Anai, a graduate accountant entering the department as a season-two antagonist, embodies a Japanese badger with peach fur, light brown stripes framing his gray eyes, and a professional wardrobe of white shirt, blue tie, gray pants, and brown dress shoes. Outwardly eager and courteous, he conceals crippling insecurity and paranoia, lashing out at perceived slights with covertly recorded evidence or venomous emails.

His volatility erupts during training sessions with Retsuko, whom he accuses of career sabotage, demanding apologies in secluded clashes while maintaining a polished public demeanor. He avoids verbal resolutions, insisting on written records, yet disarms coworkers with culinary talents, bonding over shared kitchen endeavors during office events.

Kabae’s maternal mentorship becomes a turning point, her steady patience coaxing him into collaborative teamwork and easing his anxieties—until her temporary resignation reignites his distrust, spurring legal threats against the company. Her return restores his fragile equilibrium.

A romantic subplot with Hakumi emerges through their collaborative book-editing project, though details remain sparse. Professionally, he evolves from refusing Haida’s pleas for help to begrudgingly aiding him during homelessness, revealing a conflicted mix of self-interest and latent empathy.

His narrative contrasts male-coded outbursts with female-coded restraint, framing his harassment of Retsuko as maladaptive coping—a choice critiqued for glossing over harm as his arc concludes without personal accountability. Over time, supportive colleagues and routine temper his intensity, though flickers of neuroticism linger, underscoring the struggle to navigate adulthood and the transformative power of mentorship.