What They Say:
In a certain ward of a certain city in Hokkaido…The ward office where Yamagami Lucy has been hired employs many unique characters on its staff. Yamagami and her colleagues are full of energy and secrets as they’re hard at work (?!) in this workplace comedy!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The more you see of Chihaya, the more you have to be afraid of her. Having her show up at your front door is one thing, as she does to Toko, but to tell her that she’s bored and is going to use her as a plaything for awhile? That just elevates Chihaya even more as an interesting and amusing character who largely sees everyone as playthings when life gets too slow. She’s had some quirky moments throughout the series so far and her interactions and deadpan reactions to others are pretty priceless. Messing with others as she does here in this way only adds to her charm and mystique. Luckily, Toko was feeling pretty bored herself so she’s actually up for doing something with her.
Having Chihaya’s boredom be solved by tricking Toko into various games that allows her to dress her up in a cosplay episode is priceless, especially since she turns it all around on Ichimaya when he shows up later on and is just surprised by it all. The relationshp in this trio is a lot of fun to watch in the first half since it’s obvious there’s interest between the two adults and some less than subtle manipulation going on with Toko, but what it really comes down to is the fact that Ichimaya and Toko are both pretty oblivious to a lot of things and that is both fun and frustrating for Chihaya. With a little help from the Section Chief and even a bit from Hasebe in a way, it does start to come together a bit for the two, but you also can’t help but to feel that Ichimaya just doesn’t know how to interact and deal with things as an adult when it comes to relationships.
The show plays with a few different scenarios in the second half that lets others shine a bit, bringing back in Lucy and Miyoshi as well as Hasebe of course, and part of it comes down to the elderly woman, Tanaka, finally bringing in her grandson to try and woo over Miyoshi. Of course, he has a grudge to bear when it comes to Hasebe and that makes for some comical moments since Hasebe tries to keep his distance from him. With it involving women from the past, it makes for some awkward moments in the present with the others in the office, especially since it ends up getting Lucy involved in the personal lives of others, which she really wanted to avoid. The use of this new catalyst in changing the balance of the group for a bit
In Summary:
Office relationships dominates this episode of Servant X Service and provide a good reason both for and against getting to know the people you work with more. The fun in the first half does give some hope of a real relationship forming someday in a distant future for a couple of them while the second half shifts its focus to other characters and how knowing about each other and their pasts can make for an awkward office life. This is more just of how Lucy handles it more than anything else, but with her potential interest in Hasebe involved as well, it just complicates it all the more for her. The series does a solid job here of shifting between characters and the sprawling interactions that comes from so many connections and that allows it to be light and moving easily on its feet, giving us some good laughs without being so over the top that it loses its touch. Even with the Section Chief.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
