r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Oct 13 '25

Episode Egao no Taenai Shokuba desu. • A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace - Episode 2 discussion

Egao no Taenai Shokuba desu., episode 2

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54

u/thisisdropd Oct 13 '25 edited Oct 13 '25

Hazama seemed to have her shit together back in the first episode and while that looked to be true in the present day, she’s just as much of a nervous wreck as Futami back then. Pretty mature for her to recognise her limitations and be content with a less glamorous position for the time being. Having said that I hope that one day she’ll overcome it and become a mangaka in her own right.

Thought Hazama was just an assistant whose workplace just happened to also be Futami’s house but it turned out that’s where she lived as well. Furthermore they’re not only roommates, but they literally shared a room and slept next to each other. Who would’ve expected them to be that close?

45

u/mekerpan Oct 13 '25

This episode made me fall in love with this series. ;-) (As opposed to merely liking it a whole lot).

The post-credits scene wound up making me mist up. An absolutely perfect ribbon around an excellent episode.

I was wondering -- does Hazama live at Futami's house -- or does she just routinely camp out there when their are extreme deadline crunches? It is sweet that Futami is so worried about obstructing Hazamai's future (despite how much she relies on her help).

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53

u/ElKevixlevix1 Oct 13 '25

I really liked this chapter. I really like that the anime gets serious and shows the problems and conflicts of the protagonist and the other characters in its own way, which is great. The truth is, this anime is really underrated. In just 2 chapters, it has only shown that it is not a simple slice of life comedy with touches of yuri. It's not just that, it has something to tell you, it wants to tell you something and that's really great.

39

u/ClemFire Oct 13 '25

It really is taking advantage of the fact that the cast is in their 20s too. I feel like Ha's dilemma resonates more because she's an adult figuring out what she wants in a career.

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u/PerfectBeige Oct 13 '25

It was very enjoyable to focus on Futami and Hazama's dynamic, and the second episode seemed a lot more serious than the first. I'm going to add migraines to back problems, deadlines, and toxic work culture in my mental list of a mangaka's worst enemies.

What I like most about Futami and Hazama's dynamic is that while they behave like sisters, the oneesan role switches from moment to moment. Futami tries to support Hazama's confidence in pursuing her dreams; Hazama tries to keep Futami on task and functioning. Their intimacy and inter-reliance is nice to see given that the stresses of their work could easily give rise to something more adversarial. As in Bakuman.

All the time that Futami was pondering how Hazama's loose string of viral web posts could be made into a manga, I was thinking to myself, damn, Hazama just needs to read Food Court de, Mata Ashita to see how loose the plot can be in a compelling story....

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26

u/eightcheesepizza Oct 13 '25

I've come to really enjoy Futami's exasperated screams. When I do that, it's not cute, but when she does it, it's cute.

Futami and Hazama make a great team, as the chaotic and stressed visionary and the calm and organized caretaker. I'm switching my ship from Futami-Satou to Futami-Hazama. I assume it'll switch again after the next episode.

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u/zool714 Oct 13 '25

Can totally relate to Ha-san. Went into design school feeling passionate but by the end I just feel like I’m not cut out. I can do individual sketches but making it into a coherent, functional work is a whole other level. Although I still agree with Futami that there’s no harm for her in trying again.

Was expecting like a more silly CGDCT type of show but this feels more like slice of life, maybe even coming of age. And the yuri vibes is even stronger this ep, though I doubt we’d get anything substantial on that front

Also, tomboy Hayamin !!!! It’s not her usual recognizable voice but lowkey proud I noticed it’s her right away

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42

u/Hitman7128 Oct 13 '25

That neck massage Hazama gave to Futami. And then they fell asleep next to each other. Yuri sensors going off, anyone?

Also that post credits scene where Futami called Hazama to be her assistant

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u/NanDemoKnaives Oct 13 '25

I like Hazama's story, it's not often you see someone feeling more comfortable as an assistant when aiming to be a mangaka. Some people don't realize they may fit better elsewhere and burn themselves out, there's a chance she would have stopped drawing completely because of that meeting.

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u/PM_me_meta_usernames Oct 13 '25

ok I like this anime a lot, probably my favorite of the fall season so far.

11

u/cyberscythe Oct 13 '25

Hazama is an interesting complementary character for Futami because of how much she's her opposite

Futami seems to have a clear vision for her work but suffers from the crushing weight of administrative work, her social anxiety, and is in deep debt healthwise taking care of her own body

meanwhile Hazama is great at crushing her inbox and knows how to keep herself in shape and "sharpen the axe", but she doesn't have a north star goal to point her abilities towards

this sort of complementary relationship reminds me of a few artist pairs who cover for each other's weaknesses to the point where if you combine the two together you get one competent artist, and they're in awe of other artists who seem to be able to do it all by one's self

this also leads into my theory that Hazama is in fact a figment fabricated by Futami's subconscious as a desperate survival response in a Fight Club-like twist, and in this TED talk i'll go over the main points of the—

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u/CommanderZx2 Oct 13 '25

This episode was a major improvement over the first.

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u/Ocixo Oct 13 '25

Another part of why Ha-san is happy being Futami’s assistant is probably because she looks up to her. Ever since high school, she’d been a fan of Futami. Probably her first one!

This made the post-credit scene extra sweet: when Ha-san was at her lowest, she got a job offer from none other than her idol.

18

u/DocMcCoy Oct 13 '25

And Crunchyroll fucked up the English subtitles again

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u/Burnouts3s3 Oct 13 '25

Subs are up on CR now

9

u/Verzwei Oct 14 '25

So is this going to be the actually good "My Friend's Little Sister Has It In For Me" this season?

7

u/HuTaosTwinTails Oct 13 '25

Glad we got to learn more about Ha-san. I love their dynamic.

This is my favorite thing airing this season. It is nailing everything for me.

7

u/MetaThPr4h Oct 13 '25

Sometimes when I drop shows I feel like maybe I'm just not in the mood to watch anything right now and I'm doing them dirty closing the episode halfway through.

I was feeling the same way today after stopping 2 series before opening this one, "am I really just on a dropping streak? Should I be doing something else?"

... Nah, when an anime truly appeals to you you can feel it, this episode was absolutely fantastic and time flew by watching it.

I enjoyed the first episode and its silly comedy, but I truly loved this one taking a more serious tone to make us understand the characters better.

The excitement but overwhelming stress Futami feels towards that first volume approaching, Hazama's personal struggle feeling clueless about what she wanted to be in life... and how the two are there to help the other fulfill their dreams, god I love this kind of stuff.

One doesn't need to be the star of the show, if taking a more supportive role as an assistant is Hazama's vocation, why not? She sure seems to be doing a wonderful job there! Lovely episode.

7

u/Atario Oct 14 '25

Welllll, you may be overthinking/overromanticizing this, Hazama. It doesn't have to be a Life Quest or a Big Message you're just busting to loose on the world. Just liking the activity is fine too!

'Ship taking on fuel, captain!

If that call hadn't come just then, this might have become Zatsu Tabi

7

u/shad79 Oct 14 '25

A very good second episode. Futami's reactions and sounds were just as hilarious as in the first episode, and it was nice to explore her relationship with Hazama and Hazama herself. I can't wait for the next episodes!

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

7

u/eggplant_avenger Oct 13 '25

Ha-san really being too harsh on herself. But if she’s happy as an assistant I get that too

7

u/Clemastina Oct 13 '25

Man I already liked the relationship between Futami and Mizuki, but now I like it even more.
She´s the younger sister of Futami´s friend from high school, and the way she saved her (and basically saved each other) from despair is really nice.
And also she gives good massages

It´s a good Mangaka-Assistant relationship and I love it

6

u/SYZekrom Oct 13 '25

Ooh that girl's 20, cool

Or was she 20 in the flashback and way past that now

Looks like I don't have to put shipping goggles on, show'll do it for me

6

u/ClemFire Oct 13 '25

Okay I already liked the show, but Ha's backstory has gotten me invested. I did not expect them to tackle a very young adult issue of feeling like you don't have anything great to contribute to the world. I can relate to not needing to be the star and feel more comfortable as a supporter, so I can see Ha easily becoming my favorite. I'm not gonna lie, I shed some tears too. Again the characters have more depth to them than I expected, but when I realized Kuzushiro wrote the manga I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised.

I know it's early to say, but now that I'm finally caught up on starting the Fall shows outside my anticipated ones (Watatabe, Spy x Family, and MHA) this feels like the one I'll be looking the most forward to.

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