Servant x Service: [Episodes 1 & 2]

Originally, this wasn’t on my list of anime to watch/cover because it’s Slice of Life and there is never really much to work off of with Slice of Life (this is no Clannad or Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) plus it’s comedy so this was like a lose-lose situation. Given its premise which didn’t leave an impression at all on me, Servant x Service is actually hilarious and worth the watch (well, to me).

This is the first Slice of Life anime, for me, that’s not centered around  high school kids. It’s refreshing and the situation presented is pretty relatable (I’m assuming all of us have already done voluntary service or gone on some form of work experience). That’s exactly what Servant x Service is about, college graduates entering the world of work and adapting to their new work environment at the ward office and their customers’ ranging temperaments…well, they’re mostly sour. The citizens hate civil servants because they believe they are a lackadaisical bunch and only squander their money (and taxpayers are always bitter because tax is an evil thing).

From the left, we have: Miyoshi Saya, Yamagami Lucy (the protagonist) and Hasebe Yutaka. The three are hilarious together and I like the dynamics of their personalities. Miyoshi is easily intimidated and lacks confidence, Yamagami is a fast learner and dedicated to her work and Hasebe just loves to dick around. So they work off of each other. Hasebe gets on Yamagami’s nerves a lot, both have to help Miyoshi by pumping her confidence and Hasebe does alright by himself – he’s actually a great worker but just loves to procrastinate.

In the first episode, Yamagami gets roughed a lot by the customers – both over the phone and face to face – so she gets used to it quickly, though it’s still a depressing experience for her. She prefers being called by her family name since she has an embarrassingly long name. When she was born, her parents couldn’t choose a name from the list they got from friends’ suggestions and so decided to give her all the names. I think she has fifteen first names in total. If only Deed Polls existed in Japan, she’d be a happy girl. 

The first episode shows a few of the sections the ward office is partitioned into. Yamagami and her work partner, Chihaya deal with filing and processing documents and directing customers to whichever area they want to find. Miyoshi seems to have to deal with the elderly by having counseling sessions with them. The grandmothers in this are absolutely adorable little things, I want to squish them all. And Hasebe practically procrastinates but he’s a versatile kind of worker, he can help in every other section of the ward office but never stays at the station which he’s assigned to.

We’ve got an otaku on board! Chihaya, Lucy’s partner, is a hilarious support character. Usually her facial expression never changes – neither does her tone – but in the second episode she shows her more “fun” side. She’s a passionate cosplayer and she thinks EVERYTHING is a form of cosplay – going to work in the required uniform is cosplay, going to school wearing the required uniform is cosplay (when you think about it, she’s kinda right). I guess the only thing that shows she’s happy is the sparkles that come around her face whenever she zones out thinking about cosplay – and that little smile I have to strain to see.

She calls Lucy a plain dresser but Lucy says she doesn’t really care about clothes. Chihaya thinks Lucy’s actually lying – that she cares about clothes but can’t find any to fit her size cause she’s got mega-ultra boobs. F-cup. And Lucy thinks her breasts are small.

Yeah..I agree with you there Chihaya. If F is small, then my chest is practically a washboard (sobs in a corner). Well Lucy is OBVIOUSLY in a state of denial but Chihaya plans to work on her sense of fashion, by indoctrinating her into the beauty, that is, cosplay.

A new character also shows up in the second episode and I’m not sure if she’ll be used for drama or just to expand on the comedic quality of Servant x Service.

Ichiomaya Touko , Tsundere and brother of Taishi Ichimaya (the guy who’s sort of like a supervisor). Oh yeah, she’s a brocon too. She’s loud, obnoxious, and seems a little too high and mighty for her age. She’s like Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada…just that Miranda doesn’t have to be a loud-mouth for her criticisms to be heard. I’m not sure how I feel about her introduction into the series though. I hope Servant x Service isn’t going to turn this into some sort of romance because I think it’d be perfect without it. I’m actually tired of all the romance – since it’s mostly been generic lately. Let’s just have a comedy without the drama, please SxS? I love you as you are.

She’s in love with her brother and became obsessed with the ward office just to keep tabs on him. No…just to check up on him, “keeping tabs” makes it sound like she’s stalking him. Though she is, in a subterfuge kind of way. She embarrasses him in front of the workers and criticizes the workers. But I found her a bit hilarious in this, especially when she tried to help Miyoshi get over her intimidation in dealing with customers.

In the end, Taishi got upset with her and told her she was being a bother, that she should go home. She was hurt by this and was about to leave but Miyoshi – being the awfully nice person she is – took back what she said when she suggested that Touko stay away from the ward office since Taishi wouldn’t realize her feelings that way, and told her to come back. She accepted – Tsundere style, with the haughty stutter of agreement – then left.

And that’s it so far!!

I like this a lot so far. I’m a bit skeptical now that Touko is here but maybe she won’t be apart of the main cast. I really hope not, because then, we all know the route this would take.

The art isn’t anything spectacular, pretty average but it’s still fine. I love how Servant x Service is accurate with the portrayal of the business world and the OP theme song is just catchy and awesome.

Here, have a listen.