Netflix gave Sanrio’s Red Panda office worker five seasons before the story of Aggretsuko came to a close. During the original Netflix animated series, Retsuko attempted to find her place in the world, moving from an accounting firm to becoming an idol to eventually finding the path that she needed to take to find happiness. While Aggretsuko hasn’t been confirmed to return following the series finale, cosplayers still remember one of Sanrio’s most popular characters and have offered a human iteration of the anthropomorphic salary woman.
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It’s hard to dispute that Sanrio’s most popular character isn’t Hello Kitty, as the albino cat has scored billions for the company throughout her history and is one of the most profitable fictional characters of all time. The company introduced hundreds of new characters throughout its existence, but none are quite like Retsuko. Taking on far more adult themes and elements in her world, the story of Aggretsuko would routinely see the Red Panda attempting to balance her work life and aspirations in a rather unique way. To help in alleviating her stress and dissatisfaction with her life, Retsuko would let it rip with some wild death metal ballads at her local karaoke bar.
Aggretsuko: A Human Retsuko
Aggretsuko was one of Netflix’s biggest anime originals, netting five seasons and around fifty episodes when all was said and done. Despite its success, it would make sense that we wouldn’t see a return for Retsuko as the series had a conclusion that felt organic and put the titular character on the right path that the show had been building up to. With Japan having plenty of stage plays and live action adaptations of popular anime franchises, the same might eventually happen for one of Sanrio’s finest.
Aggretsuko might be over, but Netflix is still in the original anime game. Releasing later this year, Pluto is the long-awaited anime adaptation of one of the most beloved manga stories of all time. The series from legendary creator Naoki Urasawa is a far departure from Retsuko’s journey but goes to show the variety that Netflix is hosting for its anime originals.
Do you want to see Aggretsuko eventually return? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Retsuko.
