Top 20 Fantastic Anime About Working and Jobs

Shirokuma Cafe

Who says work life has to be about human? Working with animals is better. Working animals are even better. This is about a polar bear that owns a cafe by the zoo and all the different animals that come in. Its light color palate and upbeat tone are wonderful and even if you don’t like cute anime, you can find something to like here.

Sakura Quest

New to the work life genre, Sakura Quest is about five women that were recruited to head the tourism campaign of a failing small town. Needless to say, it isn’t easy and sometimes they fail, but they have their successes, too. If nothing else, it is worth watching for the wide array of wardrobe changes that go on.

Bartender

While we’d rather see a work life anime about a bartender who works in a dive bar, Bartender with its well-groomed lead and its upscale establishment is pretty good, too. The show is essentially about the bartender soothing troubled souls with advice and perfect cocktails, which is what bartenders do in real life (sometimes).

Hataraki Man

This series can be a touch sexist, but if you can look past it, it is a great work comedy about people who work too much. Obviously, it is a bit of a parody on Japan’s ridiculous culture of overworking and not having time for other aspects of life, but it doesn’t really focus on how sad that is.

I Couldn’t Be a Hero, so I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job

Not unlike The Devil is a Part-Timer, this ridiculously long titled series takes place following fantasy characters, this time in a fantasy realm. The main character wanted to defeat the evil lord, but someone else beat him too it, so he got a job. The rest of the plot follows him having to train the evil lord’s clumsy daughter that gets a job at the same place.

Amagi Brilliant Park

You’d think as much as people love amusement parks in Japan, there would be more anime about them. However, really there is only Amagi Brilliant Park, which is probably everything you hope it will be. It’s weird, it’s random, but it doesn’t go completely out there.

Nana

Nana is all about life when it comes to starting over in a new city. While rock star Nana’s story is a little out there since she stumbled very little on the road to becoming a rock star, the normal Nana’s story is a bit more down to earth. She likes to spend, the gets a menial job, she fan girls over her roommate, and gets swept off her feet by a rock star. Okay, so, not that down to earth, but close enough.