I will say, however, that it looks a lot more bearable in anime. They all seem like they’re having a grand old time over there (well, in most series). But there’s a whole bunch of characters that fill those role. Which ones are the most iconic? Let’s take a dive into the hospitality world and find some of the most notable waiters & waitresses that anime has to offer.
18. Mirajane Strauss
Anime: Fairy Tail Mirajane is the type of waitress you really want to tip big, as she’s a literal angel. And not passing her a big fat tip would be a sin. She acts like a motherly figure for the guild, and has the tolerance of a saint, almost never getting angry over anything. Plus she’s constantly helping around the bar. However, even though I ironically called her an angel, she also has a badass/terrifying demonic side to her that you definitely do not want to see. So again, 20% or over if you value your current (and future) life.
17. Fukuyama
Anime: Dorohedoro Fukuyama is a waiter at the Tanba Restaurant, and is quite the difficult dude to describe. I guess you could say he’s similar to Mirajane in the sense that he’s extremely nice and hard-working. But he can also be very dangerous when backed into a corner. But do you want to know what his power is? He can turn you into a pie and sell your transformed corpse for profit. So, I’m not sure I would ever eat at the restaurant knowing that bit of information… but the dude is definitely giving it his all.
16. Elizabeth Liones
Anime: The Seven Deadly Sins Elizabeth is far from a full-time waitress since she only works when the gang is in-between adventures. But I think she still deserves a mention. She’s your typical shy female character that can be badass when needed, but just hangs out with the gang most of the time. Her relationship with Meliodas is very cute and tragic at the same time – but being that he’s also technically her employer, she really should seek out some advice from HR.
15. Aoi Tokura
Anime: Rainy Cocoa This is a really small-time show, so we don’t get to see a lot of Aoi. But he seems to be made to be a waiter. He always has a smile on his face, and will serve even the rudest of customers. He’ll also pretend to be a dog to cheer you up, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there. I should add that he also gets mistaken for a woman quite frequently. Which might attract some customers in its own way…
14. Ryu Lion
Anime: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Ryu is both an amazing and a terrible waitress. On the one hand, she’s as kuudere as they come. And you have a better chance at slaying a minotaur with a rusty spoon than getting her to smile. On the other hand, she’s a seasoned warrior that can always keep the peace in the bar, and kick out any noisy customers if needed. So you win some, you lose some, but she’s very lovable. So she gets a pass from me.
13. Hideri Kanzaki
Anime: Blend S At first I thought that I would have nothing in common with this dude. And yet, Hideri is a dude, and that’s where my initial instinct came from. He simply likes being feminine and dreams of one day even becoming a pop idol, which I can’t really relate to. But then I learned that he applied to be a waiter in the meantime, strictly to avoid the responsibility of running his parents’ farm. And I was right there with him. And just like with Aoi, can you imagine how much shock factor his appearance brings to the café?
12. Mahiru Inami
Anime: Working!! Mahiru can be the perfect waitress, but with a small exception. You see, because of some very questionable practices from her father, Mahiru is deathly afraid of men. She’s so afraid that every encounter with one will end up with either her fainting, or her turning your lights off. So as long as there isn’t a single male customer ever, she’s like the perfect waitress. And I mean, she does get better, so maybe one day she’ll be trusted with a sharp object around male customers.
11. Touka Kirishima
Anime: Tokyo Ghoul If you’ve watched the show, you know that being a waitress is far from the only thing going on in Touka’s life, with all the ghoul stuff going on in the background. But she’s pretty good at her job. She can put on a fake smile like the best of them, and she can promptly kick your ass if you start making trouble. Plus (and this is me just speculating here), being that she constantly has to drink coffee to supress her urges to eat someone’s face, I feel like she understands customers on a fundamental level when it comes to the necessity of caffeine.
10. Kuro
Anime: Restaurant to Another World I would honestly be a regular at a restaurant if Kuro was the waitress. And I don’t say that because of the usual waitress kawaii coefficient, but rather because she probably has the best stories out there. I mean, she’s a 30 thousand year old dragon that’s worshiped like a god in her world. I recon she would have quite a few things to say about her battles and adventures. Plus, she mostly speaks telepathically, making her the best waitress option to avoid any kind of social awkwardness.
9. Shinichi Sakurai
Anime: Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! The only good thing about working in retail is the opportunity to get some of that S-class gossip time between shifts. And boy does Sakurai keep things interesting. Since the double-barrel Uzaki is stuck to him like glue, the Asai duo get front-row seats to a seething romantic comedy whenever the doors open. Don’t get me wrong, Sakurai also seems like a competent waiter. But the drama aspect is definitely the thing that’s putting bread on the table in his case.
8. Misaki Ayuzawa
Anime: Maid-sama! As far as tsundere characters go, Misaki can actually hold herself pretty convincingly. For context, just like Mahiru, Misaki isn’t too fond of men. But instead of just punching them on sight, she becomes the school president and simply sticks up for the females way more than the males of her class. Yet when she’s in uniform, she’s actually very convincing and almost seems like she loves and respects every customer that walks through the front door. Of course, she does slip up occasionally… but you have to respect the determination!
7. Chiho Sasaki
Anime: The Devil is a Part-Timer! Semantically, this is a bit of a grey area when it comes to the position of waiter. But I’m including it anyway. Chiho basically works at a McDonald’s alongside the demon lord Sadao. Which is pretty standard stuff in the fast food business. She’s one of the nicest and bubbliest characters around, and basically carries the kawaii factor of the show on her little back. She can get quite jealous over Sadao, and has the confidence of a shoe, but I love her regardless.
6. Souta Takanashi
Anime: Working!! This dude is getting severely underpaid. Since he’s working with the previously mentioned Mahiru, Souta goes to work every day fully aware that he might come back with a few broken ribs and internal bleeding. So in order to avoid at least some of the damage, he starts coming to work dressed like a woman. And at that point, I didn’t know what to say. Because he looked like he was suffering, but he was also like an S-class trap. So many emotions.
5. Konata Izumi
Anime: Lucky Star Konata truly is a character for the people. More specifically, for the Internet people. Her main hobbies in life are manga, anime, and adult video games. She loves to pull some sick pranks, as well as make fun of people on a continuous basis, and she procrastinates everything and then crams like a maniac the night before. Truly a revolutionary character when it comes to relatability. And here’s something: she worked in a cosplay café and actually dressed up as Suzumiya Haruhi, meaning that she even has decent taste for a female otaku.
4. Syr Flover
Anime: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Syr was just a lovely character that seemingly didn’t have a single bad side to her. She was always extremely nice and wholesome as hell. Granted she might not have been as badass as Ryu, but she still had her charm. And she was honestly way better as a waitress. That is, until you start looking into a theory of her true personality… then she gets a bit less cute, but a lot more interesting! And I’m honestly good either way.
3. Faris Nyannyan
Anime: Steins;Gate Cat-people are usually a huge hit or miss for me. But Faris just pushed all the right buttons. She’s amazing as a waitress because her character is so charming and rememberable that there are dozens of customers that come to her café just to play against her. And I can see why. She’s a bit goofy, and likes to make up names and act like everything she does is some sort of super move. But it is kind of charming. She definitely means no ill will either. And her voice actress really made all those nya nyas flow like butter.
2. Aletta
Anime: Restaurant to Another World It truly seems like I can’t write even one of these lists without mentioning some demon lord – and today is no different. Aletta is a young demon that works alongside our scaley friend Kuro. Being that her timeline was quite a few ways behind modern civilization, anything and everything will blow Aletta’s mind, ranging from elevators to cardboard boxes. She is very nice though, and is quite cleanly for a species that’s usually associated with destruction.
1. Poplar Taneshima
Anime: Working!! Out of everyone in the series, Poplar was by far my favourite. She’s the most adorable bite-sized little waitress I have ever seen. And any characters picking on her because of her height brought me more joy than I care to admit. She’s extremely nice, and is obviously determined to give it her all at work, regardless of how many shelves she can’t reach. Her relationship with Souta is both wholesome and hilarious, as she only likes him when he’s crossdressing, and soon moves on to her next target once she learns that the entire Souta family is just like him.
