Working!!, released in the US as Wagnaria!!, is a Japanese four-panel comic strip manga series 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 series was serialized in Square Enix's 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 also titled Working!!, 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

Takanashi family

Others

WWW.Working!!

Wagnaria employees

Others

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 (榊 研一郎), the web comic's store manager, is an old friend of Kyōko Shirafuji and Masahiro Adachi (足立 正広) from the web comic is a bandmate of Jun Satō from the Young Gangan version. The author called the web comic version Cat Group (猫組) and the serialized manga version Dog Group (犬組). 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 Chinese 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 anime television series' 13-episode first season, produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike, aired in Japan between April 4 and June 26, 2010 on Tokyo MX; 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 three female leads). The ending theme is "Heart no Edge ni Idomō Go to Heart Edge" (ハートのエッジに挑もう Go to Heart Edge) by Jun Fukuyama, Daisuke Ono and Hiroshi Kamiya (the three male leads). The special ending theme for episode nine is "Golden Day" (ゴールデン・デイ) by Saki Fujita. A second season, titled Working'!! (with an apostrophe), 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!!" (いつものように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" (まつ毛に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, while 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.

Reception

The fourth manga volume of Working!! was the seventh highest-selling manga volume in Japan for the week of October 23–29, 2007. The sixth manga volume was the sixth-highest selling manga volume in Japan for the week of March 24–30, 2009, having sold over 73,000 volumes that week.