English Dub Season Review: Aggretsuko Season Three

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Our favorite adorably aggressive red panda is back with more drama than ever before. Side hustles abound throughout the cast, though some prove more profitable than others. Marketing pro Gori is trying her hand at building a matchmaking app, while season 2’s antagonist Anai has managed to turn his passion for cooking into a book deal. After finding herself in debt thanks to a brief virtual reality obsession and a poorly timed car crash, Retsuko finds herself attempting to make some cash with a truly unexpected side gig: accountant for an underground idol group! An even stranger twist comes when she steps into the limelight herself, causing the group’s popularity to really take off. But does she have what it takes to be famous? And more importantly, does she want to be?

Our Take

This season was an emotional rollercoaster, and out of the three, the one I personally find most relatable (which is more a testament to how weird my life is than a comment on how realistic these situations actually are.) The heightened scenarios give us a chance to see new sides of the characters, even if they rely on some pretty unlikely coincidences to get there.

Retsuko’s debt of 200,000 yen (appx. $2000) may seem like nothing worth eating day-old bread over to me and my fellow student-debt burdened Americans, but the way that she found herself in tight financial times is a bit unusual. While plenty of us have fallen prey to in-game microtransactions, it seems odd that Retsuko would turn to a VR boyfriend as a form of self-care, rather than heading to the karaoke booth, but overspending on a video game gets the ball rolling this season as she quickly depletes her savings.

From there, our red panda protagonist finds herself at the mercy of intimidating Hyodo (growled to life by the incomparable SungWon Cho) when she backs into his van. When she’s unable to pay him back immediately, he recruits/blackmails her into being the accounting director for his underground idol group, OTMgirls, to pay off her debt. While running the books, she quickly discovers the group is in the red, meaning she won’t be able to pay him back any time soon. Cue the season’s first death metal karaoke rage session- finally!

At this point we really start to see the storylines branch out, but they all ask the same question: what do you want out of life? As in previous seasons, it’s still unclear for Retsuko. We see her grasp at fame, and even believe it’s her dream for a short period of time. Haida struggles as well, after he discovers a potential match in Inui (Demon Slayer fans may recognize the voice of Abby Trott) but realizes being with her means he’d have to give up his crush on Retsuko.

The way that this “will they/won’t they” narrative wraps up for the season genuinely gave me a bit of emotional whiplash. One minute we’re listening to Tsunoda explain the rules of romantic interaction as the “Love Ref”, and the next minute things escalate to where Haida literally has to save Retsuko’s life (be warned, the last two episodes have a LOT going on.) Despite all this, the ending has just enough ambiguity to continue this dynamic into a new season.

While she’d been bullied in the past, Retsuko’s safety is genuinely threatened at least a few times in season 3, which wasn’t territory I expected this show to veer into, even with the newly added showbiz aspect. She finally gets to scream out her response and take back her power in the finale, but I was still surprised at the lack of intervention in situations where she’s understandably afraid. Despite the newly added fear factor, the social commentary from previous seasons remains intact, exploring how various characters find fulfillment outside of work, showing how fan entitlement can turn into something more sinister, and even seeing some unexpected new friendships blossom.

Additionally, the art seems to have further escalated in charm, with the eyes getting special treatment. The new idol characters’ eyes are extra super sparkly, while Anai’s bugged out look is particularly unnerving with additional veins and shadows. The flowing animation is on full display during the idol dance scenes, and the expressions continue to shine. Retsuko’s dead eyes and visibly tense mouth when responding “yep” to a snack request actually made me laugh out loud.

Overall, it’s a solid season, even if things seem to jump quickly from plot point to plot point, and stay just barely within the realm of reality. While I do wish we’d seen Retsuko truly embracing her destiny, or at least clarifying what she wants out of life, I’m hopeful that the uncertain ending just means there’s more for this series to explore.