Some people may have seen mention of this anime on Netflix. Being assaulted by this overly cute Red Panda probably didn’t do anything for its target audience, which may surprise you to hear is actually adult. Created by Sanrio (The company behind Hello Kitty), this anime was a bold expansion to try and capitalize on a more adult market, and was mostly successful among those who tried it. And in light of that, I’m going to try to introduce a few of you to it, because this is an anime that most adults should probably view. And it’s the perfect time to get into it, as it recently released its Christmas special: “We Wish You a Metal Christmas”. Yes, that title does sound weird, but don’t worry, I’ll explain. So grab some coco and get ready for some pencil pushing and death metal, because we’re diving into Aggretsuko.
When people talk about “Adult” cartoons, they’re usually referring to something like Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park, or Futurama. While (some) of those are all fine and good, I think most of them miss the real possibilities that an adult cartoon can bring. Most of them just take the sitcom and/or traditional cartoon format and just insert raunchy jokes into them. Is that really what passes for adult? Look, I’m all for embracing your inner child, but I can also respect a mature show at times. Aggretsuko is prime example of a show that embraces both philosophies.
Aggretsuko is an anime set in a world full of anthropomorphic animals and follows Retsuko (Pronounced: Rets-ko), an accountant at a normal Japanese trading firm. She does her typical nine to five every day, constantly stressed by her angry, misogynistic, (literal) pig of a boss, Director Ton, and her overall working conditions. By night, however, she blows off steam by screaming her lungs out at karaoke to death metal. The anime just follows Retsuko’s day to day life working, interacting with her co-workers, and her ever evolving life outside of work. This includes her best friend Fenneko, an insightful woman who enjoy over-analyzing every situation, person, and instragram post she can get her hands on. Also joining her is the obligatory “Jim” character, here named Haida, who secretly has a crush on Retsuko. They and everyone else in the office go to work each day, gossip, stress, and bicker as one big dysfunctional family while Retsuko struggles to remain sane and constantly looks for a way out of the daily grind.
This is, frankly, one of the most mature shows I’ve seen in a long time: a true adult slice of life. And it isn’t mature in the obvious ways that you’d think. There’s no sex, there’s not really any violence, there’s some swearing but nothing really excessive, but it is a show that, despite its cartoonish appearance and its overall lean towards the comedy genre, a show that really isn’t afraid to sit down and talk about adult life. The stresses of working what seems like a dead-end job. A boss who seems out to get you. A dead social life. Mediocre (at best) finances. Trying to break the cycle. Thinking that you’ve found “the one” romantically, only to realize after trying everything to make it work, that it will just cause you more pain. This is a show that I think all adults should watch. It so accurate sums up frustrations with the adult life and a desire to escape, and all the ways we blow off steam in our off time. But at the same time, it also isn’t afraid to strip away all the bullshit and show you that sometimes, that life that you think is tearing you down and eating at you inside is actually keeping you going. This is a show that champions the good and the bad and shows that sometimes, they’re one in the same.
The characters really pull this show together. Every single one of them is a well-rounded character with distinct motivations and personalities, and in the case of nearly every one of them, there’s more to them than meets the eye. Take Director Ton for instance. I briefly mentioned him before, but he’s a literally pig and Retsuko’s boss. Abusive towards his employees, misogynistic, willing to dump his work off onto others, seems to take joy in his employees’ misery, and that’s just his surface problem. From the beginning of the series he sets himself up as this villain, going so far as to nickname Retsuko to “Calendar” when he discovers that she slighted him in some way because “Your days are numbered.” However, as the series goes on, you see that he’s left with his own frustrations about work and life. Back in his day, it was common for the boss to grill his employees, and he sees it as a rite of passage. Frankly, he doesn’t understand what the issues is with him doing it to his employees now. But we also see later in the series that when push comes to shove, he’ll jump right into the trenches and fight with and even for his employees to the bitter end. While it may not make him a good person, it certainly makes him understandable, and even respectable on some level. And every character has complexities like that, not the least of which is Retsuko herself.
The animation is simple, but with its style ripped straight from the iconic Hello Kitty, it grows on you very quickly. It lends itself to some fast-paced comedy, and some fantastic facial animations. The show is colorful, smooth, and just very appealing to look at. It can look a little janky at times, but that’s part of the appeal.
Voice acting is on point, and some of the actors are even great references. Josh Petersdorf voices Director Ton, and you may recognize him, as he was the voice of Roadhog in Overwatch. The singing is great too. I’m not much of a metalhead, but all of the screaming vocals are surprisingly easy to understand and really just rip through you; giving you Retsuko’s raw emotions in an easy to understand format.
The comedy and writing? Fantastic. While not every scene will get a laugh (and some aren’t supposed to), most of the attempts will land dead on. Like I said, this is a mature show for very different reasons than most others, so the writing had to be very tight for that to come through, and come through it did. Aggresuko is able to effective straddle the line between comedy and drama with ease.
So like I said before, I can’t recommend Aggretsuko enough. While on quality alone I normally wouldn’t be able to rate it as high as I will be, I have to give it props for its subject matter. This is one of the few truly adult shows out there in my opinion; one that really tackles adult issues head on while still remaining an entertaining show.
So with all that being said, I give Aggretsuko a 5 out of 5.
Leaving me just enough time to talk about its Christmas episode! A month late. Eh.
SPOILER WARNING! This episode IS canonical and is directly tied to the main plot of the series, so I’m going to have to talk about the series finale to talk about this episode. If you haven’t watched Season 1 of Aggretsuko yet, go watch that before you read this review!
So We Wish you a Metal Christmas picks up several months after the end of Season 1. Haida confessed his feelings for Retsuko at the end of the last season, but it’s revealed here that she gently turned him down. Since then, Tsunoda has been helping Retsuko turn into an Instagram star, much to Fenneko’s annoyance, and things seem to be settling down going into Christmas. However, Retsuko soon finds she has nothing to do on Christmas. Her best friends all have plans, leaving her alone. Worse, the few plans she tries to scrounge up on her own fall apart when Ton drops a pile of work on Retsuko’s desk at the end of the day, forcing her to work overtime.
It’s really rare to see one of these special episodes tie in so closely to the story, and things really fall out of place in a beautiful way. Despite being turned down by Retsuko, Haida is still trying to remain friends with her, and is seemingly unwilling to invite her out on Christmas for fear of getting rejected again… or just making things weird. Everyone misunderstands everyone in classic sitcom fashion, and yet, by the end of it all, this twelve car pileup manages to somehow get cleaned up, and the everyone manages to have a peaceful, happy Christmas in the end.
It isn’t a huge episode that changes the status quo or anything, but it’s just a nice episode for the holidays. It’s very feel good, and like some of the best Christmas specials out there, are able to capture both the stress of the holidays along with the unparalleled joy that they can bring, and I highly recommend that you check this special out.
The Loony Bin 