Geeks logo

Anime to Watch: Aggretsuko Season 3

The most rockin' red panda is BACK!!

By SamPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
Like

I love when a new season of Aggretsuko drops. In ten short episodes, it offers lots of laughs and tears, and always manages to be relatable. I’ll keep my little review spoiler free, so don’t be afraid. Aggretsuko has a lot of fun plot points that you have to see to believe.

After two seasons of various work and relationship drama, Aggretsuko turns up the dial again with even more drama, this time more heavily addressing threads we’ve been following since season one. This season takes more of a focus on Retsuko’s crazy metal singing as well as the relationship she has with Haida. From parking accidents to juggling work with passion, this season really focuses on how dynamic Retsuko is. She has so many different sides to her. There’s friendly Retsuko, reserved Retsuko, and everything in between. For a show about an animated red panda, Retsuko is one of the most fleshed out characters I’ve seen.

Being a young adult is hard! I’m about the same age as Retsuko, and seeing her try to balance creative side hustles with a day job is like looking in a mirror. I mean, here I am late at night writing in the hopes people will read it. Creative fields are tough, so I found myself rooting for Retsuko harder than I ever had before. Even the parking mishap made me cringe, remembering a time when I accidentally tapped another car’s bumper in front of my high school. The fear in Retsuko’s eyes is illustrated with squiggles, and the music and atmosphere gets super dark. Anyone who’s been in an accident can sympathize with her. What’s more, when Retsuko gets in not so common situations, her reactions still get me invested. As an example, (and again I’ll be vague to not spoil anything), Retsuko meets a threatening man late into the series that sent a chill down my spine. Again, any woman can relate to being targeted or followed in some way. Retsuko seesaws between brushing the matter off and being terrified of everything, and it makes the situation believable and scary.

Speaking of scary, something to note about this season is the darker tone. This season of Aggretsuko takes you to darker places. The emotions feel heavier, and the trouble Retsuko gets into is more threatening this time around. The stakes are higher, and Retsuko’s future starts filling out more than ever. It feels a little like a turning point in her life with how she views herself. She addresses all the different desires in her life and comes to terms with how they intersect, and with where this season left off, I’m interested to see where season four would go. All the dark stuff out of the way, there’s still tons of humor to be found. Fenneko always makes me laugh, and her humor has perfect timing. Anai’s screaming madness was my favorite part of last season, and seeing that sprinkled in for a short while this time around had me on the floor laughing. Believe it or not, I pair Aggretsuko with Bojack Horseman in my mind. Both have sharp humor that balances off some heavy drama, and they both do it very well. When Aggretsuko makes you sad, it always picks you right up with a hilarious visual gag or insane line of dialogue.

Another huge positive for me would be the characters. I’ve always been a huge fan of Haida, and seeing even more of him was a trip. He had moments that made me cry, and moments that made me laugh, especially that drunk night out with Anai. I’ve always watched Aggretsuko dubbed, and Ben Diskin kills it every season. I love the way he shows off Haida’s insecurities and triumphs so convincingly. I also love Erica Mendez as Retsuko. She delivers all the time, and at this point her Retsuko is as iconic to me as every dub I’ve grown up watching. The new characters are also great to watch. Manaka in particular is my favorite of the new cast, and I really hope to see her again in future seasons. The only negative I could think of is that I wanted more Washimi and Gori, as they’re my favorite characters. Their arcs were a little smaller this season, mainly Washimi’s but I’m always happy to see them.

Aggretsuko is such a creative show, blurring the line between “mainstream cartoons” and “anime”. I put those in quotes, because I feel like people have a harsh separation of the two, when really anyone can enjoy animated content regardless of genre. It’s an accessible show that’s given us another great season to binge. If you haven’t watched the first two season, you can catch up in a weekend easily. I highly recommend Aggretsuko. It’s a super fun show and the third season is a great ride.

entertainment
Like

About the Creator

Sam

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

Sam is not accepting comments at the moment

Want to show your support? Send them a one-off tip.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.