My New Boss is Goofy, and it comes to a close with Episode 12, “Be Back Soon…!?” It’s emotional and heartfelt and showcases how much each of our leads has grown. In the last episode, Momose started looking for a new apartment now that he’s saved up enough money and mostly left his old abusive boss behind. After deciding to take a stand and keep moving forward in his life, it looks like moving out of his boss’s (read: boyfriend’s, I mean, c’mon) apartment is the first step.
Now, he takes a step out the door, but only after Momose, Shirosaki, Kinjo, and Aoyama celebrate Christmas first. At Kinjo’s suggestion, the four hold a Christmas party and bring presents to exchange. As always, his trauma rears its head once Momose thinks back about his most recent Christmas celebrations…and there aren’t any. With only memories of a drunk boss berating him at an office holiday party, this is yet another chance for Momose to overwrite his bad memories with good ones and with Shirosaki at his side.
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As Momose and Shirosaki continue to look for apartments, Momose feels the pressure to leave Shirosaki’s house and stand on his own two feet. But Shirosaki doesn’t want Momose to rush, leaving him an adorable note telling him as much. But when Kinjo and Aoyama leave their apartment after the party, Momose begins to accept that leaving his new goofy boss’s apartment isn’t the end of the relationship.
It may be the end of birdwatching together on the balcony, the small moments in the apartment, or even riding the train together. After the party and after much deliberation, Momose decides to move forward and contacts a real estate agent to sign a contract on a new place. But when the time comes for Momose to move, the waterworks start for both men. While Shirosaki wants to be supportive, he also doesn’t want to lose Momose, and he holds him back at the door, only for Momose to reveal that he’s living just next door.
My New Boss is Goofy Episode 12 is a finale that serves as a culmination of every choice and tender moment that we’ve seen the entire season. Momose and Shirosaki have evolved together, and the empathy they’ve shown each other has helped heal the past as well as chart a future. No one is the same as they were when the series began, and that’s a good thing.
For their parts, Kinjo is still flirty, and Aoyama is still needing, and the both of them round out a quartet of friends who are putting each other first. Their relationships as a group aren’t only adorable but also dynamic. They think about each other’s likes and needs, trying their best to anticipate what the others need. They care about each other deeply, and their example of healthy and heartfelt relationships, whether at work or outside of it, is needed.
Now that we’re at the end of the season—and series, so far as I can tell—the way that the series uses romantic tropes has to be highlighted. Much like Buddy Daddies from the winter season, it’s only not a BL in name, but everything about the tenderness shown between Momose and Shirosaki goes beyond just a simple manager and direct report. They’re friends, sure, but at the same time, the reliance on classic romance tropes from manga and anime makes this into something more. However, if you do remove the romance from the series, you still capture the beautiful development of caring for others and allowing yourself to be cared for.
Working as a rom-com and a workplace comedy, My New Boss is Goofy Episode 12 is a perfect ending to a perfect series. It’s a look at life after trauma, letting people in, and ultimately, what it looks like to take a step forward away from your past with pride and support. Momose and Shirosaki are the couple of the season, whether romantically or platonically. They’re two of the best-written characters of the Fall 2023 anime season. A wholesome salve to a terrifying work world, My New Boss is Goofy is something everyone who is burned out on work and being treated like garbage by their bosses should watch.
My New Boss is Goofy Episdoe 12 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.
