Anime: Hataraki Man

After seeing the veeeery low rating of this show i just had to do something about it.

The animation is well done, the overall design is extremely realistic. I´m well aware that this does not cater to everyones appetite, but i liked it.

The sounds are as realistic as the design, the opening theme is good and the ending theme is really great, one of my favorites!

The story is where the crowd gets separated into fans and haters.
I´m well aware that people who lead a life of hard, dull work and/or everyday suffer from the enormous psycological pressure applied on most of the average white-collar-worker might hate the show for its realism.

Actually it´s not that far off to call it a line-up of depressing situations that might happen to those who are rather ambitious in their profession.

But what the hell, i liked it anyways!

Breaking up with your fiancee is not a nice thing to happen, but if he´s a dork in the first place it mightn´t be that bad...

So if you don´t mind watching other people work their butt off just give it a try. You may even find some of those characters in your own environment...

OK, first off, this isn't a badly made series. While the animation isn't top-notch, there's nothing terribly wrong with it, either. Likewise, the art is pleasant enough to the eye, especially if you like the thin-framed, big-eyed shoujo types. The story is well-paced and the events flow naturally, without friction. Not a bad word to say about the seiyuu, either, and the quality of the soundtrack certainly is above average.

So what gives?

The genre of the show is mostly slice-of-life, with nothing very significant beyond the daily lives of the characters going on. I'm not personally a fan of this genre, as it always feels to me that I'm peeping into people's lives, which is certainly a feeling I can do without. This sensation is the stronger the more realistic the characters and the situations are.

In this series the events are, unfortunately for me and the Japanese working force at large, very realistic. The series goes to detail the rather gruesome working life of a group of perfectly unremarkable people, focusing on the "career woman" Hiroko Matsukata. They merrily work themselves to death, attribute every setback to not working enough, and in the end have little more to show for all their efforts than crushed dreams and failed aspirations.

Moral of the story? Work always triumphs over dreams and ideals; Health and happiness are completely secondary to your career; There's no use antagonizing your job; Those questioning the sensibility of working more than you need to deserve nothing but contempt; And lastly, devoting yourself to your career will make you miserable, but you have to keep working hard, because... uh... OK, move along, nothing to see here.

One of the most absurd moments in the series is the whole episode they spend defending paparazzis with an argument that basicaly boils down to "all work is important". If this was a story set in some alternative reality - one ruled by brain-sucking parasites, for instance - the series would make for good, though-provoking drama. In the context of the series in fact being a rather accurate description of the labor practices in Japan, it's simply depressing to the max.

I vainly kept waiting for the characters to realize the error of their ways, but even at the very end, after having basically fucked up her life beyond recognition, Hiroko still finds it in herself to sing praises to Work Almighty. The 3½ hours spent on this series may not peak as the most depressing period of my entire life, but man, it's not for the lack of trying.

I can't in good conscience recommend this title to anyone, except maybe to people who are thinking about moving to Japan and need some good sense knocked into them. As Az of the Gaijin Smash fame put it: "Note to Japan. When your workforce wishes destruction upon their own country JUST to get a day off... you may want to rethink your work-ethic standards. Just a suggestion."