Summary
Anime characters often have the worst jobs imaginable, from dead-end careers that suck their souls to jobs that bring them closer to death. These characters have to endure these jobs to support themselves, accepting the worst positions just to make ends meet, like Akira in Zom 100. Despite the difficulties, some characters like Retsuko from Aggretsuko find ways to improve their lives even in the least respected jobs.
Some anime characters have the worst jobs imaginable. These less-than-stellar careers can range from a fascinating dead-end position to shady jobs that each day bring them closer to a horrible death. Either way, anyone stuck in these positions should really round up their resume.
Voluntary efforts like the magical girl’s heroism do not qualify. These career options are for people who desperately need a way to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. To make ends meet, these characters are willing to accept the worst jobs possible and just wish they didn’t end their careers for the rest of their lives.
10 Denji – Chainsaw Man
Denji’s life is not comfortable. He struggles every day to earn the little money he can earn, lives in a run-down apartment and can barely afford food. If that wasn’t bad enough, he was betrayed by his boss, a Yakuza member, who sacrificed him to the Zombie Demon. Denji has finally found a new home with a job as a Public Safety Devil Hunter, but even his new government-approved title can’t save him from trouble.
As a Public Safety Demon Hunter, Denji now has access to the basic resources he’s been craving all his life. However, he is still risking his life to fight the Devil for his survival and is currently at the mercy of one of the most charismatic anime villains. Makima, Denji’s new boss, makes it very clear that she will kill Denji as soon as he steps out of line and uses her desire for affection and connection with others to keep him loyal.
9 Retsuko – Aggretsuko
Retsuko has some very good reasons for all her pent-up aggression, most of which is caused by her office job. Struggling with her day-to-day accounting, she has to deal with annoying co-workers, meddlesome parents, and a woman-hating boss who hates her. Her only escape is her secret love of singing death metal at a karaoke bar after work.
As the story progresses, Retsuko learns that she can improve her daily life by working on her own. She gradually became more assertive, worked on forming relationships with others, and started thinking about what she wanted out of life. While her job still frustrates her, Retsuko pushes herself to become a stronger and more successful person.
8 Bounty Hunters – Cowboy Bebop
From start to finish, the Bebop crew is struggling. Despite their impressive skill sets, even the most dangerous jobs don’t seem to bring them real profits, given their complexities ranging from lost bonuses to losses incurred from their target’s capture cancels their payday. At worst, they had to live on Ein’s dog food because they lacked money to buy groceries.
Even so, as the best episodes of Cowboy Bebop show, bounty hunting isn’t the worst occupation in the solar system. Spike goes into business to escape his past life as the assassin of the Red Dragon Syndicate, proving that the galaxy has worse options out there.
Attack On Titan – Attack On Titan
There’s a good reason Eren and Mikasa’s classmates were shocked when they turned down the cushy positions they’d earned in the Military Police to join the Survey Corps in Attack on Titan. The Legion has the most dangerous and least respected jobs in all of humanity. Members are allowed to leave the wall and look out into the outside world but at terrible risk.
Members of the Survey Corps study Titan and explore areas where humans could one day expand. Riding directly into the jaws of danger, their lives can and do end in a terrible instant. When their efforts lead them to the truth that their government has buried, it is not difficult at all to turn public opinion against them despite all their efforts.
6 Kento Nanami – Jujutsu Kaisen
Nanami is one of the most beloved Jujutsu Kaisen characters for her relentlessly sarcastic personality and boring approach to deadly encounters. However, Nanami herself is not happy with her life. He’s extremely adept at what he does but doesn’t believe he has much of a choice about it.
With her sharp analytical mind, Nanami initially made money as a salaried employee but found the work unsatisfying and empty. At times, the gratitude he received from former victims of the curses prompted him to return to the world of jujutsu, despite his hatred of the job. He sees it as more of a career than his fellow wizards, showing up in battle in a suit and getting an overtime boost if he works more than eight hours.
5 NERV employees – Neon Genesis Evangelion
Working for a shady government agency almost certainly never ends well. The average workday of a NERV agent involves dealing with horror monsters with huge bodies, helping against otherworldly Angels, and on particularly bad days, trying to stop an almost self-destructive sentient supercomputer.
This says nothing about Gendo leader Ikari’s twisted goals. Devoted to his deceased wife, Yui, he is ready to start the apocalypse and destroy humanity in order to be with her again. If his son is not safe from his plot, the people on the payroll of NERV are not at all.
On the surface, the Alchemists of the state of Amestris seemed ready for life. They had decent military ranks and licenses and bottomless bank accounts for their work, which greatly benefited Edward and Alphonse. The money was spent on alchemy research, endless travel, beautiful houses, and in Ed’s case expensive gadgets like cars.
However, an unsuccessful or missed annual review was the least of the problems for the state alchemist. First and foremost, they are considered military dogs, indebted to the deeply corrupt government of Amestris, which is happy to use them to commit atrocities up to and including crime. genocide. The whole show is a cover to sow chaos and bloodshed, and collect sacrifices to open the Gate to Truth.
3 Saitama – Punch Man
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Saitama and Nanami will probably have a lot to say. Saitama was once an ordinary salaried employee with a full head of hair, living a boring and unsatisfying life. When he saves a child’s life from a crab monster one day, he realizes that being a hero is the career path he really wants to pursue.
In any other superhero anime, Saitama would live the high life as the world’s most powerful hero. In One Punch Man, that’s not how the world works. With no opponents around to really challenge him, heroic work for him is as empty as a desk job. Furthermore, there are very few people who truly realize how powerful Saitama is, while the rest of the world considers him a fake.
2 Akira Tendou – Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead
New college graduate Akira shows up on his first day of work with bright eyes and bushy tails, excited to have been hired. He quickly learns that his dream company is actually a complete nightmare. Endless sleepless nights, unpaid overtime days, abusive bosses and customers became his new reality. He couldn’t even summon the energy to clean his apartment for three years.
Viewers are treated to multiple flashbacks of Akira’s work life, and that’s a stark contrast to the usual cheerfulness he displays during the apocalypse. However, it is that mood that is the biggest indication of just how badly Akira’s work has taken a toll on him. The apocalypse didn’t confuse him at all; he’s just happy because he’ll never have to go to work again.
1 Henchman of every villain
Kind and considerate bosses are a rare breed among anime villains. Usually, the average henchman is regularly at risk of being beaten, beaten, left to die, experimented with, blown up, or subjected to all forms of torture and humiliation if they are not satisfied with their his boss. The level of cruelty of a villain can be clearly seen by the way they treat their subordinates.
Many minions follow their leader out of fanatical loyalty, such as the Gung-Ho Gun in Trigun Stampede, or because they are looking for the same kind of power, like many of the villains in Seven Jewels dragon. Others come into the bad guy’s life because they’re looking for money and success, like Team Rocket’s grunt in Pokémon. Of course, none of them found what they were after, as their bosses would happily remove them if it benefited them even a little.
Many anime characters work hard with terrible jobs. Watching them, viewers frustrated with their own work are reminded that they can handle their own workplace: it can always be worse.
