MUSIC CULTURE VIDEO MAGAZINE EVENTS SHO

10 MOST METAL MOMENTS FROM

NETFLIX'S 'AGGRETSUKO' ANIMATED
SERIES
New bingeable show stars Sanrio's adorable death
metal–loving red panda

Aggretsuko | Sanrio Anime | …

text ZOE CAMP

April 20, 2018 ! "

Retsuko, Sanrio's adorable, death metal–loving

red panda, has o!cially arrived on Net"ix.
The series, titled Aggretsuko (short for
"Aggressive Retsuko") follows our favorite
furball on a quest to balance a shitty
accounting job (think O!ce Space with
anthropomorphic animals) with a passion for
death-metal karaoke. Don't let the critter's
fuzzy face or pleasant demeanor fool you —
Retsuko's performances throughout the
season prove she can death growl with the
best of 'em.

Clocking in at just 10 15-minute episodes long,

Aggretsuko is one of the leaner, most
bingeable Net"ix originals as of late. For those
of you who'd rather cut straight to the kvlt
action, here's our list of the show's top 10 most
metal moments. WARNING: Turn back now if
you don't want spoilers!

10. Just another manic (metal) Monday

(Episode 1, "A Day in the Life of Retsuko")
Aggretsuko's opening scene sets the harsh,
hilarious tone for the series right o# the bat. It
lays bare the show's main contrast — the
monotony of everyday Retsuko's life on one
paw, and her liberating passion for death
metal on the other — in less than 30 seconds,
coupling scenes of the red panda going about
her morning routine with ephemeral, Morbid
Angelesque grooves.

9. Drunken Retsuko channels Deicide

(Episode 8, "The Out-of-Pocket Prince")
Beer-loving Retsuko's usually pretty good at
holding her liquor, but just like the best of us,
she can go a bit overboard sometimes: episode
8 $nds her getting too turnt at a company
singles mixer and collapsing on the "oor.
Inevitably, she rushes to the bathroom to puke
— and by puke, we mean death growl. So
much for Tums.

8. "Lightning, lend me your strength!"

(Episode 2, "A Good, Hard-working Girl")
One of the most prevalent problems in
Japanese work culture is "power harassment,"
a form of harassment in which those higher
up on the corporate ladder routinely
humiliate, bully and threaten their
subordinates. Retsuko has it especially bad:
She's cursed by not one, not two, but three
shitty bosses, who love saddling her with extra
work and unnecessary tasks. Understandably
pissed, she asks mother nature to lend a hand
and smite them with lightning: "Strike them
down!" Metallica would be proud.

7. Aggretsuko's double life, revealed (Episode

1, "A Day in the Life of Retsuko")
When Retsuko gets pissed, she head straight
for the karaoke bar to scream her guts out.
Aggretsuko's pilot closes with a scene of the
red panda rocking out in corpse paint — the
$rst of several such scenes in the series — only
to be disturbed by a llama waiter bearing
refreshments. Our heroine is embarrassed,
but she plays it cool, switching back to her
calm self.

6. Aggretsuko rages against the corporate

machine (Episode 1, "A Day in the Life of
Retsuko")
Work sucks, Retsuko knows. Her bosses make
a point to pile all their extra work on her on a
regular basis, leading to periodic, fearsome
outbursts like this one. As with the rest of
Retsuko's ear-splitting workplace rants, the
death-metal tantrum partway through "A Day
in the Life of Retsuko" plays out entirely in the
main character's head. It's the $ercest of
fantasies, and it fucking rips. (Bonus points
for the "Shitty boss/Shitty boss/Shitty boss"
hook — we've all been there.)

5. Retsuko's heavy-metal marriage fantasy

(Episode 4, "Walking Down the Aisle")
Episode four opens with Retsuko giving her
friend a gi% of 30,000 yen (roughly $278) as a
wedding present. Her generous gesture leaves
the red panda strapped for cash, reduced to
feasting on bread crusts and mayonnaise in
the company break room. There, she gets an
idea: Why not quit the working world
altogether and become a housewife? A brief,
blistering ode to matrimony ensues, setting
the stage for Retsuko's season-long quest for
love.

4. Aggretsuko sticks it to her supervisor,

Slipknot-style (Episode 3, "Short-Timer")
It's not an o!ce comedy unless someone
sticks their face on the photocopier. When a
daydreaming Retsuko inadvertently produces
printouts of her smiling mug, her snake boss,
Miss Tsubone, tapes it to the furball's face as
punishment and mocks her. Fed up with her
superior's shit, Retsuko pulls a 180 and talks
back to her boss through her grinning mask,
as metal plays in the background. She may not
win the war in the long run, but at least we get
to see her pull a Slipknot.

3. Aggretsuko shares her secret (Episode 5,

"Exposed")
A few episodes in, Retsuko forms a fast,
unexpected bond with two of the highest-
ranking women in her company: a lip-stick
wearing gorilla marketing president named
Gori, and her avian secretary Miss Washimi.
The ladies take their new friend to a karaoke
bar, unaware of her regular heavy-metal
singalongs. Rather than keep her secret to
herself, Retsuko lays her love of death metal
on the line. To the red panda's great surprise,
her performance proves a hit with her new
pals, who accompany her to karaoke
throughout the rest of the season.

2. Aggretsuko annihilates her boss at the

company party (Episode 7, "The Duel")
Retsuko's pent-up rage $nally spills forth at
the company party, when her misogynistic
porcine boss, Director Ton, drunkenly
challenges her to a karaoke duel. Though he
puts up a decent $ght in the opening round
with a boisterous rap diss aimed at his
subordinate, the pig is roasted beyond a
reasonable doubt in round two when Retsuko
goes in for the kill — "Your beats are wack and
your rap sucks," she screeches. "Why'd you go
again?/Nobody wants to hear it!" — followed by
the coup de grace: "You're a shitty boss."
Brutal!

1. A happy, hellish ending (Episode 10, "The

Dream Ends")
For the most part, Aggretsuko frames
Retsuko's death-metal obsession as an outlet
for her rage, as opposed to a simple hobby. By
the end of the season, however, that rage has
mostly dissipated, mostly thanks to her
budding con$dence and new boyfriend (a
handsome red panda from sales known as the
"Out-of-Pocket Prince," due to his disorganized
nature). The $nal scene sees our heroine
$nally coming into her own on her own terms,
declaring her love of death metal to her
beloved with a joyful roar, rather than the
usual anguished scream. This is Retsuko in
her prime — and judging by the ending
cli#hanger, we're pretty sure she's just getting
started.

! "

A!retsuko Japan

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