Posted in: Anime, Netflix, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: Aggretsuko, anime, bleeding cool, cable, Death Metal, hello kitty, karaoke, netflix, preview, Sanrio, season 4, streaming, television, tv

Aggretsuko: Netflix Confirms Romance, Rock & Rage-Filled Season 4

Aggretsuko, Sanrio's cute cartoon golden fox who's become the spirit animal for everyone suffering under late capitalism, will be getting a fourth season of her anime series. Netflix confirmed this on their Twitter feed along with a cute Christmas card. For the uninitiated, Aggretsuko is short for "aggressive Retsuko". The series is a cute funny animal series about the life of Retsuko, a 24-year-old golden fox working a thankless job in an office putting up with shit from her literal sexist pig of a boss and the aggression, micro and macro of the hell of working for capitalism. It's probably the most subversive anime series of the 21^st Century. Instead of celebrating office life and late capitalism, it portrays Retsuko's life as utter hell. The only outlet she has is to secretly sing Death Metal karaoke in her off-hours.

The first season on Netflix was probably the freshest and most incisive in its satire, even though it was already on Japanese television before Netflix picked it up. Subsequent seasons found more situations in 21^st Century Late Capitalism to satirize like Retsuko's addiction to a dating sim app with expensive microtransactions, the societal and familial pressure on women in Japan to get married and settle down, startup tech-bros, and even the world of struggling pop idols. The series also began to soften a bit: Retsuko made friends and allies among the more senior women in the office. The initially snivelly coworker develops a crush on her and tries to help her as much as he can. Even her boss expresses some – albeit grudging – sympathy for her. The 3^rd season of the series ended on a disappointingly conservative note where  Retsuko gives up minor pop stardom to go back to a life of drudgery in the office, not to mention barely addressing the horrible trauma she suffered from a psychotic stalker.

We're still amazed that parent company Sanrio, who is responsible for Hello Kitty, came up with Aggretsuko. It's like they really have their finger on the pulse. That's the thing with many Japanese and Korean creators of cartoons and comics. They're savvier than anyone gives them credit for. Netflix will announce the premiere date for Aggretsuko Season 4 at a later time.

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