Servant x Service

Summary:

A workplace comedy about three twenty-something year old’s who have recently begun working in a public service office in an unnamed city in Japan.  Our main protagonist, Lucy, took this job to seek revenge over the civil service agent who approved her embarrassingly long name.  Workplace gags and the humor that arises with a customer-service oriented job arises among an incredibly quirky office cast.

Original Source:

Servant x Service is based on a comedy manga that started in 2009 and is still ongoing written by Karino Takatsu.  They were also the original creator for Wagnaria!! or Working!!

Director:

The director worked on Squid Girl Season 2, Problem children are coming from another world aren’t they?, and Valkyria Chronicles.

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Art/Sound:

I want to get this out of the way upfront.  Everything about this anime when it comes to production is what you would likely expect it to be.  The character designs are generic, the colors are basic, and the sound is exactly as you expect it would be.

This anime doesn’t thrive on its artistic presentation or style choices.  But I would almost argue that if they went to left-field with any of them then it would take away from what the show is.

The animation and sound don’t generally detract either, as I found I almost enjoyed it being more generic so I could really focus on the characters and story.

Review:

I began this show expecting it to be really episodic and random humor.  I knew it was based off gag comedy and right off the bat in the first three or four episodes you really begin to feel the original source material.  The jokes flow from one to the next and the eccentricities of each of the characters, magnified by their being together, is highlighted in multiple occurrences.

You start out with everything from the playboy slacker, the overly ambitious big-breasted girl out for revenge for her name, and the sweet yet kinda dumb girl.  I know, it starts out like just about everything else you’ve ever seen ever.  The jokes are often just as predictable.  You get the old oba-chan who won’t stop talking and the girl is too sweet to send her away.  The playboy doesn’t give up yet is strangely competent when you least expect it.  There’s even a joke about a bra breaking that any hilarity aside as a woman who has been in a workplace there’s something genuinely funny embarrassing you get to feel while watching it.

The show really began to surprise me though as it continued because it began to have an overarching story really develop between the characters.  Now, this story isn’t anything astounding, life-changing, or morally deep.  But, it is a solid story in a slice-of-life comedy show and that alone both surprised and impressed me.  As someone who is used to this genre being just fluff on fluff that you can randomly skip around having a building story line that really enhances your enjoyment and understanding of the characters really made the watching experience that much better.

Despite how cliche’d the characters are and gags that are delivered there is something about how they are written in this particular show that makes it stand head and shoulders above others in this same genre.  They have the right mix of quirks, tropes, and realism that makes it equally possible for them to be laughed at as well as cheered for.

What really surprised me in the characters and the overall show/story was the progression of romance.  In slice-of-life genres I generally expect some romance to be thrown in there.  Plus, with comedy, there are just so many things you can do when the element of attraction, dates, and feelings are on the table.  But this show does the romance shockingly well for what it is.  Yes, it still is that silly workplace comedy.  But there is some serious relationship building that occurs in the show that really made it more enjoyable overall.

One thing that I can really applaud this show for is that it had a nice ending.  There wasn’t really a hint of “to be continued.”  Of course, with this type of genre there is always the possibility that it could go forever.  But it had a conclusion that was both satisfying and wrapped up what the anime needed to.

This show reminds me of something that you would see as a fall generic sitcom-esque show appearing in just about any country (of course adjust some gags for each country).  It has a quirky cast and every episode has a few gags and a generally larger theme centering around one character and their interactions with one or two other characters.  The resolution of that theme ends up progressing the show and carries forward.  The romantic relationships shine as much as the comedy come the end of the series and you find yourself enjoying watching the characters interact as much as you enjoy their misadventures navigating their office jobs.

Servant x Service has a really great blend of funny, cute, crazy and realistic that makes it relate-able for lots of people.  I thought it was kind of nice to see an anime that I felt was more based toward an older crowd who is entering the workforce and the mixed up insane feelings that come with it all.

There’s normally a glass ceiling for me when it comes to shows in this genre.  Romantic, comedy, slice-of-life, but Servant x Service really exceeded my expectations and broke through that a bit.  It was everything I expected, yes.  It didn’t change my life, no.  But I think it is an exemplar in it’s genre and for that it deserves:

4 robotic bunnies out of 5