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Wagnaria!!2

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Last week I had the good fortune of reviewing Good Luck Girl (Binbogami ga!) from Madman Entertainment, which managed to break a spell of relatively dry comedy anime series for me (Ultmately walking away with an A- grade). Given a rather stressful couple of weeks, I felt the need for a good laugh so finally decided to get around to watching Wagnaria!!2, a sequel to the 2010 anime series Wagnaria!! (Working!!) which has recently been published in North America by Nippon Ichi Software America as part of their premium edition releases.

Storyline

When I first reviewed this slice-of-life comedy series two and a half years ago, it walked away with a B+ grade for a “variety of clever plots and quirky characters” however lacked any sort of structure to give weight to an overarching storyline for the series. What it did provide however was a number of memorable characters that work well in providing entertaining experiences each and every episode. With another thirteen episodes based off the mind of original manga author Karino Takatsu, it becomes quickly obvious that very little has changed… with Wagnaria!!2 once again detailing the quirky lives of those who work at the family restaurant Wagnaria.

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Maintaining the structure of the first season there isn’t an overarching plotline, but instead a number of smaller events that serves to deliver development for one or more of the characters. The entire character cast from the first season make a reappearance, and while the same trio (Souta Takanashi, Popura Taneshima and Mahiru Inami) are poised as the central characters, each receives their fair share of laughs and development – including more attention put on Aoi Yamada, Hyoto Otoo and the Takanashi family than before. 

A group of new characters also appear throughout the episodes including Yohei Mashiba and Mitsuki Mashiba who used to be a part of Kyoko’s former gang and Haruna Otoo, the mysterious wife of Hyoto Otoo who disappeared one day after going to buy a carton of milk and pops up in bizarre places now and again. While interesting, their roles are relatively minor in comparison to the returning cast. Oh, and Maya gets her chance to shine once again even if only for one episode.

While the comedy can sometimes be hit and miss, with certain recurring gags having now well and truly run their course, Wagnaria!!2 once again proves itself as an enjoyable slice-of-life series that plays and builds upon its strengths.

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Design / Music / Voice Acting

Unlike the first season of Wagnaria!! which NIS America chose to release as a DVD-exclusive collection, Wagnaria!!2 is only available on the blu-ray format which means it is slightly less import friendly than before. On a more positive note however, the change in format has given the series a noticeable quality boost, with visuals looking better than ever.

Overall, animation studio A-1 Pictures seem to have gone for the concept of “simple yet detailed”. There is nothing elaborate about the character designs or backgrounds, but instead they focus on providing little bits of detail such as signs on the wall, menus behind the counter or essentially something more than a plain backdrop which shows they didn’t attempt to take the simplest route when producing the episodes.

Wagnaria!!2 features a single opening and ending sequence titled “Coolish Walk” by the lead female cast Kana Asumi, Saki Fujiya and Eri Kitamara and “Itsumo you Ni Love & Peace” by the lead male cast Jun Fukuyama, Daisuke Ono and Hiroshi Kamiya respectively. Both were enjoyable tracks similar in style to what was presented in the very first season. The opening is one that you can be ensnared into watching every episode, however the ending also has some charm given its rather fun albeit simplistic animation. The remainder of the musical backing in the episodes were of the same standard as before – usually there to support the mood of the scene while not being overly memorable.

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While Nippon Ichi Software America have recently decided to change their approach to English dubs with their upcoming re-release of Toradora!, Wagnaria!!2 only contains the original Japanese dub. The Japanese dub is enjoyable to listen to, with all the voice actors / actresses suiting their character roles. Personal highlights include Kana Asumi as Popura Taneshima and Ryou Hirohashi as Aoi Yamada.

Extra Content

This review of Wagnaria!!2 is based on the original Premium Edition released by NIS America which also includes an artbook and hardcover slipcase. The artbook this time around is one of NIS America’s themed books titled “A Normal Girl’s Earnest Attempt to Chronicle the Culture of a Family Restaurant” and contains commentary from Maya across its pages. Also included is episode commentary, character profiles for new characters and ten pages of official artwork produced for promoting the series in various formats. Unfortunately the artwork is disrupted by comments from “Maya” that appear across the page, with some art being sections of portrait artwork rather than the entire piece.

The bare basics are included in-disc including trailers for other NIS America anime titles, clean ending sequences and a small collection of trailers and commercials.

Final Words on Wagnaria!!2

While it is still surprising that a series about a group of people working in a restaurant could be made so enjoyable, Wagnaria!!2 was an entertaining slice-of-life comedy that should appeal to fans of the first season. While there is still very little in terms of overarching plot and a couple of the gags do run dry after two seasons, the characters and the small events that make up their colourful lives results in Wagnaria!!2 being just as enjoyable the second time around.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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