'Aggretsuko' Is a Fabulous Anime

When I first watched Aggretsuko, I was taken away by all the cuteness, humorous images, and how much I could relate to the characters. I was like, Retsuko is an epic death metal cat! Then I watched it again and said, hang on a minute! Retsuko's not a cat, she's a red panda. So then I was like, Retsuko is an epic death metal red panda!

If you want some cuteness, you should go for it, but be prepared for some wild antics and to be hit in the feels. It's hilarious, unpredictable, and the art-style is cute and whacky as you would expect in anime nowadays. When I watched the first episode I was instantly hooked. It's made by Sanrio, who are the mascot company behind the dearly beloved mascots like Hello Kitty and My Melody.

Despite it's childish look, adults—especially ones that work in the office—can really relate to Retsuko. She's at the prime of her life and works hard as an associate for her company. Sadly, many people take advantage of her, such as making her do tedious chores that her colleagues could easily do herself. They also chuck piles of work on her desk so she never truly finishes work on time.

Retsuko is sweet, polite, and adorable, which is what you would expect in a mascot created by Sanrio. But deep down, she holding back waves of aggression and takes it all out in her fantasies inside her head. Then she lets it all go in the karaoke bar.

It's so easy to love her and her struggle with work, especially when work is thrown in her face is real. We've all been through some horrible managers and colleagues in our working life.

So it's really satisfying when she finally stands up for herself in front of everyone at work. Also love it when she reveals her true metalhead persona in front of Gori and Washimi. Gori and Washimi are brilliant characters and are my favourite. Ever fancied seeing a gorilla rocking a purple frock? This is the anime for you.

The characters are really well designed and suit the personalities of the characters. There's Restuko's boss, with his pig face. He's scary and intimidating, but he loves the attention and the praise. The fishy senior who puts Retsuko down and the others who don't but Retsuko's feelings into account.

I'm sure lots of people have had managers like him. Paul Chapman wrote on Crunchyroll, "This character (Retsuko) speaks to me on a personal level."

I also really like how it breaks the mould that fans of music have to dress in a certain way to prove that they love a certain genre of music. Retsuko is very passionate about metal but doesn't dress in black or wears chokers to prove it. She shows it with the way she sings the songs.

And it doesn't just focus on her work life, but also her day-to-day life from when she's shopping to when she's at home. Though some of them do try to do things for Retsuko's best interests, it's clear that they don't know her as well as they think they do.

I am getting a lot of Animal Crossing and Babymetal vibes through this. It's a great example of how kawaii and metal, some of the most unlikely combinations, could work so well. Isabelle from Animal Crossing New Leaf says that she dislikes confrontation and I see this a lot in this anime as well. This could be a thing in Japanese Culture in general where they try to avoid confrontation at all costs.

And this makes me want to see a future episode where Restuko and Hello Kitty meet. That would be so fun! Come on, Sanrio! Do it! Release your inner metalhead!

Follow @Aggretsuka on twitter.

First season of Aggretsuka is available on Netflix.

Clips are also available on YouTube.