Wowzers.  Did that really just happen?

My apologies, but I’m going to be running way behind for a few days (see sidebar) so I’ll be briefer than normal here.  But don’t mistake my brevity for commentary on this week’s Working!!!, which serves as a glove-slap across the cheek to everyone who’s been bitching that there’s no development on this series.  It was never true (Inami being only the most obvious exception), and that’s one of the things that sets Working apart from garden-variety gag manga.  But rarely have we had a tectonic shift like we did this week.

Yes, Satu-san finally asked Todoroki-san out.  And yes, she said yes.  It was halting and awkward and she may not even realize exactly what transpired, but it happened – no takebacks.  And as if that weren’t enough, their evening ended with what felt very much like a confession – at least on his part.  As for Todoroki I’m really sure how to take her “stay with me forever” in context, but it’s sure far more than Jun has gotten in three seasons.  Heck, she even stopped talking about the Manager for a few moments at the izakaya.

This being Working, of course we got a lot lot of mostly benign silliness in-between those two events.  Alas Yachiyo’s choice for help in the rules of drinking dates is Kozue, who starts her off on a side-track Yachiyo never gets off of.  Meanwhile Yamada has reacted to Souta’s accidental head-pat of last week by falling for him (or at least his patting) and declaring herself a love rival for Inami (whose second hairpin this week is a jack-o-lantern – honestly I have no clue what that first one was).  That leads to a very funny scenario where Yachiyo and Yamada are both seeking rather bent advice at the same time, the former about underwear (which elicits a Shaft head-bob) and the latter about how to lure the serial chibicon Souta into her clutches.

Yamada’s efforts are many and varied – lowering her head to the right height, putting a baby chick on her head (it a least gets petted) and finally the true last resort, actually working hard (and not breaking a single dish).  That gets her closest – a palm to the forehead checking for fever – but Popura finally ends the stalemate by flat-out asking Souta to pat Yamada’s head.  Sadly, his heart just isn’t in it and Yamada just isn’t getting the same vibe.

As for Todoroki, the best advice she gets is from Maya-san, who preaches “Normal is best!” with abnormal vigor.  It’s always great to see Maya get a word in edgewise, but even that milestone event has to take a back seat to the big date.  I won’t go so far as to say there’s great chemistry here, especially given Satou’s nearly silent nature for most of the evening.  But I really do think there’s something here on Yachiyo’s part too, and while Satou’s hug was a bit of a strong response, I certainly saw no evidence she was upset about it.  If nothing else has been accomplished, at least the genie is out of the bottle now and these two are either going to have to start dating, or put this evening behind that and solider on.