Aggretsuko Season 4 Review
by Emily Nagle
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Recently, Netflix’s popular anime series “Aggretsuko” came out with a fourth season.
The show is based on one of Sanrio’s many characters: a 25-year-old red panda named Retsuko (voiced by Erica Mendez) who works in the accounting department of a successful Tokyo trading firm. An introverted people-pleaser who’s been pushed around by her coworkers for years, by night she heads to the karaoke bar to decompress by singing death metal.
Over the course of the series, she learns how to open up to people. At first when she’s faced with a problem, she doesn’t tell anyone about what’s going on. Instead, she hides it with a smile, and continues to go about her business at work. It’s not that she doesn’t get along with anyone at work – she’s got her best friend Fenneko (Katelyn Gault), as well as marketing director Gori (G.K. Bowes) and secretary Washimi (Tara Platt).
“Aggretsuko” arrived on Netflix in April 2018, and has released a new season on the platform yearly ever since. It’s one of the streamer’s most popular anime series, and I can see why. It doesn’t look like what most people think of when they hear the word “anime”, since the cast consists of cute animals. But I’m pretty sure the main reason for Aggretsuko’s popularity on the platform is its relatability.
What I like about “Aggretsuko” is that despite its cute art style, it tackles some serious subject matter. Retsuko deals with harassment from her sexist boss Ton (voiced by Josh Petersdorf), and the pressure she faces from her mom and colleagues to settle down and get married is one that will resonate with young adults all over the world. Even though this show is based on cute characters, it’s no Hello Kitty. I like to think of it as being for the kids who liked Hello Kitty as a kid, but have since grown up. It’s not super bloody or explicit, but Retsuko’s workplace struggles and dating life probably won’t be super interesting to young kids.
Season 4 continues on some of the storylines introduced in season 3, which was released last summer. Just when you think the stakes can’t get any higher, the show gets even crazier. Season 4 delves deeper into Retsuko’s relationship with coworker Haida, who’s been crushing on her for the entire 5 years they’ve been working together, but hasn’t acted on it. For the entire time I’ve been watching “Aggretsuko”, I’ve been waiting for him to at least talk to her a little more, instead of just admiring her from afar. Pretty much everyone knows he likes her, and the only person holding Haida back is himself, as he worries that he’s only going to damage their friendship.
At the start of season 4, Fenneko gives Haida an inebriated pep talk, urging him to stop being such a wuss and get to know Retsuko a little more. Later on, Fenneko (who’s been known to get a little too involved in her coworkers) sits Retsuko down to figure out her feelings on Haida, only to discover that Retsuko doesn’t really know how she feels about him. So she goes to him and tells him that she just wants to get to know him a little more, and this gives Haida the push he needs.
That’s when everything changes dramatically for Retsuko’s spotted hyena coworker. The two finally start socializing outside of the office, and Haida’s confidence in the workplace skyrockets. It affects more than just the way he behaves towards Retsuko – Haida starts taking initiative at the firm more. Everyone in the office notices, since before this he was more passive. It’s good timing for this, too, because the CEO falls ill and his replacement Himuro starts making some big changes to the company, cutting people who he sees as unfit, including Ton, who he sends up to a made-up department instead of flat-out telling him he’s gone from the company.
Once Retsuko and her friends discover that Ton got fired, they all step up their game at work out of fear of getting cut next. While getting closer with Haida, Retsuko discovers that he has been in cahoots with Himuro, staying at the office late to inflate the company’s profits. After all that, Haida leaves the company.
It builds up, and then it just stops. Haida was so close to getting what he’d been dreaming of for years, and he ended up back at square one. Sure, Retsuko explains in the end of the last episode that she is still close with Haida despite his departure, but it would’ve been nice to see them actually get to know each other. I’m sure that’s Rarecho’s idea to keep fans watching, and it will probably be explored more in the already-confirmed fifth season.