Review: 'Aggretsuko'

Anime: AggretsukoGenre: Slice of Life, Musical (?)Age Rating: Good for AllStudio: FanworksMusic: UnknownAuthor: RarechoDub/Sub: DubbedEcchi Level: Non-Existent

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I saw an ad for this once, then my boy Gaijin Goomba put up a video relating to the situations in which these characters often find themselves. So, I found it on Netflix and gave it a shot. And suddenly, I became a huge fan.

Aggretsuko (the name is a combination of the word ‘aggressive’ and the main character’s name, ‘Retsuko’) and its name are a perfect explanation for the show. Retsuko is a 25-year-old red panda girl who works in a prestigious accounting firm in one of Japan’s many large companies. She does the daily grind, going into work, suffering through a sexist asshole of a boss, coming home, etc. But her routine mixes a little bit into the pot. Considering the strict policies of Japanese companies, talking back to one’s superiors is not an option, regardless of how they act.

So, our lovely little Retsuko has to find some way to get her pent-up aggression towards her ignorant pig (literally) of a boss out. So she stops by karaoke on the way home and lets the Earth shake to the sound of her death metal call. And I’ve gotta say, props to whoever is doing the voice for her death metal raging, because I’m fairly certain that trying that would blow my vocal cords out of my throat.

It’s a rather simple setup for a rather short anime, but it worked extremely well. We follow Retsuko as she deals with work, hangs out with friends, goes to yoga, and deals with everything that the stressed youth of Japan have to deal with on a daily basis. Among her friends are a fennec fox named Fenneko, a hyena named Haida, and two unlikely friends from higher in the food chain.

Honestly, watching the anime slightly annoyed me. The anime itself, not so much, but the fact that what I was seeing portrayed out with little cartoon animals happens way too often in real life. And while I wasn’t exactly satisfied with the way the asshole was dealt with, it doesn’t really take away from the anime itself. I still loved the hell out of it, and its social commentary on the regular life of a Japanese worker, especially one of the female gender.

Each episode starts off with an amazing metal song, which is the best way to start any anime if you ask my personal opinion. You can hear the gut-wrenching metal playing while watching a cute caricature of Retsuko dancing on screen, and it basically sets you up for how the whole anime is going to turn out. Which, since we’re talking about music, I’ve gotta say that ALL of the music in this show was fucking amazing. I couldn’t find who did it however, no matter how hard I looked. So, unfortunately, I can’t provide that info for you. But, whoever did it deserves an award.

Back to the anime itself, it was relatively short. This small commentary about the overworking of employees and overlooked sexism in the workplace flew by relatively quickly. Not that it was a particularly bad thing. It was short and sweet in a manner of speaking, being only ten episodes long and 15 minutes per episode. But despite the shortness, you still feel for the character. I wished I could help her in some way. And that’s one thing I loved about this show, the characters. From Retsuko to the slick and sly Fenneko, all the way up to the bosses who were completely believable assholes who basically thrived on the failure of their employees. They were well-done characters to say the least. Hell, I even liked the odd “PROTEIN!” screaming...kangaroo? Not sure what he was exactly, but that’s what it seemed like.

The visuals in the show were amazing. To see Retsuko go from a small, meek, office girl to a throat ripping, death metal screaming demon was hilarious. And the more people found out about it the better it became as her character continued to develop. It even culminated in her having an awesome battle against one of her oppressors. That scene was amazing, especially the satisfaction you feel just seeing her unleash her destructive voice on them. It hearkens to a time when each of us would have loved to grab a mic in front of a shit boss and just destroy them with sound and insults.

Given how short the series was, there isn’t much more I can say about it without spoiling stuff. I will say that there was a minor romance plot in the series, and I personally wasn’t a huge fan of how it was handled. But, as said above, it didn’t ruin the anime. I’m just a huge fan of romance, and I hate when people pull romance tropes rather than writing a real romance. Either way, it was still enjoyable, and worth the watch. This anime took maybe a couple hours to finish at most, so it was definitely worth the investment.

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TLDR: Worth the watch. It may not be for everyone, and has heavy music overtones which go from perky and charming to Earth-shattering metal in seconds. So if watching cute cartoon animals shred some vocal chords isn’t your jam, then you might want to pass on this one. I, however, found it stupidly charming. I loved the characters, the music, and it was short enough not to drag the plot on. But I could easily see Retsuko replacing Hello Kitty in the next couple years. Because while people may portray Hello Kitty as a badass on occasion, Retsuko is definitely a badass. And she will rock on as one of my favorite anime characters forever.

RatingsAnimation: 9/10

Music: 10/10

Story: 7/10

Comedy: 8/10

Overall Rating: 9/10

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SPOILER TALK: Not much to spoil here. But I did have a few annoyances. First, was that the pig boss “Mr. Ton” made a good villain. But unlike most villains, he didn’t really get his in the end. He basically got away with all his garbage with a slap on the wrist. I understand that it’s just the way things work in real life, but still…

On the upside, it made Retsuko’s battle against him all that more satisfying. When he called her out at the company party with a diss track, I was disappointed when she turned around. But as soon as she turned back and played the song, I was fucking pumped. And watching her voice blast his porky ass into a wall was sooooo fucking relieving. Of course, nobody remembered the next day, which is probably for the better. And he does have one character redeeming moment in the last episode, but even so, I feel like he should’ve gotten a lot more heat than he did.

Also, the romance plot. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t have a lot of experience in the department, but she fell for Resasuke waaaay too fast. It was odd watching and ended a lot faster than I anticipated as well. But hey, all for the better given his obliviousness to social cues. I’m fairly oblivious myself, but that was almost painful to watch. ALSO! I DON’T LIKE HOW THEY CUT OUT THE SOUND BEFORE HAIBA ASKED HER OUT GODDAMMIT! I wanted to hear her answer too! ARGH! But fine...whatever. I still loved the show and will recommend to anyone I meet who might also be into death metal singing adorable red pandas.

Best Girl: Retsuko...obviously. She loves death metal, is sweet, adorable, and can blast the door out of its frame with her voice. What’s not to like? Though Fenneko was a close second.