| African Office Worker | |
 Cover ofAfrican Office Worker volume 1 by Media Factory | |
| アフリカのサラリーマン (Africa no Sararīman) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy Slice of life |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Gamu |
| Published by | Media Factory |
| Imprint | MFC Gene Pixiv Series |
| Magazine | pixiv Comic |
| Original run | December 2014 – present |
| Volumes | 4 |
| Original net animation | |
| Studio | Production I.G |
| Released | June 5, 2017 – June 30, 2017 |
| Runtime | 3 minutes |
| Episodes | 10 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Tetsuya Tatamitani |
| Written by | Yūichirō Momose |
| Music by | Tako Yamaguchi |
| Studio | Hotzipang |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | Tokyo MX,BS11,KBS,SUN,TVA |
| Original run | October 6, 2019 – December 22, 2019 |
| Episodes | 12 |
 Anime and manga portal | |
African Office Worker (アフリカのサラリーマン,Africa no Sararīman), otherwise known asAfrica Salaryman, is a Japanese comedymanga series by Gamu, serialized online viapixiv Comic website since December 2014. It has been collected in fourtankōbon volumes byMedia Factory. Anoriginal net animation adaptation streamed onProduction I.G's Tate Anime (now Anime Beans) app between June 5 and June 30, 2017, and ananime television series adaptation by Hotzipang aired from October 6 to December 22, 2019.
The comedy manga follows a lion, toucan, and lizard as they live the lives of office workers in a capitalist society in Japan, while also dealing with their unique situations as animals living beyond the savanna and the food chain.
Ananimeoriginal net animation adaptation streamed onProduction I.G's Tate Anime (now Anime Beans) app between June 5 and June 30, 2017.[1]
An anime television series adaptation aired from October 6 to December 22, 2019, onTokyo MX,BS11,KBS,SUN,TVA.[5] The series is animated by Hotzipang and directed by Tetsuya Tatamitani, with Yūichirō Momose handling series composition, and Tako Yamaguchi composing the music.[2]Hiro Shimono performed the series' opening theme song "Soul Flag", whileAkio Ōtsuka performed the series' ending theme song "White-Collar Elegy.".[3]Funimation has licensed the series for asimuldub.[6]
The anime series' first episode garnered mixed reviews fromAnime News Network's staff during the Fall 2019 season previews. Theron Martin felt that Hotzipang's animation style won't catch on outside the series but commended it for giving visual aid to the "pretty funny" humor, saying the show will be remembered as the "weaker cousin" toBeastars. James Beckett was critical of the CG animation being of lesser quality compared toPop Team Epic and felt repelled by Toucan's groan-inducing antics, but gave praise to the "inconsistent but mostly entertaining" comedy and the animation techniques used throughout the episode, saying it won't be his go-to comedy of the season but will occasionally check it out based on the animators' creativity. Rebecca Silverman criticized the thin premise for failing to grab her attention beyond its concept, the "clunky" animation and Toucan's obnoxious personality, concluding that: "It's easy to see how this is trying its best, but for me, that just wasn't enough to make me want to see more." Nick Creamer felt the center piece gags were "tired or off-puttingly mean-spirited" and the CG models came across as "consistently clumsy in motion", but praised the episode for conducting "smaller comic beats" in the background and dialogue, and emitting "great little visual embellishments" throughout its runtime, concluding that: "On the whole, too many ofAfrica Salaryman's jokes fell flat for me personally to recommend it, but it's certainly an interesting work, possessing both a solid understanding of comic structure, and a welcome eye for visual experimentation."[7] Fellow ANN editor Amy McNulty choseAfrica Salaryman as her pick for the Worst Anime of Fall 2019, criticizing the tryhard attempts at different animation styles, unlikable one-note characters and the various jokes causing "comedic whiplash" throughout the series, concluding with: "I did chuckle on occasion while watching this show, but not often enough."[8]
