Working!!
Working!!, released in the US as Wagnaria!!, is a Japanese four-panel comic strip written and illustrated by Karino Takatsu, which follows the activities of the unusual employees at one of the units of the Wagnaria family restaurant chain. The manga was serialized in Square Enix' Young Gangan seinen manga magazine between January 2005 and November 2014. Square Enix released three drama CDs between 2007 and 2009 with scripts written by Shōgo Mukai. An anime television series was produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike, airing in three seasons in 2010, 2011, and 2015 respectively. In North America, the first two anime seasons are licensed by NIS America while the third is licensed by Aniplex of America.
The series is a spin-off of an earlier webcomic of the same name, later published in print form as Web-ban Working!!, set in another Wagnaria restaurant and following a different group of characters. It was adapted into an anime series titled WWW.Working!! in 2016. It is licensed by Aniplex of America.
Characters
Main series
Wagnaria employees
; Sōta Takanashi; Popura Taneshima
; Mahiru Inami
; Kyouko Shirafuji
; Yachiyo Todoroki
; Jun Satō
; Hiroomi Souma
; Aoi Yamada
; Hyougo Otoo
; Maya Matsumoto
Takanashi family
; Kazue Takanashi; Izumi Takanashi
; Kozue Takanashi
; Nazuna Takanashi
; Shizuka Takanashi
Others
; Mahiru's Father; Mahiru's Mother
; Haruna Otoo
; Yōhei Mashiba
; Mitsuki Mashiba
; Kirio Yamada
; Tōru Minegishi
; Izumi's Editor
''WWW.Working!!''
Wagnaria employees
; Daisuke Higashida; Hana Miyakoshi
; Sayuri Muranushi
; Masahiro Adachi
; Kisaki Kondō
; Shiho Kamakura
; Yūta Shindō
; Takuya Kōno
; Kōki Saiki
; Kenichirō Sakaki
Others
; Miri Yanagiba; Rui Nagata
; Yōko Miyakoshi
; Tasaka
; Daichi Saitō
Media
Manga
Working!! had its origins in a web comic written and illustrated by Karino Takatsu also called Working!!, which she published in irregular intervals on her personal website from 2002 to 2013. This web comic was published in print in six volumes from 2015 to 2017, under the title Web-ban Working!!. The web comic's setting and characters are different from the later four-panel comic strip manga, which was serialized from January 2005 to November 2014 issues of Square Enix's Young Gangan manga magazine. While the restaurant in the web comic and manga are both called Wagnaria, they are different branch stores, so the world is the same. For example, Kenichirō Sakaki, the web comic's store manager, is an old friend of Kyōko Shirafuji and Masahiro Adachi from the web comic is a bandmate of Jun Satō from the Young Gangan version. The author called the web comic version Cat Group and the serialized manga version Dog Group. Square Enix published 13 tankōbon volumes between November 25, 2005, and December 25, 2014. Ten additional chapters have been released via mobile phones. The manga has been licensed for release in Mandarin in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. Takatsu launched a biweekly web version of Working!! on October 16, 2009, to commemorate the anime series and posts the manga on the anime's official website.Drama CDs and radio show
Square Enix released three drama CDs under the title Young Gangan Book In CD Working!!, with scenarios written by Shōgo Mukai. The first volume, released on January 25, 2007, came bundled with a 96-page booklet with bonus manga and the scenario included. The second and third volumes, released on April 25, 2008, and March 25, 2009, respectively, also came bundled with similar booklets. The voice acting cast for the anime is different from the drama CDs.An Internet radio show to promote the anime series titled Yamaking!! aired 13 episodes between May 21 and October 29, 2010, and was hosted by Ryō Hirohashi, the voice actress of Aoi Yamada. The show restarted with the title Yamaking!! on October 7, 2011.
Anime
The first season of the anime, consisting of 13 episodes, is produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike. It aired in Japan between April 4 and June 26, 2010, on Tokyo MX, with the first episode having a special pre-broadcast on March 6, 2010, on Tokyo MX. NIS America licensed the anime under the title Wagnaria!!, and an English-subtitled DVD box set was released on March 24, 2011. The anime's opening theme is "Someone Else" by Kana Asumi, Saki Fujita and Eri Kitamura. The ending theme is "Heart no Edge ni Idomō" by Jun Fukuyama, Daisuke Ono, and Hiroshi Kamiya. The special ending theme for episode nine is "Golden Day" by Saki Fujita.A second season, titled Working'!!, began airing on October 1, 2011, after a September 3, 2011 preview airing. Crunchyroll did a simulcast of the series. The second season's opening theme is "Coolish Walk" by Asumi, Fujita and Kitamura, while the ending theme is "Always Love&Peace!!" by Fukuyama, Ono and Kamiya.
A third anime season titled Working!!! premiered on July 4, 2015. It is also streamed online with English subtitles on Aniplex Channel, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Daisuki and Viewster. The third season's opening theme is "Now!!! Gamble" by Asumi, Fujita and Kitamura, while the ending theme is "Matsuge ni Lock" by Fukuyama, Ono and Kamiya.
WWW.Working!!, an anime adaptation of Web-ban Working!!, the print release of the webcomic predecessor of the manga, premiered on October 1, 2016, on Tokyo MX and other television networks. A-1 Pictures and Yumi Kamakura returned to produce and direct the series, respectively. The opening theme song, titled "Eyecatch! Too Much!", is performed by Haruka Tomatsu, Yōko Hikasa and Sora Amamiya. The ending theme song, titled "Mujūryoku Fever", is performed by Yūichi Nakamura, Kōki Uchiyama, and Kenshō Ono. WWW.Working!! is licensed in North America by Aniplex of America. It ran on Animax Asia from October 1, 2016, to December 24, 2016.