So here’s a little fun fact about me that applies to this show. One of the things I like about my job is that I work a set 40 hours a week and that’s it. No chance of overtime and I actually have not applied for a promotion because I don’t want to move to a job where I have to work longer hours. So you can imagine my reaction when I saw a title I can relate to this much. Our story stars Alina who loves the stable and safe life of a receptionist; however, when dungeons get too tough the paperwork piles up and she has to work overtime to get it all done. Fed up with the overtime she disguises herself and marches into the dungeons to slay the boss monsters giving her work/life balance so much grief.

So the story is really interesting because it takes a unique approach to its protagonist. You don’t have someone with lofty goals but rather someone who longs for a quiet life to spend time on themselves. So the threats of the world have a way of making that difficult and Alina gets tired of it. It’s a story full of fun moments that had me laughing out loud at not only the execution of the jokes but how relatable of a character Alina turned out to be. As many times as this humor was used throughout the season you would think it would get old but it never does.

While Alina’s quest for a normal work week is the forefront of the story there’s a secondary plot that develops behind the scenes. It features dark gods, characters with very detailed and emotionally charged back stories and even some revelation as to why Alina’s work life balance is so important to her. This secondary story serves to not only add character depth but also fun world building and acts as a catalyst to keep problems coming that force Alina to be involved so that we can continue to see her struggle with constant overtime.

The show also features combat and while it’s not bad it’s also not ground breaking. The fights are rather short and a little stiff so I feel like they serve more as ways to progress the plot rather than elements that can be entertaining on their own. Where there are so few fights in the season I feel like there’s a bit of self awareness here that the story is the key selling element of this show.

So overall this is a really fun show. It has a heavy dependance on the running gag of Alina’s frustration with overtime. Many shows have worn out their welcome relying on something like this but that’s not the case here. The humor and the charisma of Alina combined with constantly finding new ways to execute the jokes makes for a theme that stays entertaining for the entire season. It also has a shocking amount of emotional depth that I was not expecting. While this is not one of my favorite shows it was very entertaining and I’m interested to see if it can stay that way for season two.