Not all slice-of-life shows hit the sweet spot between soothing and emotionally resonant, but My New Boss Is Goofy manages to do it. The story follows Momose, a young man in his twenties who spent his first years working for what is known as a black company, a workplace that abuses its workers both physically and mentally. It's the sort of place where isekai protagonists often die of overwork, but Momose gets out before that can happen to him, although not without mental scars and physical issues. He manages to land a job at a different design firm. Although he knows intellectually that the chances of the same thing happening to him again aren't great, his trauma isn't willing to give up the ghost, and he begins his new job with a gnawing sense of terror eating his stomach.

Then, he meets Shirosaki, his new boss. Shirosaki is the exact opposite of the sort of boss Momose dreads: he's kind, soft-spoken, and utterly hapless. He's the sort of man who accidentally buys Midol instead of Tums (for Momose, a cis man), who thinks a plastic bag is a cat, and who misinterprets Momose's words to think he means that he still believes in Santa Claus – and then goes out of his way to make sure not to burst Momose's bubble. He does silly things we can laugh about, but always with the best and purest intentions, so the laughing isn't at his expense but a sign of how happy he makes those around him. If there were an actual human embodiment of a cinnamon roll, Shirosaki would be it.

There's something wonderful about that beyond just the obvious. Momose is desperately in need of someone to reassure him that the world isn't the terrible place it's seemed to him so far, not just because he's recovering from the black company, but also because his health depends on it. When we first meet him, he's still having pain that attacks based on his anxiety, and while it still happens throughout the twelve episodes, we see it being a less and less frequent occurrence. The series is ultimately about Momose's healing, and there's almost an iyashikei element in this respect. The mild goofiness of Shirosaki balances out a lot of other, darker components of the story – with his presence, Momose's panic attack about his old boss calling him and knowing where he lives is transformed into a moment when he can make real, substantive change with Shirosaki's support and help. While Aoyama, Shirosaki's boss, has serious issues that are played for laughs (his obsession with Kumatte, an in-world bear character, is in reaction to his acrimonious divorce, as is his low self-esteem), which isn't great, none of Momose's are.

Also treated seriously are the abandonment issues that Hakutou, the cat Shirosaki rescues, has, and like with Momose, Hakutou's mental health is respected. When Shirosaki and Momose find the kitten, he's been dumped in a box outside for the crime of acting like an actual cat, and like many abandoned animals, he's got a lot to work through. The result is that Hakutou becomes a textbook tsundere, but somehow better because he's a cat, attempting to deny how much he loves his new person and reacting with fear whenever he thinks he may have done something wrong. He's a lot like a more acerbic Momose, and Shirosaki is the presence who can help both of them find a safe space.

It's worth noting that Shirosaki also gets a lot out of his relationships with Hakutou and Momose. He knows on some level that he's maybe a little out of it, and the other two ground him and allow him to be himself without shame. There's a lot of that sentiment in this series – Aoyama finds affirmation in working with Momose, Shirosaki, and new hire Kinjo, all of whom accept him at face value, while Kinjo is like Momose in coming from a black company and reveling in the healthy qualities of his new workplace. Even better is how we see the background characters react to Shirosaki and Momose's relationship. Frequently, we catch glimpses of people sobbing quietly after hearing Momose describe his former workplace and Shirosaki's gentle responses, or blushing over how they treat each other. One of the best throwaway characters is the cab driver who ends up helping Momose move out of his old apartment (and happily takes some clothes) and then turns up again when Hakutou has to go to the vet. The animation may be just okay a lot of the time, but the details are spectacular.

There are a lot of puns in the show that don't always make an easy transition into English in the subtitles. There are also some linguistic gags (like the colors in everyone's names) that go unremarked by the on-screen text, and honestly, despite how much I love the Japanese voices, this could probably use an English dub to better play with the puns in the dialogue. But even if you miss most of them, there's a gentleness to this show that can be accessed just by watching, even without sound, and that's its greatest success. My New Boss Is Goofy is a show with a warm heart, a good sense of humor, and a very tsundere kitten. It's almost guaranteed to cheer you up if you're having a bad day.