The first season of Working!! turned out to be a success, so YuriReviews is back for seconds with a review of the second season. Be sure to tip your waiter~

Picking up where the first season left off is probably a stretch—since there wasn’t much of a story to begin with—but a continuation of the events and scenarios is what you can expect from Working’!!.

Souta and Inami are still struggling to manage her acute androphobia; Yachiyo, Kyouko, and Satou are still involved in an awkward love triangle; Poplar is still teased about her short stature, despite her continued desire for an increase in height; Yamada is still living at Wagnaria; and Souma is still all up in everyone’s business. Basically, if you liked the direction that things were headed before, you’re sure to enjoy what this second season has in store.

Souta and Inami’s situation probably gets the most attention, and generally, I was pleased with how their story played out over the season. I think there’s enough progress involved as to avoid monotony, but not so much progress that their relationship loses its comedy edge and becomes somewhat sappy, and for lack of a better word, normal.

The yuri epicenter that is Kyouko x Yachiyo didn’t have quite the same effect on me that it had in the first season, and that can probably be attributed to both an increased emphasis on Satou’s plight, as well as a lack of any substantial developments in Kyouko and Yachiyo’s relationship. Kyouko’s love is first and foremost food, and if Kyouko felt the same way about Yachiyo as she felt about snacks, we would be sitting pretty, but that’s not really the case. In contrast, despite his unwillingness to reveal his feelings to Yachiyo, it’s obvious that Satou genuinely cares about her—and some yuri fans may hate me for this—but part of me hopes that those two end up together.

On one hand, I think that Satou feels far more strongly about Yachiyo than Kyouko does, but on the other hand, the same can be said of Yachiyo’s feelings towards Kyouko. Yachiyo and Satou’s relationship has improved over time, and you get the sense that her feelings towards him can continue to grow, and it seems to me that Kyouko is too indifferent about the situation (and everything else), so she’d be unwilling to truly return Yachiyo’s feelings. So to make a long story short, if you were to disregard gender, I feel as though Satou is the person who’s more capable of treating Yachiyo the way that she should be treated.

This discussion could all end up being a moot point, since it still looks like their intertwined story is heading in a direction that’s clearly favoring Satou, but I guess I’ll just have to see what the third season has in store. I probably made all that sound much more dramatic than it actually is, but anyway, let’s move on already. 😛

Returning characters Poplar, Souma, and Yamada are every bit as enjoyable as before, but out of all of the characters this season, Yamada may have actually been my favorite. She has the cuteness, the type of personality that’s infectious, and above all else, she has great comedic timing (even if she’s often the butt of the jokes). As a whole, I think this season was a bit funnier than the original, but maybe that’s just me. Either way, the series delivers some good comedy, no matter your preference of seasons.

Something that I don’t believe I mentioned at all in the review of the first season was the presence of Souta’s four sisters. All four provided some entertaining moments, but it was drunkard Kozue and feeble Izumi that were easily my personal favorites (especially Izumi). Also, Kyouko’s twin underlings and Yamada’s absentminded brother are new additions to the cast—and although they have relatively minor roles—they also contribute to the comedy and the overall enjoyment of this season. In the final episode, bespectacled beauty Maya finally got a little more screen time, which is hopefully an encouraging sign for season three.

Despite this being a slice of life, there’s a little more substance to the story than you’d typically find in an anime of this type. It’s still in the same vein as the others, but some mild interpersonal drama adds some spice to a dish that already packs a bit of flavor. The characters were already a strength of this show, and through some tweaking, I’d say that that’s an aspect where there’s some slight improvement from before. Lastly, I think that the relationship between Yachiyo and Kyouko has become somewhat stagnant, and with the growing possibility of Yachiyo x Satou, the yuri aspect of Working’!! isn’t as strong as most people would prefer. Still, it can’t be denied that Yachiyo is quite a piece of work.

It may not be an especially dramatic difference, but from the first season to the second, there’s a slight improvement in the quality of the visuals. There’s a year-and-a-half gap between season one and season two, so maybe it’s just natural progression, but to me, it definitely seems a little sharper and slightly more vivid than before. It may not matter much in an anime such as this, but keeping up with the Joneses is convenient, nevertheless.

Just as the animation isn’t of huge importance, the same can definitely be said of the audio. For me, there’s nothing that especially stands out, as it’s a general sound that’s pretty by the book, yet the OP and ED are once again the highlight. Poplar, Inami, and Yachiyo’s seiyuus are back to sing the OP, while Souta, Satou, and Souma handle ED duties. Unlike season one, there are no individual EDs for any character, but the existing themes are the type of fun and novel idea that every single slice of life should follow.

Building upon what made the first season so successful, Working’!! makes some minor improvements in a few critical areas, though the most important one in many people’s eyes (the yuri) feels like it’s slowly being phased out in favor of a het relationship. If you’re willing to overlook that, you have a sequel that’s every bit as good as the original, if not more so~