Why does it seem all Anime shows need to be about school life? Well not all. Wagnaria!! is about life at a “family restaurant”, that is a diner in American vernacular. Sōta is a 16-year old high school student who finds himself working at a diner. At the diner works a number of people who each have their own quirks. Popura is a 17-year old high school student at Sōta’s school, who assumes she is a middle schooler because of her short size.

Next up we have Mahiru, a shy high-school girl who has androphobia, a severe fear of men. Because of that fear she is constantly punching Sōta anytime they run into each other. Sōta is asked to help her over her phobia and ends up being the target of her many punches whenever she is confronted by various men and boys.

Then there is Yachiyo, the chief of the support staff at the restaurant. She is only 20 but carries a katana around everywhere she goes, even while on duty. Whenever she is asked about it she does not understand the question as “it is normal for a girl to be able to protect herself”. Yachiyo has an unrealistic admiration of their boss, Kyōko, who once saved her as a child. Kyōko, although the boss, could care less about doing any work. She simply walks around eating the food in the restaurant.

Early in the show a new girl shows up who is “lost” and decides to stay at the restaurant. Aoi is one of the most useless people on staff. There is practically nothing she can do that does not end with somebody else cleaning up the mess caused by her. Additionally there are a couple guys to round out the cast.

So with all this, we have a bunch of young kids running a restaurant. Most of the stories take place at the restaurant itself which provides for some very entertaining scenes. Many of the scenes would not make sense if the show was primarily taking place at a school. While the story is about students, there are very few episodes which have anything to do with school life.

The show was clean and very fun to watch. It was refreshing to see a show that broke the stereotype for Anime. I realize there is not much about the story itself in this synopsis, that is because there is not much of an ongoing theme. Each episode is by itself a entertaining piece of fiction without needing to follow a specific plot. There are a few ongoing plots, but they are kind of background stories rather than the main point of the show. If you are looking for a show to make you laugh, I highly recommend this one!

I recall no inappropriate scenes other than one of Sōta’s older sisters. She is always drinking and usually has her top open in her drunkenness. Yes, I know that sounds inappropriate, but for underwear she has more what would be called a full night-gown. There is far less skin shown than you would find at the beach and my personal opinion would be that the way they show it would still be considered clean.