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Aggretsuko (Aggressive Retsuko) is a 2018 Netflix anime series created by the Japanese company Sanrio (who are also well-known for creating tons of other famous characters, such as Hello Kitty, Keroppi, My Melody, Gudetama, and etc).
Plot
The show is about the daily life of Retsuko, a 25 year old red panda who tries to make it to work life while singing death metal in her spare time.
Why These Seasons Rock
- The show tackles important themes in life such as misogyny, hostile work environments, anger management, the stress of adult life, among others, in a mature and realistic way that doesn't depict those topics in toxic ways and gives positive messages about the importance of getting help from others in order to deal with issues in life.
- The show's cute art style and use of chibi animals as its characters smartly contrasts with its more serious and mature themes, as well as the use of aggressive Death Metal.
- This show is basically Netflix's done-right version of BBC's, TVNZ 2's, & NBC's now cancelled mh:Terribletvshows:Stressed Eric, which had the same concept as this show, but poorly executed.
- Retsuko is a likable and relatable protagonist as an overly stressed woman stuck in a boring job struggling to find a way out of it and vents out her anger by loudly singing Death Metal in private.
- Funny and quirky characters, who initially are presented as one dimensional stereotypes but as the series goes on they quickly become deeper more complex characters with strong character arcs and plenty of development.
- Really nice character designs that suit the characters giving to them.
- Catchy death metal songs.
- Swift and smooth flash animation that is full of life and makes good use of the trope of exaggerated facial reactions seen in many other Japanese shows, as it is well suited to the show's art style.
- The English dub is surprisingly good and accurate.
- Erica Mendez (the voice of Arle in Puyo Puyo Tetris and Ryuko in Kill La Kill) voices Retsuko. When singing death metal, her voice is done by Jamison Boaz, an actual death metal musician.
- The Space Cadet song is very touching.
Bad Qualities
- Some major characters (especially Resasuke and Puko) barely even has enough screentime starting with the next season.
- The finale of Season 3 was anticlimatic and felt rushed, though this may depend on your view.
- The relationship between Haida and Retsuko was very cliché and boring, it depends on the viewer.
- Season 4, while not terrible, was very divisive among different fans due to Haida being heavily butchered to a more coward, rushed relationship between Haida and Retsuko and a very anticlimatic ending.
Reception
Aggretsuko was met with critical acclaim from critics and audiences alike, whom praise it for the relatable characters and the way it tackles on important themes in life. It currently sits at a 8/10 rating on IMDb and currently has a 100% critic score and a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the websites' consensus stating "Uniquely bleak for a Sanrio property, Aggretsuko balances biting corporate satire with adorable characters and absurdist comedy to create a surprising, insightful addition to the world of animation".
Videos
Trivia
- In Japanese, the word "Retsu" translates to "anger".
- This show was based on an anime of the same name that aired on TBS Television from April 2016 to March 2018. In late 2017, the creator announced that the show will be continued on Netflix, created by the same team which worked on the 2016 anime.
- A comic book series adaptation by Daniel Barnes and D.J. Kirkland was launched by Oni Press. The first issue was released on February 5, 2020.
- A mobile game, Aggretsuko: The Short Timer Strikes Back, was released by Hive for Android and iOS in July 2020. The game, which is available worldwide, includes the full 100 short episode series, which need to be unlocked individually via normal gameplay.
- While subtitled, the short episodes were not dubbed into other languages.