Drama CD - WORKING!!
Was quite surprised to see this up on Tokyotosho, didn’t really expect anyone to get hold of this. I’m too lazy to read manga nowadays so unfortunately I can’t tell you much about it, but I made a half-assed attempt to dig up some info.
WORKING!! is a 4koma manga by Takatsu Karino that is serialised in Square Enix’s Young Gangan magazine (the same one Sumomomo runs in) of which 3 tankoubon have been published (this drama CD came with volume 3) . It centres on high school student Takanashi Souta and his experiences working in a Hokkaido famiresu (family restaurant) called ワグナリア (Wagnaria? Wagnalia?).
I was primarily interested in this because of the seiyuu involved; and the characters sounded interesting (though Kyouko bears more than a passing resemblance to Nobue from Ichigo Mashimaro);
L to R: Takanashi, Bobura, Tenchou, Yachiyo
Takanashi Souta (小鳥遊宗太): Suzumura Kenichi
-Normal 16-year old. Has 3 older sisters and is forced to do all sorts of chores for them. Wore girl’s clothing when he was a little boy. Treats all girls over the age of 12 as toshima (mature woman). Likes cute, small things.
Taneshima Bobura (種島ぽぷら): Kadowaki Mai
-Tiny 17-year old (with big boobs). Calls Takanashi ‘Katanashi’, which would normally make him mad but he forgives her because she’s small and cute. Is extremely self-conscious about her height.
Shirafuji Kyouko (白藤杏子): Minagawa Junko
-28-year old store manager. A former yankee with a big attitude, doesn’t lift a finger at work. Eats everything in sight. Doesn’t get along well with Takanashi (who calls her a toshima).
Todoroki Yachiyo (轟八千代): Kawaragi Shiho
-20-year old floor chief. Token yuri character. Is totally besotted with Kyouko who once stepped in when she was being bullied in school. Insanely jealous of anyone who tries to get near Kyouko, and won’t forgive anyone who talks bad about her.
L to R: Inami, Satou, Souma, Otoo-san
Inami Mahiru (伊波まひる): Nakahara Mai
-17-year old part time waitress. Has a morbid fear of men, a result of her father’s mis-education. Turns violent when faced with them. Tends to abuse Takanashi a lot, but is falling in love with him.
Satou Jun (佐藤潤): Nojima Hirofumi
-20-year old kitchen worker. Quiet character. The most hardworking employee in Wagnalia it appears. Is actually in love with Yachiyo.
Souma Hiroomi (相馬博臣): Fujita Yoshinori
-20-year old kitchen worker. Soft-spoken, smiley character. Knows the weaknesses of all the Wagnalia employees. Likes big boobs. Dislikes Inami.
Otoo Hyougo (音尾兵吾): Nakamura Daiki
-Wagnalia’s 37-year old general manager. Doesn’t actually appear in the drama CD -_-; It also sounds weird when they call him Otoo-san (sounds like お父さん/father).
The CD starts off with a Bobura looking for new part-time workers for Wagnalia in the freezing December cold but ends up being brushed off rather rudely. The scene then switches over to Wagnalia, where a fed-up Satou complains about the kitchen feeling like a sauna. Yachiyo, the floor chief, sympathizes with him and Souma, another kitchen worker who has to help serve customers because of the shortage of part-time workers.
It then switches over to Inami who’s welcoming customers in, but gets terrified when a guy customer calls her over and she asks store manager Kyouko to help serve him instead. Which tenchou turns down, telling her to get used to men.
The scene then switches over to Takanashi, who’s ticking off a list of chores he has to do in his mind when he sees Taneshima, who’s still asking people to help out at the famiresu. At first he dismisses her as a toshima but he’s captivated by Taneshima’s cuteness and gives into her request. And so this kicks off his life in the strange place called Wagnalia, amongst all sorts of weirdos.
The rest of the drama CD deals with Wagnalia filming a CM segment for some local TV show to promote the restaurant. There’s some pretty weird stuff that happens; when Souma is filming Yachiyo introducing the restaurant, a bunch of punks walk in and starts threatening other customers. And they get karate chopped by Kyouko - which makes Yachiyo go all starry-eyed “Aaaah, Kyouko-san!!!! Suteki!!!”
Some other stuff I liked:
1.Taneshima slips, falls and drops the drinks she was carrying and ends up all wet - Takanashi quickly hands her a change of clothes which turns out to be a hamster outfit (that makes a lot of squeaking sounds). Which Taneshima is not impressed with, but Takanashi goes all moe over and demands that she apologise for being so cute. Souma and Satou try to convince Taneshima that the outfit looks good on her and she should continue wearing it, but she protests that she can’t make a parfait properly in the get-up. Kyouko then goes off on a tangent about how famiresu are all about service, and that making customers satisfied is their priority. So, Taneshima + hamster suit = decided.
2.Takanashi and Taneshima watch a video of Yachiyo secretly filming Kyouko eating a parfait >_> and Yachiyo sounding like she’s rather uh…. enjoying herself (Suteki desu Kyouko-san!!! Hitorijime shitai!!!). Kyouko hears the sounds and says Oi dare ka iru no ka (Who’s there) and Yachiyo makes a strange, neighing sound to try to cover up. And Kyouko says Nanda, ushi ka (Oh, it’s a cow).
3.The punks from before return, this time in a group of 10 swearing revenge on Kyouko. Promptly get beaten up by the ‘monster’ Inami.
I quite enjoyed the drama CD as a whole; the seiyuu were all good - particularly enjoyed Nakahara and Kawaragi’s performances, and I laughed more than once (a good sign). Would make an interesting anime one day maybe.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
[...] drama CDs are the way to go - the WORKING!! manga finally gets a second CD after the rather amusing first one. Mai’s great as the male-hater/abuser Mahiru in that - I wish it’d get animated. Oh, [...]