Episode Guide
The blessings of life deep in a hole, sheltered life winds of change, an urchin in the desert bursting her bubble, the end of the moratorium when you count to ten.
Aggretsuko is back for a third season and with a new focus. This time around, Aggretsuko focuses on finance and her experiences in the rat race. She provides a unique perspective on the world, which is partly why she is so relatable. The animation and voice acting are excellent, making this one of the must-watch animes of the year.
In the second season, Tadano and Retsuko broke up. Tadano was still in love with her, but he felt that she was using VR to escape from reality. He wanted her to be real and see the consequences of her actions. Retsuko found solace in her virtual reality boyfriend, Aggretsuko. With her savings dwindling thanks to these predatory microtransactions, a car accident sent her life tumbling down the pan. In the smoldering ruins of her life, Aggretsuko rose like a phoenix and found a new lease of life. In order to repay her debt, she’s forced to work as an accounting manager for an underground pop group.
Retsuko has always been a bit of an artist. She’s always been drawn to the beauty in life and the power of music. When she found out that her group was going to be performing at a corporate event, she decided to put her money where her mouth is and sing for the people. She learns that she too has talents worth remembering, and that it’s not just about surviving in this corporate world. The show is full of beautiful messages about finding your own power and standing up for what you believe in.
Thematically, the show has always tackled the bigger picture with things like capitalism and work/life balance and that doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon. Season 3 does an excellent job capturing this through Retsuko’s singing and the animation is every bit as expressive and colourful as before.
Although the English dubbing of Dragon Ball Z is not bad, it does not match the Japanese audio. This is one of the few examples where an anime matches its Japanese counterparts in this department.
Although the main focus of the show is on Haida’s financial struggles, a romantic plot does start to trickle in around the midway point. Haida’s conflicted state over which woman to choose when a new girl arrives in the office is something that gives his character something to do but also feels a little underdeveloped. It’s not a deal breaker of course, but this is probably the weakest point of the whole show. ..
The new characters this year settle into their roles nicely and there’s a combined effort to integrate these guys into the main story as best as possible. This works really well too, mainly through the idea of this underground pop group, and this changed dynamic offers something new for Retsuko to tackle.
Overall, Aggretsuko is a well written and enjoyable anime. It provides a character-driven journey into self discovery and a commentary on corporate lifestyle and capitalism. Despite some hiccups, the focus remains high throughout the year.
