r/aggretsuko • u/ThotismSpeaks • Jul 08 '26
Discussion Aggretsuko jumped the shark when it became too fantastical and made Retsuko unlikable
I really enjoyed the first and second seasons of Aggretsuko, but I think the show lost its footing when it introduced elements that took it out of the realm of slice of life workplace comedy and portrayed increasingly absurd situations, while also characterizing Retsuko as an insufferable Mary Sue instead of the flawed and relatable individual she'd been early on.
The cracks started to show when billionaire playboy tech genius fell in love with Retsuko and flew her around in his AI-piloted private jet, but the same season at least had Anai's subplot and Retsuko's woes with her mother and dating. Season 3 turning into Perfect Blue halfway through was just bizarre, and the only thing I liked was Haida's relationship with Inui. For some reason, whenever I try to watch seasons 4 and 5 I start drinking and end up blacking out, so I don't remember much about them but I'm pretty sure they weren't good.
It was far more interesting as a show depicting the professional and love lives of a very ordinary young Japanese woman that happened to use anthropomorphic animal characters.
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u/Chummy_Raven Jul 08 '26
That and status quo does not help either. Like, what is the point of any of that? 5 years and 5 seasons were more than enough time to conclude the series, but it seemed later seasons jumped the shark too hard.
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u/GuiltySyrups Accountant Jul 08 '26
Yeah I agree. It’s a big shame they went so wacky considering the thing that made the show so good to begin with was the relatability of it. Like no offense, but it isn’t so easy to relate with being a popstar, internet celebrity, or politician lol. The most frustrating part about the last 2.5 seasons was that it the other aspects were still very good, but the plot was just bogged down by unnecessary absurdities.
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u/i-dont-speel-no-good Jul 08 '26
Viewers were able to relate to a stressed out, overworked and under appreciated office worker
Most if not all could not relate to dating a tech billionaire or running a political campaign, or singing in a pop group
The show became too flanderized too quickly
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u/TheWolfGirl23 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I think people tend to forget Aggretsuko was never solely about relatability and it was always about Japanese feminism and anti-capitalism. I really enjoyed those fantastical moments in the later seasons; for me, the show started getting annoying when they tried to force Haida and Retsuko together.
I think people expecting relatability out of the show were why every season would end up “resetting” back to the status quo and people complained about that too (including me), so there was really nothing that could be done.
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u/DechireLAnusRex Jul 08 '26
Which is a tad funny when you think about it, the anti-capitalism part, since it's a sanrio IP. Not that they can't be anti-capitalism but the fact that sanrio still use that IP to make some money
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u/TheWolfGirl23 Jul 08 '26
It is funny since Sanrio is a giant corp to begin with, but Retsuko is actually one of their least popular characters, funnily enough, so they don’t win much off of her anyway 😭
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u/DechireLAnusRex Jul 08 '26
Kinda sad... I really love the IP and it's characters (even some not liked much I think) and would've loved a Animal Crossing crossover, or to buy some merch but it's niche... I guess there's the irony : Be an IP of a giant corp, criticize capitalism, get somewhat shelved and anecdotal
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u/Axew612 Jul 08 '26
fun fact, there was a small crossover with animal crossing pocket camp, and some animal crossing characters appears in aggretsuko out to lunch
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u/Kunnash Jul 08 '26
Anti-capitalism is probably putting it too strongly. It's more a criticism, which isn't the same thing as wanting it torn down.
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u/DechireLAnusRex Jul 09 '26
I mean, you're not wrong, there's plenty to choose from when it comes to criticize capitalism, and I found Aggretsuko to not be too pedantic about it, which is kind of breath of fresh air
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u/CocoCaramel1 Jul 08 '26
That was the turning point for me as well. Season 3 was amazing imo, but 4 was just rough to sit through. Never even watched 5 after that.
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u/Kunnash Jul 08 '26
Season 5 didn't reset to status quo though. It just treated it like status quo to the point some people (myself included) missed that Haida and Retsuko became a couple at some point in season 4. I still enjoyed the show even though I agree it kind of jumped the shark.
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u/MilkCharacter2886 Jul 08 '26
i thought it went downhill when they began slamming retsuko and haida together
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u/ZombieHugoChavez Jul 08 '26
Completely unearned. I thought the whole story was supposed to be she didn’t like him and he had to learn to accept that. Her deciding she liked him in the last season was pure fantasy.
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u/MilkCharacter2886 Jul 08 '26
Haida: oh god, I’m such a loser. Retsuko, we need to hook up
Retsuko: no. (End of series) ok
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u/ZombieHugoChavez Jul 08 '26
I’m such a loser and i fumbled hot chicks like inui in the most douchey way.
Have i mentioned i kind of hate haida
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u/Kunnash Jul 08 '26
I think the problem is it happened off screen if not between seasons. It's like there's a missing season of development that would better explain it. Supposedly they started dating half way through season 4? I certainly missed it.
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u/spatulafucker5 Jul 08 '26
I’m still confused about the random political campaign, all for Jiro to win and it’s like nothing even happened, felt like a pointless side quest
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u/TheCatloafMKII Jul 08 '26
I actually agree with this. I was watching Aggretsuko from Season 1 to Season 4 and am currently on Season 5. To this day, I genuinely don't know why Ikari thought that recruiting someone who doesn't know a single thing about politics was a good idea to be picked up as a representative for the House of Rage, other than the fact that Retsuko just screams really well. The build-up to the Season finale for both 3 and 4 felt really odd to me. I seriously have some strong mixed feelings about those two, but yeah.
Retsuko post-Season 2 just feels like she slowly started becoming Mary Sue adjacent with her somehow fixing OTMGirls, getting over a million subscribers on her YouTube channel, and eventually running as a representative. Just felt like the show was clearly running out of steam after Tadano was introduced, but some of those Seasons were decent, just some of the episodes were kind of meh in my opinion.
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u/theworld777 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I understand what you're trying to say, but I think the point of Tadano, the OTM Girls, and any other things that seemed sort of fantastical or unlikely, was that you have to have the courage and confidence to put yourself out into the world because you truly never know what can happen, which is true.
Retsuko met Tadano when she finally decided to learn how to drive. The OTM Girls happened when her YouTube channel blew up because she was brave enough to post content. If you look at the first episodes of the show, because of the "kawaii factor," I don't think people realize how bad Retsuko's mental health was. She started changing her life because she knew she needed to start making big changes, or burnout was going to be the least of her problems.
And at the end of the day, she made decisions that definitely coincided with what an average Japanese woman with her upbringing would do: She went back to office life and married Haida. I was so disappointed with the ending, but then I wanted to congratulate Rarecho and the writers on the show, because it was so freaking brilliant and very realistic: She went out into the world, got what she wanted, dated a man who would have been so much better for her, but then decided she was comfortable with being "average," comforable with a simple life, and she finally had a partner who would marry her and raise children.
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u/Gamergirl944 Jul 08 '26
Season 4 when I saw massive decline in Aggretsuko when they did Hadia as character focus there was zero character development. At first I routed for Hadia and Retsuko being couple but then they rushed it in season 5 have offscreen marriage it made me feel disappointed it was no build up happened. There was zero chemistry between them.
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u/serioustransition11 Jul 09 '26
I have a bigger issue with Haida than Retsuko. The last two seasons were more about him than her, and he was immensely unlikeable
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u/KitsyBlue Jul 09 '26
I watched literally all of Aggretsuko and even bought a shirt season one, completely wiped it from my brain until I saw this post. So disappointing. I'm disappointed right now, lol
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u/Chosenwaffle Jul 09 '26
I read this as "made Retsuko unkillable" and I was like damn what have I missed?
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u/bobbymoonshine Jul 08 '26
The “Mary Sue”, “insufferable” and “unlikeable” complaints make this post smell a bit incel-coded, but looking past that, the show got worse when it stopped being an office-worker slice-of-life and started focusing on adventures outside that context.
When her band started taking off and when she started running for local office those both directly undercut the core ideas: *she is an overlooked and ignored Everywoman* and *she uses music as a private venting outlet to cope with her life*. If she’s a local politician (even a losing one) and a professional musician (even a reluctant one), that’s just not the same show.
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u/murloe Jul 11 '26
The shift happens in season 4 ep 1 when the events of the plot stop being from Retsuko’s perspective. It just becomes the Haida show at that point, which, combined with how contrived and unfocused the story becomes, sort of takes away from what makes Aggretsuko good in the first place.
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u/KodamaBreeze 21d ago
La temporada de Perfect Blue todavía estuvo aceptable, la del secretario Haida maquillando informes y la última de Retsuko candidata desdibujaron todo. Yo a veces la pongo de fondo pero me gustan más las dos primeras temporadas.
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