Aggretsuko (Netflix Original anime)

[Blue Jam]

Series 2 is now on Netflix- any other fans here?

Aggretsuko is an anime sitcom which follows the life of Retsuko- a meek, put-upon, socially inept "office lady" (and red panda) who gets her frustrations out by turning into her Aggretsuko ("Aggressive Retsuko") alter-ego and screaming out death metal karaoke.

Her frustrations include her menial job where her boss, Director Ton- a sexist boor (and a literal male chauvinist pig) overloads her with work and spends most of his day practicing his golf swing; Tsunoda, an irritatingly perky and ruthless office politician (and gazelle); Kabae, the office gossip (and hippo); her meathead yoga teacher yelling at her about "PROTEIN!"; her much cooler and more glamorous friends, and her non-existent love life.

In this new series they're joined by Anai , the supremely passive-aggressive new intern (and badger) who makes her job even less bearable, plus her overbearing mother who is desperate to get her married off- something which would allow her to quit work and which she would be very happy with, if it wasn't for the whole marrying part...

I like the way it approaches the whole "old meets new" culture of Japan and explores the less pleasant side of that- one minute Retsuko is using Instagram in an attempt to make herself look much cooler than she really is, the next she's contemplating an arranged marriage and falling in line with Japan's surprisingly conservative and sexist culture. There's also something about the combination of cute Sanrio-designed characters and bleak storylines which makes it funnier.

Anyone who's lived in Japan (and there seem to be a lot of us here on CaB) will recognise a lot in this and I'd recommend you give it a go...

[boki]

Ah, yeah, I've seen a few episodes and really enjoyed them.  Thanks for the reminder.
[TAG]Salarypan(da)[/TAG]

[alan nagsworth]

This sounds right up the alley of me and my partner, thanks for the tip!

[Blue Jam]

The episodes are only about 15 minutes long, you can breeze right through it. There also a Christmas special, We Wish You A Metal Christmas, with some death metal covers of festive favourites.

Also Retsuko's Instagram account is real:

https://www.instagram.com/retsuko1106/

[Thursday]

Aye this is good