"Hataraki Man" is one of your normal down to earth anime titles as it runs for about eleven episodes. It gives off the feel of something that is relaxing after watching an anime title that looks to be full of action. The manga that was released in 2004 is still in production and circulation. After watching anime titles with plenty of serious action, Hataraki Man is a good series to watch if you want to wind down afterwards. It makes a good contrast if you’re very much into Japanese anime. The story revolves around a young woman named Hiroko Matsukata who works for a magazine company. It’s revealed that Hiroko is a complete workaholic who is very much into her work.
It shows that being a hard worker is good but it means nothing if you’re not appreciated. Plus it shows the extremity of being a hard worker as one will lack a social life which tends to get unhealthy. Because Hiroko is a diligent worker, people such as the editor-in-chief seem to think that she is a lesbian. But contrary to what they believe, Hiroko is very much straight. Despite her success, she wants to go out on dates. She’ll happily leave work early to go on a date. In the beginning, Hiroko says that her love and sex life are dull. She further complains that she hasn’t had sex in three months. It’s also revealed that Hiroko does have a boyfriend named Shinji but he tends to be a bigger workaholic than she is.
The series introduces the term of "Hataraki Man" which means workaholic in Japanese. Hiroko is dubbed the female version of the Harataki Man as she puts her life on hold to get her story to a very high standard of perfection. The reason being is that Hiroko seems to very intuitive. Whenever she’s available for a date, Hiroko has to call things off because she gets a phone call from informants ready to dish out juicy information for her stories. This is the one reason Hiroko puts her life on hold. When she’s determined, she undergoes the transformation into the Harataki Man as she works intensely on the story as it hits the headlines.
Because of this, Hiroko is the best reporter of the Weekly JIDAI. But because of political backlash of a recent article that Hiroko wrote, it looks as if her personal life is on hold even more.
Hataraki Man looks to have a diversity of characters such as fellow editors such as Maiko Kaji, Akihisa Kobayashi, Mayu Nagisa, Kimio Narita, Yumi Nogawa, Fumiya Sugawara, and Tatsuhiko. Hiroko often clashes with Kunio Tanaka a rookie editor who is just as good as Hiroko. But they have different ideologies as Hiroko devotes her life to work while Kunio thinks oppositely.
The series mainly revolves around Hiroko’s professional and personal life. She got stressed at the backlash but Shinji isn’t there to comfort her. As a result, the relationship is even more strained.
While an interesting story, Hataraki Man presents many interesting lessons. It shows that one shouldn’t become a complete workaholic. Kunio presents the importance of balancing the professional and personal life. Kimia presents the importance of a reporter’s integrity of not caving in and staying firm no matter how big the threats are.
The series looks to only be available in Japan. There is no North American release at the moment. It seems that a possible North American release looks to be unlikely for at least one to two years.
Despite that, Hataraki Man is a great series to watch due to his intellectual value. It might be something interesting to watch if one wishes to go into journalism.