“Servant x Service” is a delightful anime series for anime fans that want something that is unlike anything they have seen before. An anime series that is easily accessible, a whole lot of fun and most of all, addictive. “Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set” is recommended!
Image courtesy of © KArino Takatsu/SQUARE ENIX, SERVANT x SERVICE PROJECT. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set
YEAR OF TV SERIES: 2013
DURATION: Episodes 1-13 (325 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 Widescreen, Japanese Linear PCM Stereo, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Aniplex Inc.
RATED: 13 and Up
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Originally created by Karino Takatsu
Directed by Yasutaka Yamamoto
Series Composition by Kento Shimoyama
Music by Monaca
Character Design by Terumi Nishii
Art Director: Shinji Honda, Yukihiro Shibutani
Anime Production by A-1 Pictures
Featuring the following voice talent:
Ai Kayano as Lucy Yamagami
Mai Nakahara as Saya Miyoshi
Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Yutaka Hasebe
Aki Toyosaki as Megumi Chihaya
Mikako Takahashi as Tanaka-san
Rikiya Koyama as KenzÅ Momoi
Rina Hidaka as Kanon Momoi
Rumi Ookubo as TÅko Ichimiya
Takahiro Sakurai as Taishi Ichimiya
Tetsuya Kakihara as JÅji Tanaka
Lucy (abbrev.) Yamagami is a newly-hired civil servant who has been assigned to work in a certain government ward office in a certain city in Hokkaido Prefecture. Not only does Lucy have so many things to learn at her new job, she needs to do all of that in the company of her colleagues, who are all more than a little eccentric. If you thought a job as a government employee was dull, you better think again! Lucy and her colleagues, actively and covertly (?!) serve their community every day!
Welcome to the life of civil service at the Health and Welfare Dept. where employees such as the naive Lucy (abbrev.) Yamagami, the shy Saya Miyoshi, the carefree Yutaka Hasebe and the tsundere cosplayer Megumi Chihaya work.
Where the four work for their boss Toko Ichimiya (Megumi’s boyfriend, although he doesn’t know it) and Kenzo Momoi, the Section Chief that is for some reason, a stuffed rabbit.
The life of these civil servants are the basis of mangaka, Karino Takatsu’s manga series “Servant x Service” which was created in 2009 and is still published in the Square Enix magazine “Big Gangan”.
With three tankobon volumes of the manga series printed, in 2013, the series would receive a 13-episode adaptation courtesy of A-1 Pictures.
“Servant x Service” revolves around the lives of those who work at the Health and Welfare Dept.
We are introduced to new employees such as Lucy Yamagami, a naive worker who always wears a black turtleneck sweater. While kindhearted, she wants nothing but revenge on the public servant who approved her full name “Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Ayano Tomika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika… Yamagami”, which she feels has led to her being joked on and giving her a low self esteem.
Yutaka Hasebe is your ultimate slacker. While he is a very smart individual who can and has excel on things, because he wants to live life the way he wants, people accept his unusual style. He is also a guy who finds himself teasing Lucy but eventually starting to learn that he is falling in love with her.
Meanwhile, the quiet new employee, Saya Miyoshi is terrified at her new job and finds herself talking to the elderly Mrs. Tanaka a lot for her work and often having thoughts on the people around her but tends to keep things inside.
The three new employees work with temp social worker Megumi Chihaya, a cosplay fanatic who loves the series “Magical Flowers” but can exhibit Tsundere tendencies, especially to her boyfriend, that she wishes is more worrisome towards her than his sister all the time.
But throw in a boss with the appearance of a stuffed animal and a stalkerish banker and you have an interesting combination of shenanigans for each episode of “Servant x Service”.
The main characters of “Servant x Service” are:
- Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Ayano Tomika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika… Yamagami – A new public servant who wants nothing but to take revenge on the man, a public servant who approved the long name given to her parents. She blames a lot of things in her life due to her long name. She is well-endowed and has a cowlick that tends to stick up or react in different situations. She is very naive and often wears a black turtleneck sweater (because she can’t find clothes that fit her).
- Yutaka Hasebe – A slacker at work who tends to tease Lucy but finds himself falling for her. Despite his slacker style, he’s actually very intelligent and has talent, but his care free lifestyle is what he tends to lean to. He desperately wants to go on a date with Lucy.
- Saya Miyoshi – A 24-year-old college graduate and is soft-spoken. She often keeps opinions to herself and is always listening to people talk, especially the elderly Mrs. Tanaka who wants Saya to marry her grandson.
- Megumi Chihaya – A social service employee who is a temporary employee. She has a tsundere attitude and is a huge fan of the anime series “Magical Flowers” and often thinks of her female co-workers as cosplayers and often wanting to dress them up as a character. She is dating Taishi Ichimiya, who is very scared of her.
- Taishi Ichimiya – The supervisor of the health and welfare office and is in charge of Lucy, Yutaka, Saya and Megumi. He is very kind and is known for putting his sister Toko on top of his priority and raising her. Although he is dating Megumi, he is often scared of her ever-changing emotions and how she may feel because he puts his sister as priority over her.
- Toko Ichimiya – Taishi’s tsundere younger sister who has a short temper and often criticizes his employees. She often visits his workplaces and wants to become a public servant.
- Kenzo Momoi – The Section Chief of the Health and Welfare Department. For unexplained reasons, he’s in the body of a stuffed animal.
- Joji Tanaka – A banker who is the ultimate rival of Hasebe and stalks him because he’s determined to beat him on anything.
- Kanon Momoi – Daughter of Kenzo and tries to keep it a secret from her friend Toko that the bunny rabbit section chief is her father.
- Kaoru Hasebe – Yutaka’s older sister.
VIDEO, AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set” is presented in 16:9 widescreen and in Japanese linear PCM Stereo.
A-1 Pictures has done a great job with the animation and the backgrounds are nicely done. I enjoy the fact that backgrounds feature the characters in a variety of locations and are detailed instead of the plain office backgrounds.
As for the acting, the voice acting is well-done, especially for slacker Yutaka Hasebe (voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki) and Section Chief Kenzo Momoi (voiced by Rikiya Koyama). But the series is dialogue and musically driven and for the most part, the soundtrack works well for this type of anime series.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set” comes with textless opening and endings.
EXTRAS:
“Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set” comes with a 24-page Special Public Documents booklet with episode synopsis + short manga and photos. Also, included is a 2-sided reversible cover and slipcover.
Every now and then, with each passing year, there is always one anime that takes me by surprise. And for 2014, “Servant x Service” was an anime series that did just that.
To be truthful, I didn’t know what to expect because a series about public servants is not something you will see in an anime series. Yes, I have seen it many times for Japanese dramas but never for an anime series.
So, having completed the entire 13-episode series, I have to say that “Servant x Service” was pretty awesome!
No, it’s not a overly dramatic anime series, there is no one with special abilities nor does this take place in the far future, this is a straightup anime series that is built around the comedy of its fascinating characters.
From Lucy, the naive young woman who is unaware that people watch her because she always wears a black sweater (and happens to be well-endowed) but also how she responds to her true first name (which is a long combination of many other first names) and thus, she has held nothing but dislike towards the public servant who allowed her parents to name her with that long name and let her be the butt of jokes growing up.
Then you have the slacker Yutaka Hasebe. It’s his demeanor that makes you laugh because although he is a slacker, he is also a talented individual and smarter than he behaves. He has a photographic memory, he excels at sports but all he wants is to go on a date with the girl he has fallen for… Lucy. Throw in a stalker-ish old childhood friend named Joji, who always tries to best Hasebe in everything and needless to say, shenanigans develop.
The anime series also has interesting characters as the quiet college student Saya, the tsundere cosplayer named Megumi, the overcaring boss who is scared of how his girlfriend Megumi treats him and a stuffed rabbit who happens to be the Section Chief.
The series is no doubt crazy but its witty characters and its constant casualness and playfulness makes this series a whole lot of fun that anyone who loves anime can watch and enjoy.
What happens when Megumi Chihaya wants to dress up Lucy in a skirt? What happens when Lucy loses the Section Chief at an event? What happens when Yutaka finds out how Lucy got her real name?
So, many crazy situations but how everything plays out, nothing gets boring and I found myself watching episode after episode, because I enjoyed the series so much.
While “Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set” is only available on DVD and there is no English dub, I do hope that Aniplex of America considers this for a Blu-ray release with an English dub because it’s so much fun and a series that casual anime fans will get into!
You also get the anime swag that Aniplex is known for. Maybe not a whole lot but you get a short booklet and a 2-sided reversible cover.
Overall, “Servant x Service” is a delightful anime series for anime fans that want something that is unlike anything they have seen before. An anime series that is easily accessible, a whole lot of fun and most of all, addictive.
“Servant x Service: Complete DVD Set” is recommended!
