural that I loved this episode too.) And I’d be absolutely rapt if Working!! got a second season. Oh, and…

This post took a little while to work on!

Okay, down to business! The new character we met was none other than the mystery meganekko in the OP, who’s pretty much done everything around Wagnaria except speak. It turns out her name is Maya Matsumoto, and despite her protests, I’d call her just as strange as all the other staff members. Matsumoto tries so, so hard to be typical; she’s essentially obsessed with being (what she deems) normal and leading a normal working life. Ironically, it’s this that makes her so bizarre: coupled with the odd behaviour of the rest of the gang, she ends up acting incredibly strangely because of this wish. She’s great fun to watch and she actually fits in really well with the rest of the staff members, probably because she tries so hard to be unlike them. Soma’s “She a bit strange, isn’t she?” comment made me laugh out loud and really capped things off with her perfectly.

Don't worry, Maya, we adore your weirdness~.

On the topic of Matsumoto, she’s almost marketed as an antithesis to Aoi: Aoi wants drama! Matsumoto wants normality! It’s funny, though, because both of them end up creating a lot of excitement. Even more ironically, Matsumoto creates drama in a much more overt way than her counterpart, who prefers subtler methods (even though it tends to be painfully obvious who the perpetrator of her schemes is). What’s best about this all, though, is that Working!! makes the character-clash work. Both Matsumoto and Aoi are really funny, and it seems like both have been/will be great additions to the show. I say ‘will be’ because Matsumoto really hasn’t had enough time to shine yet: I think I like her, but I want to see more of her before making a judgement on her character (I heard that she plays a large part in the special, but don’t quote me on that!). But as for Aoi…

Yamada segue, go go go!

She was my favourite character of the season, and this episode only cemented that. At first I was nervous about her addition to the show’s cast, but she ended up being the standout of the gang. Her antics were hilarious, her personality was endearing and quirky, and she was pretty damn cool to boot. What I liked about most about her character, though, was the way she interacted with all the other staff members. Whether it was with her bluntness, craziness or cuteness, she was able to provoke fantastic reactions from each and every one of her fellow part-timers, and I honestly think that her addition directly or indirectly led to each character’s funniest moment of the series. I’d also say that the best female vocal performance of the show came from Aoi’s seiyuu, Ryou Hirohashi, and that made things even more enjoyable.

S-s-s-so romantic!

As for Sota and Inami, was I disappointed that we didn’t get closure with regard to their relationship? Yes and no. On the one hand, I’m a big fan of this pairing and would’ve loved for them to have gotten together. On the other, I feel as though the ending they got stayed true to the spirit of the show, and honestly, I don’t know how I would have felt had they become a couple. Also on the plus side, there were definitely signs of forward momentum in their relationship, with Sota even referring to Inami as cute (is the minicon within him dying?). This really served to highlight the amount of growth he, and indeed all of the Wagnaria staff, have gone through, and I loved that.

And while you're at it, let's cook up some final thoughts!

This episode was sort of a sentimental experience for me because each part of it reminded me of an element of the series that I loved. Matsumoto’s scenes highlighted the zaniness of the characters. Sota and Inami’s scenes underscored how impressed I was by the character development. The jokes reminded me of how I laughed out loud so many times.  Everything with Aoi spotlighted why she’s my favourite character of the season, and every time another character popped up on screen, they reminded me of how much I enjoyed watching them and their interactions with everyone else.

I want to take the opportunity now to come back to something I said about the very first episode of the series, when I was still unsure about how things would turn out.

The fate of the show is really going to depend on the strength of the characters.

Now at the end of the Working!!‘s run, I can truly say that I feel the series has succeeded, and this has been due to its characters. They were all awesome and easily likeable (despite a couple taking a while to grow on you). The show did everything right with them, too. It knew them. It was sure of their quirks and personalities, and was able to derive humour and even the occasional bit of drama from them because of this. I loved them all, to varying degrees, and so I loved the show. Similarly, I like to judge character-driven shows I’ve been watching week-to-week by how much I’ll miss the characters. It’s probably obvious by how much I ramble on about them, but I’ll miss the crew of Wagnaria a whole lot. I’ll miss Inami’s punches and Sota’s faux pas, Yachiyo’s yuri love and Kyoko’s laziness, Sato’s macho exterior and Soma’s blackmailer’s heart, Poplar’s energy and Nazuna’s smile. And as for Aoi…

*sniff* I think I'll miss her most of all.

Suffice to say, I’ll certainly miss all parts of Working!! and will be eagerly awaiting the upcoming DVD special. The series was a huge amount of fun and highly satisfying for me, and I’d have no qualms about calling it my favourite show of the season.  Despite the slow start, it had charm, warmth, and a good amount of eccentricity, but most importantly it had its characters. I hope I can unearth another gem like it in the anime-summer!