Time for another weird one. Sometimes, all it can take is one image to make you want to watch a anime series. For me, it was a pitcher of a man holding a stack of books with a name tag on an apron. The fact that the man was a skeleton was all it took for me to dive into the funny world of a bookstore. This is Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, an anime that anyone in the retail sector can identify with.
Let Me Introduce My Crazy Colleagues in This Bookstore
Honda has been working at the same bookstore for over ten years. He seems to like his job, but he is a little out of touch with modern thinking. He hates manga, which is a probably since it is one of the store’s biggest sellers and the department his best friend Kamibukuro works at. He must deal with customers as well as some of the craziest co-workers ever. He also happens to be a skeleton, but this does not seem to bother any of the customers.
Anyone who has worked a job where they do not agree with what the employer is doing will instantly relate to Honda. He does not seem to even like the customers, thinking that his taste is better then theirs. This is a workplace comedy mixed with the absurd. Honda knows one word in English, but for some reason is in charge of dealing with foreign customers. This is a place where the strangeness of company policy gets taken to the highest level.
A Battle Without Honor or Humanity
The co-workers are any equally strange bunch. Kamibukuro appeares to be wearing a bag over his face. Hōtai, who works in the girls department, is a women who seems to have her entire face covered by bandages. No one remarks on these strange characters and it seems that their masks are a representation of how they feel or how they are viewed. The creator actually worked in a bookshop and said that the experiences in the show are very true to life.
The best comparison I can make for Honda is the short series that play on Adult Swim from time to time. They pile on the jokes fast as they only have 15 minutes. The show is funny and sometimes hits a little too close to home. Check it out if you are in the mood for something different.