Servant × Service

Plot

The story revolves around the daily lives of employees in a government office building in the fictional city of Mitsuba, Hokkaido. Lucy's parents had a very hard time picking a single name for her when she was born. Because of their indecisiveness, they decided to give her over a dozen different names. And it was legally approved by a civil servant no less. At an adult age, Lucy manages to land a job at the same public service office. But her reason is to seek revenge against the person who legalized her ridiculously long name. Being a civil servant is not an easy job due to dealing with many angry citizens, facing different challenges, and having to put up with wacky co-workers each day. However, Lucy is determined to do whatever it will take to get her revenge. Newcomers Hasebe Yutaka, Yamagami, Miyoshi Saya, and their supervisor Ichimiya Taishi go through the everyday quirks of working at their office.

Main characters

Lucy (...) Yamagami (山神 ルーシー（略）, Yamagami Rūshī (ryaku))

Voiced by: Ai Kayano Lucy is a newcomer who decides to apply as a public servant to look for and take revenge on the man (himself a public servant) responsible for approving her rather long name given to her by her parents. She shows seriousness in her work, but is always the target of Yutaka's pranks. Her real name, or least part of the name she could mention, is Lucy Kimiko Akie Airi Shiori Rinne Yoshiho Chihoko Ayano Fumika Chitose Sanae Mikiko Ichika Yukino Reina Eri ... (still continues). A feature of hers is a cowlick (ahoge) sticking up on her head (a trait inherited from her mother, according to the flashback in the first episode), which reacts according to her mood or emotions. Out of all the three new employees, she seems to be the most naïve and low guarded. She disliked Hasebe at first because of his constant teasing of her, but throughout the story, she has somewhat noticed his feelings towards her. At the final episode, when Hasebe asked her out, she said "not yet", which implies that she is now more conscious of him and may have developed a bit of feelings towards him.

Yutaka Hasebe (長谷部 豊, Hasebe Yutaka)

Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki The only male among the three newcomers, who is notorious for goofing off at work, asking for the email addresses of any girl he meets, and teasing Lucy. Despite his easy-going slacker image, he in fact shows some talent in his line of duty in the least expected situations like, In Episode 3, when he is seen to be able to do ventriloquism and use sign language. At home he is shown to be not as hyper as he is in the office. He also has a sister named Kaoru, who is also a civil servant, and is even more rambunctious than Hasebe is in the office. He seems to have feelings for Lucy and has asked her out twice, only to be "shot down" both times. It was unclear whether he was serious in the beginning but, in episode 8, it is now confirmed that Hasebe has feelings for Lucy when after walking her to the station, he said to her "I was pretty serious all this time, but at this rate, i'll really fall deep in love with you" (while blushing super hard). In Episode 12, Hasebe and Lucy had their first date but was unable to finish it due to Hasebe's family circumstances. At the end of the episode it is revealed that Hasebe's father is the public servant who approved of Lucy's long name.

Saya Miyoshi (三好 紗耶, Miyoshi Saya)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara A 24-year-old college graduate and a soft-spoken girl who tends to keep her opinions of other people to herself. She was first assigned as one of many front desk officers, and always ends up listening to the never-ending rants of some customers, especially the elderly Mrs. Tanaka.

Megumi Chihaya (千早 恵, Chihaya Megumi)

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki A social service employee who is actually working as a temporary employee with a shorter shift than others. She is rather aloof towards her co-workers, and is revealed to be an avid fan of the magical girl series Magical Flowers. When she is not at work, she attends cosplay events dressed as Gerbera Pink, one of the characters of the series. She has been dating Ichimiya for over a year, and has tried to make it clear to him that she doesn't care if he prioritizes Toko on Christmas because of comiket.

Taishi Ichimiya (一宮 大志, Ichimiya Taishi)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai Taishi is a supervisor in the health and welfare office and the one in charge of Lucy and her friends. Although kind and approachable, Taishi is prone to be bossed around, particularly by his sister. He has been dating Chihaya for over a year, but worries about getting dumped before Christmas, since Toko's birthday is on the same day and he always prioritizes Toko, though Chihaya, due to her cosplay commitments, doesn't seem to care.

Tōko Ichimiya (一宮 塔子, Ichimiya Tōko)

Voiced by: Rumi Ōkubo Taishi's tsundere younger sister, noted for having a peculiar marking under her right eye similar to the "bulging vein" image used to depict a person when angry. Staying true to this quirky trait, Tōko is often in a bad mood and has a short temper. On the other hand, she seems to have a brother complex. Ever since learning about her older brother's interest in working as a public servant, Tōko started learning more about the job, and by high school is knowledgeable enough to give surprise quizzes to employees every time she visits her brother's workplace. Her birthday is on Christmas Eve.

Kenzo Momoi (百井 兼蔵, Momoi Kenzō)

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama The Section Chief of the Health and Welfare Department. He is first introduced as a talking stuffed rabbit in episode 4 due to his extreme shyness. He sometimes falls prey, though, to the mood of his subordinates--and is either stomped on or has the fur plucked off of him like petals on a flower as a result. He is also an old friend of Hasebe's father.

Minor characters

Mrs. Tanaka (田中, Tanaka-san)

Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi An old lady living in the ward who frequents the office to visit Miyoshi. She always talks about her daughter-in-law and has a grandson who happens to be Yutaka's childhood friend and rival. Although she tried to get Miyoshi to marry her grandson, she stops talking about him when she realizes that Miyoshi hates him.

Jōji Tanaka (田中 譲二, Tanaka Jōji)

Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara Tanaka-san's grandson. He is a 22-year-old single banker. As Yutaka's childhood friend, he never beats Yutaka in anything, leading to a very awkward friendship. It also seems that he might have unrequited feelings towards Kaoru as indicated by Chihaya.

Kaoru Hasebe (長谷部 薫, Hasebe Kaoru)

Voiced by: Yu Kobayashi Yutaka's sister. She likes to play pranks on people, such as on Lucy when she spent the night at her house after a office dinner rendered her too drunk. As she realizes that Yutaka one-sidedly loves Lucy, she tries to set them up so that Lucy will fall in love with Yutaka.

Kanon Momoi (百井 花音, Momoi Kanon)

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka Kenzo Momoi's daughter and also Touko's high school friend. She is cute looking and looks like her father. She doesn't seem to be bothered by her dad's outer appearance and always covers up for him. She is also smart and understands situations very well. Although she discovers Taishi and Chihaya were dating, she tries to keep a straight face when Tōko finds out.

Lucy's Dad (山神 父)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida

Lucy's Mom (山神 母)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa Lucy's parents. Due to them asking other people's opinions for the name of their daughter and not being able to decide which one to use, they named their daughter using all those names.

Hasebe's Dad (長谷部 父)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa Yutaka and Kaoru's dad who worked as a ward office staff member when Lucy was born. He approved the application for Lucy's ridiculous long name, and is the target of Lucy's revenge. He is also an old friend of the Section Chief.

Manga

The manga series written by Karino Takatsu began serialization in Square Enix's Big Gangan magazine in 2009. The series was ended after 4 tankōbon volumes. It has been licensed in the United States by Yen Press.

Anime

A 13-episode anime adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Yasutaka Yamamoto began airing on ABC on July 5, 2013 and were later aired on Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV, Hokkaido Broadcasting Company, Chukyo TV, BS11 and AT-X. In addition the series uses character designs done by Terumi Nishii based on the original designs by Karino Takatsu, while the series composition and script are done by Kento Shimoyama, along with sound direction by Akiko Fujita and music by monaca. Aniplex of America had obtained licensing rights to the series for home video release, while Crunchyroll had obtained the series for streaming in select parts of the world.

The opening theme is "May I Help You?" (めいあいへるぷゆー?) by Ai Kayano, Mai Nakahara and Aki Toyosaki whilst the ending theme is "Hachimitsu Doki" (ハチミツ時間（どき, lit. Honey Time), sung by Ai Kayano from episode 1 to episode 4, episode 5 to 8 by Mai Nakahara, and episode 9 to 12 is sung by Aki Toyosaki.