Hataraki Man

[NeoSam]

働きマン
Hataraki Man

Based on a manga for young men.

Broadcast: Autumn 2006

Based on a manga thats serialized in the seinen(young men's) manga magazine Morning.
For now there are 3 volumes released of this manga.
Here are the covers:

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/455/vol10ww.jpg http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/4782/vol28zz.jpg http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9396/vol3dh6.jpg

Site of the manga:
http://e-morning.jp/manga/hataraki.html

First chapter of the manga has been scanlated by Entropy group: Manganews (http://www.manganews.net/seriesinfo.php?id=3860).

Genre: Seinen, Drama

This is a seinen manga/anime. (A manga/anime for young men)

[NeoSam]

The site for the seinen anime Hataraki Man has opened:

http://www.hataraki-anime.com/

Its starting in October 2006.

[Radiosity]

The leftmost picture reminds me of Kokoro-chin in Aishteruze Baby for some reason. Probably the general expression and facial features.

[Siegel Clyne]

????
Hataraki Man

Based on a manga for young men.

Broadcast: Autumn 2006

Based on a manga thats serialized in the seinen(young men's) manga magazine Morning.
For now there are 2 volumes released of this manga.
Here are the covers:

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/455/vol10ww.jpg http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/4782/vol28zz.jpg

Site of the manga:
http://e-morning.jp/manga/hataraki.html

First chapter of the manga has been scanlated by Entropy group: Manganews (http://www.manganews.net/seriesinfo.php?id=3860).

Genre: Seinen, Drama

This is a seinen manga/anime. (A manga/anime for young men)

The site for the seinen anime Hataraki Man has opened:

http://www.hataraki-anime.com/

Its starting in October 2006.


Morning Comic Magazine (http://www.kodanclub.com/cgi-local/magazine.cgi?id=8)

A MANGA PICK-ME-UP FOR TIRED PROFESSIONALS

Information
PUBLISHING FREQUENCY:
Weekly
AVERAGE NO. OF PAGES:
420 pages
TARGET READERS:
Men

Introduction
A weekly comic magazine aimed at men in their twenties and thirties, but boasting a 30% female readership. MORNING is a comic for adult readers, featuring realistic stories about businessmen and office workers, sports professionals and college professors, samurai adventure and military action. It is read for entertainment, amusement and relaxation.


Hatarakiman : Anno Moyoko latest series - AnimeSuki Forum (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=30672)

I wanted to open a thread about it because i really think it deserves it and that it's sort of a shame there's nothing about it in here already.

Matsukata Hiroko is a 28 year-old journalist working as an editor for a weekly information magazine called "Jidai". The manga describes her life as a Hatarakiman (Workaholic) amongst her colleagues and editing chiefs, and her struggle against herself and her own frustrations, as a journalist, a woman and a lover.

Serialized in Shôgakukan's "Morning", 2 volumes have been released so far. I have to say i only read the first one, for now, in which Matsukata is distressed over the fate of the secretary of a maggoty minister of foreign affairs.

Since "Happy Mania" Anno made herself famous for her humour and the psychological accuracy of her characters. At that time her drawings might have looked a bit awkward to some in the first place ( i still don't agree...), but with this new manga, her line is now completely flawless, live and more expressive than any other. I wouldn't bet it will be licensed one day, as it's more serious and maybe more focusing on "pure" Japanese matters than Happy Mania, and i'm not sure english scans are already available ( i didn't really look), but if there are, just have a look. This is real good stuff, believe me. And if there aren't, read Happy Mania instead, you will tell me about it. :p

I don't know why, i feel like a salesman. lol


PUFFY, aka Puffy AmiYumi, will perform the theme song for Hataraki Man.


Tanaka Rie Plays the Main Character in Hataraki Man

Tanaka Rie (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=697) has announced in the 2002/08/22 23:55 entry (http://tanaka-rie.com/diary/?2006082269) on diary at her official website, rierie world, that she plays Matsukata Hiroko, the lead role in Hataraki Man. (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Hataraki-Man)

Over one and a half hours ago, on the Hataraki Man television animation (anime) series entry (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6688) in the Anime News Network Encyclopedia, I entered in Tanaka Rie as the Japanese voice actor (seiyuu) for Matsukata Hiroko.

Hataraki Man will air in Fuji TV's popular NOITAMINA late night television animation block, replacing Honey and Clover II in October 2006. Nodame Cantabile will replace it in January 2007.

So this is the "big work" ("great work") (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=513839&postcount=256) Tanaka Rie was referring to in early August 2006.

[raphaël]

Yay, this is all very good news. I don't know why, I was eagearly waiting for vol.3 to come out, and I completely forgot about the anime.

Joy. :D

Don't forget to bump my thread for whatever's concerning the manga. :p

My only worry would be that to this day, there's only a very few material for an anime, in my humble opinion. I don't even know if that could fill 13 episodes...

[NeoSam]

According to some sources volume 3 of Hataraki Man manga will be released on 22/9/2006 :)

I'll add its cover to this thread when its available.

[Quarkboy]

Just FYI, Arienai fansubs intends to pick this series up. We already do Moyoco's other anime, Sugar Sugar Rune, after all :). Well, this one is for a slightly older crowd.

[Siegel Clyne]

HATARAKI (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/) MAN (http://www.mangazoo.jp/news.php3?id=2752)


STAFF

Original Work: Anno Moyoco (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Anno+Moyoco) [Anno Moyoko (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Anno+Moyoko)] (Serialized in Morning (http://www.kodanclub.com/cgi-local/magazine.cgi?id=8) / Koudansha Publication)

Series Composition: Ooshima Satomi

Character Design: Kagawa Hisashi (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Kagawa+Hisashi)

Animation Production: GALLOP (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=361)

Music: Kanno Yuugo (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Kanno+Yuugo)

Production: Hataraki Man Production Committee

Opening Theme Song: "Hataraku Otoko" by PUFFY (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Puffy+AmiYumi)

Ending Theme Song: "Shangri-La" by chatmonchy (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=chatmonchy)

Insert Song(s) by Sambomaster (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Sambomaster)


CAST

Matsukata Hiroko: Tanaka Rie (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=697)

Umemiya Tatsuhiko: Nishimura Tomomichi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1047)

Narita Kimio: Horiuchi Ken'yuu (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1177)

Kobayashi Akihisa: Ueda Yuuji (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=384)

Sugawara Fumiya: Nakai Kazuya (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=551)

Nogawa Yumi: Shishido Rumi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=4775)

Nagisa Mayu: Fukuen Misato (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=5916)

Tanaka Kunio: Homura Makoto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=38016)

Kaji Maiko: Tanaka Atsuko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=547)

Yamashiro Shinji: Hanawa Eiji (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=19600)

==========

"Hatarakiman" Anime Announced - The latest Anime and Manga direct from Japan! ANIMAXIS.COM: Japanese Anime Online Shop (http://www.animaxis.com/en/zine/newsletter/view.asp?id=N001626&move=back)

A TV anime adaptation of Weekly Morning anime "Hatarakiman" (Moyoko Anno) has been announced. The series is set to air on Fuji TV affiliates beginning October 2006.

Hit series "Hatarakiman" first hit the pages of Weekly Morning (Kodansha) in 2004 and is penned by Moyoko Anno, the creator of "Happy Mania", "Hana to Mitsubachi", and Sugar Sugar Rune. The story deals with the career-related exploits of 29-year-old workaholic editor Hiroko Matsukata as well as the way her colleagues approach their working lives. Animation is being handled by Gallop (Eye Shield 21, Ojyaru-maru, Rurouni Kenshin, etc.) and the series is to be directed by Katsumi Ono. Character design is by Hisashi Kagawa (Sailor Moon S Movie: Hearts in Ice; Pocket Monsters: Emperor of the Crystal Tower).


AnimeNfo :: View topic - Descriptions and Casts for: Asatte no Hoko, Bokura ga Ita.. (http://www.animenfo.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11017&sid=effc7a6bf95c6d1b76d5213720e4bbfd)

Hataraki-Man
(this description is based on reading the first chapter of the manga)
Matsukata Hiroko is a 28 year old editor with naturally large breasts. She's often at odds with Tanaka Kunio, a novice editor. Her work already stresses her out and he's unapologetic about his own mistakes! Everyone refers to Hiroko as a masculine woman for how seriously she takes her work. She smokes too much, works too much, and never has sex. However, when it's time to get a story done, she switches into "Working Man" mode where her testosterone in her blood increases, she works three times her normal speed, and all thoughts of life's necessities disappear.

Note: Hataraki-Man translates to "Working Man"

[gknight]

it really interests me because of the creator, sugar sugar rune is very good.

[Katapan]

On top on the author being Anno Moyoco (Anata no haato, pick up! <3), it's a nice surprise to see that Tanaka Rie will be the main character. I'm definitely looking forward to Arienai's subs!

[Haohmaru]

I think I'm going to like this since it's aimed for a more mature audience. Does anyone know the animation studio that's working on this. I've never heard of Gallop and there isn't much about them on ANN.

[Quarkboy]

On top on the author being Anno Moyoco (Anata no haato, pick up! <3), it's a nice surprise to see that Tanaka Rie will be the main character. I'm definitely looking forward to Arienai's subs!

Coincidentally enough, Tanaka Rei also plays one of the main characters in the other series Arienai works on, Pretty Cure Max Heart (she plays Hikari, the "new" girl in season 2). It's more like her Chii role, however, than what she'll have to do for Hataraki Man.

[Siegel Clyne]

Hataraki Man Staff, Cast, etc. (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=657876&postcount=8)

HATARAKI (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/) MAN (http://www.mangazoo.jp/news.php3?id=2752)


STAFF

Original Work: Anno Moyoco (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Anno+Moyoco) [Anno Moyoko (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Anno+Moyoko)] (Serialized in Morning (http://www.kodanclub.com/cgi-local/magazine.cgi?id=8) / Koudansha Publication)

Series Composition: Ooshima Satomi

Character Design: Kagawa Hisashi (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Kagawa+Hisashi)

Animation Production: GALLOP (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=361)

Music: Kanno Yuugo (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Kanno+Yuugo)

Production: Hataraki Man Production Committee

Opening Theme Song: "Hataraku Otoko" by PUFFY (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Puffy+AmiYumi)

Ending Theme Song: "Shangri-La" by chatmonchy (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=chatmonchy)

Insert Song(s) by Sambomaster (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Sambomaster)


CAST

Matsukata Hiroko: Tanaka Rie (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=697)

Umemiya Tatsuhiko: Nishimura Tomomichi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1047)

Narita Kimio: Horiuchi Ken'yuu (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1177)

Kobayashi Akihisa: Ueda Yuuji (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=384)

Sugawara Fumiya: Nakai Kazuya (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=551)

Nogawa Yumi: Shishido Rumi (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=4775)

Nagisa Mayu: Fukuen Misato (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=5916)

Tanaka Kunio: Homura Makoto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=38016)

Kaji Maiko: Tanaka Atsuko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=547)

Yamashiro Shinji: Hanawa Eiji (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=19600)


According to The Sugar Sugar Rune Encyclopedia, (http://chocolat.ouchi.to/) a Japanese website, although not officially announced, Anno Moyoco - wife of Evangelion writer-director Anno Hideaki (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Anno+Hideaki) - seems to have named characters in Hataraki Man after real life actors who appeared in the 1970s landmark series of yakuza films by the late Battle Royale director Fukasaku Kinji, (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Fukasaku+Kinji) Jingi Naki Tatakai (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Jingi+Naki+Tatakai) known in English as The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor and Humanity. (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=The+Yakuza+Papers:+Battles+Without+Honor+and+Hum anity)


JINGI NAKI TATAKAI ACTOR --> HATARAKI MAN CHARACTER

Matsukata Hiroki (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Matsukata+Hiroki) --> Matsukata Hiroko (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info04.gif)

Umemiya Tatsuo (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Umemiya+Tatsuo) --> Umemiya Tatsuhiko (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info01.gif)

Narita Mikio (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Narita+Mikio) --> Narita Kimio (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info02.gif)

Kobayashi Akira (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Kobayashi+Akira) --> Kobayashi Akihisa (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info03.gif)

Sugawara Bunta (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Sugawara+Bunta) --> Sugawara Bun'ya (Bunsai) (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info08.gif)

Nogawa Yumiko (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Nogawa+Yumiko) --> Nogawa Yumi (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info05.gif)

Nagisa Mayumi (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Nagisa+Mayumi) --> Nagisa Mayu (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info07.gif)

Tanaka Kunie (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Tanaka+Kunie) --> Tanaka Kunio (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info06.gif)

Kaji Meiko (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Kaji+Meiko) --> Kaji Maiko (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info09.gif)

Yamashiro Shingo (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Yamashiro+Shingo) --> Yamashiro Shinji (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/chara/img/info10.gif)


A few characters - e.g., Matsukata, Tanaka - changed sex / gender in the transition from real life to manga and anime.

Having come across The Sugar Sugar Rune Encylopedia just today, I apparently got only Sugawara's given name wrong in Hataraki Man.

I will modify my entry of Sugawara's full name in the Hataraki Man (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=6688) on the Anime News Network Encyclopedia shortly.

[darkchibi07]

I think I'm going to like this since it's aimed for a more mature audience. Does anyone know the animation studio that's working on this. I've never heard of Gallop and there isn't much about them on ANN.

That has to be referring to Studio Gallop who animated series like Rurouni Kenshin, Kodocha, Initial D, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Someone messed up cross-referencing that company. :rolleyes:

[DragoonKain3]

Sounds interesting, and I'll check out sugar sugar rune while I'm at it. ^^

Totally OT, but..

Nodame Cantabile will replace it in January 2007
Booyah!

[eggplant]

Uploaded a trailer of Hatarakiman here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9C4HsqYlqE).

Hm, Anno Moyoco and Tanaka Rie, looks like a winning combination.

[NeoSam]

Volume 3 of the manga which was supposed to get out today (22/9/2006) was delayed to October 6th, 2006 >.<

[wao]

I'm really very keen on watching this after watching the trailer. I'm very interested to see what the story has to say about the whole idea of the worklife... Japanese are sometimes famous for their workaholic nature, but what is it really worth?


Some people don't want to, just before they die, look back at their lives and see that all they've done is just slave away at the workplace.

Some, on the other hand, want to know that they've worked hard and done something worthwhile before they died...

How much do you owe society? When is it enough to work? Hm... Well, soem of the answers seem more straightforward to some people rather than others.

By the way, I love Rie Tanaka's voice in that trailer. Much nicer than her Lacus Clyne voice... it sounds very convincing for some reason.

[mippa]

I just wanted to jump on the bandwagon and thank Quarkboy for agreeing to let us do the series! I have been a big fan of SugarSugarRune (which is why I asked Quarkboy if he wanted help translating) and I was thrilled that so early on in my tenure with Arienai, he has agreed to let us do it!

We will do our best to release it in good timing and with the quality you have come to expect with our subs! Please continue to support us, everyone! Yoroshiku!

[MrProphet]

Absolutely looking forward to it, much more so because the Fall Season seems to be very-very short on intriguing, mature series.

Definitely need a josei fix right now. 8)

I'm not a big fan of Rie Tanaka, but it would be interesting to see her try to escape her usual 2 voice-style matrix (one being clueless sexy bimbo, the other - evil sexy bimbo). It's nice that she has a chance to use a normal voice.

But... just 13 episodes? Aww...

[Quarkboy]

But... just 13 episodes? Aww...

11, actually... According to moonphase, anyway. That's probably for the best, since there's only 3 volumes worth of manga out there. If you don't want any filler, this is the way to go.

[MrProphet]

11, actually... According to moonphase, anyway. That's probably for the best, since there's only 3 volumes worth of manga out there. If you don't want any filler, this is the way to go.

So... 11 is the new 12, huh? 8)

Seriously, what is it with Fuji TV and 11 episodes? I understand why some channels sacrifice a week of programming for some special event (truncating a coul from 13 to 12), but now they are cutting off an additional week?

PS: I just realized that besides Rie Tanaka, this series has Kazuya Nakai, Yuji Ueda and Atsuko Tanaka! That is so awesome!

[wao]

WTF?!!! Kazuya Nakai and Atsuko Tanaka?

That completely rocks! Even more reason to watch this show with an interesting premise... I'm really eager to watch it now - but let's just hope it doesn't go the way of that other 11 episode Noitanima show...

But yeah, I don't know why they want to cut it so short. I guess they really want to keep it very compact. Which can be a good thing in some cases, I guess...

[solomon]

hmmm, nice trailer, im interested in watching the show. Despite me being primarliy epic adventure type guy (and allergic to most shojo). I must concend that all of the previous Noitamina shows were good watches IMHO (Parakiss and H and C especially). I only remember Tanaka Rei as Yomi from Azumanga, so it'll be interesting to hear her in this kind of role. Plus we got Atsuko Tanaka and Kazuya Nakai (very nice seiyuu) on board too. I haven't seen the manga but Anno's designs look very strikingly stylized and elegant at the same time. This seems like the rawest example of a show aimed at Noita's demographic so it'll be interesting to see how it'll turn out.

[mippa]

Yes! The trailer is out now. Check it out! The first episode premieres on October 12th!

[monir]

I suppose it's about time to move this thread to the Fansub section since there is a torrent listed for the promo in Asuki's (http://animesuki.allanime.org/) main page. Yay!

The surprising thing for me is that Arienai has subbed the promo which made me wonder if the good folks in Arienai realize there will not be any magical beings in Hataraki Man. :heh: j/k I'm just glad they have shown interest in subbing this potentially very good show since I'm a huge fan of their encoding in general.

[Quarkboy]

I suppose it's about time to move this thread to the Fansub section since there is a torrent listed for the promo in Asuki's (http://animesuki.allanime.org/) main page. Yay!

The surprising thing for me is that Arienai has subbed the promo which made me wonder if the good folks in Arienai realize there will not be any magical beings in Hataraki Man. :heh: j/k I'm just glad they have shown interest in subbing this potentially very good show since I'm a huge fan of their encoding in general.

But, it's called "Hataraki MAN!" Doesn't that mean Hiro transforms into some brightly colored spandex warrior to fight evildoers?

I've been decieved!~!!

And I might remind you Arienai has subbed Tide Line Blue and Ginban Kaleidoscope, both of which didn't really feature any magical transformations :).

[Vexx]

I was collared by rooboy666 and told this was my kind of sashimi and I should troop over here. Looks quite interesting so far and being totally unaware of the manga means I'll just be able to get a clean impression of the anime as it stands.

[mippa]

*laughs* Yes, I managed to use some rather convincing threa--er--arguements to get Quarkboy to pick this puppy up...I was so afraid that if we didn't do it, no one would! T_T

[MrProphet]

But, it's called "Hataraki MAN!" Doesn't that mean Hiro transforms into some brightly colored spandex warrior to fight evildoers?

And let me guess... s(he) will be wearing a HAT, right? 8)

[wao]

*laughs* Yes, I managed to use some rather convincing threa--er--arguements to get Quarkboy to pick this puppy up...I was so afraid that if we didn't do it, no one would! T_T

If I had a different personality I'd be saying "I love you"...

Even if this show somehow manages to suck at least someone's subbing a show that features (hopefully) mature and more realistic women and, y'know, problems that working people face.

[MrProphet]

a show that features (hopefully) mature and more realistic women

Yes, yes, she is quite mature. 8)

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5697/hatarakimanwi1.jpg

That comment in the trailer made me laugh. 8)

[wao]

D'oh!! I didn't meant it that way, but LOL. That's a hilarious thing to put there (I haven't watched the trailer yet...)

Doesn't 元巨乳 mean "used to be large-busted", though?

[Sunsh]

Any shoujo-ai/yuri implication? I'm searching for one yuri series for fall... :(

And what is this anime about? Only about this big-breasted girl?

[MrProphet]

I think the "large-breasted" part is just tongue-in-cheek. It's not really about that.

And no yuri here, or so it seams. Again, it's a different type of show: it's about life, not fanservice.

[wao]

Your closest bet is probably RED GARDEN (a whole host of girls and a mystery/suspense kind of story, set in New York, though it doesn't seem typically fanservicey), and maybe Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club season 2.

Actually how about we list all the anime in the whole moe kind of genre (I don't have a good word to describe it)

I'm not entirely sure about some of these but...

-Sumomomomo Momomo (prolly?)
-Galaxy Angel II
-Tokimeki Memorial Only Love
-Negima!?
-Happiness!
-Rabudoru - Lovely Idol-
-Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro na
-Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru
-Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!
-Kanon
-Gift
-Kujibiki Unbalance
-Sasami 2
-Soukou no Strain (? partly)

Arrr, I'm saved by Hataraki Man alright...

[Radiosity]

Galaxy Angel II? That's a game. Unless it's been confirmed for anime as well and I just haven't heard about it.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Not that I won't look at the moe shows and the SF shows and a couple of the evil monster shows, but this does look like the one series that might have a whiff of Honey & Clover about it. From the preview it looks like it might be H&C on caffeine. It's about a hard-working woman editor.

But I always find that there are more good shows in a season than it seems during this pre-season period of hope and doubt.

As for yuri, the closest thing seems to be Otome wa Boku ni Koi Shiteru, but the main "girl" is a guy in drag, and it's really a moe show. There may be some real yuri feelings in Red Garden, but as wao said, probably no actual fanservice.

And yes, Galaxy Angel II now has spun off an anime (Sunday nights at 1 am).

[Quarkboy]

D'oh!! I didn't meant it that way, but LOL. That's a hilarious thing to put there (I haven't watched the trailer yet...)

Doesn't 元巨乳 mean "used to be large-busted", though?


Actually, that's a pretty "new" word, it's not in any dictionary. If you google it, you mainly get links to hataraki-man sites :).

I'm pretty convinced it means "originally giant breasts", which is supposed to contrast "fake giant breasts" (i.e. ones that you didn't have "originally")

But why are we arguing about THIS topic? :)

[monir]

But why are we arguing about THIS topic? :)
Oh, that's because the fascination with breasts (especially large breasts) are never ending!

Btw, I enjoyed Tide Line Blue. :)

[MrProphet]

Actually, that's a pretty "new" word, it's not in any dictionary. If you google it, you mainly get links to hataraki-man sites :).

I don't know, JDIC has it in its vocabulary alright. As for "moto", the dictionary gives both "beginning" and "previous".

PS: I don't know why this is so important either. 8)

[Srin Tuar]

I'm pretty convinced it means "originally giant breasts", which is supposed to contrast "fake giant breasts" (i.e. ones that you didn't have "originally")



I think you are right, its probably serving as "元から巨乳だった" in this case

I dont know if it qualifies as a word of its own right though.



Doesn't 元巨乳 mean "used to be large-busted", though?


I think it could mean that in a different context.
But looking at the picture should makes it hard to argue that.

[Quarkboy]

I don't know, JDIC has it in its vocabulary alright. As for "moto", the dictionary gives both "beginning" and "previous".

PS: I don't know why this is so important either. 8)

There's a wikipedia entry on it, http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%A8%E4%B9%B3
trust me, it's fascinating, and explains that the word only broke into common use in 1989. I'd call that pretty "new."

[Rion]

To bring up a slightly other topic... am I the only person around who was rather put off by the trailer? Hataraki Man was one of the animes I was anticipating the most (finally a josei again! Yay! Did I ever mention how much I love Noitamina?), but the weird music, the voice actors that I don't really like (so far) and especially that "I love my work"-crap was rather disappointing to me ^^; The manga looked so good though. But oh well, it's only a trailer.

[NeoSam]

Seinen(young men's) manga by Moyoco Anno:

Hataraki Man serialized in the seinen manga magazine Morning, a magazine for men in their 20's and 30's.

Sakuran serialized in the seinen manga magazine Evening, a magazine for men between 25 to 35.

Flowers and Bees serialized in the seinen manga magazine Young Magazine.

[wao]

There's a wikipedia entry on it, http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%A8%E4%B9%B3
trust me, it's fascinating, and explains that the word only broke into common use in 1989. I'd call that pretty "new."

I wasn't talking about kyonyuu (it doesn't even switch properly in the IME), I was talking about that particular "moto".

"Moto" can be written in many ways that have many subtle meanings, but 元 is the only one that refers to "ex-" (like "ex-policeman" is 元警察官, "ex-girlfriend" 元彼女). Heck, even in that article you link it's used: "...、元AV女優 (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV%E5%A5%B3%E5%84%AA)の松坂季実子 (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E5%9D%82%E5%AD%A3%E5%AE%9F%E5%AD%90)..."

Even though she doesn't look flat I think maybe they meant that she used to be... ah... even more well-endowed. Except that stress or something caused a change.

And I'm arguing about this because 1. it changes the nature of the sentence and 2. I don't want to study for my biology test >_<

[MrProphet]

Even though she doesn't look flat I think maybe they meant that she used to be... ah... even more well-endowed. Except that stress or something caused a change.

Damn, Noitamina is getting positively interesting. The effect of being a workaholic on the breast size. They could devolop it as a dramatic subplot with her boyfriend lamenting the "shrinkage" and Hiroko weighing the work she loves and her breasts against each other.

Can she go on living with this dilemma? Which is more important to her? Is she developing a life-threatening illness? Will her coworkers support the new Hiroko? Will she overcome this loss? Ah, the drama of seinen/josei anime! 8)

PS: :heh:

[Siegel Clyne]

Anno Moyoco (http://www.shoujo-manga.net/autrici/anno/opere.htm) has done josei manga (Happy Mania; Shiba toiu na no Fuku wo Kite; CHAMELEON ARMY; Kantoku Fuyukitodoki), shoujo manga (Jelly Beans; Sugar Sugar Rune), and seinen manga (Hana to Mitsubachi {Flowers and Bees}; Sakuran; Hatarakiman / Hataraki Man).

[Quarkboy]

To bring up a slightly other topic... am I the only person around who was rather put off by the trailer? Hataraki Man was one of the animes I was anticipating the most (finally a josei again! Yay! Did I ever mention how much I love Noitamina?), but the weird music, the voice actors that I don't really like (so far) and especially that "I love my work"-crap was rather disappointing to me ^^; The manga looked so good though. But oh well, it's only a trailer.

Actually, yeah, I thought this trailer was crap. But I know how the manga goes so I'm not worried. I think it was just too stylistcally "japanese preview"y.

[NeoSam]

Anno Moyoco (http://www.shoujo-manga.net/autrici/anno/opere.htm) has done josei manga (Happy Mania; Shiba toiu na no Fuku wo Kite; CHAMELEON ARMY; Kantoku Fuyukitodoki), shoujo manga (Jelly Beans; Sugar Sugar Rune), and seinen manga (Hana to Mitsubachi {Flowers and Bees}; Sakuran; Hatarakiman / Hataraki Man).

Thanks for the info :)

[Scribble]

To bring up a slightly other topic... am I the only person around who was rather put off by the trailer? Hataraki Man was one of the animes I was anticipating the most (finally a josei again! Yay! Did I ever mention how much I love Noitamina?), but the weird music, the voice actors that I don't really like (so far) and especially that "I love my work"-crap was rather disappointing to me ^^; The manga looked so good though. But oh well, it's only a trailer.

I agree. I thought I was the only one that thought this, and I didn't want to spoil the general positive attitude towards Hataraki Man so I didn't mention it.

I thought it looked kind of....boring. Like, there's nothing to "hook" the viewer. I know it's a slice-of-life type thing, but still.

[rooboy]

Ehh - most trailers for anime look boring to me, I didn't pay it much mind. It's gotten to the point where I only rarely watch them anymore.

[Scribble]

Ehh - most trailers for anime look boring to me, I didn't pay it much mind. It's gotten to the point where I only rarely watch them anymore.

Well, now that you mention it, I guess that's actually true. I don't remember being wowed by any anime trailer I've seen, since they usually use clips from the first episode and nothing *really* interesting happens there. The closest trailer to wowing me was the Kanon one since it reminded me of AIR. The Negima OVA one is great too.

[issei]

i laughed at how the trailer ends by pitching the series as something that'll make you love work more. this is definitely aimed at a different audience than the usual fluff that populates 90% of any given season, and i'm looking forward to it.

[Ishimaru-kun]

I'm definitely looking forward to this one, and several others from this fall season :D can't wait for it to start!

[Theowne]

I'll check it because it's on Noitamina (H&C's old block) and because Ueda Yuji's in it. I don't know much else about the series, but I'm not sure if I'm going to like it.

[wao]

I guess trailers are only useful as a very general gauge about what the series is going to be like (for example, Hataraki Man is not... an action series.) But those are painfully obvious usually anyway.

I guess sometimes they show the style and mood of the show: though this can always change too.
Perhaps you can generally judge the animation/production quality from the visual qualities of the trailer (and the animation wasn't good, but what do you expect from Studio Gallop)... of course they usually put their best animation into the trailer, so you won't know how bad it can get, but how good it can get - so if what they show you has sucky animation, be prepared for teh rest :heh:

After Eureka 7 though, I think I've been watching a lot less trailers...

EDIT: And just to be an arrogant snob and close off the "Naturally Large-Busted" debate - ちょっと小ネタ
『働きマン』主人公の「元巨乳」っていう肩書きに、

ファンサブが「Naturally Large-Busted」と間違った翻訳をして、

そんで、日本通らしき人が出てきて
「これはオタクを惹き付ける為のファンサービスだよ。
安野モヨコ先生はオタクの心をよく分かってらっしゃる」

そんなトンデモ解釈に、少しﾜﾛﾀｗ There >:<

[Ori]

Sorry, but when will this show start showing?

[Quarkboy]

EDIT: And just to be an arrogant snob and close off the "Naturally Large-Busted" debate - ちょっと小ネタ
『働きマン』主人公の「元巨乳」っていう肩書きに、

ファンサブが「Naturally Large-Busted」と間違った翻訳をして、

そんで、日本通らしき人が出てきて
「これはオタクを惹き付ける為のファンサービスだよ。
安野モヨコ先生はオタクの心をよく分かってらっしゃる」

そんなトンデモ解釈に、少しﾜﾛﾀｗ There >:<

Wait a minute... that comment from 2-chan didn't explain anything! They said it was wrong and explained how it was a hook to get otaku's to watch the show, but... well, that's obvious. How exactly was our interpretation so off? What's WRONG with that translation?

[NeoSam]

Here is volume 3 of Hataraki Man manga:

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/396/vol3wb8.jpg

Seinen manga.
Serialized in: Morning

[dxgarten]

Episode 01 screencaps and summary (http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/hataraki_man_ep01.html)

I'm afraid this one is not for me. I don't like the mood it tries to portray. In fact, it depressed me when I see a character like Matsukata slaving at work. Although this could be fun to watch if she starts having affair with her rival editor.

[MrProphet]

In fact, it depressed me when I see a character like Matsukata slaving at work.

But... isn't that the whole point? Isn't the entire premise of the show is that it's about a life as a workaholic? I am pretty sure that the audience they were trying to connect with are those lonely Japanese salarymen and officeladies.

Of course, that doesn't mean that one has to like "the point". However, it seems to me like they are delivering the promised goods.

Thanks for the first opinion about the show. Can't wait to see it myself in a couple of hours.

[Quarkboy]

Fans of the manga should be glad that episode 1 follows the manga almost exactly.

99% of the dialogue in the anime is in the first two chapters :). They rearranged a scene or two, however.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Now that is a good show. Real characters. Real excitement. Real life. I differ totally, at least after one episode, from dxgarten.

I've had that rush Matsukata gets when her work is approved and she goes into overdrive. What a high. The show seems to me to be getting across the thrill and intensity of work, as well as the annoyances, envy, disgust, frustration, exhaustion, and forced but somehow satisfying camaraderie. It is a lot better than the preview made me think it might be.

The scene returning to her apartment at night had my heart racing. Well done all round. And just long enough. And the way she and her boyfriend related was both sad and somehow inspiring. We'll see where things go, with them and with the show.

I thought Tanaka Rie did a great job as the lead. I liked Horiuchi Kenyuu (Oscar in Angelique, Bishop in Coyote Ragtime) as her immediate superior, too. And Fukuen Misato as the girly young editor. And I liked the music -- OP, ED and insert song.

This one is definitely on my list, even though I found the Japanese fairly difficult at times. AndrewLB's page says Arienai has plans to sub it.

[dxgarten]

I'm going to give it a try again on the weekend when I'm not feeling like a living dead like Matsukata. :(

I do agree that Rie Tanaka did a good job here though. Her voice sounds different from her previous characters (Suigintou, Lacus, etc).

[NoSanninWa]

Episode 01 screencaps and summary (http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/hataraki_man_ep01.html)
Well I am encouraged by how few screenshots there are of her breasts. :D After that odd promo I was afraid it would be fanservice anime.

[Quarkboy]

Well I am encouraged by how few screenshots there are of her breasts. :D After that odd promo I was afraid it would be fanservice anime.

In the manga, there is one or two topless scenes per volume, but they are NOT fanservicey at all.

Actually, the ONLY scene that was cut from the manga for episode 1 involved a raunchy conversation between Matsukata and her friend (revolving around Matsukata's lack of love life), which would indicate to me that they're cutting down the adult language a bit for the anime itself.

And yes, Arienai is working on it at this moment. Translation should be quite accurate (since it's so close to the manga), but there is a lot of dialogue, so be patient for that 1st ep, okay? (Start yelling at me in 2 weeks).

[Vexx]

Take your time... I'm hitting my bandwidth cap enough as it is trying to be nice and share while getting caught up with other series.

[MrProphet]

Well, wasn't that just lovely?!

For several years, I used to work as a freelancer for a film magazine and let me tell you that the creative atmosphere portrayed in Hatarakiman hit so close to home it just isn't even funny!

Despite the fact that I adored the Noitamina shows from start to finish, I could never relate either to hyperemotional Hagu from Hachikuro, nor to the outlandish glamour of Parakiss. However, let me tell you, the atmosphere in JIDAI is quite true to reality. I am, of course, a European, so those Japanese salarymen-freaks with their workaholic attitude are not my cup of tea (as in, I'd never work that way for anyone, period), but it still hit a nerve.

That whole GANBARE thing that happens to Hiroko when she she is trying to psyche herself up in order to write a good article, when you sort of meander here and there, not being able to focus and then BANG, you get an epiphany and do some genius work... man, I did that too! On numerous occasions! 8)

But... they don't have computers! It must be some kind of a special punishment that Matsukata is writing her stuff on paper. I'd never do that. And she is such a poor dear... so many days without sex. She must be devastated to come home every day and find Shinji asleep (so that's how those hentai plots are born!).

So, to put it simply, I loved it. Good work, production people, you didn't do anything special with animation, but it was a treat to see Hatarakiman.

[kari-no-sugata]

Just watched ep 1. Everything I could have hoped for I think.

Bit hard to follow all the Japanese (it is aimed at older audiance after all) but didn't intrude on the shear awesomeness of the show and characters.

[Siegel Clyne]

Japanese Animation (Anime) Television Audience Ratings - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160628504/425)

3.1% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 25:56 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 1:56 AM) DEATH NOTE "Taiketsu" ("Confrontation")

0.9% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 26:35 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 2:35 AM) Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club "Hoshi ni Negai wo..." ("Wish Upon A Star...")

4.6% CX (Fuji TV) 2006/10/12 Thursday 25:05 - 25:35 (2006/10/13 Friday 1:05 AM - 1:35 AM) Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 1: Onna no Hataraki Man {Female Working Man})

[MrProphet]

Wow, that's pretty good.

I think this is the 3rd highest rating for a Noitamina show (after the second to last episode of ayakashi that got 5% and the second to last episode of Jyu-oh-sei that got 4.9%), and certainly the highest rated first episode for the Noitamina slot.

I guess people are starting to catch up to Noitamina after all!

[rooboy]

It's got such a cute logo, how can people miss it?

Seriously though, is anyone else weirded out by a seinen manga being on Noitamina? I thought the whole purpose was to try to redress the shoujo/josei vs shounen/seinen disparity. Did they just decide that Hataraki Man was off-beat enough that it would still qualify?

[MrProphet]

It's got such a cute logo, how can people miss it?

Seriously though, is anyone else weirded out by a seinen manga being on Noitamina? I thought the whole purpose was to try to redress the shoujo/josei vs shounen/seinen disparity. Did they just decide that Hataraki Man was off-beat enough that it would still qualify?

I think they are trying to redress the disparity between the prevalent shounen/shoujo and the underdog seinen/jousei.

I don't think it was structered along gender lines, but rather among age lines and Noitamina simply introduced more mature storylines for slightly older audiences.

[rooboy]

Really? But I was under the impression Jyu Oh Sei was a shoujo manga? I guess it's hard to tell with josei/shoujo on which side it falls.

Anyway, I'll have to watch this tonight. This is the one show (well, maybe next to Black Lagoon) that I'm looking forward to the most this season.

[Siegel Clyne]

Hataraki Man Episode 1 TV Rating - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=705788&postcount=71)

Japanese Animation (Anime) Television Audience Ratings - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160628504/425)

3.1% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 25:56 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 1:56 AM) DEATH NOTE "Taiketsu" ("Confrontation")

0.9% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 26:35 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 2:35 AM) Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club "Hoshi ni Negai wo..." ("Wish Upon A Star...")

4.6% CX (Fuji TV) 2006/10/12 Thursday 25:05 - 25:35 (2006/10/13 Friday 1:05 AM - 1:35 AM) Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 1: Onna no Hataraki Man {Female Working Man})


Highest Television Audience Rating Per Minute According to Generation - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160628504/598)

HSH | KID |*TEN | *M1 | *M2 | *M3 | *F1 | *F2 | *F3*|*MAX

----------------------------------------------

*3.1 | *0.8 | *2.3 | *3.5 | *0.8 | *0.5 | *3.6 | *0.7 | *0.4 | *4.4 | DEATH NOTE

*4.6 | *1.3 | *2.2 | *3.5 | *3.3 | *0.8 | *3.1 | *3.8 | *1.0 | *5.4 | Hataraki Man

HSH = Households (Setai)
KID = Children aged 0-12 years
TEN = Teenagers aged 13-19 years
*M1 = Men aged 20-34 years
*M2 = Men aged 35-49 years
*M3 = Men aged 50 years and over
*F1 = Women aged 20-34 years
*F2 = Women aged 35-49 years
*F3 = Women aged 50 years and over (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160888171/102)
MAX = Maximum

ORICON STYLE news of the high television audience rating of 4.6 percent for the first episode of Hataraki Man (http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/movie/37472/) made the Yahoo! JAPAN News headlines. (http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20061016-00000003-oric-ent)

[monir]

And yes, Arienai is working on it at this moment. Translation should be quite accurate (since it's so close to the manga), but there is a lot of dialogue, so be patient for that 1st ep, okay? (Start yelling at me in 2 weeks).
Yay! Yay! May I also add that Vexx doesn't represent us folks with unlimited bandwidth who can download anything anytime without even giving a second thought about bandwidth? :heh: So, go ahead, release it as fast as possible! Ganbarei! Ganbarei, working men (and women)!

http://content.imagesocket.com/thumbs/Gakuen_Senki_045fd.JPG (http://imagesocket.com/view/Gakuen_Senki_045fd.JPG)

[Quarkboy]

Y[/i] Ganbarei, working men (and women)!


Perhaps for a show like this, I should, for full disclosure, explain that both translators are 20-something females living and working in tokyo (americans, however).

So hopefully they have a good perspective on this type of environment.

[NeoSam]

Really? But I was under the impression Jyu Oh Sei was a shoujo manga? I guess it's hard to tell with josei/shoujo on which side it falls.

Anyway, I'll have to watch this tonight. This is the one show (well, maybe next to Black Lagoon) that I'm looking forward to the most this season.

Hopefully someday some japanese TV station will decide to do a block thats purely aimed at young men. First manga to be adapted to anime on that block should be a josei manga. Yes an anime based on a josei manga thats aimed at men :)

[wao]

I'm quite sure that despite the manga being in a seinen magazine, it should hit the nerve of many a frustrated OL who watches Noitamina. It's cool to see that according to the ratings Siegel Clyne provided, the first episode received as much attention by men. :)

Anyway, I can't wait to watch this after MrProphet's glowing review of it; it sounds exactly like that kind of thing I'm looking forward to. I do hope the show continues on in an intelligent vein.

(Meanwhile, Red Garden gets 0.8%... and Ayakahi starts off with 3.6%... oh well :heh: )

(To quote somebody's disbelief in a very coincidentially apt way in this context... "4.6ってありえねぇ…")

EDIT: Finally, I got to watch it. It was quite a good first episode - the directing was actually better than I thought. While the animation left a moderately large amoutn to be desired, the pace of events and the changes in tension were brought across well IMO. Everything goes by so quickly in the show and in Matsukata's life. The way she slumps on the floor as soon as she gets home is very telling... And while on one hand I feel annoyed at Tanaka, the newbie because he's really slacking off, on the other hand I empathise with him very much because I've done similar things before.
Not at work ,but in school - especially when I was younger, everyone used to throw themselves into doing really well in school and got very worked up about it, but when they got a bit older they started regretting having thrown away that part of their life without keeping any meaningful memories, or experiencing more of Life Out There... I sure don't want to die having looked back and seeing that my life was work and only work. But I also understand Matsukata's feeling that she wants to die having known she made use of her life well! Argh. How does one draw the balance? I'm really torn over the issue, so it's going to be quite interesting seeing how they battle their ideologies in the show.

If it doesn't help, I hate the way Tanaka based his stuff on Matsukata's hard work without (I'm assuming) crediting her. However, I also do not like the way Matsukata looks down on him so much. It is annoying when there are people who don't give a damn about working hard, but at the same time there are some of them who are actually very skilled and highly talented, but they know how to use their time when they really need to and do a great job on that rather than working endlessly and creating mediocre output. Of course, I guess you can't blame Matsukata for thinking Tanaka is really just a useless slacker, and he might as well be one...

Oh, and I love the ED - it's a pity it was cut in a funny way (it sounds like it was cut in a rush, too) but it's so groovy!

[kari-no-sugata]

Fan-sub of ep 1 is out! There were some lines I couldn't understand in the raw - nice to know what's really going on now.

[mippa]

Perhaps for a show like this, I should, for full disclosure, explain that both translators are 20-something females living and working in tokyo (americans, however).

So hopefully they have a good perspective on this type of environment.

And one of them has been a contributing editor to magazines and still writes quite a bit of freelance for them, too! <3

It's out everyone! I hope you enjoy it!

[tun]

Hope you guys enjoy this series! I think I'm gonna enjoy working on this. :)

[hiroober]

I've finished the 1st ep.

I'm gonna say that it's good and worth to watch.
If you've watched too many shounen RPG fighting and adventure type, you may wanna have a try of this one. It's relatively realistic. We've only have normal people who cannot punch others away to a 30+ ft, neither have the magic or supernatural power to save the earth or whatever, facing daily life pressure and working issues.

I like the heroine's character. She's emotionally strong and enthusiastic about her work. She's just like many of us or may easily remind you about your friends.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna follow this one:)

[MrProphet]

Episode 2 was hilarious. Quite lively and a lot more fun than the first one.

Basically, Matsukata goes out on a date (well, assignment) with the resident photographer Sugawara and they do some paparazzi work together that involves a faked make-out session. 8)

The reason why she agrees to this is because that bastard Shinji is "busy" once again, and there goes another night without sex!

Sugawara has constant women trouble because he's voiced by Kazuya Nakai and that guy ought to have women trouble by default for any character he plays. He has that aura, you know. And Matsukata constantly eats rolls with fermented beans. Eeew!

Anyway, their "date" together is a load of fun and a pleasure to watch.

[alphabetsoup]

I really enjoyed the first episode, even if it did feel a bit stale by now because I've read the first chapter several times. ^^; I'll definitely stick around for more, though. Big thanks to Arienai for subbing this!

[Simon]

Hurrah, quality anime for grown-ups!

I watched ep 1 this evening, went back for another listen to the OP, and ended up watching the whole thing again. I may not work as hard as Hiroko, but I could sure relate to those emotional highs and lows of hers. I also found the relationships within the office quite fascinating to watch - this must be an interesting series to translate, trying to capture all the social implications of the language...

Otsukaresama deshita, Arienai :)

[DoReMiFaSo]

Yep, ep2 sure is fun.

The make out mission during the "date" is fun to watch, and the the way the two think of the other in their mind is amusing.


Oh, and the wrapping for the nato maki is pretty cool. From what I see, they have a separate plastic wraping for the sea weed. And when you are eating it, you extract the sea weed and then wrap around the rice.

[Quarkboy]

Yep, ep2 sure is fun.

The make out mission during the "date" is fun to watch, and the the way the two think of the other in their mind is amusing.


Oh, and the wrapping for the nato maki is pretty cool. From what I see, they have a separate plastic wraping for the sea weed. And when you are eating it, you extract the sea weed and then wrap around the rice.

You can probably find these at any japanese grocery store/convinience store. I know I've bought one down in L.A. myself.

[Theowne]

Well, I think I'll be following this show as well. I didn't exactly like the design of the main character while looking at promo images but while watching the show it seems perfectly normal. And the story seems interesting.

[DoReMiFaSo]

You can probably find these at any japanese grocery store/convinience store. I know I've bought one down in L.A. myself.

Oh, never been to one. :p

[Sinestra]

OMFG i love this show already its so damn funny i was kind of weirded out when i say the name of the series then read premise. But i really like it i even like the animation. I can only see this series getting funnier so far my 2nd surprise of the fall season. I found my self thinking about all the things Hiroko said in her office and man i wish i could get away with saying half of the shit she does to my boss and co-workers. I think the emotional aspect of the anime and the fact that most of the story takes place in workplace something we can all relate to makes it that much more intresting to watch.

[Matrim]

Nice first episode. When even a lazy bastard like me ends up liking a character who is a total workaholic, this series must be doing something right. ;) I will definitely keep an eye on this show.

[DingoEnderZOE2]

Nice starting episode for an anime about the workforce. Since I was looking for a more mellow anime, This might be a good anime for me to keep an eye on.

[Simon]

A Wikipedia stub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hataraki_Man) is up. Needs lots of work - edit and enjoy!

[NoSanninWa]

Thanks for telling us, I just added it to AnimeSuki (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/883.html). Yes, AnimeSuki lists wikis when we know that there is a page for a show.

And it has already grown beyond a stub. Yay for wikipedia!

[kari-no-sugata]

Was nice to see HD fansub. (Shame about the encoding errors though...)

Heh, zoning out in meetings, petty little office rivalries, trying to deal with co-worker jerks, trying to get rid of stress. This week, many of the events felt so like a real office environment. Fun :D

[Ishimaru-kun]

Quite a nice anime :) Can't wait for #2 :)

[Vexx]

I was relatively impressed by the first episode .... the frenetic pace of the story reflects the stress of the office life nicely. She's moving so fast she barely has time to reflect and when there's time she's too exhausted.

I'm just glad to see more anime showing up like this and the H&C series that explores life beyond high school. Take time to stop and watch the sakura in their seasons, eh? This show is a bit of a stylized insight into all the things still screwed up in modern Japanese business culture (not that American business culture isn't screwed up in exactly the other direction :) ).

[Ishimaru-kun]

High school animes are getting old if you ask me. It's great to see an anime about something OTHER than high school :)

[Radiosity]

High school animes are getting old if you ask me. It's great to see an anime about something OTHER than high school

Seconded. If done right they're nice, but there are too many crap ones around. I went through my phase of highschool comedy/romance/drama/whatever stuff quite a while ago, now I look more to things like Twelve Kingdoms (random example), things with some real grit to them that you can sink your teeth into :)

Will be checking this one out most certainly, once I'm done getting caught up on everything else I've been missing over the last couple of months that I didn't have nets for.

[MrProphet]

Episode 3.

A swimsuit idol eating ramen... Now that's what I call a fetish with a twist. 8)

And Hiroko's "naturally large bust" makes a comeback in this episode. :cool:

[Sinestra]

Didnt see it posted anywhere does anyone have the time and day in which Hataraki man aires in japan?

[Simon]

Didnt see it posted anywhere does anyone have the time and day in which Hataraki man aires in japan?

First to air is Fuji TV, Thursday 24:45 (i.e. Friday 00:45 Japan time, or Thursday 15:45 UTC).

Full broadcast schedule is at Shoboi (http://cal.syoboi.jp/tid/993/time?Ord=StTime) - has anyone seen the "Hataraki Man News" segment that aired on 9/21?

[MrProphet]

I did. It was... uneventful.

But, we did get to meet Puffy AmyYumi, for what that's worth. 8)

[Quarkboy]

Full broadcast schedule is at Shoboi (http://cal.syoboi.jp/tid/993/time?Ord=StTime) - has anyone seen the "Hataraki Man News" segment that aired on 9/21?

I have the full episode off of winny. Where did you think the raw for the subbed preview came from? :)

And yeah, seeing puffy speak in japanese instead of awful stilted english was fun :).

[crealism]

Am I the only one have troubles connecting to Arienai Fansubs tracker?

[Quarkboy]

Am I the only one have troubles connecting to Arienai Fansubs tracker?

The tracker seems to be working fine. Perhaps your client is outdated? We don't allow outdated or hacked clients, so try upgrading to the latest version.

[crealism]

The tracker seems to be working fine. Perhaps your client is outdated? We don't allow outdated or hacked clients, so try upgrading to the latest version.

I see. I'm currently using BitComet 0.56. Is that okay? Am I required to update to 0.70?

[Quarkboy]

I see. I'm currently using BitComet 0.56. Is that okay? Am I required to update to 0.70?

I don't maintain the list myself, but if it's not the most recent version, please upgrade.

[crealism]

I don't maintain the list myself, but if it's not the most recent version, please upgrade.

It's working now. Thanks for the heads up :)

[Vexx]

The front page of animsuki.com usually lists the latest revisions of the popular clients for future reference if you don't have the client auto-check for updates.

[outlaw97]

First off, kudos to Arenai for releasing ep 2!

One particular question though, is Sugawara's attitude towards women that rough? This is more of a translation issue than anything - his constant use of the b*tch explitive in regards to Hiro stood out to me for some reason. Full disclosure, I'm not 100% fluent in Japanese (more like 30%), and I'm not harping on the translations, just curious. The term "broad", while old-fashioned, seems like a better word to use, since it's probably a notch below b*tch.

Of course, if what he's saying really does carry that level of intensity, then consider me ignorant and I apologize.

Can't wait for the next ep - the show's a nice change from the usual, and I have to shamefully admit that the overworked, sex-deprived office lady has to be one of the greatest fetishes ever :D

[Ishimaru-kun]

Yay :D Can't wait to watch the HD version :)

and btw, uTorrent is by far the best client out there :P

[Matrim]

I liked the second episode, that extremely curious old lady was funny. :) I really like Matsukata's sense of journalystic ethic, though she gets way too worried about the flaws in her articles and shoudl take it a bit easier.

[DoReMiFaSo]

Episode 4 is focused on Hiroko's bf, Shinji. And it makes him look like a loser. I think I like episodes that deal with Hiroko's work better.

[Sinestra]

Finally say episode 2 and man does Sugawara like the B word. I mean every sentence that he refers to Hiro in he uses bitch. At first i thought he had a problem with women in general but the more i look it i think the main problem he has is with Hiro, I think he acts that way because he doesnt like how Hiro makes him feel hence he gets frustrated. HOnestly i think he has feelings for her but he wont admit it. Either way i really enjoyed ep 2 cant wait for more and god i really hope Hiro gets some nookie soon. I think she said shes breaking the non sex recored

[Kaoru Chujo]

I found ep4 very moving, very real, very deep about work and life. Inspiring and very sad. We work at cross-purposes, not supporting each other when we need to. What Hiro and Yamashiro's future together is, I don't know. But I'm more and more convinced that Tanaka is actually the p***k Hiro thinks he is. This show is unlike any anime I've seen before. Scary.

Enjoyed the insert songs by Sambomaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambomaster).

[Quarkboy]

Finally say episode 2 and man does Sugawara like the B word. I mean every sentence that he refers to Hiro in he uses bitch. At first i thought he had a problem with women in general but the more i look it i think the main problem he has is with Hiro, I think he acts that way because he doesnt like how Hiro makes him feel hence he gets frustrated. HOnestly i think he has feelings for her but he wont admit it. Either way i really enjoyed ep 2 cant wait for more and god i really hope Hiro gets some nookie soon. I think she said shes breaking the non sex recored

Sugawara is a really interesting character.

He might even be, perhaps, a male Tsundere? If such a thing is possible...

[NoSanninWa]

Yeah, I was thinking that he protested too strongly about how he doesn't like her.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I think there are lots of male tsundere. The tsun may be more tsuntsun and the dere less deredere, but still.... I think Sugawara and Hiro are surprisingly similar. Just maybe.... I think she'd prefer him to Tanaka, anyway. They're like two directions she could go. But Yamashiro (her present bf) is the nicest guy of the three.

I enjoyed ep3, which features the fat guy in the office, Kobayashi, whose specialties in the magazine are the food articles and the pics of girls. And who, amazingly enough, is played by Ueda Yuuji (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=384), who was Morita in Honey & Clover (also Joey in The Third, Takeshi in Pokemon, Keitarou in Love Hina, and the Chairman in Genshiken).

I just watched the sub of ep2, and in at least two of the three cases that the word "b***h" was used (I couldn't hear the other one clearly), the Japanese was konna onna: "this kind of woman." It was a reasonable translation decision, based on his general attitude and his use of the expletive "shit," just earlier, but he isn't really calling her a b***h all the time. But he even admits to himself that he may have been so angry with her quitting his department because he liked her and wanted her to stay. Watching this a second time, I really started to like the Cameraman, actually.

[Quarkboy]

I just watched the sub of ep2, and in at least two of the three cases that the word "b***h" was used (I couldn't hear the other one clearly), the Japanese was konna onna: "this kind of woman." It was a reasonable translation decision, based on his general attitude and his use of the expletive "shit," just earlier, but he isn't really calling her a b***h all the time. But he even admits to himself that he may have been so angry with her quitting his department because he liked her and wanted her to stay. Watching this a second time, I really started to like the Cameraman, actually.

"konna onna" as "bitch" came from a combination of his own attitude, plus the general level of speach of his internal monologue. Generally　"konna" in a context like this serves more as an emphasizer than its meaning as "such a" or "this kind"

[Kaoru Chujo]

"konna onna" as "bitch" came from a combination of his own attitude, plus the general level of speech of his internal monologue. Generally　"konna" in a context like this serves more as an emphasizer than its meaning as "such a" or "this kind"Yeah. It was a "reasonable translation decision," as I said. It's just that someone earlier talked about him saying "b***h" all the time, and I didn't know a direct translation in Japanese and couldn't remember it from the raw, so I checked. I just wanted to talk about the nuance. I certainly didn't mean to criticize the translation. My Japanese isn't as good as the translator's.

[Sinestra]

Yeah, I was thinking that he protested too strongly about how he doesn't like her.

Agree if he doesnt like her he could have just said shes a bitch i dont like her. But he kept harping on and on about her. The more he thought about her the more pissed of he got. Theres something else going on plus they have a history at another job where she left and now he hates her:confused: ????????????????sounds suspcious to me

[outlaw97]

There's a fine line between love and hate, and I think he's stumbling over that line a couple times without realizing it.

But glad I wasn't the only one to question his language! I think the source of his annoyance is that she's one of the few who realize how thankless this kind of job is, and yet, she left. Sort of like a kindred spirit, if only in career.

Having said that though, there wasn't enough in episode 2 for me to feel any chemistry between them. Maybe a few more episodes down the line will fix that.

Speaking of which, any idea if this is a 13 or 26 episode series? If it's going to be focusing on different themes and situations in the workplace, seems like it'd be more suited to 13...

[MrProphet]

Speaking of which, any idea if this is a 13 or 26 episode series? If it's going to be focusing on different themes and situations in the workplace, seems like it'd be more suited to 13...

11 episodes, actually.

[NoSanninWa]

11? That's just toooo short. I figured on at least 13!

[crealism]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but my Quicktime doesn't seem to play the subbed files by Arienai. There's sound but there's no images. Tried DixV, VLC, and WMP but they all don't work. Help!

[NoSanninWa]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but my Quicktime doesn't seem to play the subbed files by Arienai. There's sound but there's no images. Tried DixV, VLC, and WMP but they all don't work. Help!
We've got a forum for Playback Help (http://forums.animesuki.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23).

First read the sticky thread: [READ ME FIRST] How do I get this fansub to play? Odds are that if you follow those instructions all fansubs on AnimeSuki will play perfectly, including this one.

Do not post any further requests for playback help in this thread. Post them in the Playback Help Forum (http://forums.animesuki.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23).

[mippa]

Just a little fun for you guys, one of my students showed me a Hataraki Man Fortune Telling Special here.

Hataraki Man Fortune Telling Special (http://fortune.yahoo..co.jp/fortune/special/hatarakiman_2006)

You can see just how "Hataraki" you are, and see which Hatarakiman you are most like, according to your birthdate! Let us know your results! <3

[Quarkboy]

Just a little fun for you guys, one of my students showed me a Hataraki Man Fortune Telling Special here.

Hataraki Man Fortune Telling Special (http://fortune.yahoo..co.jp/fortune/special/hatarakiman_2006)

You can see just how "Hataraki" you are, and see which Hatarakiman you are most like, according to your birthdate! Let us know your results! <3

You know, mippa, not everyone can read japanese... Maybe you could translate the questions for everyone?

You also have a typo in the link (an extra .)

[physics223]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but my Quicktime doesn't seem to play the subbed files by Arienai. There's sound but there's no images. Tried DixV, VLC, and WMP but they all don't work. Help!

http://img133.exs.cx/img133/6927/explotar2jr.gif

That's how I view Quicktime as a format and as a player. It was hard enough finding anime when I started watching it, but it was impossible to find anime series encoded in QT. Its compatibility with other players is zilch. Nada. Nothing. It's just a piece of crap format that even the guys at doom9 (http://doom9.org) hate it a fucking lot - it failed even simple tests in encoding.

I'm not an expert in video formats or in encoding as people like checkers or TheFluff, but I know that it sucks as a format.

To be on-topic, just download CCCP here (http://www.cccp-project.net). That's your definitive executable package that more or less assures playability of many different video formats; what's better is that it isn't limited to anime! :D

[Ishimaru-kun]

Even though it's mp4, doesn't make it Quicktime. It's h264 in a mp4 container. Download CCCP and use Media Player Classic and it should work just fine.

[Shiroth]

For some reason, whenever i see Matsukata's 'game face', i start to hum some of the BGM's from Phoenix Wright.. its just that feeling i get.

Anyway, 11 episodes does make sense when you think about the style of show its taking to people just from the second episode. Of course i'd be doing back-flips if it was 26 episodes.. but thats just something i can't see happening even before i didn't know the series length.

I really liked Sugawara in the second episode - his sense of life was something i could easily respect.. even if it did take a while to understand. Having Nakai Kazuya has his VA was the right choice if you ask me - fits the nature of the character perfectly.

Now.. i'll say this once, i really need more Kaji. ;_;

[Siegel Clyne]

In the current issue (No. 11/23, Release Date: 2006/11/09) of the Japanese gravure idol magazine Sabra, (http://sabra.jp/generally/) one of the special features (http://skygarden.shogakukan.co.jp/skygarden/owa/solrenew_magcode?sha=1&neoc=2336411106&keitai=0) focuses on anime series NANA, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, Hataraki Man, and Major.

[MrProphet]

Well, I liked episode 5 a lot more than the previous one, even though it was quite important, from my point of view, to see that episode about Shinji's life. Still, it was a bit... monotonous.

On the contrary, episode 5 was bursting with a lot more life, since this time around Hiroko teamed up with Mayu-chan in order to do Mayu's first proposal (an article about Mayu's favourite writer).

As usual, Hataraki Man tries to give a sort of a "real life lesson" about journalism and approaching one's work. I think we've already seen that with the previous episodes, but rather than have it focused on Hiroko, this one approached the issue from Mayu's perspective. It was... exciting. 8)

Mayu's expressions are a lot more open than Hiro's. Whereas Hiro's personality is very tsundere (with a lot of tsuntsun), Mayu laughs and cries easily, without bottling up and without translating pent up stress into bitchiness (as is the case with Hiro). I thought it was an interesting change of perspective.

[DoReMiFaSo]

Hmm...I think you mean ep. 5, right?

Yep, I like this episode way better than the previous one. Can't say why though, it just felt exciting.

I have a question about this episode.
Who is that woman Hiro met in the bar? Why is Hiro talking to her about Mayu and that writer? Is she Hiro's colleague? friend? or the publisher?

[MrProphet]

I think she was just Hiro's girlfriend.

[tritoch]

The guy asking for the playback help said he tried VCL. But doesn't VLC have the h264 codec built in?

[DoReMiFaSo]

I think she was just Hiro's girlfriend.

I thought the woman said something about their newpaper/publisher won't accept the writer's work, and that she will let Hiro "teach" her for a bit before accepting her work again. Not really sure about that (maybe I misunderstood). That's why I think she's from the publisher. In that case, why would Hiro talk to her about Mayu? Maybe she's the publisher, and also Hiro's friend. :confused:

[Matrim]

Episode three rocks. I hope we see more of this Kobayashi dude in later episodes, the interaction between him and Hiro was very interesting. And very angry Hiro is hilarious as usual. :heh:

[Siegel Clyne]

Hataraki Man Episode 1 TV Rating - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo), Part 2 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=705924&postcount=76)

Hataraki Man Episode 1 TV Rating - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=705788&postcount=71)

Japanese Animation (Anime) Television Audience Ratings - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160628504/425)

3.1% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 25:56 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 1:56 AM) DEATH NOTE "Taiketsu" ("Confrontation")

0.9% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 26:35 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 2:35 AM) Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club "Hoshi ni Negai wo..." ("Wish Upon A Star...")

4.6% CX (Fuji TV) 2006/10/12 Thursday 25:05 - 25:35 (2006/10/13 Friday 1:05 AM - 1:35 AM) Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 1: Onna no Hataraki Man {Female Working Man})


Highest Television Audience Rating Per Minute According to Generation - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160628504/598)

HSH | KID |*TEN | *M1 | *M2 | *M3 | *F1 | *F2 | *F3*|*MAX

----------------------------------------------

*3.1 | *0.8 | *2.3 | *3.5 | *0.8 | *0.5 | *3.6 | *0.7 | *0.4 | *4.4 | DEATH NOTE

*4.6 | *1.3 | *2.2 | *3.5 | *3.3 | *0.8 | *3.1 | *3.8 | *1.0 | *5.4 | Hataraki Man

HSH = Households (Setai)
KID = Children aged 0-12 years
TEN = Teenagers aged 13-19 years
*M1 = Men aged 20-34 years
*M2 = Men aged 35-49 years
*M3 = Men aged 50 years and over
*F1 = Women aged 20-34 years
*F2 = Women aged 35-49 years
*F3 = Women aged 50 years and over (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1160888171/102)
MAX = Maximum

ORICON STYLE news of the high television audience rating of 4.6 percent for the first episode of Hataraki Man (http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/movie/37472/) made the Yahoo! JAPAN News headlines. (http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20061016-00000003-oric-ent)



Japanese Animation (Anime) Television Audience Ratings - Kantou District (Includes Tokyo) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1163687279/235)

4.7% CX (Fuji TV) 2006/11/16 Thursday 24:45 Broadcast Starting Time (2006/11/17 Friday 12:45 AM Broadcast Starting Time) Noitamina "Hatarakiman" (Episode 6: Ohimesaman {Princess Man})


Singers Oonuki Ami and Yoshimura Yumi of PUFFY (Puffy AmiYumi), (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&q=Puffy+Yumi+Ami&spell=1) who sing the Hataraki Man opening theme song "Hataraku Otoko," perform as voice actors (seiyuu), having guest roles in episode 7 of Hataraki Man, "Kodawari Man" ("Fussy Man"). (http://www.hataraki-anime.com/news/index.html)

[tritoch]

Kobu-chan is the bestfriend you'd like to have at work.

[physics223]

Shangri~la = WIN AND AWESOMENESS.

OMFG THE SONG IS SOOOOOOOOO HAX. Shangri~la ... ♫

[Srin Tuar]

Shangri~la = WIN AND AWESOMENESS.

OMFG THE SONG IS SOOOOOOOOO HAX. Shangri~la ... ♫


i skip the intro and ED of just about everything i watch... but this show somehow hypnotizes me into watching both the OP and ed (sometimes more than once in a row)

Are they really that good?:heh:

And sadly, I can sympathize with this show way too much.

[physics223]

They're not good, lol. THEY'RE AWESOME. AWESOME >>> GOOD.

[Lilith]

LOL I agree, Shangri~La is really good. I didn't like the opening song, but I love watching the opening sequence! Especially Hiro's expression when she misses the bus. XD

[tritoch]

Shangri-La is pure GOD.. err GOLD.. no wait, GOD is better.

[physics223]

Oftentimes I watch a series for all the banal reasons: this time around, I started Hataraki Man because I really loved its ED. It often follows that good music is part of a good series, right?

[Kaoru Chujo]

Episode 6 was very strong. The show maintains its quality. But are Japanese offices often that competitive and tense? Maybe I've just been lucky in where I worked myself, but that was at an extreme of competitiveness and bad feeling, it seemed to me.

And the gender wars were beyond what I've experienced. But gender distinctions do seem stronger in Japan. Someone wrote that Japan is a country where guys hang out with guys and girls with girls. Is that more true there, as it seems to be, than in North America or Europe?

As for the ED, yes, great. But I like the OP song, too. This is definitely one of those few shows where, even after several episodes, I don't skip through the OP/ED.

[tritoch]

err.. in the US:

Guys who hang out with both girls and guys are common
Girls hang out with Girls too
Guys who hang out with other guys are gay
Young guys who hang out with girls are cool
Old guys who hang out with young girls is just creepy and desperate
Guys who hang out with old girls are just... okay nevermind.

In a nutshell: Im weird

[Shiroth]

Shangri-La really is made of the ultimate win. It works perfect along side the ED video, as well as being an alone song. Sames goes for Hataraku Otoko (OP), though.. Puffy are pretty much legends. :3

[Vexx]

Episode 6 was very strong. The show maintains its quality. But are Japanese offices often that competitive and tense? Maybe I've just been lucky in where I worked myself, but that was at an extreme of competitiveness and bad feeling, it seemed to me.

And the gender wars were beyond what I've experienced. But gender distinctions do seem stronger in Japan. Someone wrote that Japan is a country where guys hang out with guys and girls with girls. Is that more true there, as it seems to be, than in North America or Europe?

As for the ED, yes, great. But I like the OP song, too. This is definitely one of those few shows where, even after several episodes, I don't skip through the OP/ED.

It depends on so many factors that I'm not sure one can make any sweeping generalizations. Print media offices tend to be highly competitive period regardless of gender - though less confident guys might try to pull gender rank (of course, they try that in most any setting). In Japan, it is still fairly retro but it seems to be more the case that sexist (or "traditional", heh) males just don't know how to react to competitive assertive females (of which there are more and more).
Seriously the country seems to be in a social tailspin because the over-30 guys don't seem to be adapting to the new realities gracefully (hence the recent trends of not marrying, marrying foreigners, not having kids --- the men just really need to get a clue there). This show is interesting to me because it is one of the first I've seen that remotely try to explore these "new" situations.

[physics223]

I guess anime in the Noitamina slot are more or less guaranteed to be made of WIN and AWESOME. HONEY AND CLOVER! HONEY AND CLOVER II! AYAKASHI! PARADISE KISS!http://www.diegotorres.com.ar/mensajeitor/foro/caritas/11_1_207.gif jyu oh sei lol

[physics223]

For some reason, most of Noitamina-slot titles are made of WIN and AWESOME. There's Honey and Clover, Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror, (I http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/wereace/thblackheart.gif Medicine Seller man.) Honey and Clover II, Paradise Kiss, and now Hataraki Man ( oh, and jyu oh sei ).

Unless I'm wrong and this doesn't belong to that slot. But really, if it does, it simply continues the tradition of AWESOMENESS AND WINNAR nature of that said timeslot.

[Zappster]

Wow. Could you repeat that? I didn't quite get it the first time you posted it :rolleyes:

[physics223]

Sorry; it was a double post. :( I didn't even know it was like that.

[Zappster]

Oh. I thought it was your enthusiasm getting the better of you again. Don't I look like an arse now?

*runs*

[physics223]

Well, I was simply meaning to make fun out of Jyu Oh Sei, as it was the only subpar Noitamina anime shown since its incipience. The others were excellent, although that's from a personal perspective.

I left all that enthusiasm with Ergo Proxy. It wasted a lot of energy, so I didn't want to repeat that all over again. I learned my lesson in anime ... never trust the names, never trust the anime, and never trust high-profile collaborations. It's only when it's over when it's REALLY over.

Haha. \o/

[MrProphet]

Oh, watching episode 7 made me realize that I am in a serious need of a thorough massage myself. My shoulders got tense just by watching Hiro get all of that R&R...

And, by the way, this episode sort of makes you understand where that "naturally big-busted" joke came from. Because Hiroko kinda... is... one. 8)

All in all, a very good, natural-feeling episode about yet one more aspect of office life: pent-up physical and emotional stress.

PS: But, seriously, I need someone to knead my back a little right NOW. Agrh....

[Kaoru Chujo]

Episode 7 was really outstanding, in my opinion. Not just Hiro's various quandaries, and the portrayal of office stress. But the way the mood was made, with pacing and music, and the voice-acting so right on. Really, Tanaka Rie is just blowing me away. This series is inching toward my top ten. Maybe the most adult anime I've seen.

[Ishimaru-kun]

After watching #3, the only thing I can say after it is, "70% of all meetings are meaningless..." and that's so true!! I hate meetings :(

[nishino]

hahaha lol love hiro's reaction in the very beginning of episode 6 when shinji says
kekkon shiki dou suru? good god, what an exit!

i'm so jealous of you guys whose japanese is good enough to understand most of what's going on ... this is probably one of my all-time fave anime series ... why must it be so short?? ;_;

[Kleo Scanti]

I've seen only three episodes yet, but I think this anime is great. I love its realism.

Here are some avatars I made:

http://pics.livejournal.com/ladykleo/pic/00068q6h http://pics.livejournal.com/ladykleo/pic/000699fh http://pics.livejournal.com/ladykleo/pic/0006aexz http://pics.livejournal.com/ladykleo/pic/0006dyp5 http://pics.livejournal.com/ladykleo/pic/0006bc0d

Hope the pictures will be showing correctly.

[Vexx]

ep 3 had enough barbed hooks to latch me for the rest of the series. They're really on target with "office life". I guess the only question is whether we'll see some evolution in the personal lives of the characters ( and since Kaoru Chujo is peeking ahead and likes it --- there is hope :) ).

Love that snapshot of her munching a sushi roll with no hands so she can type faster.

[MrProphet]

Oh, man, episode 8 was such a miss in the hit-and-miss aspect of "Hatarakiman". Honestly, it was probably the 'longest' episode in recent memory. You just have to admit that not all of Hiro's coworkers are all that exciting. Some of them are just plain boring.

The animation was somewhat sloppy as well, but that's just something to add to the overall feeling of dissatisfaction with the plot.

Oh, and this "Tsutaya" thing is starting to get on my nerves. It is one thing to include a mention of one of the sponsors here and there, but this fucking Tsutaya is EVERYWHERE! It's annoying me.

[mippa]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to apologize for the slow pace that episode four and up is coming out subbed. I have been miserably sick and busy with work--this is the busiest season for me right now, I haven't even been able to watch the latest raw episodes. x.x

I promise I will be getting on it hardcore in the next week or so. Again, I'm sorry! T.T

[cry]

i love the ending of this show so much *_*

[Shiroth]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to apologize for the slow pace that episode four and up is coming out subbed. I have been miserably sick and busy with work--this is the busiest season for me right now, I haven't even been able to watch the latest raw episodes. x.x

I promise I will be getting on it hardcore in the next week or so. Again, I'm sorry! T.T
Seeing as though you're taking time to do the subs, i don't see any reason as why you should be sorry. I like forward to your next release. ^__^

[Siegel Clyne]

The last three episodes of the Hataraki Man anime have drawn at least a four percent television audience rating in the Kantou region (includes Tokyo), Japan - episode 6, 4.7%; episode 7, 4.0%; episode 8, 4.2% - raising its overall television audience rating to 3.90%.

Of all the late night animation series which debuted in Japan during the fall of 2006, Hataraki Man remains No. 1 in overall television audience ratings. (DEATH NOTE is No. 2.)

Hataraki Man appears to be on its way to becoming the highest rated series so far in Fuji TV's NOITAMINA late night animation block by a sizeable margin.

Because of its popular success as an animated television series, a number of Japanese fans think the prospect for a live action television drama series of Hataraki Man has gone up significantly.

The main stumbling block: casting the main character in Hataraki Man, Matsukata Hiroko.

Apparently, Japanese fans are having difficulty on coming up with someone who can play a live version of Matsukata Hiroko - almost as much they did with coming up with someone who could play an animated version of Matsukata Hiroko.

Even the severest Japanese critics at the anonymous 2ch message boards - notorious for their negativism and personal attacks on anyone and everyone - could offer up only a few feeble alternatives to Tanaka Rie as the voice actor (seiyuu) for Matsukata Hiroko.

The popular success of the Hataraki Man anime among general audiences in Japan have muzzled, if not for the most part silenced, those 2ch critics. People who ordinarily do not watch anime - working men and women in their 20s and 30s - tune in late at night to Hataraki Man.

Once again, Tanaka Rie (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=697) has demonstrated her knack for playing very popular characters, in anime and games, who appeal to broad, mainstream audiences and casual fans, and/or to otaku and hardcore fans: Matsukata Hiroko in Hataraki Man; Kujou Hikari (Shiny Luminous) in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart; Lacus Clyne in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED DESTINY; Chii in Chobits; Suigintou in Rozen Maiden and Rozen Maiden Traumend; Futami Eriko in Kimi Kiss (Kimikiss); etc.

[wao]

I think it's frankly awesome how there's even a block like Noitanima that can attract the normal person and not just anime otakus. At the very least those programs are less obliged to do the usual fanservice and would assumedly have to concentrate more on the actual story and characters and the concept of the show itself because that's what their audience is looking for.

But I'm still perplexed as to how it draws such high ratings - how do people even find out about the show? Does it get advertised majorly or does it get spread so much through word of mouth?
Death Note has got not only a pretty large manga fanbase but the publicity through the live action shows and it also has better production values than Hataraki Man, and I'm sure it also gets a fair amoutn of publicity...

Surely it can't possibly be that so many people feel tired after work, flip through the channels late at night, get their attention caught by an anime - watch for a while and then get hooked? That'd be so awesome.

[physics223]

That's funny. It beat Death Note, the anime that people claim will be the one dominating the fall season. Death Note, yes, is really good, but I guess people can relate more to a suffering workaholic experiencing quotidian problems than a genius anti-hero. I hope I can see more of Hataraki Man because I really like it and I hope it won't end up like many other series I've seen ... like Hiatari Ryoukou, for example. :rolleyes:

Oh, and nothing beats Chatmonchy. Shangri~la is GOD. Take that, Haruhi Suzumiya. ;)

[nishino]

Just a guess, but Hataraki Man probably attracts a lot of non-anime people, because it's so real -- it deals with workplace issues that any working stiff (the majority of the population) can identify with, and does it very well with good humor and compelling character studies. People may hate me for saying this, but I find that I tend to apply a double standard to the shows I watch. There's always a different standard for anime: I'm pretty sure that most of the anime I enjoy, my non-anime friends would think was silly, not-so-great, or just plain bad. The difference is that because it's anime, I tend to excuse or ignore obvious flaws, and just enjoy it because I like anime for its own sake. Hataraki Man is one of the very rare ones that can cross this boundary and be judged by the same standards as non-anime media and still come out looking good.


Oh, and nothing beats Chatmonchy. Shangri~la is GOD. Take that, Haruhi Suzumiya. ;)

I cannot get this song out of my head! But that's ok, because it's so awesome. :)

[MrProphet]

But I'm still perplexed as to how it draws such high ratings - how do people even find out about the show?

I think it's more of a counterculture thing, with people drawn to late night shows because the primetime is dominated by shounen and the slightly older audience of Noitamina has longer hours and thus cannot catch the earlier programs.

Plus, Noitamina has already established itself as THE jousei program to watch. This is just a typical snowball effect.

[Srin Tuar]

Wow, im glad this show is popular in Japan.

I think its about time that "Noitamina" gots its own subforum or something :)

[Kaoru Chujo]

I can't think of any two roles more different than Chii and Hiro. Good job, Tanaka Rie.

As for how people find out about this show, perhaps Honey & Clover and NANA have made people more aware of late-night anime. Their ratings were/are of the same order, I believe. Though this show is on at 24:45, whereas they were/are on around midnight. My instinct is that the audience for Hataraki Man is not a normal anime audience. People on 2channel may not be criticizing it that much, but there are only three threads there, whereas Code Geass has 131, Death Note 42, and even Lovely Idol has 12.

I found nishino's point about applying different standards to anime interesting. But although I may apply different standards to anime, I don't think they are lower standards. People who aren't used to anime might not enjoy shows as much as I think they should, but that may be because they are not able to get past the thought "cartoons are for kids" and aren't used to anime conventions. I'm watching one dorama this season, and it's good (14 Sai no Haha), but I really have to accept the melodramatic conventions of that form, and some occasionally unconvincing acting. For me, anime acting can seem more natural, perhaps because the actor only has one variable to control (voice).

Ratings for 14 Sai no Haha last week were 18.4 (4th for doramas), compared to NANA, which had a great week at 5.1 (9th for anime, all the others being supper-hour or Sunday morning shows). Dorama ratings for the top ten (http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/top10.htm#top) ranged from 15 to 20, anime ratings from 5 to 20. By the way, the last two weeks' episodes of NANA have been so gut-wrenching that they might as well be dorama.

[Srin Tuar]

but I really have to accept the melodramatic conventions of that form, and some occasionally unconvincing acting. For me, anime acting can seem more natural, perhaps because the actor only has one variable to control (voice).


I've watched some dorama, and I find them unconvincing as well.

The voices of live actors are worth listening to, because unlike seiyuu, they are untrained speakers so they probably sound alot more like your average japanese person. (who wouldnt make the cut as a voice actors) So you get to train your listening muscles to deal with slurred and mumbled speech. (but with some everyday dialog that is lacking in some anime)
But worse than that, I generally find the level of acting to be... poor. Lots of melodrama, not enough subtlety. Reminds me alot of american soap operas, perhaps minus the terrible background music.

Sortof ironic that anime has more believable drama in some cases than the vast majority of live action stuff. (I cannot say the same for dubs, they are horrid)

[Siegel Clyne]

Hataraki Man is a TV Hit in Japan (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=758115&postcount=170)

The last three episodes of the Hataraki Man anime have drawn at least a four percent television audience rating in the Kantou region (includes Tokyo), Japan - episode 6, 4.7%; episode 7, 4.0%; episode 8, 4.2% - raising its overall television audience rating to 3.90%.

Of all the late night animation series which debuted in Japan during the fall of 2006, Hataraki Man remains No. 1 in overall television audience ratings. (DEATH NOTE is No. 2.)

Hataraki Man appears to be on its way to becoming the highest rated series so far in Fuji TV's NOITAMINA late night animation block by a sizeable margin.

Because of its popular success as an animated television series, a number of Japanese fans think the prospect for a live action television drama series of Hataraki Man has gone up significantly.

The main stumbling block: casting the main character in Hataraki Man, Matsukata Hiroko.

Apparently, Japanese fans are having difficulty on coming up with someone who can play a live version of Matsukata Hiroko - almost as much they did with coming up with someone who could play an animated version of Matsukata Hiroko.

Even the severest Japanese critics at the anonymous 2ch message boards - notorious for their negativism and personal attacks on anyone and everyone - could offer up only a few feeble alternatives to Tanaka Rie as the voice actor (seiyuu) for Matsukata Hiroko.

The popular success of the Hataraki Man anime among general audiences in Japan have muzzled, if not for the most part silenced, those 2ch critics. People who ordinarily do not watch anime - working men and women in their 20s and 30s - tune in late at night to Hataraki Man.

Once again, Tanaka Rie (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=697) has demonstrated her knack for playing very popular characters, in anime and games, who appeal to broad, mainstream audiences and casual fans, and/or to otaku and hardcore fans: Matsukata Hiroko in Hataraki Man; Kujou Hikari (Shiny Luminous) in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart; Lacus Clyne in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED DESTINY; Chii in Chobits; Suigintou in Rozen Maiden and Rozen Maiden Traumend; Futami Eriko in Kimi Kiss (Kimikiss); etc.


Television Audience Rating - Kantou Region (Includes Tokyo), Thursday, December 7, 2006 [Friday, December 8, 2006]

5.1% CX [Fuji TV] 24.45 [12:45 AM] NOITAMINA "Hataraki Man" (Episode 9 - Ichininmae no Hatarakiman) (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1165303835/708)

[MrProphet]

And the rating was deserved, since #9 was a rather good episode. Hiro's work attitude could energize a corpse!

She is such a poor dear, but she always managed to pull through and gain optimism through her work.

The only thing that still amazes me is that she and Shinji still delude themselves that they are still a couple. Those 2 are incredibly separated, both physically and emotionally and I simply don't understand how they keep on going living together. I guess, both of them are so much involved in their work that they just didn't have a free moment to evaluate their failing relationship and just move on.

[DoReMiFaSo]

Oh, man, episode 8 was such a miss in the hit-and-miss aspect of "Hatarakiman". Honestly, it was probably the 'longest' episode in recent memory. You just have to admit that not all of Hiro's coworkers are all that exciting. Some of them are just plain boring.

The animation was somewhat sloppy as well, but that's just something to add to the overall feeling of dissatisfaction with the plot.


Actually, I like ep 8 a lot. It was quite a moving episode. I really feel for Chiba-san, and teared up when he finlly got the gratitude he deserved. I am glad that he finally got his passion back for his work.


And the rating was deserved, since #9 was a rather good episode. Hiro's work attitude could energize a corpse!

She is such a poor dear, but she always managed to pull through and gain optimism through her work.

The only thing that still amazes me is that she and Shinji still delude themselves that they are still a couple. Those 2 are incredibly separated, both physically and emotionally and I simply don't understand how they keep on going living together. I guess, both of them are so much involved in their work that they just didn't have a free moment to evaluate their failing relationship and just move on.

Yes, I am amazed by Hiro. She's a super woman. I wonder how she could hold up with all that work piling on her.

I guess Hiro and Shinji are too busy to even find time to break up. :p

[Srin Tuar]

The only thing that still amazes me is that she and Shinji still delude themselves that they are still a couple. Those 2 are incredibly separated, both physically and emotionally and I simply don't understand how they keep on going living together. I guess, both of them are so much involved in their work that they just didn't have a free moment to evaluate their failing relationship and just move on.

Lol, very true. Its seems impossible to have two workaholics maintain a real relationship. If neither of them puts the home first, then there really is no home. I bet Hiroko has no domestic skills whatsoever, making me sortof wonder why shinji isnt shopping around for someone who can at least make him a bentou. :heh: Instead, he has hiroko who work's all nighters and cancels dates without even a phone call.

Hiroko otoh, I have no idea what kind of guy would be good for her. She needs someone with high availability, because her unpredictable and sporadic free time would never work with a salaryman. (unless he was her coworker or something)
She either needs to get with a coworker or she could do what maiko does and sleep with her interview material :upset: .

[MrProphet]

Well, she does sort of have a love-hate relationship with Tanaka (with an emphasis on HATE), and some people did mention the possibility of her finally putting him firmly under her heel. 8)

[MrProphet]

Episode 10... the last one before the ending. This is kinda sad that meaningful shows get such a short lifespan.

I can't say I am head-over-heels in love with Hatarakiman, but I certainly found it:

1) curious
2) true to life
3) inspiring (as in, never work like the Japanese do ^_^)

And... wow... Maiko Kaji has a... hard job!

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5193/11661134686386631al4.th.jpg (http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11661134686386631al4.jpg)

Actually, it's not as bad as it looks. She was just posing for a nude painting by her interview material.

Atsuko Tanaka rocks, baby. 8)

[Shiroth]

Atsuko Tanaka rocks, baby. 8)
She sure does. I have to admit that i was a lil' shocked when finding out she plays my fav' character Kaji back with the first episode, but now i understand it was one genius choice.

Now we're only one episode away, i believe its about time i checked out the raws from episode 04 on-words. I'm missing out on one hell of a show, and lots of Kaji love

[DoReMiFaSo]

Oh no.

Hiro and Jinji broke up.

[Srin Tuar]

Oh no.

Hiro and Jinji broke up.




At first I was wondering why they didnt show the rest of the scene, then at the end it was kindof a bombshell. (lol, I didnt know what maiko was talking about at first)

I can't say I disagree though, they were hardly a couple at all. But still it was painful to hear and to see how it affected her. That next day she was all torn to pieces. Plus Kaji seems to have totally read her mind, telling her that her next love will come(Did she tell her she was dumped? If so they didn't show it. Perhaps maiko can just read people's minds ), and that it's not her fault for working so hard. (duh, yes it is)

About shinji... even though Hiro wasnt exactly all you could hope for in a woman... it seems she really did love him. ( or else need someone to love/abuse like him )

About Kaji, I have to say I think her "nude modelling" was a metaphor at best. (We all know she is a turbo-slut) Its hard to accuse this show of pulling punches, but I think her "personal life" isnt really all that much of a mystery.

[MrProphet]

Well, this was the end.

It was quite fitting that a story about a workaholic ended with a story about her personal life that was so sadly lacking previously. It was sweet, it had an immense heart and even though I am frustrated by the moral of this story, that no matter how your life sucks, WORK will pull you through, I still appreciated it.

It was a very nice series. It pleased me immensely without any specific wow-factor. It was about real life and real life is very short on wows some days. Still, it was the energy of everyday, simple matters of working people that made the magic of cinema work.

A very special thanks goes out to Tanaka Rie, who made the character of Hiro Matsukata possible. It wouldn't have been the same without her. She was and shall always remain amazing.

What next? Nodame Cantabile! Yay! More Noitamina!

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8379/snapshot20061222123335fp7.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20061222123335fp7.jpg)

[Vexx]

There's so much below radar information in this show about the state of the japanese workplace and what it is doing to the culture and people that I'd almost consider this mandatory viewing. Great show but kind of punted on the ending a bit in terms of social statement (if I was following the plot correctly... gotta wait for the sub to verify what I think I heard).

[Siegel Clyne]

Television Audience Ratings - Kantou region (Includes Tokyo), Japan

Hataraki Man Episode 11 (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/114) Television Audience Rating, Thursday Night, December 21, 2006 [Friday Morning, December 22, 2006] (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/114)

4.1% CX [Fuji TV] 25.15 [1:15 AM] Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 11 [The End] / Soredemo Hatarakiman {Still the Working Man})

Despite a broadcast starting time 30 minutes later than usual, episode 11 of Hataraki Man still drew a pretty good television audience rating.

And despite three out of its eleven total episodes airing significantly later (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/132) than their regularly scheduled time (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/132), Hataraki Man still managed to deliver an overall television audience rating of 4.01%.

Very, very few late night animation (anime) series in Japan have ever managed to pull off an overall television audience rating of 4.0% or more. Hataraki Man has just accomplished that. And NANA almost certainly will when it ends its run.

The Hataraki Man anime apparently has done much better than expected, drawing in and keeping audiences despite, among other obstacles, a number of broadcast delays and the lack of a live action version to boost awareness and interest among the Japanese general public.

Japanese posters at 2ch credit the fine cast of Hataraki Man, led by Tanaka Rie as the main character Matsukata Hiroko, for its excellent performance with Japanese viewers, particularly with salaryman, or working men and women - people who, by and large, do not normally watch anime.

[Srin Tuar]

There's so much below radar information in this show about the state of the japanese workplace and what it is doing to the culture and people that I'd almost consider this mandatory viewing. Great show but kind of punted on the ending a bit in terms of social statement (if I was following the plot correctly... gotta wait for the sub to verify what I think I heard).

I was expecting more from the very last ep myself, but it seems it was simply a rehash of episode 10, filling in all the things they didnt show but you had already guessed.
I totally disagree with the moral of the story and with hiroko's choice. I expect she'll be a burnt out husk after a few years and noone will appreciate her for it. I've found that enjoying one's time off and personal life is very important to doing a good job at work- especially in creative industries.

Hiroko's character was very interesting. She acts alot like and is treated as a guy. Except that it seems the guys in the office are never quite as harried about work as she is. Also, natto-maki were not tempting :heh:

Well, I look forward to nodame

[Vexx]

"living to work" is *always* a fail in the end..... (exept perhaps to the deluded). You work to live and if you're lucky, the work you do happens to be fun. I've been lucky for most of my career until the last 10 years or so when most of it stopped being fun. Off to another career now.

This series sent a terrible message to an already over-stressed set of viewers at the end... but it was probably fairly realistic of the choices a lot of them make and provides one of several drivers which is sending their birth rate and marriage rates plummeting through the floor.

[Siegel Clyne]

Hataraki Man Overall Television Audience Rating, 4.01% - Great for a Late Night Anime (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=777490&postcount=189)


Television Audience Ratings - Kantou region (Includes Tokyo), Japan

Hataraki Man Episode 11 (http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/114) Television Audience Rating, Thursday Night, December 21, 2006 [Friday Morning, December 22, 2006] (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/114)

4.1% CX [Fuji TV] 25.15 [1:15 AM] Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 11 [The End] / Soredemo Hatarakiman {Still the Working Man})

Despite a broadcast starting time 30 minutes later than usual, episode 11 of Hataraki Man still drew a pretty good television audience rating.

And despite three out of its eleven total episodes airing significantly later (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/132) than their regularly scheduled time (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/132), Hataraki Man still managed to deliver an overall television audience rating of 4.01%.

Very, very few late night animation (anime) series in Japan have ever managed to pull off an overall television audience rating of 4.0% or more. Hataraki Man has just accomplished that. And NANA almost certainly will when it ends its run.

The Hataraki Man anime apparently has done much better than expected, drawing in and keeping audiences despite, among other obstacles, a number of broadcast delays and the lack of a live action version to boost awareness and interest among the Japanese general public.

Japanese posters at 2ch credit the fine cast of Hataraki Man, led by Tanaka Rie as the main character Matsukata Hiroko, for its excellent performance with Japanese viewers, particularly with salaryman, or working men and women - people who, by and large, do not normally watch anime.


Hataraki Man aka The Working Man is a Working Hit ... and She Sings Too - AnimeOnDVD.com - Powered by FusionBB (http://www.animeondvd.com/forum/showpost.php?post/338078/)

Hataraki Man aka The Working Man is a Working Hit ... and She Sings Too

Distinctive and Popular Voices (http://www.animeondvd.com/forum/showpost.php?post/325972/)

As Japanese sources report in Japanese and in English, Matsukata Hiroko [Tanaka Rie] sings the theme song, "Eternal," for a television commercial in Japan.
---
Rie Tanaka sings Mabinogi's CM song - Slash Games (http://en.slashgames.jp/wiki/index.php/Rie_Tanaka_sings_Mabinogi's_CM_song)

Kenji Ito's Offical English Website (http://www.cocoebiz.com/ito/news/index.php)


November 30th, 2006

Mr. Kenji Ito was responsible for arranging the commercial music to the game, "Mabinogi", a fantasy MMORPG. He arranged an original composition from the game called, "An Old Story That My Grandmother Heard ", into a vocal theme. The vocalist is Rie Tanaka, well known from the "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" anime series and from other projects. A 30 second sample of the tune can be heard through the Mabinogi website (http://www.mabinogi.jp/).






Chou! Animelo -Anime&Game entertainment- (http://www.cho-animelo.com/ja/show_page_normal.do?page=dlranking)

Download Ranking [December 25, 2006]

Music (12/25)

List
1st.*"Eternal" - Tanaka Rie
1st.*"Seishoujo Ryouiki" - ALI PROJECT
3rd.*"Enter!" - Momoi Haruko [Halko]

Artist (12/25)

List
1st.*Tanaka Rie
2nd.*ALI PROJECT
3rd.*Momoi Haruko [Halko]

Mobile (12/25)

List
1st.*"Eternal" - Tanaka Rie
2nd.*"LoveLoveLove no Sei na no yo!" - Lovedol
3rd.*"Seishoujo Ryouiki" - ALI PROJECT


Tanaka Rie Mini Live Concert

Popular voice actor (ninki seiyuu) Tanaka Rie (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=697) (Lacus Clyne; Meer Campbell) will be the special guest at the official national convention "Premium Dogfight II (http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0612/13/news083.html) BANPRESTO CUP" (http://www.gs-rvz.com/) for the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Earth Alliance vs. Z.A.F.T. II game in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, January 6, 2007. Ms. Tanaka will perform a mini live concert as one of the attraction events there.


In her starring role as Matsukata Hiroko in Hataraki Man, Tanaka Rie once again demonstrates her knack for reaching out beyond her fanbase to broader audiences - this time connecting with people who do not normally watch anime, particularly working men and women in their twenties and thirties.






Hataraki Man Anime is a Commercial Hit in Japan


While it did not sell on DVD in Japan -- its appeal lies with mainstream audiences, not with DVD-buying otaku -- the Hataraki Man anime nevertheless has been a commercial hit in Japan for Fuji TV and its sponsors, such as the DIP Corporation.

Working people in their twenties and thirties identified with the workaholic main character of the Hataraki-Man anime, Matsukata Hiroko "Hiro," voiced by Japanese voice actresss (seiyuu) Tanaka Rie.

To illustrate how mainstream a show it is in Japan, Yahoo! JAPAN covered the Hataraki Man anime on more than one occasion in its headlines. Links to Mantan Web and ORICON STYLE articles on the Hataraki Man anime, as well as former links to Yahoo! JAPAN Top News (http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?c=topnews) coverage of those articles, are provided below.

In contrast, popular otaku anime Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) and popular otaku/fujoshi anime Code Geass Hangyaku no Lelouch (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion), as a Japanese poster (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime2.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1187702897/246) at 2ch notes, have not received top news coverage from Yahoo! JAPAN -- presumably because, although they each have sold a lot of DVDs in Japan, they each also play to smaller, niche audiences in Japan.

Hatarakiman Director Ono Katsumi & Fuji TV Assistant Producer Nakano Kumiko Interview

This in (http://www.p-tina.net/interview/07/01.html)ter (http://www.p-tina.net/interview/07/02.html)view (http://www.p-tina.net/interview/07/03.html) with Hataraki-Man director Ono Katsumi and Fuji TV assistant producer Nakano Kumiko mentions, among other things, that Hataraki Man scored the highest television audience ratings of any series in the history of Fuji TV's Noitamina late night animation time slot [which Nodame Cantabile has since eclipsed], that Hataraki Man [although based on a manga running in a seinen/salaryman magazine, Morning] targeted women who normally did not watch anime, and that it has been a highly successful show.

The interview focuses on the fashion for the show.

Hataraki Man: A Happy Meeting of "Animation" (http://mantanweb.mainichi.co.jp/web/2006/12/post_601.html) and "Temporary Employment" ... DIP (http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20061228-00000007-maia-ent) (Hatarakiman : "Anime" to "Jinzai Haken" no Shiawasena Deai ... Dippu)

December 28, 2006 21:45 [9:45 PM] <Mainichi Shimbun [The Mainichi Newspapers] Mantan Web>

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5936/200612282122351iz8.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200612282122351iz8.jpg)
Hataraki Man Poster for DIP (http://mantanweb.mainichi.co.jp/web/photos/20061228212235_1.jpg)


Television animation "Hataraki Man" started broadcasting in the wee hours on Fuji TV in October 2006; the final episode aired on December 21, 2006. Working people in their twenties and thirties empathize with the hard working protagonist, Matsukata Hiroko, and the show scored high television audience ratings. Furthermore, a television commercial for the temporary employment agency "DIP" (Tokyo Minato-ku, company president Hideki Tomita) which uses the image of Matsukata [Hiroko] also attracts attention. How did the unexpected combination of "anime" and "temporary work" arise in the first place? <Watanabe Kei>
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Although DIP had chosen actress (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Koyuki+actress+DIP) Koyuki (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Koyuki+actress&oe=ISO-8859-1&sa=N&tab=wi&nojs=1) as its promotional image character, the project to choose a new character began around June 2006, and information on the Hataraki Man animation was obtained while conferring with advertising agencies, etc. Having read the original Hataraki Man manga by Anno Moyoco thoroughly, marketing director Aihara/Aibara Hidenobu felt, "The manga readership and the viewers that the anime aims at, to say nothing of the theme, are the same."

The magazine "Morning," in which "Hataraki Man" is serialized [irregularly], young men (seinen) and businessmen (salaryman) in their 20s and 30s are the main readers. Animation is popular among women of the same generation -- users who built this company's site -- with the Thursday late night Noitamina time slot, when "Honey and Clover," "Paradise Kiss," etc., are broadcast. Furthermore, marketing director Aihara/Aibara quickly decided to sponsor the show and assured that the tie-up of manga and anime had the power of appeal in "killing two birds with one stone" and was able to boost the image of the business, saying that "this project cannot be done by other companies."
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The number of [DIP's] "Hatarako Net" registrants normally grows at several percent per month; but since the Hataraki Man promotion began in October 2006, it has been noticeably growing at 20-30 percent per month....
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Although broadcasting of the anime has ended, the Hataraki Man volume 1 DVD goes on sale December 22, 2006, with more releases in the future. When DIP using "Hataraki Man" for promotion continues, marketing director Aihara/Aibara expects, "Because the theme songs are heard and the DVDs are seen, DIP is brought to mind." In the final episode of the animation, buried too deep in her work, Hiroko breaks up with her boyfriend. But "happy relations" between "Hataraki Man" and DIP appear to go on.

DIP Corporation. (http://www.dip-net.co.jp/english/service/index.html)
"The largest portal site in Japan linking people with the jobs they want."

DIP Corporation. Hatarako Net (http://www.dip-net.co.jp/english/service/hatarako.html)
"Hatarako Net is the largest portal site in Japan dealing with temporary positions ."

DIP Corporation. Baitoru Com (http://www.dip-net.co.jp/english/service/baitoru.html)
"Baitoru Com is the largest portal sites in Japan for part time work ."

Read the Hir@gana Times article in the Japan-Behind the Scenes - Business section, "One of Japan's Largest Internet Job Media —DIP— has Started Providing Job Information to Non-Japanese," (http://www.hiraganatimes.com/hp/scenes/kiji/kiji232-4e.html) for some interesting information.

For your information, "D" in DIP stands for "dream," "I" is for "idea" and "P" is for "passion." DIP is heading for growth with a dream, ideas and passion and is sure to become a strong partner for non-Japanese who have a dream to work in Japan.


[i]Hataraki Man Anime Television Audience Ratings in Japan


Hataraki Man Episode 11 Television Audience Rating, Thursday Night, December 21, 2006 (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/114) [Friday Morning, December 22, 2006]

4.1% CX [Fuji TV] 25.15 [1:15 AM] Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 11 [The End] / Soredemo Hatarakiman {Still the Working Man})

Despite a broadcast starting time 30 minutes later than usual, episode 11 of Hataraki Man still drew a pretty good television audience rating.

And despite three out of its eleven total episodes airing significantly later than the regularly scheduled time of 24:45 [12:45 AM], Hataraki Man still managed to deliver an overall television audience rating of 4.01% (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/asaloon/1166674686/132).

Demographic breakdown data of television audience ratings in the Kantou region of Japan (Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba, etc.) for episode 1 show that men and women in their twenties, thirties and forties constituted the biggest portion of the viewing audience for the Hataraki Man anime.

3.1% NTV 2006/10/10 Tuesday 25:56 (2006/10/11 Wednesday 1:56 AM) DEATH NOTE "Taiketsu" ("Confrontation")

4.6% CX (Fuji TV) 2006/10/12 Thursday 25:05 - 25:35 (2006/10/13 Friday 1:05 AM - 1:35 AM) Noitamina "Hataraki Man" (Episode 1: Onna no Hataraki Man {Female Working Man})

Highest Television Audience Rating Per Minute According to Generation (%)

HSH | KID | TEN | *M1 | *M2 | *M3 | *F1 | *F2 | *F3*| *MAX

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*3.1 | *0.8 | *2.3 | *3.5 | *0.8 | *0.5 | *3.6 | *0.7 | *0.4 | *4.4 | DEATH NOTE

*4.6 | *1.3 | *2.2 | *3.5 | *3.3 | *0.8 | *3.1 | *3.8 | *1.0 | *5.4 | Hataraki Man (http://newmoon1.bblog.jp/daily/2006-10-14/)

HSH = Households (Setai)
KID = Children aged 0-12 years
TEN = Teenagers aged 13-19 years
*M1 = Men aged 20-34 years
*M2 = Men aged 35-49 years
*M3 = Men aged 50 years and over
*F1 = Women aged 20-34 years
*F2 = Women aged 35-49 years
*F3 = Women aged 50 years and over
MAX = Maximum

ORICON STYLE news of the high television audience rating of 4.6 percent for the first episode of the Hataraki Man animation series (http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/movie/37472/) made the Yahoo! JAPAN News headlines. (http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20061016-00000003-oric-ent)

[mippa]

For those who have had trouble following this series without subtitles, never fear! Arienai is getting back on track, and translations for episodes 4 and 5 are complete! Keep a lookout for new subbed episodes soon!

@.@ So sorry for the long break, folks.

[Slice of Life]

Oh, the good news of the day. I really liked the first three episodes and I'm looking forward to the rest. :)

[physics223]

Thank God. I was thinking about deleting this good series ... because of the lack of subs.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I loved the final episode......for its realism and for not ending the show on some kind of contrived high. The break-up was like a slow-motion train-wreck from episode 1 on. I had hopes...but reality won. To continue MrProphet's idea, they finally found time to break up. I don't really think they loved each other. If anything, I think he loved her more. But she was beginning to doubt her life of work, and beginning to take his proposal seriously. But not really for his sake, and he realized it. To imagine her with the photographer is both easy and difficult. They both understand work and respect each other (finally). But they are both so tough to get along with.

As Vexx wrote: "There's so much below radar information in this show about the state of the Japanese workplace and what it is doing to the culture and people that I'd almost consider this mandatory viewing." But the "moral" didn't disappoint me. Perhaps the authors were being subtle: saying what was proper, but meaning the opposite. Not an unknown method in East Asian culture. And work is more than a necessary evil, anyway. But "moderation in all things," to quote the Western classics.I guess there is some possibility of a second season, considering the show's success: success that most late-night anime can only dream of. But I don't imagine the ancillaries will be as profitable as with a moe show. I doubt there will be many Hiro figures sold, lol. Or will there?

Tanaka Rie was great. You know, after watching Hiro, most anime heroes/heroines seem kind of thin.

And thanks, Mippa and Arienai, for continuing the project.

[tun]

I QCed episode 4 today, so it should be out soon. :)

[Vexx]

Long anticipated excitement begins to stir....

[Shiroth]

Good old Hataraki Man - its good to have you back.

Episode 04 was pretty enjoyable. I didn't think that this early in the show we'd see life from the eyes Shinji (Hiroko's boyfriend), though it made out to be a good episode, and yet again shows another side to the wonderful life of having a job. Still waiting to see more Kaji though. :3

[Sinestra]

cant wait for the new subs such an underrated show i think it really slipped under the radar with most anime viewers. Iv only seen up to episode 3 but it was enough to get me hooked ashame that Hataraki Man has such a short run

[Dop]

Nice to see episode 4 at last, I'd started to give up hope of seeing any more of this series!

The scene in the restaurant was pure comedy gold!

And is it me, or did Shinji come across as a complete wuss? Always apologising.

[kingofthemoleppl]

The thing is that he reminds me of a friend of mine. Their personalities seem to match perfectly. Just the kind of guy to accidentally spill hot steaming coffee over you (which I lost count of -_-).
Honestly, I expected him to break up with Hiro because I thought he doesn't feel "up to par" with her.

[tun]

Finally got around to QCing the 5th episode. As a Korean, I found the love story with the old man and the Korean girl to be random and funny. :lol: This is the second time I've seen it in any kind of Japanese show. The other being the Hanshin Tigers fan in Densha Otoko.

[mippa]

@tun--considering that we are working on this project together, we have never spoken once. Thanks for all your hard work. m(_ _)m

And I was giggling madly at episode 5 too. Definitely my favorite episode so far.

[Slice of Life]

Sub of ep 5 is out I see. Now I know what I'll be doing this evening. Thank you very much and keep on subbing one of the best shows of 2006! :)

[SeijiSensei]

I'd love to watch it, but the tracker says my one-week-old version of Azureus (2.5.0.4) is banned! I sent a note to Arienai through their web page. I hope they fix this soon.

[Quarkboy]

I'd love to watch it, but the tracker says my one-week-old version of Azureus (2.5.0.4) is banned! I sent a note to Arienai through their web page. I hope they fix this soon.

one week old, eh? lemme check it out (if I can...)

Edit: That's quite strange... The client ban list only includes Azureus 2.0 and 2.1... Anything more recent should be fine. Do you have your client set up to report itself as an old version or something?

Edit 2: Yes, I removed the bans for Azureus 2.0 and 2.1.... the numbers of people actually using those clients must be around zero by now, I doubt it'll be a problem. Perhaps it's a bug in the new Azureus version where it is reporting the wrong version number?

[SeijiSensei]

I don't know whether you did something, Quarkboy, but it's working now.

I am running the stock Azureus from SourceForge, but I made one change to my configuration before retrying. I recently tried installing the SpeedScheduler plugin for Azureus (that lets you control your upload/download speeds by time of day), but it would not install correctly. When I was banned, the nonfunctional plugin was still in my configuration. I removed it and restarted Azureus and connected to the tracker. Perhaps it was something weird about that plugin, or maybe you fixed the problem?

BTW, I've been meaning for a while to thank you for your informative contributions to the Noein thread! It's been a few decades now since I took physics, though as a teenager I was quite interested in quantum theory. Just recently, I read another reference (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=808580&postcount=560) to Copenhagen vs. many-worlds theories which you might find amusing!

[mippa]

Episode six's translation will be completed tomorrow folks, so don't worry, you won't be waiting long.

(And seven should be finished by Monday, if a certain someone keeps to her word...)

But reading the latest chapter in this week's "Morning" did wonders for my motivation! It got really juicy!

--and I can't wait to see reactions to episode 5!!

[Shiroth]

Episode 05 was pure love - a very different episode compared to the rest.

I feel that the movement of the episode was what made it stand out more compared to the already four episodes that i've seen. Still loving it all in a whole, though i really wouldn't mind another episode like this - so ordering the DVD's. & i really wouldn't mind having a chance to read 54. :3

I'm really in-need to track down the manga - a Hataraki Man manga avatar is needed for me~

& seriously, i love Sugawara, he's the type of character that you need at every workplace.

[tun]

@tun--considering that we are working on this project together, we have never spoken once. Thanks for all your hard work. m(_ _)m

And I was giggling madly at episode 5 too. Definitely my favorite episode so far.
I can't do anything without you, so thanks to you as well. ;)

[Matrim]

Episode 5 is great and I am so glad Arienai are working still on this project.

You know, the goal described on that piece of paper was almost surprisingly modest for Hiroko. :heh:
The fangirl outbursts of Nagisa made me think a bit what would I do if I had a chance to be the editor of my favourite author. I hope I wouldn't behave so silly. ;)
And Hiroko sure got lucky Natsume-sensei did not get offended by her bluntness.

[Kurogane_Shiroikaze]

Thanks to Arienai for still doing Hataraki Man. It's a very good and enjoyable show, and luckily it doesn't leave us hanging every week, or I'd die from sheer impatience alone.

Anyways, I'd like to ask where are the insert songs for 4 and 5 from? Sounds like Spitz or Suga Shikao to me.

[SeijiSensei]

Can someone (mippa?) tell me what happened in the bar scene in episode 5? What turned off the guys who were stalking Hiro and her friend? I assume from the use of quotation marks in the sub that the words "mature" and "train" probably had another (sexual?) context. Did those guys infer some sort of lesbian relationship between the two women, some kind of S&M thing, or something else similarly unpalatable to them?

Oh, and rather than another post, let me add to this one that, Guys in their fifties are definitely not "geezers." This isn't a comment about the translators (what a great job Arienai is doing, BTW), more a comment about the mindset that Hiro and others in her generation seem to share. Ask me again about this when I'm 80; maybe at that age I'll be more willing to accept being termed a geezer (though I hope not).

I'd also like to know what the title JIDAI means, if anything. We now know that it's a men's magazine, though I suppose the cover art would have suggested that, but what kind of men's magazine? It's also a bit surprising to me that the magazine's cover and binding suggests it's read from "front" to "back" (in Western terms) unlike books and manga. The scene where the magazine is next to Nagisa's copy of Natsume's book makes this especially clear.

[Quarkboy]

Can someone (mippa?) tell me what happened in the bar scene in episode 5? What turned off the guys who were stalking Hiro and her friend? I assume from the use of quotation marks in the sub that the words "mature" and "train" probably had another (sexual?) context. Did those guys infer some sort of lesbian relationship between the two women, some kind of S&M thing, or something else similarly unpalatable to them?

As the person who ended up doing the final "cut" of that scene, let me tell you it was extremely hard to translate well. Essentially the men mistook Hiro and her friend's discussion on taking care of Natsume-sensei's new work for them "training" their men. Yes, it definitely was supposed to have an S&M connotation (at least that's the innuendo I went for). There's more social subcontext too that seems appropriate to comment on. When 2 pretty girls are chatting at a bar, it could definitely be that they are trolling the scene for a couple of guys like the two in the background. But when they overhear the girls speaking in such a position of authority (taking care of something, being in charge, etc...), they realize that they are career women and not the image of the classical japanese woman who is subservient. You can also interpret it as Hiro and her friend purposefully projecting that image to make sure they don't get any unwanted advances.


Oh, and rather than another post, let me add to this one that, Guys in their fifties are definitely not "geezers." This isn't a comment about the translators (what a great job Arienai is doing, BTW), more a comment about the mindset that Hiro and others in her generation seem to share. Ask me again about this when I'm 80; maybe at that age I'll be more willing to accept being termed a geezer (though I hope not).

Yeah, although it should be pointed out that "oyaji" is not as harsh as "geezer" sounds in english. It's a word that doesn't really have a social equivalent in english, and "geezer" does convey approximately the right tone of condescension. "Old man" is too neutral and not as accurate on the age range. "Pops" works well in some contexts, but it only can be used in a more familial role (or diners :) ). It's just a hard thing to do naturally, I'm afraid.


I'd also like to know what the title JIDAI means, if anything. We now know that it's a men's magazine, though I suppose the cover art would have suggested that, but what kind of men's magazine? It's also a bit surprising to me that the magazine's cover and binding suggests it's read from "front" to "back" (in Western terms) unlike books and manga. The scene where the magazine is next to Nagisa's copy of Natsume's book makes this especially clear.

According to my dictionary, JIDAI could be written two different ways in Kanji (commonly):
時代: Period, epoch, era
次代: the next era

So, an appropriate translation of the title would be something like "The Times".

As an aside, the concept of "Weekly JIDAI" could use some explanation maybe. A lot of magazines in Japan have both monthly and weekly editions. Lots of manga magazines work this way too (like weekly JUMP and the monthly JUMP). In fact, during the shot in the opening scrolling by a bunch of magazines (most of which are send-ups of actual Japanese magazines), there's a cover of "monthly JIDAI", which implies that there's a second monthly version of JIDAI too...

As for the content of JIDAI itself, I think it's something like a comination of "Time" and "US weekly". Celebrity news (including celebrity sports players), fad diets, fashion spreads, serialized novels, investigative journalism, sex tips, etc...

I would have been translating the plethora of text on the magazine covers that are shown everywhere, but it's quite irrelavent to the show itself and would just end up defacing the animation prohibitively. I might posts some photoshopped screen shots after episode 11 or something for a lark. They tend to be things like "35 reasons to dump him! When to know to let him loose!" or "The new skin treatment that's sweeping the nation!" or "Giant breasts are in! How best to show of that bust!" (I'm not kidding about that last one... if I'm remembering correctly). Anyway, it's pointless magazine cover drivel :).

As for the reading direction, that just means that the japanese text is printed horizontally instead of vertically. Many newspapers are printed this way an it's getting more and more common for publications to switch to the western style. Manga is a whole different issue, though, as it's a lot harder to switch your direction of thinking for art than just text.

[SeijiSensei]

As the person who ended up doing the final "cut" of that scene, let me tell you it was extremely hard to translate well.

I thought there was a lot more going on in this scene than "met the ear" of this gaijin.

it should be pointed out that "oyaji" is not as harsh as "geezer" sounds in english.... It's just a hard thing to do naturally, I'm afraid.

I didn't take offense; my reaction was meant more in jest than anything else. I understand that other languages often include words with no real equivalent in English.

As for the content of JIDAI itself, I think it's something like a comination of "Time" and "US weekly". Celebrity news (including celebrity sports players), fad diets, fashion spreads, serialized novels, investigative journalism, sex tips, etc...

They tend to be things like "35 reasons to dump him! When to know to let him loose!" or "The new skin treatment that's sweeping the nation!" or "Giant breasts are in! How best to show of that bust!" (I'm not kidding about that last one... if I'm remembering correctly). Anyway, it's pointless magazine cover drivel :).

Are these the subjects on the JIDAI covers, or on the other magazines? These don't sound like the topics that a magazine that supposedly appeals primarily to men would cover.

Thanks so much for these informative comments, Quarkboy! I recall another comment earlier in this thread about the difficulty of translating some of the material in this show. Every time one of you talks about your work on this show, I'm impressed with your dedication to the content.

[Quarkboy]

Are these the subjects on the JIDAI covers, or on the other magazines? These don't sound like the topics that a magazine that supposedly appeals primarily to men would cover.

Well, there's a mix, and those are the ones I remember :). I'm not too sure myself, actually. Many of the cover titles seem to be directed towards women. About 50%, maybe... I haven't really counted. I believe it's one of those things where some of the articles might be "for women" sometimes, but due to the photo-spreads it attracts a primarily male readership. There are also titles about the hottest new stars and other kind of things, so...

[mippa]

Just a heads up that episode 6 has completed translation and should be out this next week. <3

[SeijiSensei]

Does Hiro ever smile?

I just scanned all five subbed episodes of Hataraki Man in an attempt to find a good shot of Hiro smiling for my avatar. The best I could come up with is the teeny smile that appears in the cell phone picture (she's talking to Shinji). I didn't really see anything that might be called a grin, much less a full-blown smile.

One of the prettiest shots of Hiro is around 9:00 in episode four when she looks out her window, and we see her reflection in the glass. Not smiling there, though, either.

[Quarkboy]

Aha, page 96 of volume 2, a smile! (scanning through manga is easier then scanning through anime!).

It corresponds to 3:46 in episode 9, although the smile in the anime is a lot more subtle than the one in the manga. It's right after Hiro's friend does a self-mamogram in the gym locker room. (I'm not kidding).

Hmm, I found 1 or two other "smiles", but they're all nervous grins (i.e. come with sweat drops).

[tun]

ep 6 is out btw ;)

I don't check RC's, which I probably should, but I spotted 3 or 4 mistakes. >_<

[Shiroth]

Yet another wonderful episode.

I enjoyed that you needed to see the whole episode to understand Yumi's character, thats easily a big part of this series. I'm also happy that this episode focused more on Matsukata's 'angry' side. We've only seen parts of it in the past.. this time it was full on and beautiful.

[Matrim]

Great episode, at first it seemed like a simplistic bashing of Yumi's approach to things and it turned out this wasn't the case. I can't say I liked Yumi's ways of dealing with problems but it was nice to see the two different perspectives without moralising messages about which one is superior. Why, oh why there are not many more series like this one? And why is it so short?

[Kaoru Chujo]

Great episode, at first it seemed like a simplistic bashing of Yumi's approach to things and it turned out this wasn't the case. I can't say I liked Yumi's ways of dealing with problems but it was nice to see the two different perspectives without moralising messages about which one is superior. Why, oh why there are not many more series like this one? And why is it so short?Quoted in total because I totally agree. I generally prefer short series, but this is one where I think -- depending on the manga and the writers -- there is enough dramatic material that they could even spin it to 26 with no problem.

I do have hopes that because of its great ratings, they might be able to come back for a second season sometime. I think that the ability to attract a more female and slightly older audience (with money) could be ringing bells in the production companies' marketing departments.

The more episodes of this series I see again, the higher it climbs in my estimation.

[Slice of Life]

Actually I'm quite happy that the series is so short. The majority of my favorite series are in the one season range. Most 24+ eps. episodic series' suffer under plot recycling. And when they have a continuous plot, they suffer under fillers.

Anyway, Arienai please keep up your excellent work.

[Quarkboy]

Quoted in total because I totally agree. I generally prefer short series, but this is one where I think -- depending on the manga and the writers -- there is enough dramatic material that they could even spin it to 26 with no problem.

I do have hopes that because of its great ratings, they might be able to come back for a second season sometime. I think that the ability to attract a more female and slightly older audience (with money) could be ringing bells in the production companies' marketing departments.

The more episodes of this series I see again, the higher it climbs in my estimation.

Well, they'll be enough manga source material for another run in about a year.

13 episodes covered about 2.5 volumes of manga, and I beleive the 4th volume is slated to be published around June of this year. Which means there'd be enough to support another 13 episodes only in about a year.

Note that Moyoco Anno's one-volume work "Sakuran" is being made into a live action film, so perhaps they're busy with that lately. I could definitely see them making another season of Hataraki in the future, however.

[SeijiSensei]

Just another terrific episode thanks to our friends at Arienai!

Four years with Shinji, hm? I had a couple of relationships last longer than they should because we'd never confront whether to get married or not. I know they don't see each other all that much, but if it's lasted this long and isn't going forward, it's probably never going forward. At least they woke up in the same place at the beginning of this episode! Oh, and I didn't see Shinji at the wedding. Did I miss him or was he not in attendance?

I thought this shot of Hiro with the bouquet is priceless! Definitely one of my favorites so far.

http://www.takinganimeseriously.com/images/matsukata-bouquet-clip.png

I also detected a hint of a smile near the beginning when she first heard that Yumi-chan was getting married. Looked like the biggest smile so far in the series.

I'm still not certain what the "moral" of this episode is. Should we admire Yumi for exploiting her feminity in the workplace, or admire Hiro for her unwillingness to conform to the sexist culture in which she works? Perhaps we should admire them both for their self-conscious decisions about how to cope, even though the choices they made are so different?

I really thought Yumi was going to marry the ballplayer.

[Matrim]

I'm still not certain what the "moral" of this episode is. Should we admire Yumi for exploiting her feminity in the workplace, or admire Hiro for her unwillingness to conform to the sexist culture in which she works? Perhaps we should admire them both for their self-conscious decisions about how to cope, even though the choices they made are so different?

I think everyone should decide for himself whom (if any) of the two to admire in this case. If there is a moral, it's that we shouldn't judge others just because their way of coping with problems is different than ours.

Actually I'm quite happy that the series is so short. The majority of my favorite series are in the one season range. Most 24+ eps. episodic series' suffer under plot recycling. And when they have a continuous plot, they suffer under fillers.

True but since Hataraki Man covers broad themes that are familiar to most people and is very much character driven, I don't think plot recycling would be such a problem. The way the series is progressing it seems that the members of the supporting cast will have just one episode in which they are in the midst of things and since these characters are quite interesting, certainly it doesn't seem that difficult to double the amount of episodes and explore their personalities once more, there is clearly a potential material for more episodes. And a second season might not be as good as the first one but it will certainly be better than most of the generic crap that is being produced these days, the worst thing that could happen is that it would spoil a bit the impressions from the first season

[SeijiSensei]

Not too OT, I hope.

I think everyone should decide for himself whom (if any) of the two to admire in this case. If there is a moral, it's that we shouldn't judge others just because their way of coping with problems is different than ours.

Don't get me wrong; I'm quite happy that we're left to judge this for ourselves. I was more curious about whether people thought the series' creators were more sympathetic to Yumi's or Hiro's point of view. I find Hiro's strength of character truly admirable, even if I'm turned off by her uber-commitment to the workplace. And while, like you, I didn't like Yumi's choice of the kawaii (http://www.kinsellaresearch.com/Cuties.html) strategy to get ahead, Yumi does remind Hiro that she is still a woman and not a hataraki man.

I've always enjoyed studying how gender roles are portrayed in anime. As a gaijin with little or no exposure to Japanese culture and mores before watching anime, I wasn't prepared for the frequent appearance of feminist themes in many series aimed at girls and women.* I thought of Japan as a place where traditional gender roles still held sway and expected to see girls and women portrayed more submissively than in American programming.

I was thus surprised to see how feminist thinking pervades a lot of modern anime, especially shoujo and josei shows. While it's especially obvious in the work of artists like Miyazaki or the CLAMP collective, shows by many other artists also feature strong female protagonists. Obvious examples of what I sometimes call the "plucky girl" genre include Spirited Away, Angelic Layer, Noein, or Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu. All of these depict preteen heroines who always do their best despite the difficulties they encounter and who succeed in the end. Older versions of these characters appear in shows like REC, Junni Kokki, or Saiunkoku Monogatari.** Even in historical dramas like Saiunkoku or Junni Kokki, the heroines have very modern sensibilities. They never worry that their gender will keep them from reaching their goals as long as they do their best.

Hiro is, I think, much less sanguine about her future than these younger counterparts. And, to return to the initial discussion, episode 6 made me wonder if this show's creators also have a more jaded view of feminism than does, say, Miyazaki. When Spirited Away's Chihiro grows up will she be one of four women in an office of forty people,*** horribly overworked and overworking, and constantly struggling to get the respect she so clearly deserves? I think Hiro tries to do her best every day just as much as Angelic Layer's Misaki, but in the adult world just doing your best may not be enough. Sometimes you need put on that scent of freesia to become female Hataraki Man.

Even though I can't imagine myself watching an office comedy on American network television, I'm strongly attached to this show. It combines laugh-out-loud humor with a depth of adult characterization that's rarely found in television programming of any sort. I happened to watch a bit of a network crime procedural (one of the CSI's) at a friend's house the other night and saw none of the humanity that's painted into every frame of Hataraki Man.

__________
*I also wish there was more of it in the series targeted at boys and men, by the way.

**Well, "older" in that they're 16-20. Anime has remarkably few heroines (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=757965&postcount=69) over the age of 20. Hiro, at 28, thus joins Balalaika as one of the oldest female principals that I've seen in an anime.

***What makes the 10% female statistic so remarkable to my eyes is that, in the United States, publishing has traditionally been an industry that was relatively open to women. By the way, women as a whole in Japan make up about 40% of the work force (http://www.miraikan.go.jp/english/statistics/002.html), though they're much less well-represented (http://www.miraikan.go.jp/english/statistics/hyoji.html?image016) in professional and managerial positions like Hiro's.
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[Matrim]

I've always enjoyed studying how gender roles are portrayed in anime. As a gaijin with little or no exposure to Japanese culture and mores before watching anime, I wasn't prepared for the frequent appearance of feminist themes in many series aimed at girls and women. I thought of Japan as a place where traditional gender roles still held sway and expected to see girls and women portrayed more submissively than in American programming.

Still the series depicting such themes are few compared to the myriad of series full of over the top fanservice, blushing moe girls, one-dimensional tsunderes or no character development at all, let alone nicely crafted female characters. I think there are a lot of submissive females in anime and often they look strong until their love interest appears and then they start to behave like total morons who will do absolutely everything for him, yet are too shy to express their feelings, which of course does happen in real life but not exactly every time as some anime sub-genres seem to suggest. ;)

Well, "older" in that they're 16-20. Anime has remarkably few heroines (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=757965&postcount=69) over the age of 20. Hiro, at 28, thus joins Balalaika as one of the oldest female principals that I've seen in an anime.

Remarkably few "old" main characters, too. And by old I mean over 25 but yes, the case with female characters is particularly dramatic.

Don't get me wrong; I'm quite happy that we're left to judge this for ourselves. I was more curious about whether people thought the series' creators were more sympathetic to Yumi's or Hiro's point of view.

Since Hiro and Yumi is chosen to be the main character I think the creators should be on her side, if Yumi was more interesting to the manga creator(s) she would have been the main character, I guess. But they both were portrayed in symphatetic light because of the bad position they are put in due to the sexism vibes in the workplace - Yumi's approach relies on the men's condescending way of treating of "kawaii" women, while Hiro has to work much harder than everyone else and when does she still gets laughed at. It's actually remarkable how this bleak situation can be shown along with many comic scenes and still ring true.

[Siegel Clyne]

Television Audience Ratings - Kantou Region (Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba, etc.)

If the current television audience ratings (http://www.geocities.jp/animesityouritu/2007a.html) trend (http://tvraiting.blog77.fc2.com/blog-entry-209.html) more or less continues till Nodame Cantabile ends its broadcast run, Hataraki-Man may very well remain the anime series with the highest television audience rating (http://www.geocities.jp/animesityouritu/2006b.html) average (4.01%) to air in Fuji TV's late night animation Noitamina block.


Episode 6 of Hataraki-Man received a television audience rating of 4.7%.

[Quarkboy]

Television Audience Ratings - Kantou Region (Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba, etc.)

If the current television audience ratings (http://www.geocities.jp/animesityouritu/2007a.html) trend (http://tvraiting.blog77.fc2.com/blog-entry-209.html) more or less continues till Nodame Cantabile ends its broadcast run, Hataraki-Man may very well remain the anime series with the highest average television audience rating (http://www.geocities.jp/animesityouritu/2006b.html) (4.01%) to air in Fuji TV's late night animation Noitamina block.


Episode 6 of Hataraki-Man received a television audience rating of 4.7%.

You've got to wonder though, if those ratings translate into more DVD sales. After all, for late night anime, that's the ONLY thing that matters to the bottom line (and whether there are more episodes made).

Somehow I bet that all those depressed working women/working men staying up late to watch the show aren't going to be shelling out $45 a disc for the DVDs (unlike crazy Otaku).

[Siegel Clyne]

You've got to wonder though, if those ratings translate into more DVD sales. After all, for late night anime, that's the ONLY thing that matters to the bottom line (and whether there are more episodes made).

Somehow I bet that all those depressed working women/working men staying up late to watch the show aren't going to be shelling out $45 a disc for the DVDs (unlike crazy Otaku).


According to Mantan Web (http://mantanweb.mainichi.co.jp/web/2006/12/post_601.html), DIP (http://www.dip-net.co.jp/english/), a sponsor of the Hataraki-Man anime, is more than happy with its success; among other things, it has brought in a lot of new business for DIP. According to a post on a recent animation television audience ratings thread at 2ch, the Hataraki-Man commercial for DIP is still running in Japan.

So, let's wait and see on a possible second anime series for Hataraki-Man.

[Quarkboy]

According to Mantan Web (http://mantanweb.mainichi.co.jp/web/2006/12/post_601.html), DIP (http://www.dip-net.co.jp/english/), a sponsor of the Hataraki-Man anime, is more than happy with its success; among other things, it has brought in a lot of new business for DIP. According to a post on a recent animation television audience ratings thread at 2ch, the Hataraki-Man commercial for DIP is still running in Japan.

So, let's wait and see on a possible second anime series for Hataraki-Man.

I wonder is Tsutaya saw any boost in sales, too? In case you hadn't noticed, their product placement is EVERYWHERE in the show. Ads on billboards, commercials on the TV in the background, in the opening, in almost every single outside street scene... Them and that energy drink have crazy overboard product placement :).

When I was in tokyo this winter I actually bought my map of Tokyo at a Tsutaya bookstore, so maybe it worked on me? (I still like kinokuniya the best 'cause they have a store in LA)

[Joojoobees]

Many thanks to Arenai for subbing this show.

Example of the nice artwork you can see in the first episode.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5850/hatarakimansky01cd8.th.png (http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hatarakimansky01cd8.png)

[kenshinvn]

Sorry for not catching with all of you since now I just reached 4th episode. This show is really enjoyable. I always wait for Realistic anime and now I'm finding myself in Hataraki Man. Working pressure, exhaustion, depression, enthusiasm, etc... are a general description of every employee (or boss ^^). The harmonization of work and life is a big issue nowadays and many of us still try to find a way out. Some may not be interested in the whole atmosphere of this anime while I'm watching it with so much fun. A good "picture" of modern life in everywhere :).

[tun]

Just a note for our loyal viewers, episode 7 and 8 should be out shortly. :)

[Dop]

Just a note for our loyal viewers, episode 7 and 8 should be out shortly. :)

Thanks, I'll be looking forward to that!

[Joojoobees]

Just a note for our loyal viewers, episode 7 and 8 should be out shortly. :)

:D I'm gonna be watchin' Hataraki Man tonight! :D

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/6445/avatar2id5.jpg
In commemoration of fansubs for episodes 7 & 8 being released, I decided to change my avatar. :)

I really liked episode 8. I thought it was a sweet story.

I also liked that this story picked back up the thread of Natsume-sensei.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/4193/natsumesenseiup5.th.png (http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=natsumesenseiup5.png)

[night train]

Thank for more Hataraki Man!!!

[Shiroth]

Episode 07 was not just a pretty moving watch --- the shows understands the problems that people go through in real life. Genius, loved it. Shall be watching episode 08 pretty soon.

Thanks a lot for the great work.

[Joojoobees]

Episode 07 was not just a pretty moving watch --- the shows understands the problems that people go through in real life. Genius, loved it.

Yeah, I didn't even mention 7. I thought it was a really interesting choice to focus on a character who not only had barely made an appearance previously, but was outside of the Jidai corporation.

It was also a fairly somber episode, because, although the masseuse managed to have a happy ending, Hiroko was frustrated through the whole episode. At the end she had what was, at best, a symbolic victory (really not a victory, but at least she didn't deny her own feelings).


BTW, there is a very strong tie between episodes 7 and 8. The theme is almost the same, although it is taken from a couple of very different directions.

As to whether people really go through these problems, I know I have. I personally want to feel that there is some reason for doing my job beyond the money. It seems to me, however, that most people in this world are like the characters that recur (from the very first episode) who just want to go home early, or not get "involved" in their work, and so on.

[Shiroth]

Just finished episode 08, and wow --- thats easily one of my favourite episodes from the series upto now (second episode is my favourite). Just seeing Chiba's face as he was thanked lit up my heart, an absolute wonderful scene if you ask me. I didn't think for a second that wasen't going to be added into the episode. I have so much respect for a man like that.

[SeijiSensei]

Two terrific episodes back to back. Not to mention....

Hiro smiles at the book party in episode 8! Not once, not twice, but three times! (Twice at the microphone -- see Joojoobies avatar -- and once talking to Chiba.)

Episode 7 was almost like watching a different series. I don't think there's a joke anywhere in the entire episode. I guess as Joojoobies says there's a happy ending for Shirakawa, though it looks like she might be even busier in her new job. I just hope it's more rewarding for her; she seems like such a nice lady. Still, while the earlier shows enabled us to shrug off Hiro's incredibly tense lifestyle with a few jokes here and there, there's no relief in episode 7. I couldn't help but feel the characters' stress. I need a massage....

Then we get an upbeat episode to follow, happiness all around. Natsume-sensei looks stunning in this episode, especially at the book party. You don't have to be a raving fangirl like Nagisa to see that, either. Like Shiroth, I also gained a lot of respect for Chiba as the episode progressed; so apparently did Hiro.

I want to read "54!"

[Shiroth]

I want to read "54!"
Not only that, i want to read her other works. If they're selling that way, surly they can be released in the real world. :3

(Also, you'd be surprised how i almost made a Chiba avatar. ^^;)

[issei]

episode 8 really was a standout episode. in a way, the impact of each episode reminds me of watching mushishi -- i think to myself, "shouldn't i want more overarching story development?" after a moment of introspection, the answer is no, not really; i appreciate these self-contained vignettes for what they are, and there isn't a complete lack of connectivity, it's just sparse.

episode 7, in contrast to the high-impact upward movement of 8's plot, was low-key and introspective, like a cup of chamomile versus 8's triple-shot mocha.

[Quarkboy]

Not only that, i want to read her other works. If they're selling that way, surly they can be released in the real world. :3

(Also, you'd be surprised how i almost made a Chiba avatar. ^^;)

I didn't typeset them, but the titles of the other 2 books of her's that they showed are

"Knock on my Heart" and "Eventual Love"... such typical romance-type titles :).

[SeijiSensei]

Not only that, i want to read her other works.

Well, I am the target market for 54! I just wish the other "geezers" we see reading this book weren't so unappealing.

@Quarkboy: I'm over my issues with being part of geezerdom! Geezers rule!

[Shiroth]

Well, I am the target market for 54! I just wish the other "geezers" we see reading this book weren't so unappealing.
& i'd like to point out that i'm not the target market (i love saying that), though i know i'd enjoy her works.

[Quarkboy]

& i'd like to point out that i'm not the target market (i love saying that), though i know i'd enjoy her works.

Don't you people remember the moral (well, one of them) of the episode? Limiting oneself to some concept of "target audience" is a recipe for mediocrity! Only by expanding the concept of "audience" will a work truly be a bit hit.

Now, taking a step back.... Isn't that really a bit of hopeful self-commentary about the anime itself? It makes you think...