After several months of waiting, our favorite death metal salary woman is back. Season 3 of Aggretsuko came out recently and it delivered a lot more drama than I was expecting.
The season began with Aggretsuko accidentally damaging the front of a man’s van. As it turns out, the owner of the van is the manager for an underground idol group. For those unaware, idol groups are basically the OG K-Pop idols we see today. A talent agency or corporation gathers a group of attractive people and manufacture them into music groups and more. Japan started the concept, but Korea amplified it a hundred times more.
From manager to band member
Season 3 focuses on Aggretsuko growing from accounting manager to becoming a full-fledged member and experiencing the hardships of being an idol. Most viewers only see the image that the talent agency creates. What many people don’t realize is that these idols endure intense training, strict diet and regimens and many other tough challenges just to reach the point of debuting. The difficulties don’t stop there. Many idols who make it to their debut still owe the talent agency money for all that training. Unless you’re an instant hit and consistently release chart-topping music, the road to financial stability is a long one.
Retsuko experiences several issues on the road as an accounting manager. The idol group manager doesn’t know how to handle money well and one of the band members treats her like an assistant. It’s a living for Retsuko so she can’t complain. Besides, she has a debt to pay for bumping the manager’s car/band van.
Managing your finances
This season discusses the topic of financial stability a lot. Retsuko ended up spending too much on a VR system that featured a virtual boyfriend and she used up a ton of money on the freemium game. Retsuko draining her money from purchasing virtual items should be a lesson to any person regardless if you’re a millenial, gen-x, gen-z or whatever generation you’re part of.
Don’t waste your money on items you can use for more important things. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a few luxuries as long as it doesn’t break the bank.
Finding your true self
The Retsuko we know in the series is very timid and quiet on the outside. Having her as a member of an idol group somehow brought out a more confident version of herself we rarely get to see ever. It was a refreshing image to see Retsuko not be the little salary woman we know her.
She’s comfortable on stage and it seemed like she finally found her calling. Sadly, Retsuko had to endure the price of fame. I won’t say much about that specific scene in the show, but you have to see it to believe it because Aggretsuko isn’t known for always being real. Go to the tenth episode and see how real the situation got for Retsuko.
Animation & Storytelling
The animation for the show remains the same from the past seasons. I loved the costume designs on the characters though This season might have had the most costume changes for a lot of characters we don’t usually see.
Haida had his striped long-sleeve shirt, Washimi had elegant looks the entire time and Retsuko had several costume changes as part of being an idol. It was refreshing to see more characters get different attire for once.
The storytelling of Aggretsuko is able to pack a lot for 15 minutes. Sometimes I forget that the show is almost over. Aggretsuko’s pacing is spaced out to tell a story at a pace that isn’t rushed.
We haven’t even talked about the Haida subplot and others. There’s just so much content that I can’t discuss or else I would spoil the rest of the story. I have to let the viewers determine their thoughts on the subplots.
Closing Thoughts
What started out as a feel good slice of life anime just took the next step to becoming more than just your typical anime about a salary woman trying to find herself. Aggretsuko season three proves that Sanrio can do more than just the usual cutesy child-friendly anime.
Final Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Photo Credits: Netflix Asia
Steven Maxwell Tan is co-founder of The Geeky Juans and co-host of its weekly podcast. He loves the Moomin franchise and is a fan of comics, puroresu and the Anaheim Ducks NHL team. You can find his geeky thoughts on Twitter @steviesaidyup.
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