Anai

* Calm
* Rage

**Anai** (穴井) is an office worker and a supporting character in the 1-minute TBS Television shorts. He made his official premiere in the Netflix Original series in the episode titled "The New Hire Named Anai" as an antagonist for the first half of Season 2.

Anai is a graduate accountant who works at the same firm as Retsuko and is left in her care for training.

# Character

## Appearance

Anai's appearance is based on a Japanese badger. He has peach fur and tail, light brown stripes around his eyes, and similarly colored hands. He has thick, black eyebrows and gray eyes.

His work outfit is a white dress shirt with a blue tie, gray pants, and brown dress shoes.

## Personality

Anai — at first glance — seems pleasant, enthusiastic, and good-natured, but beneath the surface, he is extremely afraid, insecure, and neurotic of his place as a newly hired adult; his paranoia reaching to the extent of reacting to advice rather badly and unable to handle any criticism.

His overtly defensive nature even gets to the point of confrontation through email only and insists that any personal business must only be settled in written form. If anyone tries to talk to him about a problem in person, he resorts to recording them on his phone as a form of protection.

Despite all of this, he is shown to be a great cook and steps up to work obligations when spoken to gently by Kabae and Haida. Although sometimes still paranoid, he has since mellowed out and become less stressed over time.

# Relationships

## Love Interest

### Hakumi

Hakumi is Anai's girlfriend. She is shown helping Anai in editing a book he would publish, but not much is known about their relationship outside of that. It is unknown whether both of them will get married afterwards.

## Co-workers

### Retsuko

At first Retsuko tries to be kind, about their relationship but Anai is too paranoid and sends her threatening e-mails telling her what she did wrong. Later on, Kabae talks to him, helping him become friendly and comfortable around everyone.

### Haida

The whole time Anai was nice to Haida until he told Anai that he thought what he was doing to Retsuko was rude and that he needed to stop. But after Kabae talked to Anai, he resumed his friendship with Haida.

However, there are times that Anai would bail on Haida, such as refusing to allow Haida to crash on his couch upon knowing that Haida is homeless and unemployed. Still, he was one of the people who forced him out of the internet cafe, despite refusing to house him.

### Kabae

Kabae and Anai became friends after he sent a threatening e-mail to the entire accounting department, and she unexpectedly was the only one from the department being able to talk with him softly and sharing some lunch with him ending to Anai to open up to his duties and then, to realize his talent for cooking should be shared with his partners, allowing him to get some extra money by selling food and making friends in the process.

Anai was the one most affected by her resignation in Season 4. At a break room table with Retsuko, Fenneko and Haida, he said that he planned to sue the company. Haida told him he has no ground to stand on and Anai got angry at him. Realizing he was right, he could only pound the table in frustration. His behavior changed drastically after she resigned, being more unenthusiastic and pessimistic. It is implied that he regained his enthusiasm after she returned to the company.